***************************************************************** 06/17/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.141 ***************************************************************** 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 antiwar.com: After The Retaliation - 2 SF Chronicle: The view from Tehran 3 RIA Novosti: Russia, NKorea to start railroad reconstruction - RZD C 4 Kyodo News: S. Korea to begin sending energy aid to N. Korea Monday 5 US: No New Nukes. Period. 6 SF Chron: Nuclear terror threat demands readiness / Time to make pla 7 Japan Times: Nakasone admits U.S. may have moved nuclear arms throug 8 UPI: China commemorates bomb test 9 The Australian: Protesters mobilise against US war games NUCLEAR REACTORS 10 US: Scientific American: The Limited Appeal of Nuclear Energy 11 EnerPub: Swedish nuclear power plant gets new turbines | 12 Pacific Daily News: We must consider nuclear energy 13 Independent: Revealed: faulty nuclear reactor was allowed to operate 14 US: Daily Press: Letters to the editor: Reason for nuclear power hia 15 US: Aspen Daily News: Stop nuclear production 16 globeandmail.com: Governments called irresponsible on nuclear power 17 ANTARA News: Gorontalo may build nuclear power plant in 2008 18 IAEA: Report on Possible New Framework for Using Nuclear Energy 19 DNA: 'US needs to make substantial changes in nuclear deal' 20 AFP: Call for Spain to switch fully to renewables - 21 AFP: US tightens high-tech export controls for China - 22 SMN: Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Kozloduy N-Plant's Goes Offline for Mainte 23 The Age: Switkowski: No chance for nuclear without support - NUCLEAR SECURITY 24 UPI: Russia to check claims of British spying NUCLEAR SAFETY 25 Calgary Sun: McGuinty blasted for radioactive claim 26 GlobalResearch.ca: Explaining How Depleted Uranium Is Killing Civili 27 CP: Hundreds of Canadian soldiers exposed to radiation during Cold W 28 The Age: Australian, US troops build airstrip on the double - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 29 US: Charlotte Observer: Here's the real problem with nuclear waste 30 US: TheStar.com: French nuclear giant covets UraMin 31 Green Left: Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump 32 ReviewJournal.com: Experts doubt new schedule for carving Yucca Moun 33 Independent: UK lumbered with foreign nuclear waste - 34 US: LA Daily News: Still cleaning pollution from the past 35 US: LA Daily News: Court OKs groundwater-cleanup plan 36 US: Daily News Journal: State should hold public meeting on landfill 37 US: AFP: Indian villagers oppose uranium mines - 38 The Gazette: Old barrel symbolizes nazi nuke failure PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 39 SF New Mexican: LANL: Energy secretary responds to security breach 40 SF New Mexican: LANL in limbo despite makeover 41 Idaho Statesman Business: Energy Department fines WGI, CH2M Hill 42 Tri-City Herald: Buildings used by PNNL remain closed Friday over ra 43 Tri-City Herald: DOE won't force pension changes on contractors 44 SF Chron: LANL: Energy Dept. acknowledges lab's 45 KnoxNews: Stories from Oak Ridge's earliest residents recorded 46 KnoxNews: K-25 site to sprout wildflowers, grasses 47 lamonitor.com: Lab, state agree to reduced fine 48 lamonitor.com: Bodman says breach was 'human error' 49 Rocky Mountain News: Flats workers waiting, waiting ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 antiwar.com: After The Retaliation - by Gordon Prather June 16, 2007 According to former Secretary of Defense (1994-97) William Perry – co-author of the op-ed "After the Bomb" for the New York Times – the probability of a nuclear weapon "going off" in an American city is greater today, than it was five years ago. Going off? Now, physicist Perry knows better than that. Nukes don’t just "go off." So, what Perry must mean is that the probability of a nuke being deliberately "set off" on the ground – not delivered by missile, like ours – in an American city is greater today than it was five years ago. That is, no doubt, true. Recall that in January, 2002, President Bush charged Iraq, Iran and North Korea constituted an "axis of evil," their regimes secretly developing nuclear weapons, intending to provide them to the terrorists who had failed – in 1993 – to bring down the World Trade Center with conventional explosives. Iraq, Iran and North Korea were signatories to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and as best the on-the-ground inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency could determine, there was no evidence, then – nor has any surfaced, since – that Iraq, Iran and North Korea did have secret nuke programs. So, what resulted from Bush’s baseless accusations? [1] Iraq acceded to UN Security Council Resolution 1441, allowing UN inspectors total unfettered – go anywhere, see anything, interview anyone – access. (To no avail, since – as we now know – there is nothing Saddam could have done to forestall Bush’s war of aggression.) [2] Iran voluntarily signed – and immediately began to comply, even though it has yet to be ratified – an Additional Protocol to their Safeguards Agreement, and voluntarily suspended most nuclear fuel-cycle activities, pending assurance by Bush that he wasn’t going to launch a war of aggression against Iran. (To no avail, since – as it now appears – there is nothing the Mullahs can do to forestall a war of aggression being launched against them.) But, after Bush unilaterally abrogated the Agreed Framework later that year, [3] North Korea withdrew from the NPT, restarted its reactor, "frozen" under the Agreed Framework, and proceeded to produce – and recover – weapons-grade plutonium. Perry had been SecDef while the Agreed Framework was being negotiated by the State Department and reportedly developed – at President Clinton’s direction – an alternative plan to "take-out" all of North Korea’s nuclear facilities with a first strike, using nukes "if necessary." Last year, as North Korea prepared to launch a long-range ballistic missile, which some "experts" estimated could deliver a "deadly payload" to the United States, Perry co-authored a paper entitled "If Necessary, Strike and Destroy: North Korea Cannot Be Allowed to Test This Missile." Which makes interesting reading, to say the least. But, back to his latest screed – "After the Bomb." As Perry notes, North Korea has enough weapons-grade Plutonium to make at least a half-dozen nukes and, since semi-successfully launching that long-range ballistic missile, has semi-successfully tested a Pu-239 nuke. Also, as Perry notes, General Pervez Musharraf’s control on Pakistan and its nuke stockpile gets shakier by the day. Finally, Perry claims that "Russia’s arsenal remains incompletely secured." Now, that’s not true. Russia’s arsenal is secured. However, Russia’s stocks of fissile materials – which could be used to make a nuke – may not be completely secured. But, if so, that’s as much Perry’s fault as anyone’s. In the fall of 1991, Soviet officials visited the United States to request financial and technical assistance in the dismantling of excess Soviet nukes and the peaceful disposition of fissile material recovered. A few weeks later, the Soviet Union having disintegrated, then-President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act (usually referred to thereafter as the Nunn-Lugar Act) providing up to $400 million in U.S. aid to help the Russians securely and safely transport, store, dismantle, and peacefully dispose of the excess Soviet nukes. Now the Soviet nuke program was organized somewhat like ours. The Soviet military would generate a "requirement" for a nuke with certain military specifications and a Soviet "civilian" agency, MinAtom, would develop such a nuke and, once produced, transfer custody to the military. Hence, once the Russian military had "secured" all Soviet nukes and had transported those which were to be dismantled back to MinAtom, the remaining Nunn-Lugar activities were the responsibility of MinAtom. However, the vast majority of the billions of Nunn-Lugar funds that have been appropriated during the past 15 years that should have been spent in Russia – by MinAtom, with technical assistance by our Department of Energy and its National Laboratories – have been spent by Pentagon contractors on things that had nothing whatever to do with reducing the nuke threat. Like "defense conversion." Perversion of Congressional intent – especially via Perry’s Defense Conversion Program – got so bad that in the FY1998 Defense Appropriation bill, Congress decreed that "None of the funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be obligated or expended for the provision of assistance to Russia or any other state of the former Soviet Union to promote defense conversion." Now, back to "After the Bomb." Since Russia's sophisticated nuke arsenal is secured, any nuke the terrorists 'set off' in America will almost certainly be -- at most -- a first-generation nuke, like the one we dropped on Hiroshima. "For those within a two-mile-wide circle around a Hiroshima-sized detonation (in Washington, that diameter is the length of the Mall; in New York, three-fourths the length of Central Park; in most cities, the downtown area) or just downwind, little could be done. People in this zone who were not killed by the blast itself, perhaps hundreds of thousands of them, would get radiation sickness, and many would die." That’s terrible. Terrible! The Bush-Cheney White House lies within that circle. Furthermore, those outside that circle might have their chances of eventually getting cancer increase from the present 20% to a post-attack 21%. (Maybe even 22%.) So, what should you do if you live in Boise and you hear terrorists have destroyed the Bush-Cheney White House in retaliation for their unprovoked nuke attack on Iran? Well, according to Perry, that depends upon whether by then all three branches of the Federal government have gotten together to develop a "contingency plan" and on what that emergency plan "allows" or "requires" you to do. Of course, Perry recommends that "any emergency measures instituted on the day after [the Bomb] should be temporary, to be reviewed and curtailed as soon as the crisis ends." Right! Antiwar.com Home Page Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. Copyright 2007 Antiwar.com ***************************************************************** 2 SF Chronicle: The view from Tehran Tehran:/chronicle/archive/2007/06/17/EDGHQP1JHM1.DTL Joel Brinkley Sunday, June 17, 2007 IMAGINE this scenario for a moment. The Soviet Union never died, the Cold War never ended. The Russians invaded and occupied both Canada and Mexico, then in both countries installed "puppet" governments of their own. As Americans, wouldn't we feel that it was within our rights to harass and undermine these hostile new regimes? That, more or less, is where Iran finds itself today. The United States is Iran's sworn enemy. And yet American forces overthrew the governments in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran's eastern and western neighbors, and then installed new regimes. Almost from his first day in office, President Bush has vilified Iran. It is one arm of his "axis of evil" and, by U.S. government definition, a terrorist state. Almost daily, the United States hurls accusations, saying Iran is building nuclear weapons, arming the Iraqi insurgency and aiding Hezbollah, as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan. All of that may be true. I am not here to defend Iran. Its threat to annihilate Israel, alone, should make Iran a pariah state. But listening to the Bush administration today, I am reminded of the inflammatory and ultimately inaccurate rhetoric aimed at Iraq before the war that emanated from the White House like an unbroken bellicose drumbeat. The current moment feels eerily familiar, though the similarities reach only so far. For years, administration hardliners offered virtually the same argument that went something like this: "I can think of only one thing worse than dealing with the fallout from an attack on Iran. And that is allowing a country as dangerous as Iran to have nuclear weapons." Recently, however, several of those hardliners, including Defense Department officials Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith, as well as Robert Joseph of the State Department, have left government. And while Bush is burdened with the failed war in Iraq -- and poll numbers at the far southern end of the chart -- another risky military adventure seems unlikely. Still, I think it useful to consider how the mullahs sitting in Tehran view the world -- if only to give the White House rhetoric some context. Last month, Iran arrested three prominent Iranian Americans on charges of spying. Then last week, the Iranians acknowledged they had seized a fourth, Ali Shakeri, a businessman and peace activist from Lake Forest (Orange County). A few days ago, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary said prosecutors would decide shortly whether to release the four -- or try them for "crimes against national security." The White House decried the arrests, calling them unjustified. At the same time, however, Iranian officials are acutely aware that the United States is spending $73 million this year to "promote democracy in Iran," as the State Department puts it. Promoting democracy in Iran means, in plain language, removing the theocratic regime that rules now and replacing it with a new, democratic government. That's regime change. The $73 million funds several strategies, among them using friendly Iranian exiles to make contacts inside Iran and start democracy-promotion projects. As of early June, Washington had spent $16 million from the fund. So is it any wonder that Iranian officials regard the visiting Iranian Americans with suspicion -- even though no evidence has surfaced to implicate any of them? But consider how Tehran might view these visitors. For example, Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Center at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, has written and spoken widely about the unfortunate status of women in Iran. Last year, she held a public conference entitled "Iran Under President Ahmadinejad." I didn't attend it, but I doubt it provided a warm, laudatory assessment of the Iranian president -- nor should it have. Still, the Bush administration "wants to have their cake and eat it, too," says Abbas Milani, an Iranian-American scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. "They want to call it an oppressive regime, while at the same time they expect it to tolerate efforts funded from the outside to form a civil society." Milani is a vocal opponent of Iran's theocratic government. Nonetheless, he adds, "What would be the legitimate response to this from any regime?" The United Nations is pushing Iran to end its uranium enrichment program; Washington says Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies that. But Iran's leaders can't help but note that Israel has nuclear weapons -- not to mention Russia, Iran's neighbor to the north. The American troops to the east and the west have nuclear weapons, and the United States is the only nation ever to have used them in battle. What is more, Pakistan, another neighbor to the east, has nuclear weapons, and President Pervez Musharraf's government looks none too stable right now. Abbas asks: "Should I allow Pakistan to be a nuclear state, while I sit idly by, sucking my thumb?" From Tehran the world looks quite different. Americans will find it difficult to endorse the mullahs' views. Still, once again, the disagreements are not nearly as one-sided as the Bush administration would have us believe. Joel Brinkley is the Lorey I. Lokey professor of journalism at Stanford University. This article appeared on page F - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 3 RIA Novosti: Russia, NKorea to start railroad reconstruction - RZD CEO 12:10 | 16/ 06/ 2007 VLADIVOSTOK, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will participate in modernizing the North Korean Railroad, the president of Russian Railways (RZD), a railroad transportation giant, said Saturday. "The restoration of the Khasan (Russia)-Nadjin (North Korea) section of the [Trans-]Korean Railway will start before the end of this year. RZD has already reached agreement with the North Korean authorities on the reconstruction in this stretch," Vladimir Yakunin said. Russia and North Korea previously agreed to attract foreign investment for the project. Negotiations on the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railroad were conducted within the framework of tripartite consultations between Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. Earlier, South Korea proposed that North Korea and Russia invite other states to discuss financial problems of linking the Trans-Korean Railroad with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. RZD has been negotiating the reconstruction of the eastern sector of the Trans-Korean Railroad and its linkup to the Trans-Siberian Railroad for the past few years. The problem was brought up in August 2002, when Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed the idea of linking up the South and North Korean railroads to create an uninterrupted railroad from the Far Eastern ports to western Europe. In May, two trains made the first rail crossings between North and South Korea since the 1951-1953 Korean War, in a historic link-up. The two Koreas have been striving to improve relations since the breakthrough six-nation talks in February, involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, when Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear program for aid, energy supplies and security guarantees. The trains carried 150 passengers on a test run, largely politicians and journalists from both sides, and also a conductor from one of the last trains that made the crossing before the rail link was severed in 1951. North and South Korea re-linked their railways on June 14, 2003 on two sections of a 4 kilometer demilitarization zone, which divides the peninsula along the 38th parallel. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 4 Kyodo News: S. Korea to begin sending energy aid to N. Korea Monday - Hill JARGALANT, Mongolia, June 17 KYODO Top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill said Sunday that South Korea is set to begin preparations Monday for shipment of heavy fuel oil to North Korea, aid promised under a six-party deal in return for Pyongyang taking initial denuclearization steps. The top U.S. delegate to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program told reporters that his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung Woo told him of the preparations during their talks by telephone earlier Sunday. To access full stories on Kyodo News English website, it is necessary to subscribe. Please contact Kyodo's International Department in Tokyo via e-mail at kokusai@kyodonews.jp or call 03-6252-8301. If you are outside Japan, please contact Kyodo News International in New York at kni@kyodonews.com or call +1-212-508-5440. Currently we offer subscriptions to only corporate clients such as newspapers, magazines, trade publications, research institutes, government and international organizations. ***************************************************************** 5 No New Nukes. Period. Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 03:14:48 -0500 (CDT) Dear Richard, The Bush administration is adamant about developing and building a new generation of nuclear weapons (they're calling it the "Reliable Replacement Warhead" (RRW) program). There's a chance to kill that terrible idea, but it's up to the Senate. Right now, Senate leaders are drafting their spending bill that could terminate the nuclear weapons program entirely. This is our best shot to end funding of new nuclear weapons. Email your Senators and tell them to support an Energy and Water Appropriations bill that cuts all spending for new nuclear weapons. http://act.truemajority.org/o/1/t/3/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1174 Recently, the House threw a wrench in the administration's expensive and unnecessary nuclear program by denying the President's funding request for new nuclear weapons.[1] The Senate should follow the lead of the House by cutting all funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead Program in their spending bill. We should be working to make the world a safer, more peaceful place, not funding and building more nuclear weapons. Decisions about this bill are being made now. So be sure to email your senators today and ask that they do everything they can to call for a bill that cuts all funding to the nuclear weapons program. http://act.truemajority.org/o/1/t/3/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1174 We have a real chance to end funding for nuclear weapons, but the Senate needs to hear from as many of us as possible. After you've taken action, be sure to send this message onto your friends so they can get involved. Darcy Scott Martin TrueMajority.org Washington Director 1 - 'New Nuclear Warhead's Funding Eliminated,' Washington Post, May 24, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301512.html You can read more about the RRW program at the Union of Concerned Scientists website: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/new-nuclear-weapons-rrw.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the message we'll send to your senators: I know that the Senate is working on drafting the Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which would define spending for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program. I also know that the House of Representatives recently cut all funding for the RRW program in their bill and I hope the Senate will terminate this program. We should be working to make the world safer, not funding and building more nuclear weapons. Please use your elected position and influence to call for a bill that cuts all funding for new nuclear weapons. /*Your email ID. --*/ ***************************************************************** 6 SF Chron: Nuclear terror threat demands readiness / Time to make plans for day after the blast :/chronicle/archive/2007/06/17/INGMLQEST51.DTL William J. Perry, Ashton B. Carter and Michael M. May Sunday, June 17, 2007 The probability of a nuclear weapon one day going off in an American city cannot be calculated, but it is higher than it was five years ago. Potential sources of bombs or the fissile materials to make them have proliferated in North Korea and Iran. Russia's arsenal remains poorly secured 15 years after the end of the Soviet Union. And Pakistan's nuclear technology, already put on the market once by Abdul Qadeer Khan, could go to terrorists if President Pervez Musharraf cannot control radicals in that country. In the same period, terrorism has become a mass global movement and seems to gather strength daily as extremism spills out of Iraq into the rest of the Middle East, Asia, Europe and even the Americas. More nuclear materials that can be lost or stolen plus more terrorists aspiring to mass destruction equals a greater chance of nuclear terrorism. Former Sen. Sam Nunn in 2005 framed the need for Washington to do better at changing this math with a provocative question: On the day after a nuclear weapon goes off in an American city, "What would we wish we had done to prevent it?" But in view of the increased risk we now face, it is time to add a second question to Nunn's: What will we actually do on the day after? That is, what actions should our government take? It turns out that much could be done to save lives and ensure that civilization endures in such terrible circumstances. After all, the underlying equation would remain a few terrorists acting against all the rest of us, and even nuclear weapons need not undermine our strong societies if we prepare to act together sensibly. Sadly, it is time to consider such contingency planning. First and foremost, the scale of disaster would quickly overwhelm even the most prepared city and state governments. To avoid repeating the Hurricane Katrina fiasco on a much larger scale, Washington must stop pretending that its role would be to support local responders. State and local governments -- though their actions to save lives and avoid panic in the first hours would be essential -- must abandon the pretense that they could remain in charge. The federal government, led by the Department of Homeland Security, should plan to quickly step in and take full responsibility and devote all its resources, including those of the Department of Defense, to the crisis. Only the federal government could help the country deal rationally with the problem of radiation, which is unique to nuclear terrorism and uniquely frightening to most people. For those within a 2-mile-wide circle around a Hiroshima-size detonation (in Washington, that diameter is the length of the Mall; in New York, three-fourths the length of Central Park; in most cities, the downtown area) or just downwind, little could be done. People in this zone who were not killed by the blast itself, perhaps hundreds of thousands of them, would get radiation sickness, and many would die. But most of a city's residents, being farther away, would have more choices. What should they do as they watch a cloud of radioactive debris rise and float downwind like the dust from the twin towers on 9/11? Those lucky enough to be upwind could remain in their homes if they knew which way the fallout plume was blowing. (The federal government has the ability to determine that and to quickly broadcast the information.) But for those downwind and more than a few miles from ground zero, the best move would be to take shelter in a basement for three days or so and only then leave the area. This is a hard truth to absorb, because we all would have a strong instinct to flee. But walking toward the suburbs or sitting in long traffic jams would directly expose people to radiation, which would be the most intense on the day after the bomb went off. After that, the amount would drop off day by day (one-third as strong after three days, one-fifth as strong after five days, and so on), because of the natural decay of the radioactive components of the fallout. More tough decisions would arise later. People downwind could leave their homes or stay, leave for a while and then come back or leave and come back briefly to retrieve valuables. The choices would be determined by the dose of radiation they were willing to absorb. Except in the hot zone around the blast and a few miles downwind, even unsheltered people would not be exposed to enough radiation to make them die or even become sick. It would be enough only to raise their statistical chance of getting cancer later in life from 20 percent (the average chance we all have) to something greater -- 21, 22 percent, up to 30 percent at the maximum survivable exposure. Similar choices would face first responders and troops sent to the stricken area: How close to ground zero could they go, and for how long? Few would choose to have their risk of death from cancer go up to 30 percent. But in cases of smaller probabilities -- an increase to 20.1 percent, for example -- a first responder might be willing to go into the radiation zone, or a resident might want to return to pick up a beloved pet. These questions could be answered only by the individuals themselves, based on information about the explosion. Next comes the unpleasant fact that the first nuclear bomb may well not be the last. If terrorists manage to obtain a weapon, or the fissile material to make one (which fits into a small suitcase), who's to say they wouldn't have two or three more? And even if they had no more weapons, the terrorists would most likely claim that they did. So people in other cities would want to evacuate on the day after, or at least move their children to the countryside, as happened in England during World War II. The U.S. government, probably convened somewhere outside Washington by the day after, would be urgently trying to trace the source of the bombs. No doubt, the trail would lead back to some government -- Russia, Pakistan, North Korea or other countries with nuclear arsenals or advanced nuclear power programs -- because even the most sophisticated terrorist groups cannot make plutonium or enrich their own uranium; they would need to get their weapons or fissile materials from a government. The temptation would be to retaliate against that government. But that state might not even be aware that its bombs were stolen or sold, let alone have deliberately provided them to terrorists. Retaliating against Russia or Pakistan would therefore be counterproductive. Their cooperation would be needed to find out who got the bombs and how many there were, and to put an end to the campaign of nuclear terrorism. It is important to continue to develop the ability to trace any bomb by analyzing its residues. Any government that did not cooperate in the search should of course face possible retaliation. Finally, as buildings and lives were destroyed, so would the sense of safety and well-being of survivors, and this in turn could lead to panic. Contingency plans for the day after a nuclear blast should demonstrate to Americans that all three branches of government can work in unison and under the Constitution to respond to the crisis and prevent further destruction. A council of, say, the president, the vice president, the speaker of the House and the majority leader of the Senate, with the chief justice present as an observer, could consider certain aspects of the government's response, like increased surveillance. Any emergency measures instituted on the day after should be temporary, to be reviewed and curtailed as soon as the crisis ends. Forceful efforts to prevent a nuclear attack -- more forceful than we have seen in recent years -- may keep the day from coming. But as long as there is no way to be sure it will not, it is important to formulate contingency plans that can save thousands of lives and billions of dollars, prevent panic and promote recovery. They can also help us preserve our constitutional government, something that terrorists, even if armed with nuclear weapons, should never be allowed to take away. William J. Perry, a professor at Stanford, and Ashton B. Carter, a professor at Harvard University, were, respectively, the secretary and assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton administration. Michael M. May, also a professor at Stanford University, is a former director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This commentary first appeared in the New York Times. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page F - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 7 Japan Times: Nakasone admits U.S. may have moved nuclear arms through Japan japantimes.co.jp Web Sunday, June 17, 2007 Kyodo News Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone admitted in a recent interview that U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons may have sailed through Japanese territorial waters during the 1980s when he was in office. Yasuhiro Nakasone It is the first time a former prime minister has mentioned the possibility of U.S. "nuclear transit" during the Cold War. Japan, as the only country ever attacked by atomic bombs, is especially sensitive about nuclear arms. "It could be considered that (warships carrying nuclear weapons) might have come through (Japanese) waters" during the Cold War era, Nakasone said. "In the case of the Tsugaru Channel, for example, (nuclear-armed warships) might have to sail through there," he said, referring to the channel between Honshu and Hokkaido. "It is impossible for us to confirm that (U.S.) submarines are submerged in waters along the coast of Japan," he added, saying such nuclear transit would have taken place without his clear knowledge. "I thought we could not do anything." On the other hand, Nakasone stressed that Japan never allowed the U.S. Navy to bring nuclear weapons into Japanese ports under the nation's Three Nonnuclear Principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear arms to be brought into Japan. It has been swept under the rug whether U.S. ships and bombers carrying nuclear arms have passed through Japanese territorial waters and air space. Administrations, including the one led by Nakasone, a conservative, pro-U.S. politician considered to be an expert on defense and security, have repeatedly denied nuclear transits. According to declassified U.S. documents from the 1960s, the two countries tacitly agreed to exempt sea and air nuclear transit from the idea of "nuclear introduction" prohibited under the Three Nonnuclear Principles approved by the Diet in 1971. One secret telegram sent by then U.S. Ambassador Edwin Reischauer to the State Department, dated April 4, 1963, detailed highly confidential talks between him and Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira on the interpretation of "nuclear introduction." The cable revealed that the two countries confirmed nuclear "transit" is not considered nuclear "introduction," creating a practical loophole that allows the U.S. military to bring nuclear weapons into Japanese waters and air space if they are not stored on Japanese land. On the consistent U.S. policy of "neither confirming or denying" the existence of nuclear weapons, meanwhile, Nakasone implied that such a policy could allow the United States and Japan to leave ambiguous the reality of nuclear deployment around Japan, which faced nuclear and conventional threats from the Soviet Union and China. Asked whether the U.S. policy worked for both countries to deny the existence of nuclear weapons in Japanese waters, he said, "The principle of each country crossed." In 1991, then President George Bush made a unilateral decision to withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from naval vessels. Since then, no nuclear-armed ship has visited Japan. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 8 UPI: China commemorates bomb test United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 17, 2007 at 2:59 PM BEIJING, June 17 (UPI) -- China Sunday commemorated the 40th anniversary of its first test of a hydrogen bomb and called for development of new technologies. Scientists developed the bomb under harsh conditions in the desert of west China's Xinjiang autonomous region, reported Xinhua, China's official news agency. "We lived in cave dwellings, ate qingke barley and our only vegetable was cabbage," said Wang Jingheng, 77, former head of China's first nuclear weapons research program. "When there was not enough food, we had to search for edible wild herbs to feed ourselves." Li Yingxiang, former head of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, urged China's leaders and scientists to use the past to explore the future. "Remembering the history of developing the first hydrogen bomb is of great significance to today's scientific research," said Li.    © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 The Australian: Protesters mobilise against US war games NEWS.com.au | * June 18, 2007 * Paul Maley THE largest joint military exercise between Australia and the US will open in Sydney today amid howls of protest from peace and religious groups. Operation Talisman Sabre, a war games exercise held every two years and involving about 27,000 US and Australian personnel, has been condemned by peace groups. Anglican leaders in Melbourne have raised concerns about possible environmental impacts. The exercise, which will be conducted at Shoalwater Bay in Queensland and in the Northern Territory, will involve 20 Australian ships and 25 aircraft. The US will contribute 10 ships, 100 aircraft and up to 20,000 personnel. Hundreds of people marched through Brisbane over the weekend, starting a week of rolling protests against the exercise, which will run until July 2. Just Peace convener and protest organiser Annette Brownlie said about 1000 people were expected to converge this week at a "peace embassy" established near Rockhampton. "It's an indication of how much concern there is in the community about our continuing alliance with the US and the debacle of Iraq," she said. Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition spokesman Denis Doherty said activists would be flying in from overseas to join the protests. In Melbourne, a spokesman for the annual Anglican Synod Harry Kerr expressed concern that the exercises could involve nuclear-powered ships, depleted uranium, and sonar equipment, which could hurt marine life. Reverend Kerr's comments were accompanied by a protest outside St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. Greens senator Bob Brown backed the Anglicans, saying the exercise was being conducted during whale calfing season, leaving the mammals particularly vulnerable. However, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said concerns about environmental damage were baseless. A spokesman for Dr Nelson said shells with depleted uranium - which has been linked to a range of health complaints, including so-called Gulf War syndrome - would not be used and that stringent environmental guidelines would ensure sonar equipment had "no significant impact" on whales. However, he did confirm that nuclear-powered US submarines would be participating. © The Australian ***************************************************************** 10 Scientific American: The Limited Appeal of Nuclear Energy June 17, 2007 Forum July 2007 issue To developing nations, the new arguments for nuclear power are far from compelling By JOSE GOLDEMBERG and Jose Goldemberg After 20 years of stagnaion, nuclear energy again finds favor in the eyes of many energy planners. In contrast with electricity generated from coal or natural gas, nuclear power contributes little to greenhouse gas emissions and could therefore help in the effort to reduce global warming. The establishment of a tax on carbon emissions, which has been widely proposed as an incentive to move away from fossil-fuel use, would make nuclear energy even more attractive. Such arguments may ultimately prove compelling to industrial nations—but to assume that the developing nations will follow suit is to ignore some important realities. Currently 435 nuclear reactors operate around the world, with an electrical generating capacity of approximately 370 gigawatts (GW), providing about 17 percent of the world’s electricity. Various analysts have optimistically foreseen a steep rise in those numbers. For instance, a 2003 interdisciplinary study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology outlined a scenario of “low” nuclear growth that would still allow a tripling of nuclear generation by 2050. The contribution of the developing nations would soar to a third of the whole, from 10 to 307 GW. To reach that level, however, would demand about 8 percent annual growth sustained over 45 years. No economic modeling figured into that estimate; the analysts merely assumed that the developing nations would aim for the 10 to 20 percent share of electricity from nuclear power that the rest of the world would adopt. Yet financing the up-front investments needed for nuclear plants is a major challenge even in industrialized countries: so far nuclear power expands only where governments facilitate private investment, a practice that is at odds with strong market liberalization policies. That trend will hold even more markedly in developing countries. Moreover, motivation to shift to nuclear energy may be lacking. Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions simply do not have a high priority now in developing nations. Neither the Kyoto Protocol nor any other international agreement constrains those emissions for them (they were exempted to assist their development). For poor countries, the pivotal problem is the allocation of scarce resources. Their financial authorities cannot easily justify subsidizing nuclear energy at the expense of more pressing needs in health, education and poverty reduction. Nor is the need for energy a sufficient compulsion. Most of the anticipated growth in nuclear energy in the developing world is commonly ascribed to China and India. In recent years, they have become prime markets for nuclear technology imports because their indigenous programs have been at best qualified successes. Yet those countries, and indeed the rest of the developing world, have abundant nonnuclear energy alternatives, too. Cleaner coal-burning technologies would reduce emissions not only of greenhouse gases but also of soot and other by-products that cause local and regional pollution—and they could prove to be easier or less expensive to implement. Many developing nations have underexploited their hydroelectric power options: worldwide only around 32 percent of the economical hydroelectric potential has been tapped so far, and in sub-Saharan Africa that figure is far smaller. Other renewable energy sources, particularly biofuels for transportation, also have good prospects. Further practical considerations can intrude, too. The smaller developing countries have electric grids with capacities of less than 10 GW. Large nuclear reactors will therefore not fit in them without violating the common best-practice guideline that no more than 10 percent of a grid should draw from a single source. The greatest objection to the spread of nuclear technology and power reactors to developing countries, however, is that it will increase the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation. The temptation for developing countries to go nuclear is particularly common when the political regime is not democratic, as happened previously in South Africa, Brazil and Argentina and as is currently happening in Iran, where national prestige can overrule rational economic decisions and sensible energy policies. Ultimately it seems likely that internal conflicts and international antiproliferation restrictions will contain the growth of even civilian nuclear programs. Nuclear energy may well play a larger role in the future of the U.S. and other industrial nations. The rest of the world, however, will most probably look elsewhere for the clean energy it needs. Jose Goldemberg, a physicist by training, is secretary for the environment of the state of Sao Paulo and previously served the government of Brazil as secretary of state for science and technology, secretary of the environment, and minister of education. © 1996-2007 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 EnerPub: Swedish nuclear power plant gets new turbines | Energy Publisher The upgrades will ensure high plant operating reliability and low power generation costs over the long term Saturday, June 16, 2007 by WNN  Unit 2 at Sweden's Oskarshamn nuclear power plant is to undergo upgrading that will increase the plant's installed capacity by more than 30 MWe. Siemens Power Generation has won the contract to upgrade the low-pressure turbines at the 610 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR). The new turbines will use advanced three-dimensional blading technology, enabling them to make better use of the energy contained in the steam produced by the reactor. As well as the low-pressure turbines, Siemens will supply other related components and a new instrumentation and control system. According to Siemens, the upgrades will ensure high plant operating reliability and low power generation costs over the long term. Oskarshamn 2 is one of three BWRs at the site, operated by OKG, itself a Swedish subsidiary of EOn. It entered commercial operation in 1975. Unlike a pressurised water reactor, steam from a BWR is fed directly to the turbines without passing through a heat exchanger. The upgrades to unit 2 are planned for completion in 2009. OKG signed a contract with Alstom for a 250 MWe upgrade of the larger and more modern Oskarshamn 3 in 2006, including a turbine upgrade as well as reactor upgrade. Sweden has ten operating nuclear power units, generating up to half its electricity. World Nuclear News provides comprehensive coverage of worldwide nuclear developments in context © Copyright EnerPub, All rights reserved. RSS ***************************************************************** 12 Pacific Daily News: We must consider nuclear energy www.guampdn.com - Hagatna, GU Monday, June 18, 2007 By Frank Ishizaki It is time that we consider alternative methods of power generation for Guam. Much has been written and discussed concerning alternative forms of energy, but very little has been covered concerning the use of nuclear energy as an option. General reluctance to consider nuclear energy as an alternative is probably due to a lack of information concerning safety and cost concerns. Additionally, because we have always used fossil fuel to produce electricity, we might be reluctant to seriously consider nuclear energy as an option. Yes, safety should be a top concern, followed by cost-effective production methods. While we have seen disastrous events from poorly designed or operated nuclear plants in the past from the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island nuclear incidents, we must intelligently study nuclear energy as an option. The United States is the world leader in nuclear energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversees its safe use. Many public utility agencies have been safely operating nuclear plants in the United States for many years. While the initial costs of building and operating a nuclear power plant are very high, the long-term operating costs are very low. The cost vs. risk analysis of this form of electrical generation is worthy of consideration. Our Navy has safely utilized nuclear energy to produce electricity for many years. While we are currently totally dependent on foreign fossil fuel, alternatively we will not be dependent on a foreign supply of nuclear fission material. The price and supply of fossil fuel are dictated to us by the basic rules of global business. Because the basic rule of supply and demand is outside our control, we easily fall victim to forces outside of Guam. Other basic questions include global warming, concerns raised by increased production of carbon dioxide, as well as the question of global supply limits of fossil fuel. More and more American utility companies are moving toward nuclear energy as an option. Because nuclear source material is abundantly available within our country, more American public utility agencies are submitting applications for approval with the NRC to build new plants. Progressive foreign nations are using U.S. designs to build nuclear plants. The more basic question we must ask ourselves is not whether to pursue this option, but when. How long do we wait to pursue alternative methods of electrical generation and how long do we allow foreign price controls to dictate how we live? We must direct our CCU and GPA to study alternative methods of electrical generation and to seriously consider nuclear energy as one option. Frank Ishizaki is a senator in the 29th Guam Legislature. Copyright ©2007 The Pacific Daily News. ***************************************************************** 13 Independent: Revealed: faulty nuclear reactor was allowed to operate without safety alarm - By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor Published: 17 June 2007 Britain's nuclear watchdog last month allowed a faulty nuclear reactor to start up even though it had not been fitted with an important safety system, startling internal documents seen by The Independent on Sunday reveal. The documents also show that the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate (NII) judged that the reactor, at Oldbury nuclear power station in Gloucestershire, was not safe enough to operate for the next 18 months, but allowed it to go onstream until November anyway. The revelations - described as "deeply alarming" by top nuclear expert John Large yesterday - are bound to fuel concern at a time when ministers are encouraging the building of a new generation of reactors. The heavily censored documents - released under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to the Stop Oldbury campaign - come from an investigation into the safety of reactor 2 at the power station. They reveal a one-in-1,000 risk of a fire in the highly radioactive nuclear fuel, a figure that Dr Large regards as "unacceptably high". They show that the NII pressed for the installation of a safety system, called "a failed fuel trip system", which would automatically shut down the reactor if such a fire broke out. But it accepted the response of the power station's operator, the British Nuclear Group, that "it would be disproportionate to further delay the return to service of the reactor" while it was fitted. The NII also cast doubt on the company's ability to cope with exceptional circumstances. But the watchdog still allowed the reactor to start up last month and operate until November. In the event, within two weeks an unrelated fire broke out in a non-nuclear part of the plant, and the power station had to be shut down indefinitely. : Independent.co.uk © 2007 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 14 Daily Press: Letters to the editor: Reason for nuclear power hiatus Opinion Today Hampton Roads, Virginia - June 17, 2007 9:58 PM June 17, 2007 Reference the article "Virginia's nuclear future," June 10, by Marc Fisher, on the North Anna Power Station. As a past employee of Virginia Power, I took numerous newspaper reporters on guided tours of the North Anna Power Station in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After listening to the questions asked by reporters and reading the articles written following these tours, it became obvious to me that almost all reporters are more interested in creating an exciting or sensational story than in obtaining and presenting the facts. As a result, these articles usually put far more emphasis on the risks associated with nuclear power than on its benefits. While your article about North Anna Power Station was not as bad as most, it does contain several errors. The most glaring was the statement that the decision not to build the third and fourth units at North Anna was the result of the actions of the antinuclear movement. In fact, the decision was an economic one. Following the accident at Three Mile Island, the regulatory process for licensing, building and operating a nuclear power plant became much more difficult and lengthy, and therefore much more costly. As a result, no new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States since then because no electric utility could prudently subject their rate-payers and stockholders to such an economic risk. Only now, with the recent revisions to the regulatory process, can such an undertaking be considered. Jim Ogren Carrollton n Immigration bill I found the two articles on the immigration debate most interesting ("Focus should be on real danger, not on immigrants," and "Poor immigrants end up being expensive for U.S.," June 3). Both articles are critical of this "comprehensive" approach. The issue of the Department of Homeland Security is well raised regarding immigrants. In the spirit of "comprehensive" this bill calls on the department to "vet" those illegals who come forward in a short period of time - an impossible task. So, secure the borders and get a grip on just who is here and who has overstayed their legal time. This is a massive job. Understand that the American public simply doesn't trust the government to do the job described by this bill simply because of the government's past abject failure to do what should have been started during the Reagan presidency with the first amnesty bill. Our government seems obsessed with allowing the current wave of illegals to become citizens. Hidden in the background is a political agenda - potential future votes from a grateful constituency (Democrats) and a cheap labor supply (Republicans). We need more high-tech workers and skilled tradespeople. Certain states need farm workers. Expand the legal guest-worker program we have now (H1 and H2 visas). The White House and many members of Congress have stated that many of those here now do not wish to become citizens. So, decouple any guest-worker program from a path to citizenship. At the same time, allow country-based immigration to continue. I encourage the entry of those who wish to join our society. But I have no wish to encourage the multiculturalism that this bill would create. Jim Hurst James City County In the '877' Re your June 6 feature "You know you live in the (757) when ...," I'd like to add a companion thought: "You know that your local phone prefix is 877 when..." you receive phone calls intended for long-distance, toll-free numbers. Case in point: An organization has been sending unsolicited fax letters to local addresses. They have an opt-out listing with a toll- free (877) number. Unfortunately it neglected to indicate that the number "1" is to be entered prior to the 877. On top of that the next four digits after 877 are my home listing. So in the past several weeks we have received over 50 opt-out calls. We advise them to enter a "1" first. We have contacted the agency, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to no avail. Hopefully, this letter will get published and maybe we will obtain some peace. Roger A. Scott Newport News Protect hunting dogs I am writing in anger about the lack of care by hunters concerning their hunting dogs. I moved to Toano two years ago. In that time I have rescued four beagle hunting dogs. No collars, no tags, all infested with ticks and the like. I have animals; I take care of them. When a helpless dog comes to my attention, I cannot turn my back. I take it to my vet, get it proper care and get it fixed; then I find it a good home where it will be loved and cared for. All of this costs me hundreds out of my own pocket. I cannot stand to see animals suffer from neglect and abuse by being left at the roadside to be hit by cars or dying from their owners' lack of responsibility. The "good ol' boy, let's go out and shoot somethin' today" hunting mentality needs to be addressed. Frankly, I am sick of hunters' careless attitudes. This is one of the few states that still allow hunting with dogs. Who is monitoring hunt clubs to make sure the dogs are well cared for? Yes, I am mad and I plan on taking this up my local delegate. Avril Purvis Toano Whites have nerve Leonard Pitts' 2007 column on "discrimination" against whites is so accurate that it hurts ("Really, whites aren't the victims, June 5). How dare any white person in this country, where the social, economic and political power are so overwhelmingly concentrated in the hands of whites, complain that he or she is not getting a fair deal on account of race? Once upon a time we expected, if not accepted, such irrationality from the ranks of the uneducated nonachievers (and those who chose to exploit them) whose low self-esteem demanded a scapegoat on which to blame their troubles. Today, however, we hear a softer, gentler form of this bigotry from those who ought to know better - middle and upper class whites who self-righteously intone that any form of affirmative action for African-Americans should no longer be necessary, hat it has been in place long enough to overcome the ill effects of our 400-year history. They, and we, should be ashamed whenever we hear such nonsense. Ask why it was acceptable to grant preferential treatment to white males for 400 years, but now, 40 years of miniscule assistance to blacks is too much. Those who mourn in sorrow and in anger 250 years of slavery, degradation and depredation and the destruction of their culture are flippantly advised to "get over it." How strange that such advice is given by those who now seethe because a few blacks have more "bling." Deborah Kratter Williamsburg Pick up litter I love to walk in my neighborhood. But as I walk I have noticed, even though my neighbors pick up trash, scoop the dog poop and generally clean up, there is one area we neglect. There are flyers that are distributed to houses that may be empty. They lie out in the driveways, finally slip to the curb, find their way to the drains, and guess what ... they end up in the waterways. We could say "no distribution," but that is probably not a good answer. Sometimes the flyer has helpful information, bags for charity pickup or business ads. Most of my neighbors, as I said, do pick up this material. A better idea, and one that I will adopt, is if I know there is an empty home in my area, I will make it my responsibility to pick up wayward material. Let's keep this out of our waterways. Be a good neighbor. Pick it up and trash it. Pat Parker Litter awareness chairman, Hampton ***************************************************************** 15 Aspen Daily News: Stop nuclear production Aspen, Colorado Letter to the Editor - Sat 06/16/2007 08:01PM MST Editor: According to the National Geographic magazine, July 2002, "Nuclear waste seeking solutions," for the U.S.A. 1. High-level waste: spent fuel form nuclear reactors 52,000 tons; plutonium production 91 million gallons. 2. Transuranic waste: contaminated clothing, tools, etc., 11.3 million cub feet buried at government sites. 3. Low and mixed-level: includes radioactive and hazardous waste from hospitals and research institutions and decommissioned power plants, 472 million cubic feet. 4. Uranium mill tailings: residues from the extraction of uranium ore, 265 million tons. 5. Some nuclear waste containers can last 10,000 years if undisturbed; however, nuclear waste will be active and deadly for 48,000 years. We have no solutions. 6. Except for hospitals or peaceful research, the production of nuclear waste must be stopped everywhere. Please petition the U.N. Eloise Ilgen Carbondale ***************************************************************** 16 globeandmail.com: Governments called irresponsible on nuclear power Canadian Press June 16, 2007 at 7:54 PM EDT ? Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's claim that elevated levels of radioactive tritium found in the Great Lakes pose no health threat proves he's ignoring his responsibilities to the public, an environmental conference heard Saturday. “The government's general theme is to duck and dodge and avoid responsibility for (nuclear) issues,” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner with Greenpeace. Mr. Stensil was speaking in Toronto at the annual conference of Great Lakes United, an international collective of environmental lobbyists who want to see the U.S. and Canada take greater action to keep the waterway clean. A Greenpeace report released last week found that levels of tritium in Lake Ontario, which is flanked by 10 nuclear reactors, were three times higher than levels in Lake Superior, which has no reactors. The report also criticized Canada for having regulations for tritium concentrations 10 times less strict than those in the U.S. and 70 times less strict than those in Europe. On the heels of the report's release, Mr. McGuinty said he was confident the federal government would take charge if anything was wrong. Derek Stack, the conference's executive director, said Mr. McGuinty's reaction to the study was not surprising given that the Ontario government is heading into an election. “They're determined to get out a positive, green message,” he said. “The downplaying there only has to do with politics.” Ontario's natural resources minister, David Ramsay, said the results warranted further study. “Obviously, I want to look into it more,” he told The Canadian Press. Nuclear industry representatives maintain that even the maximum allowable Canadian limit for tritium concentration in water is safe. Jeremy Whitlock, a past president of the Canadian Nuclear Society, said people shouldn't be concerned by the discrepancy between tritium regulations here and those in other countries. “Regardless of the different regimes, we're talking about levels of radiation where there's been no observed effects,” he said. Mr. Whitlock said researchers have studied tritium for decades and Canada's levels are safe. Steve Erwin, a spokesman for Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, said Ontario Power Generation sets its own concentration standards — and these are much lower than U.S. regulations. He said Ontario Power Generation's self-imposed maximum limit for tritium concentrations in nearby water is 100 becquerels per litre, which is seven times less than the American maximum limits. “Nuclear plants wouldn't be running if we didn't think they were safe,” said Mr. Erwin. But Mr. Stensil and Mr. Stack said even if they were convinced the plants were safe in terms of tritium emissions, nuclear power should be phased out. They referenced a number of other issues, from the threat of proliferation to the problem of where to store waste. On that issue, Mr. Stensil took aim at the federal government, which recently announced it would approve plans to dispose of nuclear waste by burying it underground. He said Ottawa's plan amounts to nothing more than a re-packaging of a similar proposal on the table decades ago. “All the old problems are still there and we need to remind the government of that,” he said. “What community is going to accept dangerous radioactive waste?” Mr. Stensil said, calling the government's plan unfeasible. Mr. Stensil called on governments to abandon commitments to nuclear power in favour of cleaner alternatives. But the province's natural resources minister said that's not possible because new technologies can't provide a steady baseload and consistent demand for electricity. “So what we're doing in Ontario is ensuring we have the greatest diversity of energy sources possible,” said Mr. Ramsay, adding that for now, that includes nuclear power plants. globeandmail.com and The Globe and Mail are divisions of CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc., 444 Front St. W., Toronto, ON  Canada M5V 2S9 Phillip Crawley, Publisher ***************************************************************** 17 ANTARA News: Gorontalo may build nuclear power plant in 2008 Economic & Business 06/18/07 06:05 Gorontalo, Gorontalo (ANTARA News) - Gorontalo will likely become Indonesia`s first province to have a nuclear power plant (PLTN) after it reached agreement with the Russian power company Raoues to set up a nuclear power plant in the province, an Indonesian official has said. "It appeared that Gorontalo is quite serious in realizing it its plan to have a nuclear power plant. The plan will hopefully encourage other provinces to follow suit," Nuclear Energy Monitoring Agency (Bapeten) chairman Sukarman Aminojoyo said here Sunday. "Another province that is ready to have a nuclear power plant is East Kalimantan, but Gorontalo has moved ahead of the province in making preparations for a nuclear power plant," he said. Sukarman expressed hope that the 70 MW floating nuclear power plant in Gorontalo which will be built starting in 2008, would contribute to efforts at overcoming the prolonged power supply shortages in the province. He also said that as of April 2007 Bapeten had already issued 12,243 permits to use nuclear technology, to 4,169 to industries, 4,814 to medical establishments, 3,222 to radiation protection personnel, and 38 to educational and university research programs. Copyright © 2007 ANTARA View blog reactions Copyright © 2007 LKBN ANTARA ***************************************************************** 18 IAEA: Report on Possible New Framework for Using Nuclear Energy Report to IAEA Board Addresses Options for Assurance of Supply of Nuclear Fuel Staff Report 15 June 2007 IAEA Board of Governors. (Photo: D. Calma/IAEA) A new IAEA report on a multilateral framework for nuclear energy presents a range of options that seek to guarantee supplies of nuclear fuel while minimizing proliferation risks. IAEA Director General ElBaredei presented the report this week to the Agency's Board of Governors. The 90-plus page report - entitled Possible New Framework for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy: Options for Assurance of Supply of Nuclear Fuel - addresses proposals put forward over the past two years by various States and institutions. Some proposals call for the creation of an actual or virtual reserve fuel bank of last resort, under IAEA auspices, for the assurance of supply of nuclear fuel. This bank would operate on the basis of apolitical and non-discriminatory non-proliferation criteria. Others call for conversion of a national facility into an international enrichment centre. Still others call for the construction of a new, multinational enrichment facility under IAEA control. "We are looking these proposals and their associated legal, technical, financial and institutional aspects," Dr. ElBaradei said. "Trends clearly point to the need for developing a new multilateral framework for the nuclear fuel cycle. And it´s clear that an incremental approach, with multiple assurances in place, is the way to move forward." Such a multilateral framework could best be achieved through establishing mechanisms that would: * assure the supply of fuel for nuclear power plants, * over time, convert enrichment and reprocessing facilities from national to multilateral operations, and * limit future enrichment and reprocessing to multilateral operations. Such a framework is voluntary and States are free to choose their fuel options - no rights of States would compromised. Background: The report comes at a time when more countries are expressing interest in nuclear power for electricity generation, to help meet rising energy demands. This would mean increased demand for fuel cycle services. It also means an increase in the potential proliferation risks created by the spread of sensitive nuclear technology, such as that used in uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel reprocessing. In February 2005, the IAEA Director General issued a report on Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. In September 2006, the IAEA organized a Special Event during its annual General Conference on the subject. The latest report was submitted to the Board for its future consideration and discussion, including a decision on the report´s public release. See Story Resources for more information. Copyright ©, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: ***************************************************************** 19 DNA: 'US needs to make substantial changes in nuclear deal' - Daily News & Analysis dnaindia.com | India | Report PTI Sunday, June 17, 2007 13:40 IST MUMBAI: Senior nuclear scientists say unless the US makes substantial changes in its civil nuclear deal with India, back and forth negotiations on the bilateral 123 agreement to implement the deal are meaningless. The tough terms and conditions for the civilian nuclear engagement with India as laid out in the Henry Hyde Act passed by US Congress in December 2006 and intent of the July 18, 2005 statement are at complete divergence with each other and so it is important to resolve it soon, they say. Most of the senior scientists did not want to be quoted barring two former chairmen Atomic Energy Commission M R Srinivasan and P K Iyengar. Srinivasan, Atomic Energy Commission member, said, "Now, it is the US which has to find a way to resolve the issue as the 123 agreement is only the operational arm of Henry Hyde Act". Asked about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent suggestion on creating a national reprocessing facility for spent fuel as a civilian facility, he said, "Those issues can wait and they are matter of details. But what is important at this juncture is for the Americans to comply by the July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 joint statements and for India it is the Prime Minister's promise on the floor of Parliament". According to the agreement of March 2, 2006, the reprocessing of spent fuel from foreign plants and Indian plants was based on an 'assay mode' or 'double mode'. That is not possible without revisions in the Hyde Act, some of the Department of Atomic Energy scientists said. Iyengar said "Notwithstanding the fact that in the July 18, 2005 statement the US had recognized India as a developed country with a strategic programme and that the US had to come out with a separation plan for nuclear facilities in March 2006, the US knew that India was very strong. "Therefore, the negotiations that took place between March and November 2006 have evolved into a modification of the Atomic Energy Act of the US which was not so rigid in November. However, the conciliation committee when making it final, made it very rigid in complete disregard to any of India's objection, which were on the table," Iyengar said. "It takes years to understand the intricacies and nuances of nuclear policy and why should we get into the often whimsical and partisan non-proliferation aspects as promoted by the US from time to time? It is quite clear that the US under secretary Nicholas Burns, who claimed 90 per cent completion of the bilateral 123 agreement talks successfully, seems to have burnt himself," he said. Scientists and policy experts have noted with some amusement the predictable constitution of the "expert committee" intended to examine in detail issues governing non-proliferation, India's deterrent and other related subjects. The very composition of this hand-picked group (a committee of three) and the fact that they have been asked to look into these issues in the few weeks leading up to the July visit to India by US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, "is the only aspect of the entire saga that is patently transparent", a senior DAE scientist stated. If indeed the Prime Minister intends to make good his numerous promises to Parliament, no choice remains but to press for substantial changes in the Hyde Act. Officials in the MEA examining the deal have commented in December 2006 that "the Hyde Act is law and supercedes any bi-lateral agreement. If anything within the 123 agreement contradicts the Hyde Act, the act will supercede any and all terms of the agreement. A known parallel in the case is of the Taiwan Relations Act which supercedes three previous joint communiques with China which is well aware that ultimately the US government will be bound by the terms of the Act, MEA officials had pointed out. "We have hurriedly suggested a national reprocessing facility under international safeguards in an attempt to win the 'up-down' vote and appease the US Congress," DAE officials said. The very fact that the US has not responded to India's offer only implies that it does not serve their purpose. Such attempts at subterfuge only highlight that reprocessing is not a right the US wishes to allow India to retain and the Hyde Act can be invoked at any time to override this "concession" DAE officials added. Following the footsteps of the latest offer, there is a real fear that bizarre "concessions", including invoking US Presidential certifications for reprocessing Tarapur fuel (which India can do by right) may be proposed to push through the '123' agreement entirely on US terms, DAE officials said. If such certifications are allowed, not only does it set a dangerous precedent for the Indian nuclear programme but it puts India squarely in the path of future US Presidential retractions, they warn. "Indian negotiators were attempting to convince us that the Hyde Act is an internal US legislation, not binding on India. Here is another example that the US remains bound by its terms and intends to invoke them to bludgeon India into agreeing (to their terms)," a few senior scientists said. "Why is India running around trying to engage the IAEA and the NSG when the ball is squarely in the US court to deliver as promised?" said a few veteran nuclear scientists. Rather than deliver on their promises and to cover up the fact that they are already welshing, India is made to run around in futility even as the US goes about changing its mind with impunity, DAE officials noted. "If India has to engage in business with US seriously, then New Delhi has to tell the US to revise or modify the Hyde Act," they said. Answering a query on wordings of the bilateral agreement which would take care of future problems based on the Taiwan experience of bilateral agreement with US, he said, "India understands the nuances and we do not lack any expertise in doing so". A veteran nuclear engineer said, "It is not the question of life and death situation for India to go in a hurry to sign the agreement. Why this hurry when US legislation is against us?" Iyengar said, "It is surprising that although the Prime Minister has said during his very brief meeting with Bush that India will build a dedicated national facility, he never uttered a word about the Henry Hyde Act of December 2006 which is very much linked to 123 agreement. © 2005-2007 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: Call for Spain to switch fully to renewables - Sat Jun 16, 4:38 PM ET MADRID (AFP) - Some 4,000 environmental campaigners gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to press the government to commit Spain to switch fully to renewable energy sources by 2050, Greenpeace said. Greenpeace in February began a campaign to urge Spain to boost use of renewables, although the country is already a European leader in the field. Eva Salana, spokeswoman for the environmental pressure group, told the Europa Press news agency that "it is technically and economically possible" to achieve the aim. Greenpeace used Saturday's meeting to boost public awareness of the issue through an exhibition dubbed "time tunnel," showing scenarios of how countries could work together to combat climate change. In January, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ruled out increasing Spain's reliance on nuclear energy for the time being, saying that nuclear expansion "does not figure in the government's plans." The Socialist government promised in its 2004 election manifesto to abandon progressively the Spanish nuclear programme, which currently accounts for 23 percent of national electricity production. But he added that the Socialist energy manifesto for the 2008 general election had not yet been drawn up. He also noted that "we must rely much more on renewable and alternative energy sources and have a common European policy on energy matters." Spain currently has eight functioning nuclear plants, relatively few compared with other countries such as France, Britain or Germany. In March, the government revealed that the Canary Island of El Hierro would by 2009 receive 100 percent of its electricity supply from renewable energy sources via a combination of hydroelectricity and wind power. A 54.3 million euro (65 million dollar) scheme being developed on the island is designed to cut the island's annual carbon dioxide emissions by 18,700 tonnes. Spain is second only to Germany in Europe in terms of installed wind power capacity while EU states recently targeted a 20 percent share of overall energy production for the bloc by 2010, compared with a projected three percent for Japan, for example. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 AFP: US tightens high-tech export controls for China - by Maxim Kniazkov Sat Jun 16, 2:30 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States late Friday slapped new restrictions on high-technology exports to China and moved to create a pool of so-called "trusted customers" within the Chinese business community who will be rewarded for compliance with US guidelines. The measures, announced by the Commerce Department, came amid growing concern in the administration and Congress that China is using its booming high-technology trade with the United States to accelerate a massive military buildup that might undercut US interests in Asia. The updated export control list that has been under consideration for more than a year covers a total of 20 product categories ranging from avionics to computer software. It includes aircraft and aircraft engines, inertial navigation systems, lasers, optical fibers, depleted uranium, underwater cameras and propulsion systems, certain composite materials and telecommunications equipment. Export of such equipment with potential military applications, which is also known as dual-use technology, requires a US government license. "The steps we are taking today are good for national security, and for American exporters and jobs," Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in a statement. At the same time, the US government is introducing a so-called "validated end-user" program, under which certain "trusted customers" in China will be able to receive dual-use items without individual export licenses if they establish their bona fides in Washington. Officials said these companies must have "a track record of responsible civilian use of US-controlled technology." To prove it, they will be required to submit information about their ownership structure, transactions, items considered for importation and subsequent transfers as well as internal control and record-keeping procedures. Candidates for "trusted customers" will also have to agree to US government on-site inspections of their facilities. The applications will be reviewed by a US government committee, officials said. An initial list of "trusted customers" is expected to be published next month. "This new rule strikes the right balance in our complex relationship with China," Gutierrez noted in his statement. "It is a common-sense approach that will make it easier for US companies to sell to pre-screened civilian customers in China, while at the same time denying access to US technology that would contribute to China's military." The new restrictions on US-China trade are fueled by rising concerns in the US capital about China's accelerated military modernization. In an analysis published by the conservative Heritage Foundation last month, former US diplomat John Tkacik pointed out that 15 years ago, the US intelligence community concluded that the People's Liberation Army of China was more than 20 years behind the West. But in January, the PLA shot down a satellite with an ultra-sophisticated kinetic weapon, he wrote. Moreover, in the last five years, China has brought on line 20 super-quiet, diesel-electric submarines, increasing its fleet of modern submarines to 55. "Now there is speculation the Chinese are developing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells that allow their subs to stay submerged far longer and eliminate any detectable mechanical noise," the expert pointed out. 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. In light of these assessments, Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia-Pacific affairs, told Congress Wednesday that the United States "must plan and prepare for the worst" in its dealings with China. China blasted these comments as "irresponsible." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 SMN: Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Kozloduy N-Plant's Goes Offline for Maintenance Sofia Morning News 16 June 2007, Saturday Unit 5 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant was disconnected from the country's power grid on Saturday for annual maintenance. The 1000 MW unit went offline as scheduled and will be reconnected to the power grid in August. The maintenance works include refueling the nuclear reactor, as well as minor repairs to its equipment. The sixth unit, with an identical installed power of 1000 MW, is working at full capacity to compensate part of the lost power-generation capacity, the plant's press service said. Units 5 and 6 are the last two remaining operating ones after units 3 and 4 were closed on January 1, when Bulgaria joined the European Union. The smaller units 1 and 2 were shut down in 2003, under pressure from the EU, who deemed the environmental risks of running the outdated Soviet-made reactors as too high. novinite.com Forum Google Tourism Business MobileBulgaria All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2007 - Copyright & Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in ***************************************************************** 23 The Age: Switkowski: No chance for nuclear without support - www.theage.com.au Leon Gettler June 18, 2007 WITH a looming election expected to be dominated by environmental and energy policy and climate change, the Government's anointed nuclear champion is stepping up his push for Canberra to underwrite Australia's nuclear industry. Ziggy Switkowski, chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Research Organisation, said Government support was crucial because nuclear power carried risk. He said a nuclear industry would also need support from the states and community. "The first reactor, even if it's built in the 2020s, which is the time line we confront, is probably going to cost $3 billion and it will be installed and constructed in an environment where there probably will not be bipartisan support, so there is a sovereign-risk element to it," Dr Switkowski said. He said no country had set up a nuclear industry without government involvement. "Government will need to be involved in some form, at a minimum in terms of setting up a credible, enduring regulatory regime, but it might go beyond that, in terms of some form of assurance around the cost of capital because this is the most capital-intensive form of energy generation." Dr Switkowski's comments come as the Federal Government is looking at sweeping aside legal barriers to the development of nuclear power, such as opposition from the states. The Government argues that nuclear power is a key part of the solution to climate change as it would provide an energy source that does not emit greenhouse gases once a plant is operational. Dr Switkowski was confident community support would start to emerge once a reactor was built. "The experience overseas is that once you get the first reactor in place working well, community support follows quite quickly," he said. Still, community attitudes towards nuclear energy had already shifted, he said. "The attitudes we heard a year ago were shaped by the experiences of the '60s and '70s ? Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Cold War, upper atmospheric testing ? deeply held but largely emotional. "Today the objections are almost the elements of a business case." Said Dr Switkowski: "Frankly, if a business case for any sort of energy, including nuclear, can't overcome those reservations, then we shouldn't make the investment." Copyright © 2007. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 24 UPI: Russia to check claims of British spying United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 16, 2007 at 11:44 AM LONDON, June 16 (UPI) -- Russia says it will investigate allegations of British spying related to the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko died last November in London after drinking tea spiked with the radioactive isotope polonium-210. British authorities say their chief suspect is Andrei Lugovoy, another former KGB agent who refuses to return to London from Moscow for questioning. Friday, the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor agency of the KGB, said it would investigate allegations by Lugovoy that Britain has spied on Russian territories, the Independent reported Saturday. Litvinenko's death sparked a diplomatic struggle between Moscow and London at a time when relations have chilled over the activities of prominent Russian exile Boris Berezovsky, whose extradition is wanted by Moscow. Russian authorities suggest Berezovsky, rather than Lugovoy, may have killed Litvinenko, the Independent reported. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 Calgary Sun: McGuinty blasted for radioactive claim Sun, June 17, 2007 UPDATED: 2007-06-17 03:19:16 MST By CP TORONTO -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's claim elevated levels of radioactive tritium found in the Great Lakes pose no health threat, proves he's ignoring his responsibilities to the public, an environmental conference heard yesterday. "The government's general theme is to duck and dodge and avoid responsibility for (nuclear) issues," said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner with Greenpeace. Stensil was speaking in Toronto at the annual conference of Great Lakes United, an international collective of environmental lobbyists who want to see the U.S. and Canada take greater action to keep the waterway clean. A Greenpeace report released last week found levels of tritium in Lake Ontario, which is flanked by 10 nuclear reactors, were three times higher than levels in Lake Superior, which has no reactors. The report also criticized Canada for having regulations for tritium concentrations 10 times less strict than the U.S. and 70 times less strict than Europe. McGuinty said he was confident the federal government would take charge if anything was wrong. Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 GlobalResearch.ca: Explaining How Depleted Uranium Is Killing Civilians, Soldiers, Land Centre for Research on Globalization June 17, 2007 New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power Nano-particles pinpointed by Christopher Bollyn American Free Press Depleted uranium weapons, and the untold misery they wreak on mankind, are taboo subjects in the mainstream media. This exclusive report should break the media embargo imposed on the American people. Despite being a grossly under-reported subject in the mainstream, there is intense public interest in depleted uranium (DU) and the damage it inflicts on humankind and the environment. While American Free Press is actively investigating DU weapons and how they contribute to Gulf War Syndrome, the corporate-controlled press ignores the illegal use of DU and its long-lasting effects on the health of veterans and the public. In August 2004 American Free Press published a ground-breaking four-part series on DU weapons and the long-term health risks they pose to soldiers and civilians alike. Information provided to AFP by experts and scientists, some of it published for the first time in this paper, has increased public awareness of how exposure to small particles of DU can severely affect human health. Leuren Moret, a Berkeley-based geo-scientist with expertise in atmospheric dust, corresponds with AFP on DU issues. Recently Moret provided a copy of her letters to a British radiation biologist, Dr. Chris Busby, about how nanometer size particles-less than one-tenth of a micron and smaller-of DU once inhaled or absorbed into the body, can cause long-term damage to one's health. Busby is one of the founders of Green Audit, a British organization that monitors companies "whose activities might threaten the environment and health of citizens." Moret's writings were meant to assist Busby in a legal case being heard in the High Court in London where a former defense worker, Richard David, 49, is suing Normal Air Garrett, Ltd., an aircraft parts company now owned by Honeywell Aerospace, claiming exposure to DU on the job has made his life a "living hell." David worked as a component fitter on fighter planes and bombers but had to quit due to health problems. He says he developed a cough within weeks of starting work. Today, David suffers from a variety of symptoms like those known as Gulf War Syndrome, including respiratory and kidney problems, bowel conditions and painful joints. Medical tests reveal mutations to his DNA and damage to his chromosomes, which, he says, could only have been caused by ionizing radiation. He has also been diagnosed with a terminal lung condition. Honeywell denies DU was ever used at the plant in Yeovil, Somerset, where David worked for 10 years until 1995. David claims that DU's existence at the plant was denied because it is an official secret. David has asked the High Court for more time to gather evidence. The hearing is due to resume in April. "I don't have any legal representation," David said, "so I am representing myself. It is a real David versus Goliath case. "I am confident I will win. I hope to set a precedent for other cases of people who have suffered from the effects of depleted uranium," he said. Moret's letters on the particle effect of DU is based on research done by Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist and former scientist with the Manhattan Project and the National Laboratory at Livermore, Calif. Fulk, who has developed a "particle theory" about how DU nano-particles affect human DNA, donates his time and expertise to help bring information about DU to the public. Asked about Fulk's particle theory, Busby said it is "quite sound." "DU is much more dangerous than they say," Busby added. "I've always said that it contributes significantly to Gulf War Syndrome." When Moret's correspondence to Dr. Busby was posted on the Internet over the New Year's holiday under the title "How Depleted Uranium Weapons Are Killing Our Troops," some 6,000 people read the letter in the first two days. The following Monday, a producer from BBC's Panorama program contacted Moret to arrange an interview. If the BBC follows up with an investigation on the health effects of DU, it may be hard for the U.S. media to maintain their cover-up. More than 500,000 "Gulf War Era" vets currently receive disability compensation, many of them for a variety of symptoms generally referred to as Gulf War Syndrome. Experts blame DU for many of these symptoms. "The numbers are overwhelming, but the potential horrors only get worse," Robert C. Koehler of the Chicago-based Tribune Media Services wrote in an article about DU weapons entitled "Silent Genocide." "DU dust does more than wreak havoc on the immune systems of those who breathe it or touch it; the substance also alters one's genetic code," Koehler wrote. "The Pentagon's response to such charges is denial, denial, denial. And the American media is its moral co-conspirator." U.S. GOVERNMENT KNOWS The U.S. government has known for at least 20 years that DU weapons produce clouds of poison gas on impact. These clouds of aerosolized DU are laden with billions of toxic sub-micron sized particles. A 1984 Department of Energy conference on nuclear airborne waste reported that tests of DU anti-tank missiles showed that at least 31 percent of the mass of a DU penetrator is converted to nano-particles on impact. In larger bombs the percentage of aerosolized DU increases to nearly 100 percent, Fulk told AFP. DU is harmful in three ways, according to Fulk: "Chemical toxicity, radiological toxicity and particle toxicity." Particles in the nano-meter (one billionth of a meter) range are a "new breed of cat," Moret wrote. Because the size of the nano-particles allows them to pass freely throughout the organism and into the nucleus of its cells, exposure to nano-particles causes different symptoms than exposure to larger particles of the same substance. Internalized DU particles, Fulk said, act as "a non-specific catalyst" in both "nuclear and non-nuclear" ways. This means that the uranium particle can affect human DNA and RNA because of both its chemical and radiological properties. This is why internalized DU particles cause "many, many diseases," Fulk said. Asked if this is how DU causes severe birth defects, Fulk said, "Yes." MILITARY AWARE The military is aware of DU's harmful effects on the human genetic code. A 2001 study of DU's effect on DNA done by Dr. Alexandra C. Miller for the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., indicates that DU's chemical instability causes 1 million times more genetic damage than would be expected from its radiation effect alone, Moret wrote. Dr. Miller requested that questions be sent in writing and copied to a military spokesman. She did tell AFP that it should be noted that her studies showing that DU is "neoplastically transforming and genotoxic" are based on in vitro cellular research. Studies have shown that inhaled nano-particles are far more toxic than micro-sized particles of the same basic chemical composition. British toxicopathologist Vyvyan Howard has reported that the increased toxicity of the nano-particle is due to its size. For example, when mice were exposed to virus-size particles of Teflon (0.13 microns) in a University of Rochester study, there were no ill effects. But when mice were exposed to nano-particles of Teflon for 15 minutes, nearly all the mice died within 4 hours. "Exposure pathways for depleted uranium can be through the skin, by inhalation, and ingestion," Moret wrote. "Nano-particles have high mobility and can easily enter the body. Inhalation of nano-particles of depleted uranium is the most hazardous exposure, because the particles pass through the lung-blood barrier directly into the blood. "When inhaled through the nose, nano-particles can cross the olfactory bulb directly into the brain through the blood brain barrier, where they migrate all through the brain," she wrote. "Many Gulf era soldiers exposed to depleted uranium have been diagnosed with brain tumors, brain damage and impaired thought processes. Uranium can interfere with the mitochondria, which provide energy for the nerve processes, and transmittal of the nerve signal across synapses in the brain. "Damage to the mitochondria, which provide all energy to the cells and nerves, can cause chronic fatigue syndrome, Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease and Hodgkin's disease." Global Research Articles by Christopher Bollyn Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization. To become a Member of Global Research The CRG grants permission to cross-post original Global Research articles on community internet sites as long as the text & title are not modified. The source and the author's copyright must be displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: crgeditor@yahoo.com www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner. For media inquiries: crgeditor@yahoo.com c Copyright Christopher Bollyn, American Free Press , 2007 The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6009 ***************************************************************** 27 CP: Hundreds of Canadian soldiers exposed to radiation during Cold War - Defence report Defence minister Gordon O’Connor Photograph by : John Cotter/Canadian Press David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen Published: Sunday, June 17, 2007 OTTAWA — Almost 900 Canadian military personnel were exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War as well as two serious reactor accidents in Chalk River, Ont. during the 1950s, according to a report produced for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor. The January 2007 report, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, is the first time the full extent of the involvement of Canadian military personnel in U.S. and British nuclear weapons testing has been documented. In all, 689 Canadians were exposed to radiation from the detonation of U.S. and British atomic weapons, the 292-page report concludes. In addition, another 191 servicemen were exposed to radiation as a result of their work in cleaning up two reactor accidents at Chalk River in 1952 and 1958. The study by Ottawa-based nuclear weapons specialist John Clearwater does not attempt to determine how many of the veterans became ill as a result of their exposure. But it does note that the levels of protection the men used were at times questionable and some personnel were "exposed to radioactive contamination on the testing grounds where they had to live, sometimes for months at a time." "Radiation protection standards used for service personnel were below those recommended at the time by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission," the report concludes. The purpose of the report was to discover the extent of Canadian participation in such tests, details on the radiation produced by the blasts, and the names of the individuals who took part. Research was limited to official documentation and no effort was made to contact individuals involved who took part in the tests between 1946 and 1963. It is not clear how many of the veterans are still alive. In an e-mail sent to the Citizen, O'Connor's office said that in the summer of 2006 he directed that the report be written. "Based on this report, minister O'Connor is looking at bringing a proposal forward to the government regarding this issue," the e-mail stated. The e-mail also pointed out the minister met with veterans four months ago to discuss Canada's involvement in the atomic tests. It is not clear whether the report was commissioned because the Conservative government is worried about legal action from the former military personnel or whether it is to set the stage for a financial compensation program for the veterans. A similar program was put in place by the Liberal government after it faced legal action from veterans exposed to mustard gas and other chemical agents during the Second World War. The U.S. government has a program which awards a $76,000 payment to nuclear veterans who have had cancer. The report was released through the Access to Information law after the Citizen filed a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner. The unclassified study was withheld for four months as the Defence Department's Access staff first checked with U.S. officials on whether they had any objections about the release of a report produced for the Canadian government. The report is based on Canadian records and U.S. records declassified in the 1970s and 1980s. According to the study, Canadian military personnel attended up to 29 nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1963. The tests were conducted in Australia, the Pacific Ocean and the Nevada Test site in the U.S., writes Clearwater, the author of three books on Canadian nuclear weapons and Cold War issues. Canadian participation in the testing varied; senior officers in aircraft conducted long-distance observation, sometimes 100 kilometres away from the blasts. But other groups of soldiers, sailors and air force personnel as well as those from the Defence Research Board were involved in close-up monitoring. In the case of the Chalk River nuclear accidents in 1952 and 1958, military personnel were brought in to clean up radioactive debris. One of those missions, dubbed Operation Charity, started in December 1952 after a reactor accident released considerable amounts of radioactive contaminants, the report noted. That cleanup continued through much of 1953 and included efforts to try to deal with a partially flooded basement under the reactor. At first the crews had trouble obtaining protective clothing and equipment but they were eventually given white coveralls, rubber gloves and respirators. Still, the men worked in shifts lasting 10 minutes to limit their exposure to radioactivity and wore heavy underwear to protect the skin in their genital areas from being splashed with radioactive water. One man, however, fell into the water and had to be fully decontaminated, according to the report. On May 24, 1958, another accident at the Chalk River reactor deposited a quantity of radioactive material around the plant. Atomic Energy of Canada, concerned about the release of radioactive material beyond the boundaries of the Chalk River site, asked the military for assistance in dealing with the mess. One of the biggest problems, according to reports filed at the time by military officials and cited in the Clearwater study, was AECL's poor management. Untrained and semi-trained civilian workers were brought in by AECL, but their incompetence made matters worse. "The result was areas which had been decontaminated thoroughly and cleared as clean areas had to be decontaminated as many as six times because of inexcusable carelessness on the part of civilian help," one post-cleanup report from the Chalk River incident pointed out. Those Canadians who witnessed the atomic blasts in places like the U.S. test range in Nevada had to deal with other problems. Some forms of radiation, which can cause various diseases, were not monitored among those personnel, according to the study. Troops wore specialized film badges which were used to measure radiation in the form of rays from the detonation itself. "What was not monitored was radiation from internal emitters which may have been breathed or swallowed or made their way into the body through any opening in the skin," Clearwater wrote. "These internal emitters of radiation, even at the single particle level, can and do cause the onset of disease." Canada's military had relatively robust radiation protection standards for its service personnel, but the U.S. would not allow those to be used in the tests which also involved American soldiers. The Pentagon did not want to alarm its troops about radioactivity since at the time the U.S. military establishment was arguing that exposure to radioactivity did not pose a great danger. The report stresses that Canadian troops were not "guinea pigs" of atomic testing, since such a term implies that a person is a test subject on whom continued medical monitoring would be carried out in pursuit of a scientific outcome. Canadian troops, like U.S. and British personnel, were not monitored. "On the contrary, there was often little or no medical follow-up with these individuals," Clearwater concluded. The study also notes Royal Canadian Air Force crews flying out of Ottawa and other locations were involved in the monitoring of Soviet nuclear weapons fallout clouds but it concluded there was probably little radiation exposure for those crews. Ottawa Citizen © CanWest News Service 2007 © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks ***************************************************************** 28 The Age: Australian, US troops build airstrip on the double - www.theage.com.au Lindsay Murdoch, Bradshaw Training Facility June 18, 2007 AUSTRALIAN and US soldiers using remote-controlled bulldozers and other sophisticated equipment have carved a 1.3-kilometre airstrip out of the Northern Territory outback in an effort worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. More than 200 personnel from the two countries ? representing six military branches ? will complete the strip in scrubland 600 kilometres south-west of Darwin in less than 25 days. One of the Australian Defence Force's largest cargo planes, the 120-tonne C-17, is scheduled to land on the strip at a former cattle station, now called the Bradshaw Training Facility, on June 29. "I've never worked on anything as spectacular as this and I have been an engineer in the US Army for 20 years," said Major Pat Stogner, deputy commander of the project. "Back home a job of this size would be contracted out, and I doubt it could be built with such speed." The strip, made of three layers of fine soil, is being built to provide a forward base as part of a joint US-Australian exercise in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory involving 20,000 US troops, 100 aircraft and a nuclear-powered submarine. Exercise Talisman Sabre is held every two years, but new facilities built at Bradshaw catering for hundreds of troops are expected to be used regularly by US forces under a US-Australian agreement. The agreement allows for hundreds of US soldiers, sailors and marines to undergo regular training at bases in northern Australia. About 100 US military personnel and 110 Australian soldiers arrived at Bradshaw on June 1 in one of the first operations involving so many branches of the two countries' forces. Stuart Yeaman, the Australian Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of the Joint Rapid Airfield Construction project, said at the weekend that only a highly organised military operation could build a strip capable of withstanding a C-17 in such a short time. "We have met the challenge," he said as heavy rollers trundled down the strip to pack the soil. Robert Dees, a 25-year-old US marine who returned from Iraq late last year, said he had been amazed by the size of the project in such an isolated place. "And there's big crocodiles in the river down the road ? awesome," he said. The US contingent to Bradshaw includes a dozen specialists, among them scientists, who have been testing new ways to build airstrips. These include using remote-controlled bulldozers, which can be operated by a soldier from a distance of up to 300 metres. The Australian Defence Force took seven years to negotiate a land-use agreement with the indigenous owners of the 8700-square-kilometre Bradshaw station, which guarantees soldiers will protect sacred sites and a conservation area. The Australian Defence Force will maintain the airstrip when the exercise is over. Copyright © 2007. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 29 Charlotte Observer: Here's the real problem with nuclear waste Posted on Sun, Jun. 17, 2007 WRITE THE BUSINESS FORUM carolsmith@charlotteobserver.com or Business News Desk, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308 The writer is executive director, N.C. Waste Awareness & Reduction Network In response to "Storage dilemma nears critical mass" (June 6): Your article reflected some of the difficulties posed by thousands of tons of highly radioactive "spent" fuel that will be stored at nuclear plants for decades, if not forever. But industry officials diverted attention from key points. While the longevity of this waste -- thousands of years -- is an enormous challenge, the greatest risk is the current storage at U.S. plants. If water is drained from high-density cooling pools due to accident or attack, the waste will almost certainly burn. Brookhaven Labs (1997) estimated such a radioactive release could far exceed a reactor meltdown, killing thousands and causing a half-trillion dollars in economic damage. Duke should transfer more waste into dry casks -- surrounded by gravel berms -- and thin the pool density to lower the risk of fire. The National Academy of Sciences acknowledged this approach in 2005. Claims that "recycling" waste rods "allows about 95 percent of the waste to be reused" are untrue. Reprocessing produces weapons-grade material and large amounts of highly radioactive liquids that are harder to manage than fuel rods. The Observer correctly qualified the industry's claim that nuclear is a clean-air technology. Nuclear energy produces substantial greenhouse gases during the fuel cycle and plant construction. Debating a nuclear revival is a dangerous distraction from real climate protection measures. Jim Warren, Durham WRITE THE BUSINESS FORUM carolsmith@charlotteobserver.com or Business News Desk, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308 ***************************************************************** 30 TheStar.com: French nuclear giant covets UraMin URANIUM Areva's $2.5 billion U.S. offer to take over South African miner continues wave of consolidation Jun 16, 2007 04:30 AM Laura Bobak Canadian Press French nuclear giant Areva has presented a takeover bid for UraMin Inc. that puts a value of $2.5 billion (U.S.) on the South Africa-headquartered company. The French-state-controlled company is offering $7.75 per share for UraMin, or about $8.27 (Canadian) at current exchange rates. The shares were halted for the news yesterday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but rose on the re-opening and closed at $8.85, up almost 11.5 per cent on the day. The shares were trading at $6.95 Monday, before UraMin said it was in negotiations on a potential sale. A year ago, the price was $2.55. UraMin's main asset is the Trekkopje uranium project in Namibia, which could be operational as early as this year. The company also has exploration sites in the Central African Republic and South Africa, providing a good fit for "Areva's strategy to significantly increase its uranium production in the medium term," according to a joint statement. Yesterday's deal continues a wave of consolidation in the global uranium industry as companies bulk up to cash in on record prices for the nuclear fuel as supply dwindles and demand soars. Uranium companies are also trying to get bigger to take advantage of new exploration projects and find the financing to develop additional uranium sources in North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Recently, Uranium One Inc. announced a takeover of Energy Metals Corp. of Vancouver in a deal the two companies say will create a new entity with uranium production forecast to rival industry leader Cameco Corp. by 2013. In yesterday's deal, the UraMin board supports the proposal, and Areva, which already owns 5.5 per cent of UraMin, has lock-up agreements with officers and directors holding 25 per cent of the company's shares. Areva has the right to match any competing offers. The agreement includes a break fee if another bid prevails. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. Areva executives said during a conference call with analysts that the takeover will help the company with its goal of becoming the world's leading uranium producer. The company is planning to double its production from 15 million pounds to about 31 million pounds by about 2011 or 2012, not including the UraMin acquisition. © Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2007 ***************************************************************** 31 Green Left: Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump Nat Wasley, Alice Springs 15 June 2007 Since community opposition stopped plans for a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia, John Howard seems determined to now go for a site in the Northern Territory ? despite promising not to and opposition from Indigenous custodians. From the ?absolute categorical assurance? that the NT would not be saddled with a federal radioactive dump, the government announced in June 2005 that three Department of Defence sites in the NT ? Mt Everard, Harts Range and Fisher?s Ridge ? would be assessed for suitability. Julie Bishop, federal science minister, rationalised this decision by claiming all three sites are ?some distance from any form of civilisation?. There are in fact people living and running successful pastoral and tourist enterprises three, five and 18 kilometres from these sites, who believe it is very uncivilised to dump radioactive waste on their land without their consent. The first defence site is Athenge Lhere (Mt Everard), 40 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. The Werre Therre community lives three kilometres away. According to traditional owner Steven McCormack, ?This land is not empty ? people live right nearby. We hunt and collect bush tucker here and I am the custodian of a sacred site within the boundaries of the defence land. We don?t want this poison here.? The second site, Alcoota (Harts Range), is 160 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs on the Plenty Highway. The Engawala community and Aboriginal-owned Alcoota cattle station are 18 kilometres north of the Harts Range defence site. Mitch from the Engawala community says: ?We stand strong in our own culture as Indigenous people, and want the land and water to be protected for all children, black and white. If this nuclear waste is so safe, why can?t they keep it at the Lucas Heights nuclear plant in Sydney where it is produced and where the nuclear experts work?? The third site is at Fisher?s Ridge, 40 kilometres south of Katherine. Valerie and Barry Utley run a 230-square kilometre pastoral station, Yeltu Park, which surrounds the proposed site. Their home is around four kilometres from the site. According to Valerie, ?We know the area, and we see what happens after the wet season. All of a sudden there will be a sink hole where the limestone caves in. When somebody goes in there to examine the area, they?ll realise that the place has limestone, not too far under the top soil, and regularly caves in to sink holes. There are springs in the area, and also flooding, and [putting the dump there] would be one of the biggest mistakes they could make.? The Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (2005), which overrides NT laws opposing nuclear waste transport and storage, also allows the NT government or Land Councils to nominate sites other than Commonwealth defence land for assessment. The NT government remains opposed to the national dump plan, but after a year of meetings between federal government officials, the Northen Land Council (NLC) and some traditional owners, in May the full council of the NLC agreed to nominate Muckaty, Warlmanpa land, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek, as an additional site for assessment. If Bishop accepts the Muckaty nomination, a short scientific study will be carried out, and the preferred site of the four will undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment. The traditional owners of Muckaty Land Trust, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek, have been offered $12 million to nominate and surrender their land. This offer has apparently been accepted by a small number of the traditional owners, but many others have been speaking out against the plan over the last year, including travelling to the NT and federal parliaments and to conferences interstate to talk about their concerns. Despite letters to Bishop and the NLC requesting that negotiations about the dump at Muckaty cease, the NLC has continued to provide what the government calls ?positive and constructive assistance? to convince a community to nominate their land for the radioactive waste dump. Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes is strongly opposed. ?Top to bottom, we got bush tucker right through the country. Whoever is taking this waste dump into our country needs to talk to the traditional owners. We?re not happy to have all of this stuff. We don?t want it, it?s not our spirit. Our spirit is our country, our country is where our ancestors been born. Before towns, before hospitals, before cities. We want our country to be safe.? The NLC supported Bishop?s amendments to the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (2006), which restricts public input into the dump?s site selection. The changes to the law mean that a nomination of a site by a land council will still be considered valid even if that body has not demonstrated that: it has consulted with the traditional owners; the nomination was understood by the traditional owners; the traditional owners have consented as a group; and any community that may be affected has been consulted and had adequate opportunity to express its views. The undemocratic changes also removed the right of any group ? traditional owners, pastoralists or community members ? to appeal site nomination on the grounds of ?procedural fairness?. The amendments were designed to induce communities to offer up their land by indemnifying land trusts from any damage arising from a dump. It remains unclear as to who would be liable for damage. The waste generated at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in NSW must be properly stored and managed. It is far better to keep the spent fuel where it can be easily accessed and monitored by people trained in handling radioactive materials. ANSTO, which runs the reactor, the nuclear regulatory body ARPANSA and the Australian Nuclear Association have all conceded that there is adequate room, and capability, to continue storing waste at Lucas Heights for at least the next 40 years. However, it seems the federal government is keen to move the radioactive waste to an area with fewer voters. If current stockpiles can be dumped out of sight ?in the middle of nowhere?, it helps it justify the controversial commissioning of the replacement reactor at Lucas Heights. The transportation of radioactive waste is another major concern for communities along the likely routes. While a route will not be designated until a site is chosen, it is possible that the waste will be moved domestically via a combination of train and truck freight. Neither of these methods is guaranteed to be safe. The government?s own figures assessing the risk of moving the national store of waste to a dump in SA indicated a 23% probability of a truck having an accident. In the last six months in the NT, there have been two major truck accidents, including a 20-tonne cyanide spill that closed the Stuart Highway for a week. When 11 carriages of the Ghan derailed in December 2006 at Ban Ban Springs, 130 kilometres south of Darwin, police commander Greg Dowd commented that, ?It took some time to get to the train crash site? and that ?emergency crews were glad the accident did not happen on an even more isolated part of the railway track?. Though this is not the first incident on this relatively new line, FreightLink, which transports yellowcake oxide from the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia to Darwin for export, has nevertheless expressed interest in adding radioactive waste to its cargo list. Radioactive waste is the final stage of the deadly nuclear fuel chain: it is a product of all the dodgy deals and damage that has been done along the way. Dumping this waste on Indigenous and remote communities is not responsible management: it is radioactive racism. Radioactive waste management is a huge problem for Australia. The Howard government?s short-term, irresponsible and stop-gap plans will unnecessarily damage communities, country and culture. A strong alliance and support network has developed between the targeted communities and throughout the NT. But your help is needed to take this story to your families, friends and networks. You can support the targeted communities by informing and activating your local, state and federal representatives, and getting active in the anti-nuclear campaign. Community opposition prevented a waste dump from being built in South Australia and, with your help, we can stop Howard?s shameless promotion of an expanded nuclear industry, and his attempt to poison the heartland. [Nat Wasley is an activist with the Beyond Nuclear Initiative and No Waste Alliance in Alice Springs. For more information, visit <http://www.no-waste.org>.] From: Comment & Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #714 20 June 2007. GLW issue #714 - 20 June 2007: Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW. Site by Kiwa Systems ***************************************************************** 32 ReviewJournal.com: Experts doubt new schedule for carving Yucca Mountain Jun. 16, 2007 Fuel can stay secured safely above ground in the meantime, group says By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Although nuclear waste ultimately should be stored deep underground, there is little confidence the Energy Department will meet its new schedules for carving a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, according to experts assembled by a science and environment think tank. In the meantime, radioactive spent nuclear fuel can remain secured safely in pools and in aboveground dry casks at nuclear reactor sites, the fact-finding group said in a report issued on Thursday. The Colorado-based Keystone Center devoted a chapter to nuclear waste in a 108-page report examining nuclear power. The report grew from deliberations among 27 experts representing environmental and consumer groups, utilities, the nuclear industry and academia. Several participants said that as the Keystone Center strove for consensus, it largely skirted controversial elements surrounding the project at Yucca Mountain, whose suitability is debated as a final resting place for 70,000 metric tons of spent fuel and government-generated nuclear waste. "Some of us thought certain ways and others thought other ways, and we didn't make a whole lot of progress. It is a pretty contentious issue," said Allison Macfarlane, an associate professor of environmental science at George Mason University who believes the Nevada site may not be fitting. "We just recognized the facts, which were that the project has continued to miss its schedule," said Paul Genoa, policy development director for the Nuclear Energy Institute, which favors the site. The group members agreed that a deep underground geologic repository was the best option for long-term nuclear waste disposal, and that Finland appears on track to build the first. The Scandinavian nation, which has four operating reactors and is building two others, is excavating a repository on Olkiluoto, an island off its west coast. As for Yucca Mountain, the group noted the project could end up 20 years behind schedule. Under the latest Energy Department "best achievable" timeline, the repository could begin receiving waste in 2017, although DOE officials concede that 2020 or 2021 is more likely. Even at that, the report said, more legal challenges may be likely from the state of Nevada and environmental groups that oppose the site. Experts confirmed that the legal capacity of a Yucca repository will be smaller than the amount of spent fuel expected to be produced from currently operating reactors. They did not opine whether the Nevada site capacity should be expanded. Leave Your Comment 0 Reader Comments Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 33 Independent: UK lumbered with foreign nuclear waste - Just as the Government was mulling a new nuclear programme, an 800 ton problem emerges By Tim Webb Published: 17 June 2007 The UK is set to become home to some 800 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste after it emerged that the disaster-prone Thorp reprocessing plant may have to remain closed permanently. The Government has admitted that the spent nuclear fuel shipped in from overseas and currently stockpiled at Sellafield may have to remain in Britain. The revelation is a major blow to the reputation of the nuclear industry at a time when the Government is mulling whether to approve the construction of a new generation of atomic plants. The admission came as the Department of Trade and Industry prepared the ground for the permanent closure of Thorp, its controversial nuclear reprocessing plant at the sprawling nuclear complex in Cumbria. The £1.6bn plant is now largely obsolete, as reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is no longer considered viable. It has been closed since April 2005 after a major radioactive leak was discovered. Last week, the DTI released a consultation into changing the way Thorp operates. Included in the unannounced document was a warning that the planned re-opening - last scheduled for this summer after repeated delays - would now not take place until "around the autumn". It added that "further delay" is possible because of another technical problem, and that the "worst case" scenario would mean the plant not becoming fully operational until around 2010 or 2011. Thorp had been due to close permanently in 2010 when its reprocessing contracts run out. No new contracts are planned. If Thorp were to be mothballed before this date, the document says the Government would consider transferring the remaining spent fuel to another reprocessing plant or keeping it in the UK. Most of the 800 existing tons of waste came from Germany. Customers - which also include firms in Switzerland and Japan as well as British Energy - send their spent fuel to Thorp for reprocessing. Normally the plant's operator, BNG, then uses the separated plutonium and uranium to make the "Mox" fuel used by older nuclear plants, which it ships back to the country of origin. But the adjoining Mox plant has also been dogged by technical problems, disrupting production. The consultation recommends that rather than wait for Thorp to re-open, the owners of the fuel waiting to be reprocessed should be given material that has already been treated at the plant, even though the fuel belongs to other customers. Martin Forwood from campaign group Core (Cumbrians Opposed to Radioactive Environment) said the Government should take the opportunity to shut the plant permanently now. The owner of Thorp, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), would also be hit by further delays in the re-opening or the plant's permanent closure. © 2007 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 34 LA Daily News: Still cleaning pollution from the past Defense contractor finally allows inspectors BY JUDY O'ROURKE, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/16/2007 05:46:00 PM PDT SANTA CLARITA - Long before the pricey tracts and top-notch schools, Santa Clarita drew folks who made some messy stuff. Most defense contractors and other manufacturers that used volatile chemicals have since moved out or shut down, and now some large-scale cleanups are under way. Polluted ground and water tables near the former Whittaker-Bermite property are being cleaned, and state regulators are eyeing three other smaller sites. After shunning federal inspectors for years, one defense contractor has opened its doors to the state. "We're doing a preliminary endangerment assessment," Jose Diaz, project manager for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, said of the agency's work at National Technical Systems in the Golden Valley area. The Calabasas-based company signed a voluntary cleanup agreement with the DTSC in November, should contamination be found. For years, the defense contractor conducted secret testing projects at its property in what is now the center of town. The NTS property - where products and components were tested for aerospace, telecommunications, automotive and military uses - has since been converted to commercial use. In about 1990, roughly 800 gallons of jet fuel were released on the property and waste oil and solvent have been dumped there, according to DTSC records. The company was cited in 1990 and again nine years later for storing hazardous waste that included kerosene, jet fuel and cooling tower waste. In 1999, NTS was cited for leaking a 55-gallon drum in the hazardous-waste storage area. Preliminary tests done in 2003 by the DTSC found perchlorate in the soil, but water agencies have said the chemicals have not infiltrated public water sources. Perchlorate is a chemical residue from rocket fuel that has been implicated in thyroid problems. The property was split in sections for the testing. Investigation of the eastern sector, where hazardous waste was stored, is complete. "It appears there is some high lead concentration," Diaz said. "Once NTS provides the report for the other portion of the site, the DTSC will review both reports and render a decision if further action is needed." Contaminant tests Last year, the company announced it was selling about 120acres of the 150-acre parcel, but the acreage lies in a buffer zone where no testing was done, officials said. A developer has been working with the city to extend a road in the burgeoning area, Diaz said. NTS property abutted the 996-acre contaminated Bermite property until last year, when Golden Valley Road was built between the two. The DTSC has begun overseeing the cleanup of Bermite, where contaminants in the soil and groundwater - namely perchlorate - remain from five decades of weapons manufacturing and testing. NTS officials say the company didn't use perchlorate, and if the chemical is found on the property it must have migrated from Bermite. Owners of the 35-acre Saugus Speedway property - not far from Bermite - asked the DTSC to explore whether pollutants migrated there from surrounding plants. During its heyday in the 1930s and '40s, crowds of 10,000 to 12,000 converged on the dirt track to watch top racers compete. Today, 6,000 to 10,000 flock to the Sunday swap meet. The Bonelli family, which owns the property, has said the swap meet will continue for years to come. But zoning allows mixed-use residential and commercial, and its prime spot near the Metrolink station could land a development there someday. Development issues Perchlorate contamination was found in monitoring wells under the property, and, should development be planned, excavating or drilling into the groundwater is prohibited, Diaz said. The agency also would need to approve any grading. Commercial businesses could occupy a first-floor space, but residences could not; they would need to be on the second floor, Diaz said. "At this time it cannot have an unrestricted use because of the contamination below," he said. On April 10, the agency approved a report on the site. A week later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency handed off another site to the state agency: Keysor-Century Corp. The former Saugus plastics plant was deemed eligible for federal superfund cleanup money because of chemicals remaining in the soil and groundwater. A private environmental study conducted more than three years ago by the property's owner found the site had no problems. However, Matt Mitguard, project manager for the EPA superfund, said the EPA has since found cancer-causing chemicals used in Keysor's PVC-manufacturing business in the soil and groundwater. Violating laws For decades, Keysor-Century manufactured polyvinyl chloride used in making record albums and other plastics. The EPA classifies vinyl chloride, a gas used in making PVCs, as a carcinogen. In August 2004, Keysor officials pleaded guilty to felony charges of violating environmental laws by releasing chemicals into the air and spewing toxic wastewater into the Santa Clara River over a number of years. Keysor paid $4.3million in civil and criminal penalties and issued a public apology. The company ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The EPA began its on-site investigation in June 2005, and its report - issued in September - said cancer-causing chemicals remain at the former Keysor property, southeast of the junction of Bouquet Canyon Road and Soledad Canyon Road. "We're looking to see how we will proceed with this," Diaz said. He expects to devise a plan by July. "We (may) issue them an order to investigate and clean up or (enter) into a voluntary cleanup agreement," he said. judy.orourke@dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 35 LA Daily News: Court OKs groundwater-cleanup plan Agreement provides funds for perchlorate treatment BY JUDY O'ROURKE, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/15/2007 07:09:34 PM PDT SANTA CLARITA - A bankruptcy court approved a settlement this week to fund the cleanup of perchlorate in Santa Clarita's groundwater. Agreement was reached in May and finalized this week between Santa Clarita's water agencies and the current and former owners of the 996-acre contaminated Whittaker-Bermite site. "Within 30 days of the final court approval, funding of the treatment project will begin and an initial payment of $22.5 million will be received by the water agencies," said Fred Fudacz, a partner with California-based Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP. An Arizona bankruptcy court handed down the decision Thursday. Federal court approval is needed before the money will flow. That hearing could be sometime in July. Roughly half of the water supplied to homes and businesses in Santa Clarita comes from underground aquifers, two of which roughly follow the Santa Clara River. The river flows near the polluted site, where munitions were manufactured for about 50 years. Perchlorate, a rocket fuel component linked to thyroid problems, has infiltrated local groundwater from the Bermite site, near Soledad Canyon Road, east of Bouquet Canyon Road. A number of local wells have been shut, and a pump-and-treat system that is part of the agency's plan to meet water demands of an ever-growing number of users is expected to be built next year. The wholesale Castaic Lake Water Agency and local water retailers could eventually receive $100 million from their settlement with Bermite; Remediation Financial Incorporated, the current owner of the site who declared bankruptcy; and Santa Clarita LLC. CLWA General Manager Dan Masnada applauded Thursday's news. "It's the penultimate step in finally settling this case," he said. The utility hopes to receive the $22.5 million in August. judy.orourke@dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 36 Daily News Journal: State should hold public meeting on landfill concerns www.dnj.com - On the heels of a legislative moratorium halting low-level radioactive dumping at Middle Point Landfill, the state should hold to its promise for a public meeting on this public health concern. The state Department of Environment and Conservation was prepared to hold a public meeting with the County Commission's Public Works Committee. But when the Legislature passed a temporary ban on the dumping last week, state officials postponed the meeting indefinitely. The state should reconsider that ill-advised decision since it caused this situation by failing to tell the public and county officials about its early 1990s program allowing low-level radioactive dumping at four landfills in Tennessee. Some county commissioners are livid because they feel they were kept in the dark. And Rutherford County residents are worried about the possibility of radioactive material — even if it's low level — seeping through the landfill into groundwater and eventually Stones River, Murfreesboro's drinking water supply. Canceling the meeting creates more distrust and denies county commmissioners and the public the chance to ask why they weren't told earlier. Despite recent tests showing no indication of radiation beyond natural levels in the Stones River, people want more assurances that the water supply will be protected in perpetuity. The state owes them that, since it regulates the landfill, and in this case, is the public's only hope. The Legislature's 60-day ban, if it passes legal muster, gives experts time — probably not enough — to study the impact on the river and environment. During that period, the state's Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee will assess Tennessee's Bulk Survey for Release program here and make a recommendation in September. The waste is tested when it comes into the landfill to make sure it doesn't exceed certain radioactive levels, and it can make up only 5 percent of the waste taken in annually. State officials say they never held a public hearing on the matter because they didn't feel the low-level waste presented any danger. The state could correct that oversight, in part, by holding a public meeting now, while the issue is hot. Even if it is completely safe, people deserve to know what is rolling down the highways of Rutherford County and being buried on the banks of the river. Short of a complete ban on this type of low-level radioactive waste, stricter requirements should be enacted to ensure the groundwater and river are protected from anything that might seep through the landfill. This waste will be there forever, after all. Instead of waiting for people to simmer down, the state should publicly explain its program on disposing of low-level radiation, and soon. For more than a decade, it shirked its responsibility to the people of Rutherford County. It's time to come clean. Nancy Allen needs to be questioned thoroughly on this matter. How could our mayor not be aware for YEARS that this was not transpiring? PLEASE do not re-elect EVER Nancy Allen. Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:07 am Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 37 AFP: Indian villagers oppose uranium mines - by Raymond Kharmujai Sun Jun 17, 2:56 AM ET SHILLONG, India (AFP) - Villagers are fighting back against plans to mine uranium in northeast India, saying it will put their health at risk and destroy the environment. Residents voiced opposition at this week's hearing into the state-run Uranium Corporation of India Ltd's plan to mine in hilly, tribal-run areas. News of the hearing by Meghalaya state's pollution control board, held in a remote village north of the state capital Shillong, trickled out with many participants not immediately available for comment. "Seventy-five percent of the 700 people who attended the public hearing at Nongbah Jynrin village, near the proposed uranium mining areas, opposed the project," said senior district official Freeman Kharlyngdoh. Villagers were mainly worried about the health effects of the project, said Kharlyngdoh who attended the hearing in the village of Nongbah Jynrin 150 kilometres (94 miles) north of Shillong. Opponents say radiation from the mines puts communities at increased risk of cancer and other health problems. "We are against mining because we fear health hazards to our people and we want the UCIL to defer the mining until this issue is clarified," said Plasterwell Syiemiong, the Khasi tribal chief. Syiemiong said he had conveyed this view to the pollution control board after holding his own hearing on the issue among his people. Still, the mines found some supporters among those whose land is to be acquired by the company as the area is poor and jobs are scarce. "We want the mining. We have been living here and do not see any health hazards," said Heas Dienglan, who heads a federation of the six villages that the state-run mining company wants to buy. The Khasi Students Union, the most powerful student body in the state, however vowed to vehemently protest the project. "We will continue to agitate and will not allow the mining whatever happens," said student leader Manbaker Lapang following the hearing. The pollution board will now forward its findings from the hearing to a special committee in charge of the environmental review for the project. The debate over opening tribal areas to mining comes as India, which imports some 70 percent of its oil requirements, looks around for new sources of power to keep its burgeoning economy growing. But India has few supplies of natural uranium to feed such power projects, with eastern Jharkhand the only state mining the heavy metal. Mining there has been plagued with allegations that tribal communities living nearby have higher than average birth defects and that water polluted by mine tailings has been linked to cancer. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 38 The Gazette: Old barrel symbolizes nazi nuke failure canada.com JOE SCHWARCZ, The Gazette Published: Saturday, June 16, 2007 You wouldn't think that a rusty old barrel is much of an attraction. But the one that sits near the entrance of the U.S. National Second World War Museum in New Orleans manages to draw crowds. Why? Because it represents the death knell for Nazi Germany's attempt to make a nuclear weapon. This particular barrel was one of 29 aboard a ferry crossing Lake Tinnsjo in Norway on its way to Germany. The "Hydro" was sunk by Norwegian saboteurs in 1944 and the barrel languished at the bottom of the lake until archeologists brought it to the surface in 2004. What did the barrel contain to warrant such a major salvage operation? Water. But not ordinary water, it was "heavy water" Our story begins in December 1938 at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. Chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman were following up a piece of intriguing research carried out by Enrico Fermi in Italy. Fermi had bombarded some common elements with neutrons and discovered that they would sometimes be converted into other elements, although these were always close in mass to the originals. But when Hahn and Strassman subjected uranium to neutron bombardment, they found a result they could hardly believe. The reaction mixture contained barium, an element with about half the mass of uranium. "Perhaps you can suggest some fantastic explanation," Hahn excitedly cabled Lise Meitner, the physicist he had worked with for many years before she was forced to flee Germany for Sweden because of her Jewish heritage. Meitner did not disappoint. Perhaps, she suggested, the uranium atom had been "split" apart. At that moment, the concept of nuclear fission was born. Further experiments by Hahn, Strassman and Meitner's nephew Otto Frisch not only confirmed the stunning results, but also revealed that such nuclear fission was capable of releasing tremendous amounts of energy. The military implication of the research became obvious on both sides of the Atlantic. The German "uranium project" was led by theoretician Werner Heisenberg and army physicist Kurt Diebner. It was Heisenberg's calculation that slower moving neutrons would cause the uranium nucleus to split more readily that focused attention on "heavy water," a substance capable of slowing down neutrons. Furthermore, slow neutrons could also be captured by the uranium nucleus, which would then be converted into plutonium, another fissionable element. As virtually every student knows, a molecule of water is made of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Good old H2O. But not every hydrogen atom in the universe is alike. Some hydrogen atoms are heavier because they have an extra neutron in their nucleus. We refer to these as an "isotope" of hydrogen, and use the specific term "deuterium (D)." When a water molecule has two deuterium atoms instead of two hydrogen atoms, we have "heavy water." Since the natural abundance of deuterium is low, only 1 in every 4,500 or so water molecules is "heavy." Starting in 1934, a plant at Rjukan, in the Telemark region of Norway, had been using the Lewis process to supply scientists interested in researching the physical and biological properties of heavy water. But in 1939, with the new role of heavy water in nuclear fission, the plant took on great military importance. The German army seized the plant and barrels of heavy water began to be whisked off to Germany. As far as the Allies were concerned, stopping the shipments became a matter of high priority. The first effort was made in 1943, when 12 specially-trained Norwegian commandos were parachuted onto a plateau in Telemark. Their mission was to blow up the heavy water plant at Rjukan. The commandos managed to destroy enough of the heavy water plant to stop operations, but only for a while. Within six months the Germans had rebuilt the plant. But on Nov. 16, 1943, 140 U.S. bombers destroyed the Telemark facility. The Germans tried to move the remaining heavy water stock to Germany, but once again the Allies managed to sabotage the venture and blew up the ferry on which the drums were being transported, essentially putting an end to the German nuclear effort. It was one of these drums that was salvaged in 2004 and donated to the New Orleans museum. So how close were the Germans to developing an atom bomb? Not very. The supply of heavy water was limited even before the destruction of the Telemark plant. And Hitler did not place emphasis on the nuclear program until it was too late. At first, the war went well and no wonder-weapons were needed. When they were, Hitler looked to rockets. He believed Europe would crumble in face of the V-2 missiles and put rocket research ahead of nuclear research. Some historians have suggested that Heisenberg and his colleagues deliberately dragged their feet because they did not want Hitler to get his hands on the atom bomb. This is not so, as evidenced by conversations secretly recorded by British intelligence at Farm Hall, a country mansion in England where German scientists were held after the war. Hahn was also a prisoner here even though he had never worked on the nuclear energy program. He was devastated when he heard atom bombs had been dropped on Japan, believing that his discovery of nuclear fission had led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Hahn took little comfort in the fact that he was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in chemistry, a prize that really should have been shared with Lise Meitner. If Hahn was the father of nuclear fission, Meitner was its mother. c The Gazette (Montreal) 2007 © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks ***************************************************************** 39 SF New Mexican: LANL: Energy secretary responds to security breach By Andy Lenderman | The New Mexican June 15, 2007 The recent security breach involving Los Alamos National Security LLC was unintentional, and the Department of Energy responded well to the incident, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman wrote to a congressman Friday. `While I cannot go into greater detail here about the specific circumstances of the incident referenced in your letter, I can affirm that an individual did in fact unintentionally transmit sensitive information through an unsecured e-mail system,' Bodman wrote to U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. Dingell on Thursday wrote to Bodman and said board members of Los Alamos National Security, the company that manages Los Alamos National Laboratory, apparently were involved. A company spokesman declined comment Friday. `Apparently, open e-mail networks were used by several LANS officials to share classified information relating to the characteristics of nuclear material in nuclear weapons,' Dingell wrote to Bodman. Bodman only mentioned an individual working for the board. `The incident was immediately recognized and reported, fully investigated and the responsible officials have reported that appropriate measures have been taken to address the situation,' Bodman wrote. `While serious, the incident in question was the result of human error, not a failure of security systems.' And those systems to report and investigate potential violations worked well, he added. Bodman also said he’s directed officials from the department and the National Nuclear Security Administration to meet with Dingell and answer questions. Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 SF New Mexican: LANL in limbo despite makeover Mike Anastasio, Director LANL Photo by Leroy N. Sanchez By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican June 15, 2007 Concerns over budget, layoffs cast shadow over progress made at lab LOS ALAMOS — Mike Anastasio can’t move fast enough. He’s led an effort to produce new plutonium pits, or triggers, for the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile as director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. He’s rallied new corporate managers in an effort to overhaul long-standing safety and security concerns. He avoided layoffs to permanent workers by cutting contractors and other efficiencies. And he had confidence that the country’s nuclear weapons can again be certified without underground nuclear testing, which is one of the main missions at the lab. “Los Alamos has responsibility for more than 80 percent of the on-alert strategic deterrent currently in the U.S. military inventory,” U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, both R-N.M., recently wrote in defense of the lab. “In the absence of nuclear testing, the country has relied on the two nuclear weapons labs, Los Alamos and Livermore, to annually assess and certify that the United States’ strategic nuclear deterrent is safe, secure and reliable.” But Congress might cut Anastasio’s budget anyway. People are worried about layoffs. Many lawmakers appear tired of bad news from Northern New Mexico, like the time last October when police found classified information in the home of a former lab contract worker. Thursday’s blockbuster didn’t help either: Apparently some officials might have used open e-mail networks to share information about nuclear weapons, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., reported. The past year has been a mixed bag for Anastasio and the lab. The weapons programs are on track, Anastasio said, and the lab remains a scientific powerhouse, according to the number of scientific papers cited. But the lab lost an important contest to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which designed a better replacement nuclear warhead for the government. The latest security scandals further eroded the lab’s management reputation in Congress, where the federal checks are written. And even if the lab does an excellent job at its weapons programs, some New Mexicans and many in Congress don’t want more nuclear weapons work. Furthermore, citizen groups are furious that pollution from the lab continues to leak into the environment. The whole point of bringing Anastasio and his private company to manage the lab was to make the place more efficient, accountable and organized. “The government obviously wanted to see some sustainable improvement here, at this institution, when they ... competed this contract,” Anastasio said in an interview last month. “And so as I reflect on the year, I believe we came with a clear vision for this laboratory to be the premier national security science laboratory for the 21st Century.” The government agency that oversees the lab appears moderately pleased with the one-year performance and says the lab is on track to complete two-thirds of its jobs by Sept. 30, from weapons quality to health and safety goals. The management company could earn $73 million for a job well done. “We are meeting all our milestones in our weapons area,” Anastasio said. That includes a mission to make 10 plutonium pits for the W-88 Trident warhead, he said. Some have been built and submitted to the government for a quality review. “That’s a great accomplishment for this laboratory,” Anastasio said. The lab director has invited U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., to “help celebrate the delivery of the first certified W-88 primary,” which was made at the lab. “This milestone is important for the nation because it is the first time the United States has manufactured a pit for use in the nuclear weapons stockpile since the Rocky Flats plant closed in 1989,” Anastasio’s invitation reads. “ ... Because of the investments made in the stockpile stewardship tools, this will be the first primary to become part of the nation’s nuclear deterrent without the need of an underground test.” He added this is the culmination of years of hard work by lab chemists, engineers, physicists and technicians. But national security has a different meaning for some, like Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico. He said the pit program is years overdue and over budget. “But it just goes to show how far behind the times the lab really is,” Coghlan said. “ ... I predict that New Mexicans and the American public will be eager to join the lab in celebration when it finally changes its mission. Los Alamos should prioritize real national security threats like global climate change and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, instead of encouraging proliferation through new nuclear weapons production.” Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group said the new contract has increased overhead without anything to show for it. “The lab ... hasn’t been noticeably oriented toward the environment or any progressive reinterpretation of its mission,” he said. Changing the mission of the lab has been a hot topic since the House Appropriations Committee essentially moved more money into energy research and basic science, and took away from the lab weapons programs all over the country. But changing the mission at the lab isn’t that easy, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said this week. “That’s not an easy thing to do,” Domenici told radio reporters. “If you want to change the mission of the laboratory you have to have the money to change the mission of the laboratory. So if you’ve got $425 million, I assume you could change the mission of the laboratory. And nobody’s got $425 million because the House used it for all kinds of things, but didn’t create a new mission for Los Alamos National Laboratory, that’s for sure.” Still, Domenici, Udall and U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., say the lab needs to diversify its work. About 67 percent of its budget was weapons-related in the 2006 fiscal year, according to a lab budget provided to the New Mexican. About $1.4 billion was included in weapons activities out of a $2.1 billion budget. When asked if the lab budgets have peaked, Bingaman said he didn’t know. “I think it depends on successful the lab is and how successful the Department of Energy is in identifying a more diverse set of mission that the lab can work on,” Bingaman said last month. “I would doubt that we’re going to see increases in DOE funding for nuclear weapons related work. But that doesn’t mean there will not be an increase in other areas that the lab could be involved in.” The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet weighed in on lab funding for 2008. Bingaman, who chairs a policy, not an appropriations committee, said his vision for the lab is that it “needs to be more diversified than it had been ... so that more of its work is in areas other than nuclear weapons. I think that would be good for the lab and good for the country.” Domenici, also speaking late last month, said lab officials “should begin now to make plans about their scientific future, because I think that is bright. I think it is important that they begin thinking about it.” When pressed, he said, “I’m not saying less weapons. I’m saying more science.” Udall has requested New Mexico’s Congressional delegation meet with lab officials for a “long overdue” discussion about the lab’s future. “Every single one of the government agencies that I’ve observed in this appropriations process is having a very serious problem with funding,” Udall said recently. “The budgets are very, very tight.” Of those voicing concerns about the lab’s future is retired physicist Ken LaGattuta who has written a letter to Udall. “Perhaps what this very large, and currently over-funded, collection of single minded weaponeers ... should experience is the enforced regimen of a strict low-weapons, or even no-weapons, diet,” LaGattuta wrote. “Indeed, this is something that Congress could actually do to them, which would be a benefit to us all.” Anastasio talked at length about how national security means different things now than it did 50 years ago. “The Cold War’s over,” he said. “The standards for safety and security are higher. And so we have to continue to evolve as a laboratory ... ” When asked if that meant a more diverse mission than mostly stockpile work, Anastasio said, “Sure. I think that’s what ... the mission of the lab is now. It already is that. And I think there are continued opportunities for this laboratory to help the country’s security in this broad kind of definition of security.” That means securing confidence in the weapons stockpile, but also work around nuclear nonproliferation, terrorism, the environment, renewable energy and nuclear power, he said. “That’s the sort of thing that a laboratory like this can help the country do,” he said. He added that he’s proud of the employees for producing wonderful work despite turmoil in recent years. Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Idaho Statesman Business: Energy Department fines WGI, CH2M Hill Companies will have to pay $55,000 a whistleblower complains about Idaho National Laboratory The Associated Press - Idaho Statesman Edition Date: 06/16/07 The U.S. Department of Energy has fined engineering companies Washington Group International and CH2M Hill a total of $55,000 for violating federal nuclear safety requirements at the Idaho National Laboratory after a whistleblower complained last year. The companies, which are cleaning up a legacy of atomic pollution at INL in eastern Idaho, were cited for several violations during a May 2006 federal inspection, including insufficient practices to control contaminated survey instruments, poor recordkeeping, issues with calibration and the repair of airborne radiation monitoring equipment. The Energy Department investigated after an employee at the site reported deficient radiation safety practices. The department cut the companies' original fine in half because they've already taken corrective actions to keep similar problems from recurring, according to a news release from the federal agency. Washington Group, based in Boise, and Denver-based CH2M Hill are "required to respond to the preliminary notice of violation within 30 days and document any specific actions taken since the DOE's investigation concluded," DOE officials said. Amy Lientz, a spokeswoman for the cleanup project in Idaho Falls, didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Washington Group, which is on track to be sold this year to San Francisco-based URS Corp., and CH2M Hill are heading the seven-year, $7.9-billion project to clean up material and equipment left over from decades of tests at the 890-square-mile federal nuclear research area. IdahoStatesman.com ***************************************************************** 42 Tri-City Herald: Buildings used by PNNL remain closed Friday over radioactive contamination Published Saturday, June 16th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Two buildings used by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory remained closed Friday after radioactive contamination was discovered a day earlier. However, surveys found no additional contamination in the buildings and the four staff members who were contaminated were released for normal activities. Radioactive contamination from plutonium 238 was found Thursday in the 326 and 329 buildings used by PNNL in the Hanford 300 Area just north of Richland. PNNL incorrectly called the 329 Building the Radiological Processing Laboratory in an announcement Thursday night, but that lab was not affected. The contamination also was tracked off the Hanford nuclear reservation to the Applied Process Engineering Laboratory, or APEL, in north Richland. Surveys of APEL found no contamination in common areas, but access to areas used by PNNL was restricted Friday, said Greg Koller, spokesman for PNNL. Contamination was discovered in some PNNL-operated labs and one office at APEL. Contamination also was tracked into two homes. They have been decontaminated and some clothing and other items removed. PNNL stressed that contamination levels were low. Contamination levels found off the Hanford nuclear reservation were less than 1 percent of what a non-nuclear worker would expect to receive annually from natural and medical sources, according to PNNL. The incident occurred when a sealed source used to verify the accuracy of radiation detection equipment leaked either Thursday or earlier. It contained a stainless steel disk with plutonium 238 on it inside an aluminum holder. That was covered by a thin layer of aluminum foil and sealed with a washer. The device measures about 3-by-5 inches. The plutonium isotope is not the type used in nuclear weapons. Instead, it's used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators that supply electricity for probes into deep space and for batteries in pacemakers. PNNL is conducting an investigation, including talking to the four workers who were working with the device Thursday and had contamination on their skin or clothing. No decision has been made about whether the two buildings in the 300 Area will be reopened for work Monday. But the 120 employees who perform at least some of their work there have been given a telephone number to check in Sunday evening for more information. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 43 Tri-City Herald: DOE won't force pension changes on contractors Published Saturday, June 16th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy is dropping a plan that would have bumped all new employees of DOE contractors nationwide from traditional pension and medical plans. It made the announcement Friday under more pressure from Congress. However, DOE still may continue to impose benefit changes case by case, including under the award of new contracts at Hanford. In April 2006, DOE said it no longer would reimburse contractors for providing traditional pensions to new employees, including those at Hanford and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. But after the House appropriations bill for the Department of Energy prohibited spending money to implement the new pension policy, DOE announced it would delay changes for a year. The House does not appear to have changed its mind. In language attached to the 2008 DOE budget bill released last week in the House, the Appropriations Committee again mandated no spending on the benefit change. "To date, the department has not provided adequate justification for such a sweeping and ill-defined change of existing policy," the committee said. If the bill passes, the committee language requires the Government Accountability Office to assess the adequacy of DOE's analysis of pension and medical benefits by the end of the year. DOE released a statement Friday saying it would not re-issue the suspended policy that would have imposed broad-based changes to contractor pension and medical benefits. It would have required contractors to replace traditional pension plans for new workers with 401(k)-style plans, in which workers would be responsible for investing contributions rather than receiving a predetermined payment each month in retirement. Medical benefits also would have been switched to a "market-based" program. The announcement of changes a year ago "brought increased visibility to the challenges the department faces due to increases in costs and liabilities associated with these benefits," according to DOE's statement. In 2006, DOE reimbursed 46 contractors more than $1 billion for contractor employee pension and medical benefits, a 226 percent increase since 2000, according to DOE. In addition, DOE says it owes $11.9 billion in future medical and pension costs that money is not set aside for, a 68 percent increase since 2000. DOE already has chipped away at its traditional pension plan at Hanford. About 500 workers who were transferred to so-called "enterprise companies" more than a decade ago continue to do Hanford work but are not accruing benefits in the Hanford pension plan. New workers for the Hanford river corridor cleanup are offered an enhanced 401(k)-style program. DOE also does not allow new workers to sign up for the traditional pension plan under new contracts that will replace those now held by Fluor Hanford and CH2M Hill Hanford Group. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said last year after DOE announced plans to adopt a new pension policy nationwide that existing pension plans must be fully protected. There has been concern that current workers might be bumped from pension plans as they switch jobs at the Hanford nuclear reservation. DOE will continue to discuss benefit issues with stakeholders such as Congress, labor unions and contractors, said Megan Barnett, DOE spokeswoman. The House Appropriations Committee suggested that one place to consider cuts might be in the benefits offered by the nation's three nuclear weapons design laboratories. Contracts at Sandia, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories have benefits far outpacing the DOE work force, it said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 44 SF Chron: LANL: Energy Dept. acknowledges lab's e-mail security lapse acknowled:/c/a/2007/06/16/BAGG3QGHF01.DTL LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY Energy Dept. acknowledges lab's e-mail security lapse Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer Saturday, June 16, 2007 Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory sent top-secret information about nuclear weapons through open e-mail networks, fueling concerns that security lapses, long an issue at the New Mexico lab, have not been solved by the recent installation of a UC-Bechtel management team. The latest security breach was acknowledged Friday by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman after it was revealed by two congressmen. In a letter obtained by The Chronicle, Bodman assured Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, that the incident was immediately and fully investigated and that "appropriate measures have been taken to address the situation." He gave no further details other than to blame the incident on "human error," and did not indicate when the breach occurred. "An individual did in fact unintentionally transmit sensitive information through an unsecured e-mail system," Bodman said in the letter. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who chairs the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, called the latest security lapse a fresh example of Los Alamos' "mind-bogglingly poor track record" on security issues. The scandal comes less than two years after the Energy Department awarded a consortium led by the University of California and Bechtel Corp. a new contract to run Los Alamos partly in order to prevent a repeat of numerous scandals involving the security of weapons information at the lab. The consortium operates under the name Los Alamos National Security LLC. A similar managerial consortium -- one that is also dominated by UC and Bechtel -- was selected May 8 to manage the nation's other nuclear weapons design lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore. According to the Associated Press, the breach at Los Alamos occurred when a consultant to the Los Alamos National Security board sent an e-mail containing highly classified, non-encrypted nuclear weapons information to several board members, who forwarded it to other members. The news agency identified the consultant as Harold Smith. A spokeswoman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's nuclear weapons labs, would not confirm that, but said a person had been issued an infraction. Two more infractions during the calendar year, she said, would lead to an unspecified personnel action. Spokesmen Chris Harrington of UC and Jeff Berger of Los Alamos declined comment. Lab critics jumped on the news of the latest security breach. "The UC-Bechtel consortium at Los Alamos has taken what was a bad managerial situation and made it a lot worse," said Marylia Kelley, head of Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, which is based in Livermore. "As long as the United States continues to design and develop new nuclear weapons, some of that information can and will leak out. ... Better management cannot solve that deeper problem." After the news leaked out, Dingell and Stupak wrote Bodman demanding to know why the breach wasn't reported to Congress for six months, even though an unidentified UC official informed the National Nuclear Security Administration of the breach on Jan. 19. The timing delay raises the question of whether another scandal is being covered up -- in effect, the possibility that authorities dragged their feet for almost six months investigating the security breach so that UC and Bechtel could win their joint bid for the Livermore contract without suffering any taint of scandal. Dingell is well known for initiating congressional investigations into such federal malfeasance. "Livermore laboratory has lost numerous keys to classified areas, and some of those keys have gone missing for many, many months before their loss was reported to upper management," Kelley said. "In another instance, one of the main laboratory gates was left unlocked over a holiday period -- and I'm not talking about a little gate, I'm talking about (a gate with) two lanes in and two lanes out." E-mail Keay Davidson at kdavidson@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 45 KnoxNews: Stories from Oak Ridge's earliest residents recorded By BOB FOWLER, fowlerb@knews.com June 16, 2007 OAK RIDGE - With camera and recorder capturing their comments, pioneers of the atomic era recalled their early days in Oak Ridge when it was a secret city behind a fence. They told of being ordered to report to a city that wasn't on any map for work of an unknown nature. They described huge magnets in the calutron room at the Y-12 Plant that would snatch hairpins and watches. They recalled life in a city that sprang up overnight and how they had to walk barefoot through muddy streets, washing their feet before putting their shoes back on. The Atomic Heritage Foundation, a national nonprofit group that seeks to preserve Manhattan Project buildings and stories, hosted Friday's get-together, attended by nearly 40 people, many of whom lived through that era more than 60 years ago. Their colorful, often humorous stories will be transcribed for interpretative videos that will be posted on the foundation's Web site, president Cindy Kelly said. "We're trying to make a tapestry of stories that will last for future generations,'' she said of the five-year-old project. "That's what we're trying to do - preserve the voices.'' While they're now well into their 80s, participants in Friday's reunion vividly recalled their early days in Oak Ridge. Alice Stein of Atlanta said she was one of the "calutron girls'' who read meters and plotted graphs in the area of the Y-12 plant where bomb-grade uranium was separated from the more plentiful U-238. "Every time you got a paycheck, you got a slip of paper that entitled you to two packs of cigarettes a week,'' she said. "You could have a lot of boyfriends if you didn't smoke.'' Her boyfriend then and now her husband of 61 years, Ray Stein, was in the Army but wore civilian clothes as he guarded against sabotage of the massive cooling system for the calutrons. "We were living the good life - I admit it,'' Ray Stein said. After he obtained a degree in electrical engineering, Dick Lord said he was hired by Eastman Kodak and told to report to Oak Ridge. "I couldn't find it on a map, and the post office never heard of it,'' he said. A puzzled telegram to his Eastman Kodak contact resulted in a directive to head to Knoxville. Lord, who remains an Oak Ridge resident, said he was first driven to the secret city "by a young woman in a fur jacket in a car covered in dust and mud.'' Once on the job, he said, "it wasn't too long before I knew what was going on. "We checked out some well-thumbed books in the library that talked about a fission bomb.'' Friday's reunion was part of the city's two-day Secret City Festival. Tours of historic Manhattan Project sites in Oak Ridge are being offered a various times today, starting from the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 46 KnoxNews: K-25 site to sprout wildflowers, grasses By BOB FOWLER, fowlerb@knews.com June 16, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Native grasses and wildflowers will soon be growing in front of a former uranium enrichment plant. The Native Meadow Restoration Project is part of an ongoing effort to change the look of the former K-25 site now that it's undergoing cleanup and being transformed into a private-sector business park, Bob Greenwell said. Greenwell, with the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, is heading up the project. CROET is a regional organization charged with finding new uses for old Department of Energy buildings and lands. The planting of eight types of native grasses and 21 different wildflower species began Friday on 100 acres at the front entrance off state Highway 58 to the sprawling complex, which has been renamed East Tennessee Technology Park. Splashes of native wildflowers ranging from Prairie Blazing Star to Aromatic Aster will soon be sprouting next to ETTP buildings that aren't targeted for takedown as part of an accelerated cleanup of the site. CROET spent $12,800 for the 800 pounds of grass and wildflower seeds. "It's a lot more expensive than Home Depot seed,'' Greenwell said. Fifty of the 100 acres are being planted in fast-growing switchgrass to mesh with Gov. Phil Bredesen's initiative for Tennessee to become the country's premiere ethanol-from-switchgrass state, Greenwell said. Native grasses that are being sown will be from 3 to 6 feet tall, while switchgrass grows to 10 to 12 feet, he said. Greenwell said it would require a couple of years for the new vegetation to take hold. "It won't look like it's intended to look until the second or third year,'' he said. The project will have several benefits, Greenwell said, including: Reduction of maintenance and mowing costs. Creation of wildlife habitat. Reduction of visits by Canada geese, considered by many on Oak Ridge's DOE sites to be an ongoing nuisance. Geese don't flock to high grasslands, Greenwell said. The potential for switchgrass to be harvested, used in ethanol production and become a cash crop for CROET. "Once we decided to do the switchgrass initiative, we went back and talked with DOE,'' Greenwell said. "We've identified other areas including power line easements, where it can be planted.'' Bob Fowler, News Sentinel Anderson County editor, may be reached at 865-481-3625. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 47 lamonitor.com: Lab, state agree to reduced fine The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor The New Mexico Environment Department settled for a little less than a third of a penalty proposed last year to Los Alamos National Laboratory for violations in reporting chromium contamination in a groundwater monitoring. NMED announced Friday that a settlement had been reached that included a penalty of $251,870 for violations of the laboratory's hazardous waste permit and a Consent Order that governs the ongoing comprehensive environmental cleanup program. "LANL is pleased to conclude the settlement agreement with NMED," said Susan Stiger, LANL associate director for environmental programs in a statement on Friday. "As a result, we will provide NMED and the public with more expansive and more timely groundwater information. We remain committed in letter and in spirit to meeting our commitments under the Consent Order," she said. A notice of violation issued in September 2006 proposed a penalty of $795,620 with the offer to negotiate a settlement. The penalty, along with some additional commitments from LANL, were the result of four groundwater samples collected between 2004 and 2005 that showed concentrations of hexavalent chromium in the regional aquifer below the laboratory at four times the drinking water standard and eight times the state's water quality standard. Hexavalent chromium is considered harmful to human health when ingested, even in small amounts. Almost two years elapsed between the first sample and the laboratory's reporting the detections to NMED. The laboratory's corrective action follow-up on the chromium has been underway for more than a year now, including an effort to characterize the nature and extent of the problem. Most recently, a monitoring well, R-35 has been installed in Sandia Canyon. Located along the presumed path of the chromium plume and 500 yards up-gradient of the county drinking well, known as PM-3, it will serve as a sentry well. Hexavalent chromium has not been detected in any Los Alamos County drinking wells to date, according to the most recent quarterly reports. "This enforcement action should remind the operators of LANL that they have a duty to report significant environmental contamination to the state and residents promptly," said New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry in announcing the settlement. "Chromium contamination is a serious issue. It should be addressed as quickly as possible, and the state and the public need to be informed immediately." The settlement requires the laboratory to review analytical data from all groundwater monitoring constantly and to report verbally within one business day if any previously undetected contaminant concentrations in monitoring wells exceed state or federal water quality standards. The settlement also revives the role of the Risk Analysis, Communication, Evaluation and Reduction (RACER) project, which provides environmental data to the laboratory and the public concerning lab operations. RACER will continue to be funded, NMED indicated, under the terms of the settlement. During testimony to a legislative oversight panel last fall, Curry complained to the committee that he saw signs that the new laboratory managers were "pushing back" against their environmental obligations. Among the examples he gave was that LANL was proposing to let the RACER project wind down. RACER had included an innovative program for public participation to help prioritize environmental "risks," as input in the cleanup process. NMED's announcement said the RACER database, including soil and groundwater monitoring data, will be turned over to an independent manager, the New Mexico Community Foundation, by Sept 1, 2008. A spokesperson for NMED said, "We believe RACER is an important tool in making information about environmental contamination from LANL more accessible to residents." © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 lamonitor.com: Bodman says breach was 'human error' The Online News Source for Los Alamos MONITOR STAFF REPORT In a letter to a House lawmaker, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman called the Jan. 19 security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory a result of "human error" and not evidence of a widespread security failure. Bodman confirmed in the letter, obtained Friday by the Associated Press, that an individual working for the company running LANL "unintentionally" sent sensitive information through an unsecured e-mail system. The incident was immediately recognized, investigated and addressed, Bodman wrote to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. "While serious, the incident in question was the result of human error, not a failure of security systems," Bodman wrote. "We have a robust system in place to report and investigate potential violations. In my opinion this is a circumstance where those systems worked well." Rep. Jeannette Wallace, R-Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Sandoval, is a member of the LANL Oversight Committee. She addressed the situation in an interview Saturday. "Obviously we are concerned about any security breach," Wallace said. "Yes, it's a breach and yes, maybe they need better training on the security issues involving computers. It was human error but we need to understand why, and yes, we are all concerned. We don't want to be in the news again." The breach was made public Thursday through a Time magazine article and when Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who heads an oversight subcommittee that monitors the lab, wrote to Bodman demanding to know why lawmakers weren't told of the breach for six months. The congressmen said a University of California official reported the incident to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Jan. 19. "It is unacceptable," Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., who chairs an Armed Services subcommittee, said Friday. "The American people expect that our most sensitive national security secrets are being protected with due diligence." Los Alamos National Security, LLC, which took over lab management a year ago, is made up of LANL's former manager, the University of California, Bechtel and two other companies. House appropriators earlier this month took aim at its budget, zeroing out nearly $500 million in nuclear weapons program funding. The cut had New Mexico officials concerned even before learning this week of the January breach. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., on Friday said the state's political leaders should hold a summit on how to protect the lab's funding. Udall compared the lab's situation to Cannon Air Force Base, which was saved from closure after the state's leaders lobbied together for a new mission. "We need a bipartisan, statewide effort to ensure our scientists have the funding needed to do the nation's work in the post-Cold War, post-9/11 world," Udall wrote the state's congressional delegation and Gov. Bill Richardson. While the state's delegation is united in wanting to restore funding for the lab, it's unclear whether members feel the same about the future of the lab. Udall said he wants the delegation to talk about ways to diversify what Los Alamos does. "The threats we face as a nation have changed; so too must the focus of our labs with them," Udall wrote. Republicans Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Steve Pearce, have also talked about adding missions at Los Alamos, their spokesmen said. The full House is expected to vote on the measure next week and the Senate later this month. Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said the news of any security lapses, particularly at Los Alamos, "is not helpful at all" as the delegation tries to restore funding. Los Alamos is still responsible for most of the nation's active nuclear stockpile, he said. "We have to take an approach that addresses security concerns without undermining key (nuclear) security responsibilities the lab has now," Gallegos said. According to an official familiar with the investigation, the January breach occurred when a consultant to the LANS board, Harold Smith, sent an e-mail containing highly classified, non-encrypted nuclear weapons information to several board members, who forwarded it to other members. The official asked not to be named because the information is sensitive. Lawmakers were assured no damage was caused, according to the official. Smith was given an infraction, meaning a letter was placed in his file. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 49 Rocky Mountain News: Flats workers waiting, waiting Leavitt needs to step in June 17, 2007 We find ourselves in an unusual position: Opposing the opinions of scientists in a dispute that ought to be settled with scientific data. Trouble is, the controversy swirling over compensation for former Rocky Flats workers can't be settled with scientific data because good data simply don't exist. Establishing past exposure to radiation, called "dose reconstruction," is laborious, costly and error-prone, because many records were never kept or have been lost. That's also why it is so disappointing that five scientists and a doctor who serve on the president's Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health voted to deny a union petition to declare Rocky Flats workers members of a "special exposure cohort," which would qualify them for medical help and $150,000 in compensation if they developed certain cancers that are related to radiation exposure. Without that status, individuals have to gather their employment, exposure and medical records and submit them for evaluation to determine whether their cancer was, more likely than not, caused by their work. This is the stage at which "dose reconstruction" takes place. It takes on average more than two years to get a decision, and most applications are denied. That is an unfair burden to place on people who literally put their lives on the line in America's long struggle with the Soviet Union. It is also a burden that workers in other nuclear facilities don't bear, because their petitions were granted. Three former nuclear workers who serve on the advisory board voted to grant the Rocky Flats petition. They were joined by James Malcolm Melius, a doctor who specializes in worker health, who said, "This is not a fair process. I can't claim individual dose reconstructions can be feasibly done with sufficient accuracy." But the six on the other side prevailed, claiming - with baffling optimism often not borne out by the facts - that doses can be reconstructed. The next opportunity for justice falls to Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, who has authority to approve the petition. If he doesn't, there are further appeals, dragging out a process that has already taken more than twice as long as at the other 21 facilities that have the special status. It's time for Congress to step in. The compensation plan, approved in 2000, is clearly not working as intended, to speed help to former workers who need it. Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, among others, has called for hearings, which would be a good start. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************