***************************************************************** 06/21/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.145 ***************************************************************** 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 DW: Russian Bear Aiming to Recover Former Military Roar | 2 RIA Novosti: France test launches sea-based strategic missile 3 RIA Novosti: Missiles key to counter U.S. shield plans - NUCLEAR REACTORS 4 Guardian Unlimited: Report: Images Show New Pakistan Reactor 5 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear boom makes EDF France's biggest company 6 US: White House News: Fact Sheet: Expanding the Safe Use of Nuclear 7 US: NCT: San Onofre shuts reactor down for repairs - 8 US: Aspen Daily News: U.S. has nuclear solutions 9 US: Rutland Herald: Court blocks Yankee 10 US: ajc.com: New energy bill could recast future | 11 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point relicensing application incomplete, N 12 US: Chico Enterprise Record: Nuclear power needed 13 Daily Times: Pakistan ‘building’ third plutonium reactor - ISIS 14 Gazette Series: New Safety Fears Over Nuclear Reactor 15 US: UPI: Bush tours nuclear plant in Alabama 16 US: NRC: NRC Names New Senior Resident Inspector at Pilgrim Nuclear 17 UPI: Vietnam predicts nuclear power by 2020 18 Scotsman.com News: UK may have to do without nuclear power 19 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet in 20 US: Public Citizen: Bush's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Visit 21 NewsRoom Finland: Finland's Lehtomäki peeved by nuclear green label 22 US: AP: Judge to nuclear plant: I meant what I said 23 US: NRC: NRC Recognized for Diversity 24 US: deseretnews.com: U. professor urges Utah to try nuclear power NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 25 US: [DU-WATCH] FW: AMERICA'S GUILTY SILENCE 26 Moscow Times: No Place for Nuclear Secrets 27 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear watchdog might not cope in atomic crisis 28 BBC NEWS: Health checks after suspect find 29 csmonitor.com: Nuclear watchdog short of cash NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 30 Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump - Green Left Weekly 31 Daily Yomiuri: MHI to join French firm on U.S. N-project bid 32 US: EPA: U.S. EPA, state, settle for $1.7 million in San Gabriel Val 33 ReviewJournal.com: Attempt at Yucca budget cut fails 34 ReviewJournal.com: House pans Yucca Internet strategy 35 US: Platts: Euratom agency: Hedge funds drive up EU uranium prices i 36 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Uranium cleanup to get rolling PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 37 Times-News: DOE's rich tapestry of broken promises 38 Aiken Today: Future of SRS pit plant uncertain 39 Lodinews.com: Explosives test range Site 300 questioned over cleanup 40 Tri-City Herald: HAMMER victory 41 Hanford News: More public access to monument sought 42 Jakarta Post: Anger over verdict in aircraft firm firings 43 UPI: Argonne aiming for isotope lab 44 Albuquerque Tribune: House shoots down Udall's effort to restore New 45 Albuquerque Tribune: Eric Griego: Bright side of lab cuts 46 Tracy Press: Lab touts Site 300 cleanup 47 lamonitor.com: Business owners grapple with lab uncertainties 48 Canon City Daily Record: Nation owes Rocky Flats workers 49 KnoxNews: Bechtel Jacobs assumes cleanup ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 DW: Russian Bear Aiming to Recover Former Military Roar | Deutsche Welle | 21.06.2007 Russia plans to launch 20 satellites that could help steer intercontinental missiles by 2010 Ambitious plans for new satellite and rocket programs reflect Russia's attempts to flex its muscle and recover lost prestige on the international stage, say German experts. Sergei Ivanov, one of Russia's two deputy prime ministers, announced this week that Russia would expand its aerospace defense and satellite programs by launching a total of 20 additional satellites into orbit by 2010 for its Glonass navigation system. The system, which Moscow is developing as a counterweight to both the US GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems, could also be used to steer cruise missiles, according to Götz Neuneck, an armaments expert at Hamburg University's Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy. "Glonass makes the armed forces more flexible and weapons systems more precise," he said. "There has been no attempt from the US side to renew control treaties; that is another reason why Moscow is starting up." Situation changed since Soviet-US talks Bildunterschrift: Experts debate if the US missile shield is really the cause behind Russia's arms program Russia has felt pressured to expand its aerospace weapons capabilities by a US decision to exclude defensive systems from the 2002 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to develop its National Missile Defense, part of which US military planners want to locate in Poland and the Czech Republic, Neuneck added. "The Soviet-American treaty (on intermediate nuclear forces) is not effective because since (its signature) scores of countries have appeared that have such missiles, while Russia and the United States are not allowed to have them," Ivanov told a military-industrial commission, Reuters reported. "In these conditions, it is necessary to provide our troops with modern, high-precision weapons." Missile shield only a pretext? Bildunterschrift: Money from energy exports enables Russia to modernize its military But Hannes Adomeit, a Russia expert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the US missile defense system is only the cover the Kremlin was looking for to renew its missile arsenal. "Without the planned missile defense, Moscow would still arm itself in the same way," he added. Among the new weapons are short-range Iskander-M missiles as well as RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles, which can be armed with up to 10 warheads, both of which were tested in May. Ivanov has said the two missile systems have been designed to overpower all existing and planned missile defense systems. Recouping lost prestige Matthes Buhbe, head of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung's Moscow office said there has been scant criticism of the missile plans from the Russian public. "From the left to the right, everyone is excited," he said. Bildunterschrift: Experts said Putin is highly interested in restoring Russia's previous stature A Cold War mentality is still present in the Kremlin, and Russia is interested in reclaiming the international influence it had as the Soviet Union, Adomeit said. "Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to position Russia as a world power and prove that it is a nuclear equal with the USA," he said. Policy should be taken seriously Experts consider nearly 80 percent of the Russian arsenal to be out-of-date, making the current potential for escalation small when compared to the political situation of the 80s. But as some $150 billion (112 billion euros) in income from gas and oil exports fills Russian coffers, the defense department announced it had quadrupled military spending from 2000 to 2006. The West, and Europe in particular, should take Moscow's change of position seriously and push for new arms control treaties, Neuneck said. "The Europeans are again caught between the Russian and American nuclear mill-stones," he said, adding that the danger of conflict increases as arms programs replace non-proliferation talks. "Instead of negotiations each side is modernizing its own arsenal." Torsten Schäfer (sms) * NATO Ministers Discuss US Missile Shield at Talks At NATO talks in Brussels, defense ministers stepped up discussion on US plans to extend its missile shield into Europe. They will also discuss the Kremlin's offer to cooperate with the Americans on the program. (14.06.2007) * Russian FM: US Missile Plans Might Worsen Iran Crisis Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that US missile defense plans could worsen the Iranian nuclear stand-off and urged Washington to freeze work on the issue with the Czech Republic and Poland. (09.06.2007) * Putin Proposes Joint Missile Base to Bush to Solve Crisis Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday proposed to US President George W. Bush setting up a joint missile radar base in Azerbaijan to overcome a crisis between the two countries. (07.06.2007) 1. © 2007 Deutsche Welle ***************************************************************** 2 RIA Novosti: France test launches sea-based strategic missile 17:12 | 21/ 06/ 2007 LE BOURGET, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - France has conducted a successful test launch of its new M51 ballistic missile, which will be used on its nuclear submarines, the defense minister said Thursday. The unarmed missile was launched from the Biscarosse site in the Landes region of southwest France and fell into the North Atlantic off the U.S. coast. "We conducted a second test of the M51 missile this morning, which was a complete success," Herve Morin said. The first test of the M51, which is capable of carrying six nuclear warheads and has a range of 8,000 km (5,000 miles), was conducted in November 2006. The missile will replace the M45 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and will be deployed on new Triomphant-class strategic nuclear submarines starting in 2010. The minister said the missile test conformed to all of France's international commitments and was part of France's missile program developed to safeguard national sovereignty and its independence. Commenting on the French missile launch, Russia's Chief of the General Staff, Yury Baluyevsky, said the test was a step in the development of nuclear weapons delivery vehicles, which France has been pursuing since the 1950s. Baluyevsky said Russia and France planned to discuss in July the test results and the situation around the proposed U.S. missile shield in Europe. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 3 RIA Novosti: Missiles key to counter U.S. shield plans - top Russian general 20:29 | 21/ 06/ 2007 MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Chief of Russia's General Staff said Thursday the military component is key in defending Russian national interests wherever the state feels they are being infringed, specifically if U.S. deploys missiles in Central Europe. "If we see that Russia's national interests are under threat, this threat will be minimized. By what means - political, diplomatic, or military - is a technical issue. However, this process will include a military component - the Iskander [missile] or another system," Yury Baluyevsky told a RIA Novosti news conference. "Of course we do not want things to go that far," he added in a clear reference to U.S. plans to deploy part of its missile shield in Europe, which Russian political leaders and military officials suspect of being targeted against Moscow, rather than "rogue states" such as Iran. Baluyevsky warned Washington, and specifically U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, against deliberately playing down Russia's offer made during the G8 summit in Germany earlier this month to use a radar in Azerbaijan for missile defense instead of similar sites in Central Europe. He said that the U.S. response would be a "litmus test" for the world to see what Washington really wants. "In a nutshell, I think the U.S. assessment of what Putin proposed in Heiligendamm is as follows. Washington is firmly set on deploying its missile defenses in Europe, which means that the current U.S. administration will not respond positively to Russia's initiative," Baluyevsky said. "We are saying quite openly that if we get no response to our proposal...., then everything will be clear. In fact, the entire world will see the real purpose of the "third site" in Poland and the Czech Republic, and who its perceived targets are," he added. He brushed off recent reports suggesting that Russia's choice, the Gabala Station, is too old technologically to be part of a joint missile defense capability and vowed to let international media visit the station and see for themselves. "Somehow, the only thing everyone is talking about seems to be what this radar cannot do," he said. "Some experts have said that the radar is outdated. I can assure you that this is not true." "I don't think one should rush to judge the radar's inability to track ballistic missiles," he said, adding that Russia could modernize the radar to address any challenges. "Here, in the presence of foreign media, I promise that before July 1 you will have the opportunity to inspect and visit the radar just as the Russian media have done. Azerbaijan has already agreed to [let you do so]," he said. Baluyevsky said that Western commentators had misinterpreted Russia's surprise offer as tacit acknowledgement of a missile threat from Iran. "The U.S. is apparently saying that Russia has, finally, recognized that Iran is a missile threat, and that this is the reason why the Gabala radar was offered for joint use... As a military expert, I call this a misinterpretation. We have never denied a global trend toward the proliferation of missiles and nuclear weapons, but we insist that this trend is not something catastrophic, which would require a global missile defense system deployed near Russian borders," he said. While describing a missile threat from Iran as "merely hypothetical," at least in the short term, Baluyevsky warned that the intentions of the U.S. and Poland, which has shown willingness to host U.S. missiles, look quite straightforward. "Let us be blunt - the Poles fear that, should we reach an agreement [with Washington on Gabala], their illusion of having earned some special preferences by cozying up to the U.S. will be shattered," Russia's top general said. "What [the U.S.] is doing right now is ... the "third site." Where will the "fourth," the "fifth" be? They will [follow after the third], I assure you. They will, if someone fails to show enough wisdom," he said about U.S. plans. The Gabala radar, built in 1985 to track missile launches from the south, covers the entire Middle East, much of North and East Africa, and the Indian Ocean down to Madagascar. Under a special agreement with Azerbaijan, it will be used by Russia at least until 2012. Results of a poll conducted earlier this week by a leading Russian pollster, Public Opinion Foundation, suggests that Baluyevsky's language was in line with broader public perception of U.S. policies. The pollster said 61% of respondents had described the U.S. as a country unfriendly to Russia. However, Public Opinion said, 17% saw a bright future for Russia-U.S. relations (only 15% were pessimistic, others more or less undecided), and 48% favored rapprochement. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: Report: Images Show New Pakistan Reactor From the Associated Press Thursday June 21, 2007 9:16 PM By STEPHEN GRAHAM Associated Press Writer ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Satellite images show that Pakistan is building a new nuclear reactor that can produce weapons-grade plutonium, an American watchdog group said Thursday, warning that it could contribute to an atomic arms race with archrival India. A picture taken June 3 shows work progressing rapidly on the reactor at the Khushab nuclear site, 100 miles southwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the Institute of Science for International Security said. The development of the reactor and other nuclear-related activities ``imply'' that Pakistan has decided to ``increase significantly its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons,'' the Washington-based institute said in a report analyzing the images. A senior official at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Authority said the country was ``extending our infrastructure,'' but declined to address the details of the report. ``We are a declared nuclear state and we are pursuing our nuclear program for peaceful purposes,'' said the official, who asked that he not be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. ``We are doing it for our national interests.'' Pakistan has stated repeatedly that it will develop its secretive nuclear program and maintain an atomic arsenal to deter India, its more powerful neighbor, despite past leaks of sensitive technology to countries including Iran. The report, co-authored by former U.N. inspector David Albright, said Pakistan may have decided to produce more plutonium for lighter warheads for cruise missiles, or to upgrade weapons aimed at Indian cities. Most Pakistani nuclear weapons use highly enriched uranium, it noted. Albright said the work on the reactor shows that the country is trying to improve its nuclear capabilities with a ``new generation'' of plutonium-based weapons. Plutonium-based weapons pack more explosive power into smaller, lighter packages than those made with uranium, which Pakistan has been using for years, according to Albright. ``The work on these reactors reflects a Pakistani decision to create a new generation of nuclear weapons. By going plutonium ... we have to interpret that as an attempt to make smaller, more powerful weapons that are going to be more destructive in India,'' Albright said in a telephone interview. The Pakistani official declined to comment on what Pakistan might do with extra plutonium. The report said that, with India also trying to expand its ability to enrich uranium, Pakistan's activities ``should be viewed as a sign of an accelerated nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan.'' It also accused the U.S. government of soft-pedaling the risk to avoid endangering Islamabad's cooperation against terrorism and a proposed nuclear pact with New Delhi. ``The bottom line for us is that the U.S. isn't doing enough to stop these countries from expanding their nuclear arsenals. They're turning a blind eye,'' said Albright. The institute said it used commercially available satellite imagery to conclude that Pakistan was building a third nuclear reactor at Khushab. A first reactor entered service in 1998, and a second one begun between 2000 and 2002 was still under construction earlier this month, it said in the report. The third and newest reactor has sprung up rapidly just a few hundred yards away, it said. The images also purportedly show work progressing on a plutonium reprocessing facility at Chashma, 50 miles to the west. A report by the same institute about the second reactor at Khushab saying it could eventually produce enough fissile material for 50 atomic bombs a year prompted the U.S. government last July to urge Pakistan not to expand its nuclear weapons program. Pakistan conducted its only nuclear tests in May 1998 after Indian tests earlier that month. India detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1974. The two countries came close to open conflict in 2002, fueling fear of the world's first nuclear exchange, after terrorists attacked India's Parliament. New Delhi accused Islamabad-backed militants of carrying out the attack, but Pakistan denied the claims. Both countries have since embarked on a stop-start peace process. In February 2004, Abdul Qadeer Khan, considered to be the father of Pakistan's atomic program, confessed to giving nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan and U.S. officials regularly praise Islamabad's role in helping prevent nuclear smuggling. --- On the Net: Institute for Science and International Security report: http://www.isis-online.org/publications/pakistan/ThirdKhushabReactor .pdf --- Associated Press Writers Munir Ahmad in Islamabad and Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 5 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear boom makes EDF France's biggest company David Gow in Brussels Thursday June 21, 2007 The promise of a nuclear energy renaissance in Britain and elsewhere in Europe today drove state-owned power group EDF to record highs on the Paris stock exchange, where it became France's biggest listed company. EDF, which has 5.5 million customers in Britain and has teamed up with Areva in bidding for a licence to build a third-generation European pressurised reactor (EPR) in the UK, overtook French oil company Total on the CAC-40. The group, which is 86% owned by the French state, soared more than 6% to be worth €141.7bn. Buoyed by brokers' notes citing a positive outlook for nuclear energy, EDF could see the new government of Francois Fillon float off a further 8% in the autumn. It has jumped 140% in value since the initial float in November 2005. Its surge coincides with growing expectations that French energy group Suez will call off its stalled €90bn merger with state-owned GDF, the gas group, with Mr Fillon indicating a decision will be made towards the end of this month - just ahead of the July 1 full-scale liberalisation of France's domestic energy market under EU rules. The French premier, prodded by new president Nicolas Sarkozy, has suggested that an alternative would be to force the merger of EDF and GDF, a projection favoured by the socialist opposition, or promote a fusion between GDF and Algerian gas group Sonatrach. An EDF-GDF merger would, sources said, prompt Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, to demand disposals worth up to 30% of the French market and the sale of their transmission businesses. The Suez-GDF merger, unveiled early last year by former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, a Sarkozy enemy, has run into the sand because of court rulings and the growing gap between their relative shares. Under a parity agreement, Suez would be forced to hand over a special dividend, originally costed at €1 a share and now worth up to €6, or more than €6bn in total, to its shareholders. "The merger is not dead yet," insiders said, pointing to a recent Credit Suisse note reckoning its chances of survival at 50/50. Suez last month took an 11% stake in Spanish utility Gas Natural and is said to be on the prowl for further acquisitions in Europe. The group, headed by Gérard Mestrallet, is one of six - with British Energy, EDF, Germany's Eon and RWE, and Spain's Iberdrola, owner of Scottish Power - backing Areva's application for a licence to build an EPR under the British government's generic design assessment (GDA) process. It is building the first EPR in Finland and, with EDF, a second one at Flamanville on the Channel coast. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 6 White House News: Fact Sheet: Expanding the Safe Use of Nuclear Power Office of the Press Secretary June 21, 2007 President Bush Discusses Nuclear Power, Calls On Congress To Pass An Energy Bill In Focus: Energy Today, President Bush Toured Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant In Alabama And Discussed His Administration's Energy Policy, Including The Importance Of Expanding Nuclear Power. Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 is the first U.S. nuclear reactor to come online in the 21st century. Shut down in 1985 due to management and operational concerns, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) decided in 2002 to restart the unit and has done so on time and on budget. This unit has the capacity to supply electricity to about 650,000 homes. * Nuclear Power Is Part Of The Administration's Energy Strategy, Which Includes Pursuing Alternatives To Oil And Taking Advantage Of New Technologies. In 1985, about 27 percent of our oil came from abroad; today, about 60 percent of our oil comes from abroad. U.S. dependence on oil creates national security, economic, and environmental risks, so the President has set a "Twenty in Ten" goal of cutting U.S. consumption of gasoline by 20 percent over the next 10 years. * President Bush Commends Congress For Considering Legislation To Help Bring America Closer To Meeting His "Twenty In Ten" Goal, And Challenges Them To Take A Bolder Approach To Strengthen America's Energy Security. Reaching the President's goal will require: * Setting An Alternative Fuels Standard: The President's proposal will require the equivalent of 35 billion gallons of renewable and other alternative fuels by 2017 - a standard that is nearly five times the current 2012 target and more aggressive than that required by the Senate energy bill. * Reforming And Modernizing CAFE Standards: The Administration has twice increased CAFE standards for light trucks using an attribute-based method, which reduces the risk that vehicle safety is compromised and helps preserve consumer choice. The Administration seeks the same reform for passenger vehicles. The increased vehicle fuel economy standard proposed by the President could save up to 8.5 billion gallons of gasoline per year by 2017. * Doubling The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Capacity: The President has proposed doubling the size of the SPR to further protect against severe disruptions to the world's oil supply that threaten our national and economic security. * The President Has Also Proposed Steps To Increase Domestic Oil Production. The President's proposal would take immediate steps to increase supply and better protect America from fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices by approving drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR and continuing onshore access improvements. In contrast, the Senate energy bill would do nothing to increase domestic supplies of oil and natural gas for American homes and businesses. The World Is Seeing The Promise And Potential Of The Peaceful Use Of Nuclear Energy Today, Nuclear Power Provides Almost Twenty Percent Of The United States' Electricity. In addition, nuclear power provides 78 percent of the electricity for France, 50 percent of the electricity for Sweden, and 30 percent of the electricity for the entire European Union. China has nine nuclear plants in operation, and plans to build many more. * Nuclear Power Is Clean Domestic Energy. Nuclear energy produces no air pollution or greenhouse gases. Without its use, carbon dioxide emissions would have been 28 percent greater in the electricity industry in 2005 - an increase nearly equal to the annual emissions from all 136 million passenger cars in the U.S. * Nuclear Power Is Safe. The nuclear sector is one of the safest industries in the United States, and advances in science, engineering, and plant design have made nuclear plants even safer than the last generation of plants. Plant workers and managers focus on safety and security above all else, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors stationed full-time at plants provide daily inspections to ensure safety and security requirements are being met. * Nuclear Power Is Affordable And Reliable. Once a nuclear plant is constructed, fuel and operating costs are among the cheapest forms of energy available. In addition, the cost of electricity from a nuclear power plant is stable and reliable - the cost does not fluctuate like natural gas, and the flow of power is not intermittent like wind. The Federal Government Is Helping To Expand The Safe Use Of Nuclear Power Nuclear Power Is The Only Significant Emissions-Free Baseload Power Source That Is Able To Expand To Meet America's Growing Need For Electricity. To maintain nuclear power's current twenty-percent share of electricity generation in the U.S., experts believe it will be necessary to build an average of three new plants per year, starting in 2015. Partially as a result of litigation and complex regulations, however, no new nuclear plants have been ordered in the U.S. since the 1970s. 1. In 2003, The Administration Launched The Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative. This partnership between the U.S. government and industry is focused on reducing the technical, regulatory, and institutional barriers to deployment of new nuclear power plants. The President's 2008 budget will double the requested funding for this program to $114 million to help private industry obtain licenses for new designs. * By The End Of This Decade, America Should Be Able To Start Construction On Several New Nuclear Plants. To date, 20 companies and consortia have announced their intent to file license applications over the next two years with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for as many as 30 new reactors. 2. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Is Working To Improve And Streamline The Regulatory Process To Help Accelerate The Construction Of Nuclear Plants. Under the old system, the permitting process was slow and cumbersome because it limited builders to completing only one step at a time before moving on. The NRC is now implementing a more efficient review process that allows builders to complete several steps at a time without compromising safety. 3. The Energy Bill The President Signed In 2005 Provides Production Tax Credits And Federal Risk Insurance For Builders Of New Nuclear Plants. Production tax credits will reward investments in the latest in advanced nuclear power generation, and Federal risk insurance helps protect the first builders of new nuclear plants against frivolous lawsuits, bureaucratic obstacles, and other delays beyond their control. 4. The Administration Has Repeatedly Proposed Legislation To Complete A Nuclear Waste Repository Site At Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is critical to expanding nuclear power in the United States because it will provide a safe geologic repository to store spent fuel and nuclear waste. The President's 2008 budget request devotes nearly $495 million to continue progress on licensing Yucca Mountain as a repository for spent fuel, and he urges Congress to pass this important legislation to move our efforts forward. 5. Under The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, America Will Work With Nations That Have Advanced Civilian Nuclear Energy Programs - Such As France, China, Japan, And Russia. The partnership will work to provide the cheap and safe energy growing economies need, while reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. * This Partnership Will Use New Technologies That Effectively And Safely Recycle Spent Nuclear Fuel. Recycling spent uranium fuel for use in advanced reactors will allow us to extract more energy and has the potential to reduce repository requirements for nuclear waste by up to 90 percent. * It Will Also Help Developing Countries Meet Their Growing Energy Needs By Providing Them With Small-Scale Reactors That Will Be Secure And Cost-Effective. In exchange, these countries would agree to use nuclear power only for civilian purposes and to forego sensitive nuclear fuel cycle activities that can be used to develop nuclear weapons. ***************************************************************** 7 NCT: San Onofre shuts reactor down for repairs - North County Times / The Californian - Breaking News - Last modified Thursday, June 21, 2007 12:52 PM PDT By: North County Times SAN ONOFRE ---- The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station shut down it's Unit 2 reactor late Wednesday for repairs, a Southern California Edison spokesman said today. Gil Alexander, spokesman for Southern California Edison, the nuclear plant's majority owner and operator, said operators encountered a minor mechanical issue about 10:50 p.m. "We shut it down in order to make repairs," Alexander said. "The issue appears to be quite minor." Alexander said they don't anticipate that the unit will be shut down for very long. Unit 3 reactor was not affected, he said. Unit 2 reactor was shut down over the weekend as well for repairs on a leaking valve, officials said. webmaster@nctimes.com © 1997-2007 North County Times ? Lee Enterprises editor@nctimes.com ***************************************************************** 8 Aspen Daily News: U.S. has nuclear solutions Aspen, Colorado Letters to the editor Wed 06/20/2007 09:01PM MST Editor: In response to the letter "Stop Nuclear Production" (June 16), Eloise Ilgen provides seemingly staggering statistics on the volume of nuclear waste in the U.S.A. But let's look beyond the numbers, and look toward the solutions. We have solutions today. High-level nuclear waste, in the form of used fuel assemblies, is currently stored at commercial nuclear power plant sites in above-ground dry casks. Twenty-four used nuclear fuel assemblies stored in one of these casks will generate less heat than a home heating system over the same time period. In addition, these casks have been engineered to protect the public's health and safety in the case of floods, tornadoes, and even projectile attacks. All the while, progress is being made on a permanent geologic repository. Low-level wastes are stored at specifically-licensed facilities across the country, removed from surface water and where groundwater travels slowly. Low-level waste can be stored above or below ground, but always with multiple protective barriers. You'd need to spend at least 19 months straight at one of these sites in order to receive a radiation dose equivalent to that from a routine medical X-ray. The sites are monitored closely to ensure there is no leakage. The U.S. nuclear industry has shown that it is capable of stringently regulating and safely managing its waste. Let's now support the industry's expansion. Nuclear is a proven, effective, and efficient source of low-emission energy. With the threat of climate change upon us, we cannot afford to dismiss the most valuable player in the fight. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Greenpeace co-founder, Dr. Patrick Moore, now supports nuclear energy. Janelle Penisten Public Information Officer North American Young Generation in Nuclear Tega Cay, South Carolina ***************************************************************** 9 Rutland Herald: Court blocks Yankee June 21, 2007 By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff MONTPELIER — Environmental Court Judge Merideth Wright has denied Entergy Nuclear's bid to resume discharging millions of gallons of warm water into the Connecticut River this summer, pending a resolution of a court fight over its state permit to do so. Entergy Nuclear had planned on the warm water discharge starting last Saturday, and it had gone back to Environmental Court last week for permission to appeal Wright's June 6 decision, which granted a court stay against the discharge, pending the outcome of a legal challenge. Entergy Nuclear received a state permit last year to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River near its Vernon nuclear plant by one degree, on top of an earlier permit that allowed it to increase the river temperature by five degrees. The increased water temperatures allow Entergy Nuclear to save money and electricity it spends on cooling the water after it is used to cool the reactor. But several environmental groups, including the Connecticut River Watershed Council, Trout Unlimited and two anti-nuclear groups, Citizens Awareness Network and New England Coalition, have fought the permit granted by the Agency of Natural Resources. They won a stay on June 6 against further increases in discharges. Entergy Nuclear is also appealing the permit, but for different reasons. A three-week trial on the matter is slated to begin next Tuesday in Windham Superior Court in Newfane, before Judge Wright. Wright also denied a request by the New England Coalition's bid to have the permit sent back to the Agency of Natural Resources to be rewritten. The coalition alleges the state agency violated the state's clean water rules by granting the permit and not considering alternatives to the increased warm water discharge. The group wanted Wright to hear testimony on alternatives to the discharge. The environmental groups are worried that the increasing temperatures around the Vernon reactor are a contributing factor to a steep decline in the number of American shad that come to that section of the Connecticut River. "It does not appear to the court that an immediate appeal may materially advance the termination of the litigation," the judge wrote. Wright said she felt it was up to the Environmental Court to determine which, if any, Vermont water quality standards applied to the Vermont Yankee case. It would be up to the Vermont Supreme Court to consider any appeal after a decision on the merits of the case, she said. Wright said she expected to make a decision by mid-September. Entergy Nuclear usually stops using its cooling towers at Vermont Yankee in October, when the natural temperature of the river water drops enough to cool the reactor. Robert Williams, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said the company was considering a direct appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court on the stay of its discharge. The company was able to discharge the warmer temperatures all last summer, until the environmental groups obtained a stay in September. Williams said that the water discharged on Wednesday into the Connecticut River from the plant was in the neighborhood of 84 to 85 degrees, although it can reach into the mid-90s. The state permit put a cap on discharge if the river temperature reaches 85 degrees, and the company is fighting that limit. The attorney for the New England Coalition said the group was considering its legal options as well. "We're reviewing the decision and considering our options. This is a negative decision for the Connecticut River. "Entergy can increase the thermal pollutant load on the Connecticut River without a showing of need and without a showing of alternatives," said Evan Mulholland, the attorney for the New England Coalition. "We're still reviewing it and we're not sure where we going to go," he said. Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 10 ajc.com: New energy bill could recast future | ajc.com > Opinion Far from perfect, Senate measure is a good start Published on: 06/21/07 America's energy policy has been broken for too long, and it's time we started fixing it. Consider the facts: Motorists loudly complain about soaring gasoline prices but continue buying supersized vehicles with poor fuel efficiency. And while scientists warn that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a gathering threat to our environment and way of life, we haven't gotten serious about reducing them. Changing our wasteful habits won't be easy, cheap or quick. But a new energy bill being debated in the Senate this week suggests that the makings of an overdue course correction are at hand. The bill under consideration would replace the backward-looking energy legislation passed two years ago by the Republican-led Congress. It lavished at least $9 billion in undeserved subsidies on oil and natural gas companies and set aside hefty loan and insurance guarantees for the resurgent nuclear power industry. Since Democrats have reclaimed the majority on Capitol Hill, party leaders have been pushing for a cleaner, more sustainable energy portfolio as the centerpiece of a revised legislative package. Whether they deliver on that promise remains to be seen, but their efforts will be meaningless if they merely replace one set of favored special interests with another. For example, producers of corn-based ethanol have benefited from generous federal incentives intended to make it more competitive with gasoline. In recent years, the price gap between those two fuels has been shrinking and other alternative fuels are beginning to show even greater potential. As those market dynamics change, Congress must resist pressure from corn-producing states to extend or increase the amount of subsidies they receive for ethanol. Regardless of which party is in power — and which lobby contributes most to their campaigns — the nation's long-term energy needs must remain the top priority. Given the monumental challenges we face, energy politics-as-usual is a luxury we cannot afford. As the energy bill heads for a possible vote by the full Senate on Friday, here are some of the measures that warrant close scrutiny: CARBON CAPTURE: While sidestepping the controversial issue of capping carbon emissions, the bill would promote the development of ways to capture greenhouse gases and "sequester" them in vast underground chambers where they won't contribute to global warming. (Congress is expected to consider a comprehensive climate change bill in the fall.) ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The bill sets standards for residential heating and cooling systems, lights and boilers. It also requires federal agencies to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2016 and cut their oil consumption by 20 percent. Furthermore, federal buildings would have to reduce their annual operating expenses by 20 percent over five years by using energy-efficient lighting and other improvements. FUEL ECONOMY: Despite protests from the auto industry and their congressional enablers, the bill would raise fuel efficiency standards for cars, SUVs and light trucks for the first time in decades. If passed, the bill would mandate an increase in average fleetwide fuel efficiency from 27.5 to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. RENEWABLE FUELS: The bill calls for a sharp increase in the use of renewable fuels, including ethanol, up from 8.5 billion gallons next year to 36 billion gallons by 2022. In addition, utilities across the country would be required to buy at least 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources such as solar or wind power. Adopting renewable portfolio standards is a good idea in principle, but lawmakers should be mindful of their limitations. Some Southern states, including Georgia, don't get much wind, and solar technology isn't yet commercially viable on a large scale. As such, utilities should be encouraged to experiment with as many renewable alternatives as possible without being punished for doing so. PRICE GOUGING: Although several investigations have failed to uncover evidence that it exists, the bill would make gasoline price gouging by the oil industry a federal crime during times when a national or state emergency has been declared, as was the case after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Federal Trade Commission would be given broader authority to investigate allegations that fuel prices were being manipulated. As it stands, the energy bill moving through the Senate leaves plenty of room for improvement. Despite its imperfections, it represents a hopeful break from the past while laying out a better blueprint for more prudent use of energy in the future. — Lyle V. Harris © 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ***************************************************************** 11 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point relicensing application incomplete, NRC says Thursday, June 21, 2007 By GREG CLARY BUCHANAN - Indian Point's application to operate for an additional 20 years won't be accepted by federal regulators until the nuclear plant can provide more information about how it operates in the event of a power outage. Specifically, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed yesterday that its relicensing staff wants Indian Point officials to detail their current backup generator system at Indian Point 2, which relies on natural gas to power safety systems until the nuclear reactor can be shut down. The company's application, submitted April 30 to the NRC, included information on a diesel-powered system that the company hasn't installed yet. "This doesn't happen that often, but there have been applications that we have turned back," said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. "This happens to be one that doesn't have all the information we need." Indian Point 2's license would be extended 20 years to 2033 and Indian Point 3's to 2035 if the joint application is approved by the NRC in the next 22 to 30 months. The NRC routinely accepts relicensing applications within 45-60 days of submission after a detailed review, so the company will need to move quickly to keep the process on track, Sheehan said. Lawrence Gottlieb, a spokes-man for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the plants' owner and operator, said he expected Entergy officials to respond quickly. "We will be as diligent as we can in trying to accommodate the NRC's additional requests," Gottlieb said. He said he didn't have details on the company's plans to move to diesel-powered generators for Indian Point 2's backup power source. Sheehan said Entergy can solve the application's shortcoming by providing information on what exists so the agency can evaluate how well it would function for an additional 20 years, or formally commit to installing the diesel system before a draft safety assessment of Indian Point 2 is completed, likely about a year from now. Sheehan said the agency asked for a response within 14 days of receipt of the advisory letter, which was written Monday. He said the delay will not affect the NRC's plans to hold two meetings on Wednesday to inform the public on the license-review process. The meetings will be held at 1:30 p.m and 7 p.m. at Colonial Terrace, a catering hall in Cortlandt. Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566. Copyright © 2007 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York. ***************************************************************** 12 Chico Enterprise Record: Nuclear power needed Article Launched: 06/21/2007 12:07:05 AM PDT Gov. Schwarzenegger's effort to attempt to reduce global warming by concentrating on the CO2 emission in California is pathetic. What difference can the emission from California's cars and businesses make in the face of the emissions of CO2 from China, India, Brazil, and all the other countries that know the Kyoto treaty is meant to impoverish America. The governor's efforts will be very painful to Californians and achieve nothing that is measurable. We may find ourselves with mandated wind power that is good as long as the wind blows, solar power that is good so long as the sun shines, and bio-power so long as the area of fertile land can be prepared and harvested. Remember the adage, "There is no gain without pain," because that is how politicians work. The real pain-free answer is to replace aging coal-fired plants with nuclear plants. They emit no CO2. Surely the Russians, Chinese, Indians, Japanese and French can't be all that wrong in pressing ahead with nuclear. Automobiles that will need to charge batteries overnight in the garage will require a reliable and abundant supply of electric power. The day is coming when most cars will have batteries and the governor should be planning for them. — Lionel Brooks, © Copyright 1996 - 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 13 Daily Times: Pakistan ‘building’ third plutonium reactor - ISIS Leading News Resource of Pakistan Friday, June 22, 2007 By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: Pakistan appears to be building a third plutonium production reactor at a nuclear site in Khushab district, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). The disclosure is based on commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe taken on June 3. On July 24, 2006, the ISIS published the images revealing the construction of a second heavy water reactor at Khushab. The second heavy water reactor, which Pakistan began building between 2000 and 2002, is still under construction in the June 3 imagery. When operational, this reactor could be as large as several hundred megawatts thermal units, “notwithstanding claims by Pakistan of its intended initial power capacity”. The agency said, “The third reactor appears to be a replica of the second heavy water reactor and is located a few hundred metres to the north, though construction is progressing much more quickly than the second.” A GeoEye image of the same area in Khushab taken in August 2006 shows only a faint dirt foundation and no structures. Almost all the construction of third reactor visible in the June 3 image has taken place in the last 10 months. The similarities between the second and third reactor’s construction indicate that the power of the third plutonium production reactor is likely to be similar to that of the second reactor. The first Khushab reactor went critical in 1998 and looks significantly different from the second and third reactors. The facilities at this site are not safeguarded by the IAEA and support Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, ISIS said. ISIS reported in January this year the resumption of construction of what appeared to be a plutonium separation facility at Chashma. This reprocessing facility, which would be Pakistan’s second and is also unsafe-guarded, is likely related to the construction of the two additional reactors at Khushab. When the reactors come on line, Pakistan’s demand for reprocessing capacity would increase significantly. The expanded construction at Khushab, and apparent resumption of activity at the Chashma plutonium separation plant, all occurring within the last six years, imply that Pakistan’s government has made a decision to increase significantly its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons, according to ISIS. The Washington-based nuclear watchdog said, “The recent activity at Khushab and Chashma should be viewed as a sign of an accelerated nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan.” India’s has intensified efforts to increase its uranium enrichment capability, an effort that relies on “illicit international smuggling to obtain certain dual-use items for the plant and has through carelessness leaked sensitive centrifuge design information.” Recent debate on the proposed US-India peaceful nuclear agreement has highlighted India’s desire to maintain a massive plutonium production capability for weapons that can add to an already large stock of weapons plutonium, ISIS said. “Both Pakistan and India appear on the verge of greatly expanding their production of nuclear explosive materials and nuclear weapons, including more powerful weapons.” However, the Bush administration continues to minimise the risks of the Indian and Pakistani arsenals as it seeks to conclude an unprecedented nuclear cooperation agreement with India and maintain the war on terror in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Such a shortsighted approach to nonproliferation policy has deeply troubling consequences, not the least of which is a dangerous buildup of plutonium and highly enriched uranium stocks on the subcontinent,” ISIS warned. Daily Times - All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 14 Gazette Series: New Safety Fears Over Nuclear Reactor By Ali Dent Comment NEW fears have emerged over the safety of an ageing nuclear reactor at Oldbury Power Station following the publication of a "shocking" report. A top nuclear expert has warned that the decision to allow the reactor to re-start after two years of tests, even though an extra safety system had not been fitted, was "deeply alarming". It comes after an internal report was made public under the Freedom of Information Act, which stated that the reactor was not safe enough to operate for the next 18 months but allowed it to carry on operating on a temporary basis until November. The heavily censored documents reveal that the the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate (NII) pressed for a safety system, which would automatically shut down the reactor in the event of a fire. But the watchdog body accepted power station operator British Nuclear Group's response that returning the reactor to full working order was more pressing than fitting the device. Nuclear consultant John Large said he was "disturbed" by the contents of the report. He said: "If the reactor is said to be unsafe to operate for its last 18 months then it's highly unlikely to be safe for six months." The report, released to the Shut Oldbury campaign, also revealed a one-in-1,000 risk of a fire at the plant. Local Green party activist Cllr Philip Booth told the Gazette that he thought allowing the plant to restart without the safety trip was "wholly unacceptable". He added: "It is quite shocking that despite the NII casting doubts on the nuclear company's ability to cope with exceptional circumstances they still allowed the reactor to start up last month. "We must immediately and permanently close this 39-year-old dinosaur that is the oldest and most corroded reactor in the country." Jim Duffy, spokesman for the Shut Oldbury campaign, said: "The oldest and most corroded reactor in the country should not be subject to this level of relaxation of standards. Despite being heavily censored, the safety report was dotted with examples of cautions being overruled." The report predates the May 30 fire at the power station, when the number two reactor was shut down after a blaze broke out in insulation materials surrounding a generating transformer. NII spokesman Mark Wheeler said the safety trip was an additional safety measure to deal with a single clad meltdown, which was very unlikely, and that standard shut down systems were in operation at Oldbury. He said: "We have to look at the likelihood of such an event and the risk it poses to people, both of which are very low, and we are therefore satisfied that it would be disproportionate to insist that the licensees install this system in the short term. "We understand that people are frightened of nuclear plants but we are not relaxing our standards." 8:10am Thursday 21st June 2007Print  Email this Comment ***************************************************************** 15 UPI: Bush tours nuclear plant in Alabama United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 21, 2007 at 4:55 PM ATHENS, Ala., June 21 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush showed his support for nuclear power Thursday by touring a plant in Alabama that reopened in May after being shut down for 22 years. The Browns Ferry Unit 1 was the first nuclear plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and was the largest in the country when it started up in 1974. All three units at Browns Ferry shut down in 1985 but the other units reopened in the 1990s. Bush was greeted enthusiastically in rural Alabama. People lined the route, many of them waving U.S. flags or carrying homemade signs that read "Welcome President Bush." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that Bush believes nuclear power needs subsidies because of the long period when the country abandoned the technology. Other countries, especially in Europe, continued to build nuclear plants. "We did not progress that way in the States and we are having to play a little bit of catch up right now in order to get to a world where we could use nuclear power more," she said. Bush was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., before returning to Washington. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 NRC: NRC Names New Senior Resident Inspector at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2007-036 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pa., have appointed Stephen “Max” Schneider as the agency’s Senior Resident Inspector at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. He joins Resident Inspector Chris Welch at the Plymouth, Mass., plant. Schneider, who previously served as Senior Resident Inspector at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn., replaces Bill Raymond, who has been appointed as the Senior Resident Inspector for the Seabrook nuclear power plant in Seabrook, N.H. “Max Schneider has extensive technical and regulatory experience, and has demonstrated the dedication to safety to carry out NRC’s commitment to protect people and the environment," said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. “He is our eyes and ears on site, monitoring daily operations.” Schneider joined the NRC’s Region IV Office in Arlington, Tex., as a reactor engineer in 1999. In 2000, he was assigned as a Resident Inspector at the River Bend nuclear power plant in Louisiana and then in 2002 was promoted to the Millstone position. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Lowell in Massachusetts. Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC Resident Inspectors. They conduct regular inspections, monitoring significant work projects and talking with plant workers and the public. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Thursday, June 21, 2007 ***************************************************************** 17 UPI: Vietnam predicts nuclear power by 2020 United Press International - Energy - Briefing Published: June 20, 2007 at 9:31 PM HANOI, Vietnam, June 20 (UPI) -- A top Vietnamese official says the country's first nuclear reactor will come online by 2020 as experts work with international regulators to develop plans. Hoang Van Phong, Vietnam's science, technology and environment minister, made the declaration Tuesday at a nuclear conference in Hanoi, which included a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency. "We are pleased to see that technical assistance from the IAEA so far has contributed a great deal to Vietnam in developing nuclear power," said Phong, Vietnam News reports. The IAEA last year approved $1.5 million in technology development projects as Vietnam, like a growing number of countries, attempts to meet demand for energy with nuclear power. Thanhnien News reports the IAEA said the country needs to increase training of nuclear workers and approve legislation to ensure safe nuclear power. Vietnam is one of 22 countries exploring a nuclear energy sector, according to the World Nuclear Association. Vietnam has teased the idea of nuclear power since the 1990s, but in February the government said it wants to build a 2,000 megawatt power plant by 2020. The Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, says Vietnam will increase its electricity demand by 15 percent a year over the next three years. More than half is supplied by hydropower. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 Scotsman.com News: UK may have to do without nuclear power Thu 21 Jun 2007 Part of the Sizewell B power station is seen in Suffolk, Britain May 22, 2007. The government will not subsidise new nuclear power plants, so if the private sector does not provide the huge investments needed, the country will have to do without, the minister responsible for energy said on Thursday.REUTERS/Kieran Doherty By Daniel Fineren LONDON (Reuters) - The government will not subsidise new nuclear power plants, so if the private sector does not provide the huge investments needed, the country will have to do without, the minister responsible for energy said on Thursday. The Labour government sees nuclear power as one of the most effective weapons in the fight against climate change and in efforts to reduce the country's growing dependence on imported fossil fuels. But that does not mean it will pay for or build nuclear plants. "The government is not going to build a single nuclear power station," Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling told a committee of members of parliament. "We are not going to contribute to the cost of it," he said, rejecting suggestions the government might have to give money to get companies to make the multi-billion pound investments. "If the energy generators don't want to build them, then there won't be any," he said. All of the country's existing nuclear power plants were paid for and built by the state, but none has been built since Britain privatised its power sector in the 1990s. Those ageing plants are now nearing the end of their useful lives and most will be closed over the next decade at the same time as the country battles to cut carbon emissions and reduce its reliance on gas-fired power plants. Gas-fired plants are cheaper and quicker to build, but produce much higher levels of carbon than nuclear energy. While the government's refusal to subsidise nuclear energy might please environmentalists, potential investors complain there is still too much political, planning and economic risk to commit to such long-term projects. After a court challenge from environmentalist group Greenpeace, the government is reviewing its nuclear energy policy and plans to come up with a concrete strategy by the end of the year. Earlier this month, major European energy consultants Poyry said nuclear power could disappear in Britain because the government failed to give it enough support in last month's Energy White Paper policy document. Meanwhile, the country's looming power generation gap -- expected to be as large as 20 gigawatts by 2021 -- will probably be filled by new gas fired power plants, increasing dependence on imports and increasing the Britain's unwilling contribution to global warming. (c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=974382007 Last updated: 21-Jun-07 17:03 BST ©2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms & conditions ***************************************************************** 19 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet in Rockville, Maryland, July 11-13 News Release - 2007-078 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a public meeting July 11-13, in Rockville, Md., to discuss, among other items, a revised draft NRC staff report on demonstrating the feasibility and reliability of operator manual actions in response to fire. In addition, the committee will discuss dissimilar metal weld issues. The ACRS advises the Commission on licensing and operation of nuclear power plants and related safety issues. The meeting will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agency’s Two White Flint North building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. The session on Wednesday will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m; Thursday’s session from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Friday’s session will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A complete agenda is available on the NRC’s Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2007. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Thursday, June 21, 2007 ***************************************************************** 20 Public Citizen: Bush's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Visit Highlights Failures, Not Renaissance, of Nuclear Power June 20, 2007   Statement of Michele Boyd, Legislative Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program President Bush’s visit to Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant will be another photo op for the administration to promote nuclear power. While the Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear plant is the site of the first reactor to come online in the 21st century, it is a peculiar selection to inaugurate the so-called “nuclear renaissance.” Browns Ferry is the site of the second-most severe nuclear accident in the United States, after the meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. Furthermore, the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant has a dubious history and can hardly be held up as a model for the industry. Construction of the original two reactors was extended by five years and exceeded cost projections by more than $250 million, about $1 billion in today’s dollars. In 1975, a year after the second reactor became operational, an electrician using a candle to detect air leaks started a fire, which took several hours to control and disabled the emergency core cooling system. Despite the near meltdown, the reactor was briefly reopened, only to be shut down with the other two Browns Ferry units in 1985 due to mounting safety and regulatory problems.  The renovation of the third reactor at Browns Ferry cost $1.8 billion, a substantial amount to invest in old technology. The investment to bring the 22-year-old structure online has already been tainted with problems. Since its restart on May 22, it has been shut down twice to repair safety equipment and a hydraulic leak.  Instead of representing the future of nuclear power, it stands as the premier example of why we stopped ordering new reactors in the first place. The nuclear industry has given no proof that construction of new nuclear plants will proceed without massive construction delays and cost overruns. To the contrary, the reactor being built in Finland by the French-government owned company Areva is already 18 months behind schedule. As a result, Areva wrote off $922 million in 2006. Nuclear power is not viable without massive federal subsidies. Instead of promoting energy generated by an industry that continues to add to the nation’s stockpile of nuclear waste and saddles its customers with financial and security risks, President Bush should be promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Technologies such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy – coupled with aggressive energy efficiency standards – can meet the nation’s energy demands without nuclear power’s pitfalls.  President Bush’s visit will ignore the insidious details of expanding our nation’s nuclear reactors by asserting that nuclear energy is “clean and safe,” but the facts remain and are nowhere more evident than at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant: Nuclear power is a dangerous and uneconomical energy source. ### ***************************************************************** 21 NewsRoom Finland: Finland's Lehtomäki peeved by nuclear green label 21.6.2007 at 13:33 Paula Lehtomäki (centre), the Finnish environment minister, told environment correspondents in Helsinki on Thursday that she did not regard nuclear energy as an environmentally friendly form of power generation. "There have been all sorts of public debates over nuclear energy. I find it vexatious that an overall impression saying nuclear power is environmentally friendly has been created," Ms Lehtomäki said. The minister urged people to look beyond the fact that nuclear power stations emitted no carbon dioxide. "It has to be assessed all the way from the quarrying of the fuel to the disposal of spent fuel. These are issues that contain problems that are very questionable as far as the environment is concerned." However, the minister added that the government would be forced to consider a range of solutions in order to cope with future's energy needs. "We will also have to opt for bad solutions," Ms Lehtomäki said. Finnish utilities Teollisuuden Voima and Fortum as well as Fennovoima, a joint venture led by Germany's E.ON, are all eager to erect nuclear power stations in Finland. /STT/ © Copyright STT 2007 ***************************************************************** 22 AP: Judge to nuclear plant: I meant what I said Associated Press - June 21, 2007 7:55 AM ET MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - An environmental court judge says she meant it when she recently ordered a stay blocking the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant from discharging millions of gallons of warm water into the Connecticut River. Plant owner Entergy Nuclear went to court last week to ask Judge Meredith Wright to reverse her earlier order of the stay, but she has now declined to do so. Environmental groups argued that the warmer water coming from the nuclear plant would hurt migrating shad and other organisms in the river. Vermont Yankee officials say the decision means the plant will have to rely on its cooling towers and make less electricity than it might have. Wright's order is temporary, pending the outcome of a trial over the issues connected with the plant's plan for warming river water. All content © Copyright 2001 - 2007 WorldNow and WCAX. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: NRC Recognized for Diversity News Release - 2007-079 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is one of 100 companies and government agencies recognized in the June/July issue of Diversity/Careers in Engineering & Information Technology magazine. NRC was identified by the readers and website visitors for its diversity strengths and as an employer of technical professionals. The survey results strongly recognized a number of NRC’s diversity attributes including: support of minorities and women, attention to work/life balance and commitment to supplier diversity. “At the NRC, we recognize that an organization's reputation for supporting workplace diversity is an important factor in attracting minority candidates and their decisions to work here,” said James McDermott, director of Human Resources. “Equally important to retention is the organization’s reputation for hiring and cultivating diverse talent.” Creating a culture of inclusion at the NRC is supported by headquarters and regional offices. “Diversity and equality can only be achieved by full participation,” said Luis Reyes, executive director for operations. “Focused programs like those with emphasis on diversity help make the NRC a better place to work.” This past April, the NRC captured the top ranking among large federal agencies in the 2007 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government by the Partnership for Public Service and the American University Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation. Details of the survey can be found at: http://www.diversitycareers.com/index.htm NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Thursday, June 21, 2007 ***************************************************************** 24 deseretnews.com: U. professor urges Utah to try nuclear power Thursday, June 21, 2007 By Catherine Smith Deseret Morning News Rising demand for electricity is driving a search for alternative energy sources, and nuclear power should be one of those alternatives, a University of Utah professor said Wednesday. Gary Sandquist, a U. professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, presented the Legislature's Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee with information on nuclear power and its benefits. Sandquist said demand for electricity will continue to rise, and energy solutions need to be considered. "As a society, we need to be open to other sources," Sandquist said. Insisting nuclear power is the cheapest form of energy, Sandquist said cities with nuclear power plants like them, and the plants are much safer than they were in the 1970s. Wind and solar energy also are possibilities being considered, but the committee focused the discussion on nuclear power. Utah uses coal heavily for electricity, something Sandquist said he hopes the state will reduce. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, require enormous amounts of land area, and the use of such renewable resources may not be able to "take the energy load," Sandquist said. Rep. Michael E. Noel, R-Garfield, advocated nuclear power, saying it was crazy that it isn't more prevalent. "With the cheaper energy, you can save a lot," he said. Committee members also asked representatives from PacifiCorp and its parent company, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., to speak about the power issue. Bill Fehrman, president of PacifiCorp Energy, said the company is evaluating and reviewing the nuclear power option. However, building and running a plant can be economically volatile. "If we started today, it would be 2018 before we could bring it online," Fehrman said. He added that a company has to wait two to four years before it knows whether a nuclear permit has been approved. Companies can put tens of millions of dollars into a program without the assurance of a return. "It's not an easy, straightforward path to building a nuclear plant," he said. Brent Gale, vice president of regulation and legislation for MidAmerican Energy Holdings, said the company tries to create cost-effective solutions for its customers. Although prices in the market are volatile, "states determine what is cost-effective," Gale said. He also said there will be future upward pressures on rates and encouraged the committee to think about "diversifying the portfolio" of energy sources used in Utah. And not all speakers at Wednesday's meeting advocated new nuclear power. Vanessa Pierce, executive director for the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, urged the committee to take the time needed to fully understand the issue before it makes a decision. "We're not saying get rid of nuclear power," she said. "We need to take it seriously. We should exhaust every other resource." E-mail: csmith@desnews.com © 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 25 [DU-WATCH] FW: AMERICA'S GUILTY SILENCE Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 02:30:38 -0500 (CDT) "Objectively, the American public is much more responsible for the crimes committed in its name than were the people of Germany for the horrors of the Third Reich. We have far more knowledge, and far greater freedom and opportunity to stop our government's criminal behavior." - - - what did you do in the war, daddy? - - - AMERICA'S GUILTY SILENCE By James Brooks ** Nation of Mutes ** CounterPunch June 18, 2007 http://www.counterpunch.org/brooks06182007.html Crimes against humanity don't happen unless it is possible to commit them with impunity. Government corruption and gross imbalances of power will bring them closer to the edge of possibility. But the anticipation of impunity must be personal and social as well as legal and political. The perpetrators need to make sense of their crimes within a positive sense of themselves. A shared sense of impunity that can pay for mass murder and torture chambers without self-reproach requires denial, distortion, and ignorance of swaths of reality. In totalitarian societies, the state handles these chores to try to keep the people unaware of its most criminal activities. But in societies that enjoy relative freedom of the press, citizens encounter many unsavory facts that are impossible to deny directly. When "democracies" engage in war crimes, this knowledge pressures citizens to internalize a collective sense of impunity, which must be robust enough to neutralize incriminating truth as it appears. Most informed U.S. citizens are aware that their government runs a global network of secret detention centers where torture is routinely employed. They also know what this activity looks like, having seen photos of their troops' bestial behavior at Abu Ghraib. If they followed the story, they know that this behavior was also reported at several other prisons and detention centers in Iraq, under policy directives from the very top of the Pentagon. They know about the human rights horrors of Guantanamo and Bagram Air Force base, that the CIA runs a global ring dedicated to kidnappings, "extraordinary rendition," and torture, that hundreds of our detainees have disappeared, and so on. It is possible to know these things by reading big city newspapers. An objective observer could glean the general shape of these facts from network television news. The American public has been told. And the public has turned the page. It's also a matter of record that our government has orchestrated an international economic blockade against the occupied Palestinian Authority, while Israel withholds the PA's tax revenues. After 15 months of this policy, an economy that aid experts had previously compared to sub-Saharan Africa has imploded. Social and civic services have ground to a virtual halt.(1) Diligent readers know that the Palestinians' already high rates of malnutrition and food insecurity are now at alarming levels. Doctors warn that skyrocketing numbers of Palestinian children are being crippled for life by chronic malnutrition.(2) The predictable (and predicted) result of economic siege against an occupied people has been burgeoning chaos and civil strife, eroding what is left of the rule of law in the occupied territories. The informed American knows that this is happening because, in the fairest elections yet seen in the Middle East, the Palestinian people voted for the wrong party. Yet even the best-informed Americans will be hard put to think of a similar instance in history. When have great powers conspired to destroy the government and economy of a destitute people already crumbling under another power's long colonial war? To know about our government's global *gulag* and remain silent requires a reckoning with snatching people and repeatedly subjecting them to depraved acts of torture, knowing that those who do not die will suffer lifelong physical and psychological torment. This reckoning appears to turn on variants of a calculation; that our collective security is worth more than the cost to a few tens of thousands of foreigners of questionable race and religion. This quantifies and prioritizes an otherwise difficult problem, allowing us to minimize the crimes by rounding our sums. We don't notice that this pragmatic solution also fingers the people responsible for this inhumanity: us, the 'collective' whose security is so valuable that it's worth committing torture every day of the week to protect it. To know about the economic siege against the occupied Palestinian territories and say nothing is to acquiesce in crippling collective punishment of millions of poor people, for the crime of holding a democratic election. Unlike our straightforward torture-for-security deal in the global reign of terror against terror, our justifications for the Palestinian siege are bureaucratic and symbolic. Hamas is on our "terror list" and therefore beyond the pale of humanity. Before we will end the blockade, Hamas must kiss the three poisoned rings of obeisance: recognize Israel's unique "right to exist" (as a "Jewish state" that refuses to recognize the rights of its current and former Arab residents), "renounce violence" (unlike Fatah, Israel, the U.S., etc.), and "accept past agreements" (the long sorry record of unreciprocated PLO concessions to Israel). The public seems to accept this flimsy hypocrisy as reason enough to force Palestinian doctors to beg for syringes and bandages.(3) It goes down as easily as we close the cell door against the screams, to ease our pathetic fear of "terror." Objectively, the American public is much more responsible for the crimes committed in its name than were the people of Germany for the horrors of the Third Reich. We have far more knowledge, and far greater freedom and opportunity to stop our government's criminal behavior. But who is even asking the presidential candidates for their positions on torture and starving the Palestinians, or what they think of the respected study that found our war had killed as many as 665,000 Iraqis, as of almost two years ago? Do we have any excuse for our abject failure to hold our leaders and ourselves responsible for our nation's most heinous crimes? If we cannot bring ourselves to say, "guilty," then "innocent by reason of insanity" appears to be our only plausible defense before a future court of the world. We will have to claim that our minds were not our own. The corporate media-government propaganda network had grown so ubiquitous that the people were essentially subjects in a mass brainwashing experiment. Unfortunately, the experiment was a success, so increasingly absurd versions of re-manufactured reality were implanted in the public mind. At the time, some of us complained about cover-ups, lies, all the things we weren't being told by the media. But the public already knew too much, so our values had already been subverted to accommodate us to our national life of crime. In the reality we were fed, deceit could be virtuous, "terrorists" could destroy us, only leaders could understand the world, and in "extreme" cases the normal questions of morality did not apply. This is why we were silent while "our" government committed these terrible deeds. The argument has some merit. The ilites of this country invented modern propaganda almost a century ago. Today the immense power of corporate-political "opinion formation" in certain reaches the public mind is undeniable. We need to understand how much this system has undermined the public will and dehumanized our lives. However, to the extent that we as individuals still possess free will and are responsible for our own values, we have no excuse for our mute acceptance of these and other national crimes against humanity. Don't we pay for them with our taxes, continue them with our votes, and support them with our silence? --James Brooks serves as webmaster for Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel. He can be contacted at jamiedb@wildblue.net. NOTES 1. Occupied Palestinian Territory, Malnutrition in Gaza "as bad as Zimbabwe" says Clare Short Relief Web/Christian Aid, 1/30/2003 2. Poll: 10% of Palestinian children have lasting malnutrition effects Ha'aretz/Associated Press 4/11/2007 3. OPT: Humanitarian work resumes in Gaza as factional fighting ends UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 5/23/2007 -=--=-=-=-=-=-=-= FW provenance: http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/6327/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] ***************************************************************** 26 Moscow Times: No Place for Nuclear Secrets Opinion / Comment Friday, June 22, 2007. Issue 3683. Page 8. By Cristina Chuen To Our Readers The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number. Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to oped@imedia.ru, or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters. A brouhaha began brewing in the Arctic a couple of weeks ago, as the Norwegian public was buffeted with news of a new scientific study pointing to nuclear dangers at an old Russian naval base located on the Kola Peninsula, about 50 kilometers from the Norwegian border. Some Russian officials responded by labeling the study a "provocation." In fact, the risk of a nuclear accident at the Andreyeva Bay base is very small but not nonexistent. Assurances by State Duma Deputy Valentin Luntsevich that control systems "provide a 99.9 percent guarantee that no explosion can take place" are cold comfort when the 0.1 percent remainder represents the chance of a grave nuclear incident. The real issue is not simply whether Russia's nuclear legacy is still dangerous. It is whether Russia will finally share all of the information necessary to make wise decisions on handling the problem. Promises Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg received during a four-day visit to Russia at the beginning of June that the removal of spent nuclear fuel from Andreyeva Bay would begin in 2010 leave open the question of whether the information needed to repackage the fuel safely is available. A further question is what will happen to the nuclear fuel after it is moved. The Soviet Union built 250 nuclear-powered submarines and 14 other nuclear-powered vessels; more than 200 of these vessels have already been taken out of active service. Russia also inherited huge quantities of radioactive wastes and nuclear fuel. There are over 1 million metric tons of radioactive equipment containing over 80 million Curies in total radioactivity in Northwest Russia alone (the Chernobyl accident, by comparison, reportedly released some 50 million Curies of radioactive substances). Much of this material is at Andreyeva Bay, where nuclear fuel from about 100 submarine reactors has been stored for decades. Given its proximity to the Norwegian border, it is no wonder that for more than a decade Oslo has been trying to get information about Andreyeva, improve site security and safety, and stop the continuous release of radiation into the environment. Although a lot of work has been done and there are more data on Andreyeva available than for any other nuclear site in Russia, foreign experts assisting at the site still do not have enough information to be sure that projects are being undertaken in the safest possible way and risks minimized to the maximum possible extent. Someone looking for success stories might point to a $800,000 Norwegian project from 1999 to 2000 to divert a brook so that it no longer flowed under a leaking spent nuclear fuel storage site, carrying radioactive materials toward the sea. But there are no hard data to be sure that the project actually succeeded in preventing contamination from entering the local fjord. Even the detailed map of the area that the Murmansk governor personally gave Stoltenberg during this month's visit -- a map of radiation levels that Norway paid for some years ago but that was never transferred to Oslo--leaves many questions unanswered. The Andreyeva cleanup is now a major focus of the group of eight global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction, and as such is receiving a great deal of attention and money. In addition Norway, Britain, Italy, Sweden and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have been cooperating with Russia to secure the site, improve nuclear safety and repair infrastructure so that they can tackle the immense task of removing the nuclear fuel and radioactive wastes -- a job likely to take until 2023. There are about 21,000 nuclear fuel assemblies in Andreyeva that were stored in unsafe conditions, including some out in the open air, for decades. According to the new study by leading Russian nuclear institutes published in Atomic Energy, recent examinations of the nuclear fuel storage tanks at Andreyeva indicate that they have been contaminated by salt water, accelerating corrosion of the fuel assemblies inside and increasing risks of a criticality incident -- an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. Russia's foreign partners have long been concerned about this danger and have carried out criticality studies in cooperation with Russia to try to minimize this risk. The recent Atomic Energy article, though, appears to be based on additional data to which Russia's partners have not had access. Asking for this information is not a "provocation," but the result of genuine concern. The consequences of a criticality incident -- venting radiation into both the surrounding territory and the Barents Sea -- would have to be dealt with for decades to come. Any measures that could further minimize this risk should be taken. Russia's commitment to remove the fuel is welcome, but the process should not be rushed. The highest risks will come when the fuel is moved. Furthermore, careful consideration must be given to what to do with the fuel after it leaves Andreyeva: The reprocessing facility at Mayak is not yet ready to handle the fuel. If Mayak is ordered to accept the nuclear assemblies before a program is in place to put them in safe storage, the fuel is likely to sit in a storage pond there, endangering the already badly damaged local environment. Moscow needs to make a decision on the long-term disposition of this fuel, and share that decision with its partners so that they can help ensure that removing it from Andreyeva is helping to solve -- and not just hide -- the problem. As President Vladimir Putin, who is often blamed for resurrecting old Soviet traditions of secrecy, himself said a few years ago, it is important to "ensure national security interests and maintain the necessary secrecy regime, [but] excessive bureaucratization [and] spy mania" only hinder this work. Thankfully, Moscow recently decided to give its Norwegian counterparts the map of radioactivity at Andreyeva. To further enhance cooperation, and make it possible to honor Moscow's commitment to begin safely removing nuclear fuel from the site by 2010, the Russian authorities need to engage in a full-scope study of the fuel, including methods for its safe transport and storage post-Andreyeva. It is in the interest of everyone in the Arctic region that the Soviet nuclear legacy be eliminated in the safest possible manner, without triggering either political or nuclear incidents. Cristina Chuen is a senior research associate at the Monterey Institute Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California. © Copyright 2006. The Moscow Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 27 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear watchdog might not cope in atomic crisis Julian Borger, diplomatic editor Friday June 22, 2007 The head of the world's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has warned that the organisation is so under-funded that it would have difficulty responding to a nuclear accident. In an unusual and angry appeal, Mohamed ElBaradei also claimed that the IAEA no longer had reliable equipment to detect covert nuclear activity, nor did it have consistent funding for its efforts to combat nuclear smuggling. Dr ElBaradei made his remarks to the IAEA's board of governors, delegates from national governments, on June 15 but the comments were only made public yesterday. "If an accident were to happen tomorrow, we would be hard pressed to carry out core functions. This is a reality," he said. In the event of an accident like the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, the IAEA's incident and emergency centre is supposed to step in immediately, sending technicians to help to limit the spread of radiation, advise on the treatment of casualties and coordinate the international response. Dr ElBaradei added that the IAEA's "safeguards function is being eroded over time", noting that the organisation was using an unreliable 28-year-old instrument to carry out environmental sampling. That sampling is carried out in and around countries such as Iran and North Korea, where covert nuclear programmes are suspected. The results often have a decisive influence on UN decisions to impose sanctions or other measures. Because the agency did not have proper equipment of its own, Dr ElBaradei said, it would have to rely on external laboratories in other countries, which "puts into question the whole independence of the agency's verification system. "In the nuclear security area, where every world leader is saying that is a number-one priority, we continue to rely for 90% of our security funding on extra budgetary contributions that are heavily conditioned and highly unpredictable." IAEA officials say the organisation has more and more work to do trying to keep up with international demands to monitor nuclear proliferation, while its budget has been frozen on the insistence of rich states such as the US, Japan and Germany. "The budget is essentially a political statement," Dr ElBaradei said. "What kind of agency do you want to have? You can have a mediocre agency, or you can have an effective and efficient agency." His comments come at a time when the international community is struggling to handle twin proliferation crises over Iran and North Korea, which are defying pressure to halt nuclear programmes. While Iran has so far refused to contemplate a deal that would infringe its right to enrich uranium, North Korea agreed in February to take steps to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for international assistance. But implementation of that deal has stalled since then because of a row over cash. A US negotiator, Christopher Hill, made a surprise trip to North Korea yesterday, the first visit by a senior American official in nearly five years, in an attempt to speed up progress. However, North Korea cast doubt yesterday over a planned visit by UN nuclear inspectors next week and its earlier pledge to seal its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, the source of its weapons-grade plutonium. A spokesman at the North Korean embassy in Vienna said Pyongyang would not confirm the inspectors invitation before $25m (Ł12.5m) of funds from frozen North Korean accounts in Macau had been released. The funds were supposed to have been transferred to a Russian bank but Russian officials said the transfer had still had not been completed yesterday. Useful links Korea Herald (South) North Korean Central News Agency World Food Programme History of the Korean war - tcsaz.com CIA factbook: North Korea CIA factbook: South Korea Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 28 BBC NEWS: Health checks after suspect find | UK | Scotland | Last Updated: Thursday, 21 June 2007, 11:38 GMT 12:38 UK A probe has been launched into the discovery of suspected plutonium during checks at the Dounreay nuclear plant. The ground around old effluent collection tanks was known to have been contaminated by historical leakage. However staff checking the area in Caithness to finalise plans for a Ł4m clean-up detected higher than expected levels of radioactivity at a manhole. Further inspection of similar manholes has been put on hold while the system of work is reassessed. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 29 csmonitor.com: Nuclear watchdog short of cash from the June 22, 2007 edition The International Atomic Energy Agency complains that US and other nations are not contributing as promised. By Michael J. Jordan | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Bratislava, Slovakia - The world's leading nuclear watchdog warned this week that it's not getting the money to do its job. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), given the task of monitoring the nuclear ambitions of Iran, North Korea, and others, has also been taxed of late by the so-called "nuclear renaissance." As countries renew the push for nuclear energy, they expect the IAEA to help safeguard new power plants. In a letter sent to the 144 IAEA member-states after budget negotiations stalled last week, director-general Mohammed ElBaradei wrote, "You could finance a less effective agency and we will tell you what that would mean – less than credible verification assurance, less than the best safety advice, a less than perfect security function." Yet, though the major powers voice fears of nuclear terrorism and nuclear accidents, financial support for the IAEA doesn't necessarily follow, says Vitaly Fedchenko, a researcher with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden. "There's an expression in English: Put your money where your mouth is," says Mr. Fedchenko. "If you're saying the IAEA is important, OK, but do you really mean that by contributing to the agency? Arranging your spending priorities in a certain way is a political statement in itself." With the IAEA's ¤283 million ($379 million) annual budget, the United Nations has touted the Vienna-based agency as "an extraordinary bargain." The US Office of Management and Budget has stamped it as "100 percent" worth the US allocation. The IAEA and ElBaradei were jointly awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. As the US is the IAEA's main sponsor, contributing 25 percent of the budget – only Japan is No. 2 with 19 percent – some observers accuse Washington of reluctance to expand the budget. A US official rejects the charge. "All I'm doing is laying out the facts: we are the IAEA's largest supporter," says the State Department official. While new US legislation has "reduced the limit of what we pay to any international organization to 22 percent, the one exception is the IAEA." But the IAEA reported last September that of the ¤35 million donors had yet to deliver, Washington owed one-third of it. The negotiations by the IAEA Board of Governors ended last week with the prospect of zero increase in funding, prompting ElBaradei to speak out. The budget deadline is in September, at the IAEA General Conference. www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. ***************************************************************** 30 Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump - Green Left Weekly #714, June 20, 2007 Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:56:02 -0500 (CDT) Green Left Weekly #714, June 20, 2007 http://www.greenleft.org.au/ RSS feed http://www.greenleft.org.au/rss.php Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump 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. ****************************************************************************** John Pilger: 'Support GLW!' Green Left Weekly $250,000 Fighting Fund 2007: My brilliant fundraising idea Enjoy reading Green Left Weekly? Want to help support our work? Why not make an online donation http://www.greenleft.org.au/donate.php. **************************************************************************** The battle for Bolivias future BOLIVIA: The breaking of a six-month deadlock in Bolivias constituent assembly has paved the way for the opening of an intense debate on the future of this politically polarised country nestled in the heart of South America. Beginning to lose the battle within the halls of the assembly, the right-wing opposition has threaten to take the fight onto the streets, announcing that it may reject any new constitution that emerges out of the body. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here to join the GLW discussion list Visit the Socialist Alliance website Resistance Books for all your radical literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dean Mighell: Workers need the right to strike Electrical Trades Union Victorian secretary and union militant Dean Mighell was forced to resign from the ALP after a tape recording of an internal union meeting became public. Labor leader Kevin Rudd and his industrial relations spokesperson Julia Gillard slammed Mighell as a union thug for swearing about bosses and talking up a pattern-bargaining agreement in which ETU members received a particularly good deal. Green Left Weeklys Sue Bolton spoke to Mighell about Labor under Rudd, its backflips on IR and how the unions can defend workers rights. *************************************************************************** International News *The battle for Bolivias future *Venezuela: Destabilisation plot fails *Nationalisations push Venezuela further toward socialism *South Africa: Sackings fuel national strike, protests *Pakistan: US double face on media freedom and democracy *Indonesia: 'The people want fundamental change' *Iraq: US officials plan post-Bush occupation *Europe: Bush visits greeted by protests *Pakistan: Protest against Farooq Tariq's detention *Palestine: Hamas Gaza victory a blow to US policy *Paraguay: Former bishop to run for presidency *Sri Lanka: War and repression continue *Vietnam: Agent Orange victims go to court in the US *Indonesia: Climate change hits poor *Malaysia: Socialists hold ninth congress *Russia: Dockers' leader stabbed *West Papua: Papuans greet UN envoy with rallies, demands Comment & Analysis *Letters to the Editor *Resistance: preparing for the Bush protests *Workers vs environment: Howard's false debate *Australian government complicity in torture *Indigenous owners reject radioactive waste dump *Dean Mighell: Workers need the right to strike *Global warming and the NSW floods *Howards AWA fairness test a smokescreen *Koru Peter Nusa, 1963-2007 *Miners petition against AWAs *No jail for Pine Gap Four *Protest extraordinary police powers for APEC *Setback for right-wing Vietnamese and their flag *Why we must reclaim our right to protest at APEC Australian News *Court rebuffs Tristar *Palm Island strike marked *Rally for 'Cheney Four' *Socialist Alliance stands up to police state laws *Torture ship visits Sydney *Police officer faces court over Mulrunjis death *'No pulp mill!' *Actions call for justice for Palestine *Arrest of Tamil activists condemned *Cleaners rally against Caruso *Students rally to support suspended academics Cultural Dissent *How the other half live and die: Planet of Slums By Mike Davis Verso, 2006 *Racists are not welcome here: Riot Directed by Leticia Caceres Written by Vanessa Bates, David Brown, Stefo Nantsou and Sarah Gava Designed by Joshua Mason Newcastle Civic Playhouse *The indigenous fire in Latin America: The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia By Benjamin Dangl A K Press, 2007 *GLW reviewers featured in awards --------------------------------------------------------------- Activist Calendar # Check out the Activist Calendar here http://www.greenleft.org.au/calendar/ About Green Left Weekly http://www.greenleft.org.au/about.php Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back issues http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/ Links to other sites http://www.greenleft.org.au/links.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ***************************************************************** 31 Daily Yomiuri: MHI to join French firm on U.S. N-project bid Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and a French nuclear engineering company will jointly apply for a research and development project on a U.S. nuclear fuel cycle program, according to government sources. Under the plan, MHI will mainly work on fast reactors, and France's Areva will work on facilities to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The teaming up of the two companies, which have more experience than their U.S. rivals, significantly increases the chance they will be awarded the project. If they win, Japan could become the frontrunner in fast-reactor technology. The Japanese and French governments have agreed to support the planned alliance, the sources said. Until last year, the United States was reluctant to work on fuel cycle programs, but changed this policy when it announced the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which pledged the introduction of the nuclear fuel cycle using fast reactors. Under the project, fast reactors with output between 200,000 kilowatts and 800,000 kilowatts is scheduled for construction by around 2020. The U.S. Energy Department is seeking initial research plans budgeted at 7.4 billion yen, and will select several candidates sometime around August. Japan has expressed willingness to participate on the whole project using both private and public sector support. However, under the joint application, Japan would focus on the fast-reactor project. MHI, which has worked with fast-reactor technology since the 1960s, is responsible for developing core parts of domestic reactors, including the Monju reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. It was selected in April as the main builder for Monju's successor, scheduled to start operation in 2025. But establishing technology for commercial use in Japan takes a long time--perhaps 40 years for current fast-reactor projects--meaning MHI must cover massive development costs by using foreign markets. The U.S. project is seen as an ideal opportunity for the company. Meanwhile, Areva does not have any fixed plan for building a new plant after it completes its work on a reactor in Rokkashomura, Aomori Prefecture. The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 32 EPA: U.S. EPA, state, settle for $1.7 million in San Gabriel Valley clean up costs Region 9 Home Release date: 06/21/2007 Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815, Cell: (213) 798-1404 arcaute.francisco@epa.gov Cleanup of major drinking water source expected to run over $200 million (Los Angeles, Calif. -- 06/21/07) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled with a private company, its owners, and several federal agencies for $1,695 million in cleanup costs at the San Gabriel Valley Area 2 Superfund Site near Los Angeles. The settling parties are: Azusa Pipe and Tube Bending Corp., Frederick Tressel, Ronald Tressel, the Trustees of the Tressel Family Trust, the General Services Administration, Department of the Army, Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Today’s settlement demonstrates the EPA’s commitment to make potentially responsible parties pay their fair share," said Keith Takata, director of the EPA’s Superfund Division for the Pacific Southwest Region. “The EPA will continue to oversee cleanup work at this and the other San Gabriel Valley Superfund sites to protect and restore the San Gabriel Basin as a vital source of drinking water for Southern California.” The parties involved in today’s settlement will pay $1,515,000 to the U.S. and $180,000 to the state of California for their efforts to direct and oversee clean up of the contamination. Today’s settlement is in addition to eight settlements announced in October 2005, which resulted in repayment of $14.8 million in EPA and state past costs. The groundwater cleanup, one of the largest in the country, has been a cooperative effort involving the EPA, the state of California, and seven local water agencies. Under a separate EPA order, more than $100 million has been spent at the site to clean up the area’s groundwater. Four large water treatment systems have been constructed, removing contaminants from 30 million gallons per day of contaminated groundwater in and near Baldwin Park, Calif. The four systems provide a safe and reliable source of drinking water to area residents and businesses, benefitting 85,000 households daily. The Baldwin Park area and three adjoining areas of groundwater contamination were declared Superfund sites in 1984. The Baldwin Park area cleanup addresses an area of groundwater contamination more than eight miles long and 1,000 feet deep. In the 1940s, companies started using hazardous chemicals that have now contaminated the area’s groundwater. Contaminants include trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), volatile organic compounds used for cleaning and degreasing, and perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel. The San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site settlement is described in a consent decree lodged today with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. A copy of the consent decree is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. For more information on the EPA’s Superfund program, please visit http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm. ### Last updated on 06/21/2007 05:57:11 PM URL: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/2F43F22AB54195E185257301007 8009C?OpenDocument ***************************************************************** 33 ReviewJournal.com: Attempt at Yucca budget cut fails Jun. 21, 2007 House defeats plan overwhelmingly By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Despite criticism over the past five years aimed at exposing perceived flaws at Yucca Mountain and shortcomings in its management, a vote on Wednesday showed Nevada lawmakers still have a way to go to persuade Congress to abandon nuclear waste burial in the state. The House brushed aside an amendment that would have cut $202.45 million from the Energy Department's budget for the nuclear waste project next year. The vote was 80 in favor of the cut and 351 opposed, a surprisingly large margin with its three Nevada sponsors on the short end. The budget cut drew fewer votes to the Nevada side than in 2002, when the House voted 306-117 to select Yucca Mountain for the repository. Last year, an amendment to restrict activity on the DOE's nuclear waste Web site lost, 271-147. "The conventional wisdom has said in Nevada that Yucca Mountain is dead. This is proof that Yucca Mountain is alive and well," said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. Meanwhile, Ward Sproat, director of the Energy Department's civilian nuclear waste office, said he was appreciative of the outcome. "Yucca Mountain is critical to the nation's current and future energy and national security needs," Sproat said. The vote cleared the way for the House to pass a 2008 spending bill containing $494.5 million for the Yucca program, the amount DOE requested. The Yucca Mountain vote was the first one in Congress since Democrats gained control this year, but that did not make a difference. Fifteen Republicans and 65 Democrats voted for the Yucca budget cut, while 167 Democrats and 184 Republicans voted against it. Berkley noted Democrats outnumbered Republicans in favor of the amendment, while Porter and Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., pointed to pro-Yucca sentiment from both parties. "It is apparent that support for dumping nuclear waste in Nevada is shared by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress," Heller said. Political science professor Eric Herzik said the House vote will put pressure on Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to deliver Yucca budget cuts when the energy bill reaches the Senate. The lopsided vote "doesn't help Reid," said Herzik, who is department chairman at the University of Nevada, Reno. Reid, the Senate majority leader, has reduced Yucca spending in the past, "and he will continue to do so," spokesman Jon Summers said. During debate, Porter and Berkley replayed the criticisms that have been leveled at the Yucca program since the Nevada site was designated in 2002. E-mails that suggested science documentation had been faked forced DOE to rework chunks of research at great cost, they said. But Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, accused the Nevadans of "NIMBY: not in my back yard." "At some point we all have to go beyond parochial politics and do the right thing for the entire nation," Hobson said. Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., energy subcommittee chairman, said stopping Yucca Mountain will stall approval of new nuclear power plants and license extensions at existing plants. "This amendment will constrain our ability to grow our economy without emitting any more greenhouse gases," Visclosky said. As long as there are members of Congress who have nuclear waste in their districts and want it gone, Nevada will be a target, Berkley said. There is waste in 38 states. "I can see it from the look in their eyes," she said. "As soon as you start talking about Yucca Mountain, their eyes glaze over." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 34 ReviewJournal.com: House pans Yucca Internet strategy Jun. 21, 2007 Amendment calls for youth-oriented character to disappear By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The House on Wednesday took a swipe at "Yucca Mountain Johnny" and other parts of a Department of Energy Web site aimed at teaching students about radioactive waste. Johnny is a cartoon hard-hat miner on the Web portal. By voice vote, lawmakers directed the DOE to put him out of business and shut down the "Yucca Mountain Youth Zone," where the animated icon stands sentry. The House accepted an amendment by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who charged that the youth-oriented site conveys a "pro-nuclear" viewpoint and presents an unbalanced view of the proposed Nevada nuclear repository. Berkley argued that the site neglects to point out the dangers posed by nuclear waste and geological flaws such as threats from earthquakes and volcanoes that Nevada leaders believe should disqualify the Yucca site. "The Department of Energy should not be in the business of propaganda and trying to persuade schoolchildren that storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is OK," Berkley said. "Yucca Mountain Johnny is like Joe Camel was to cigarettes," Berkley said, referring to the once-ubiquitous cartoon pitch-camel who was dropped by the RJ Reynolds tobacco company in 1997 under pressure from Congress and health groups. Defending the site, Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said the Yucca Mountain Youth Zone drew 20,000 page views from January through May. Barnett said the site has been valued by "students and adults around the globe on nuclear physics, geology, engineering and complex science." "We intend to keep this educational tool available," Barnett said, "and we look forward to working with Congress on this issue." The Yucca site has games and activities, suggested curricula for teachers, and discussions about "the nuclear waste problem" and how science is used to find "solutions." Aimed at students of varying grade levels, the entry pages link to more detailed science discussions deeper within the site. The Web site is among dwindling "public outreach" elements of the Yucca program, which has been squeezed by declining budgets. Public tours of the Yucca site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, have been curtailed, and the Energy Department this spring closed the Yucca Mountain Project Science Center on Meadows Lane in Las Vegas. Berkley went after the Web site last year but lost a 271-147 vote after Republican committee leaders came to Yucca Mountain Johnny's defense. This year, the chairman of the House energy and water subcommittee is a Democrat, Peter Visclosky of Indiana, who accepted Berkley's amendment without debate. The amendment was added to a fiscal 2008 spending bill for the Energy Department. The Senate also will debate the bill, with final decisions expected later this year on the bill and the fate of Yucca Mountain Johnny. 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. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 35 Platts: Euratom agency: Hedge funds drive up EU uranium prices in 2006 2007-06-21 Brussels (Platts)--21Jun2007 Hedge funds buying uranium holdings in 2006 contributed to substantial increase in spot prices for uranium, the raw material for nuclear power plant fuel, the Euratom Supply Agency said Thursday. ESA, the EU's nuclear fuel supply agency, said in its 2006 annual report that hedge fund buying had helped to double published spot price indicators from $36/lb U308 at the start of 2006 to $72/lb U308 at the end. These indicators exceeded $100/lb U308 in April 2007, said ESA. Platts' U308 spot price indicator June 18 was $135 to $145/lb U308. ESA's spot price definition--delivery within 12 months--does not include a time limit between contract signing and delivery of the material, hence some spot deliveries which occurred in 2006 may have been agreed by the contracting parties in the previous year, when the prices were lower. This would lower the ESA 2006 average price even more compared with published spot prices. Excluding Bulgaria and Romania, the average delivered spot price for uranium in 2006 to the EU-25 countries was Eur53.73/kgU ($25.95/lb U308), compared with Eur44.27 kgU ($21.19 lb/ U308) in 2005. For multi-annual contracts, the average delivered price in the EU-25 in 2006 was Eur38.41/kgU ($18.55/lb U308) versus Eur33.56/kgU ($16.06/lb U308) in 2005. Since fixed price contracts are rare, spot price indicators are highly dependent on occasional uranium auctions, said ESA. The New York exchange NYMEX introduced financial futures contracts for uranium in early 2007, bringing uranium closer to other energy commodities and metals in that respect. Global demand is putting pressure on supplies and prices, ESA said, with securing energy supplies a hot political issue in many countries, including China and India. Nuclear energy has the advantage that uranium resources are relatively well dispersed around the globe, and despite uranium price increases, fuel costs are still relatively low compared with power generation from fossil fuels, ESA said. Nuclear energy produces about 32% of Europe's power, making it the EU's largest source of low carbon power. Reducing carbon emissions is a key aim of European energy policy. For the EU-25, average reactor needs for natural uranium over the next ten years are forecast to be 19,840 mt U/year, while average net requirements are about 17,840 mt U/year, ESA said. ESA recommended that EU utilities maintain an adequate level of strategic inventories. use market opportunities to increase their inventories. and cover most of their needs under long-term contracts with diversified supply sources. And it was "pleased to note that for the first time in many years, uranium deliveries to EU utilities were slightly higher than the amount of uranium loaded into reactors. Thus inventories are being rebuilt in response to security of supply concerns and rising prices." The full report can be obtained at: http://ec.europa.eu/euratom/index_en.html. ---David Stellfox, david_stellfox@platts.com For simliar news, request a free trial to Power in Europe at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 36 Salt Lake Tribune: Uranium cleanup to get rolling EnergySolutions snatches $98.4M tailings contract The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 06/21/2007 02:52:33 AM MDT This aerial photo shows the former Atlas tailings pile, lower right, next to the Colorado River. The Department of Energy announced Wednesday it has given EnergySolutions the contract to get started on removing tons of radioactive waste from the Colorado River. The Energy Department awarded EnergySolutions a $98.4 million contract Wednesday to begin removing 16 million tons of uranium tailings and contaminated soil from the banks of the Colorado River near Moab. But Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, says the plan for moving a fraction of material by 2011 is not ambitious enough and hopes the department steps up its cleanup efforts. Under the four-year contract, EnergySolutions will do the initial work on moving the tailings by rail to Crescent Junction, north of Moab, and bury it in a containment pit there. "These contract awards will bring the Department of Energy one step closer to watching the mill tailings being loaded and moved away from the Colorado River," said Don Metzler, director of the Moab project. EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said the company expects to take about six months to plan the project and should begin the actual moving of the tailings sometime early next year. As many as 150 workers are projected to haul about 2 million tons of material before the contract lapses. But that leaves more than 14 million tons behind, and Matheson said he wants the project to move faster. "This contract award announcement is months overdue," he said. "The proposal calls for just one-eighth of the tailings pile to be moved by 2011. That's not acceptable, given the hazard posed by the location of the project. I expect a much more expeditious performance, including meeting my completion deadline of 2019." The Energy Department decided in 2005 to move the uranium tailings, a pasty toxic remnant of ore refining at the Atlas Corp. mill. The mill closed in 1984 and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1998, leaving in place a small remediation fund and an inadequate earthen cap on the pile. The tailings pile now sits just outside Arches National Park and studies have found that toxic chemicals such as ammonia are seeping into the groundwater and nearby Colorado River, alarming the 25 million residents down river who rely on the river for their drinking water and threatening four species of endangered fish. The department had estimated it would take seven to 10 years to finish the cleanup, but since then has set 2028 as its target date for completion - which has been criticized by Matheson and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. Bennett said he was "encouraged" to see the contractor selected, but "I made it clear to DOE that 21 years was an unacceptable timetable for cleanup, and I'll continue to make sure this process moves forward expeditiously." Metzler said the department will know more about the time line and costs for removing the pile once EnergySolutions develops its schedule. "This definitely is a step in the right direction for everyone, and the environment, too," Metzler said. Steve Creamer, CEO of EnergySolutions, said he is "delighted with the contract." "It is particularly satisfying to be performing this work here at home in Utah," Creamer said. "I'm proud of our team at EnergySolutions and the confidence that DOE has placed in us to complete this work." The Atlas contract is a significant boost for EnergySolutions, which in March announced it would be going public, issuing $500 million in stock to help cover $764 million in outstanding debt. Metzler said that over the past five years, the Energy Department has drained and treated more than 83 million gallons of contaminated water from the pile to prevent it from reaching the river. It also has cleaned up and re-vegetated 70 acres of the former mill site. The department also awarded a contract for up to $22 million to S&K Aerospace Inc., of St. Ignatius, Mont., to provide administrative, records management, training, telecommunications and infrastructure services. ***************************************************************** 37 Times-News: DOE's rich tapestry of broken promises Magicvalley.com, Twin Falls, ID magicvalley.com on Thursday, June 21, 2007 Forget the Bureau of Land Management; the Forest Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and black helicopters. Idaho's biggest beef with the federal government begins and ends at 1000 Independence Ave. SW, in Washington, D.C. That's the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Energy, which has told Idaho political leaders so many whoppers over the years that there should be a Burger King in the lobby. DOE is now saying the best-case projection for the opening of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage repository in Nevada is 2017. Which means, of course, that the million or so gallons of high-level radioactive material stored at the Idaho National Laboratory isn't going anywhere soon. If you're a newcomer to this part of country, you should know that radioactive sludge is stored about 600 feet - that's roughly two-thirds of the length of a city block - above the Snake River Plain Aquifer, where much of the Magic Valley gets its water. In 1995, then-Gov. Phil Batt cut a deal with the feds to remove most of the radioactive waste from INL within 40 years. Since then, the agency has done just about everything it could to weasel out of the agreement, trying to reclassify what "high-level nuclear waste" means, threatening to withhold waste-management funds from Idaho, arguing over the fine print of the deal, proposing to dilute the waste and keep it at INL, and even attempting to get its allies in Congress to rewrite the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and thus cut the legs out from under Idaho's legal position. DOE's current position is "we can't remove the waste because we have nowhere to put it." At the moment, that seems to be the agency's most effective gambit yet. The Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, has repeatedly declared the Yucca Mountain project dead. All of this has taken on added significance because the nuclear power industry, moribund since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, is beginning to stir to life due to growing concerns about fossil-fuel emissions and global warming. Sometime in the foreseeable future, new nuclear power plants will be fired up, producing fresh toxic garbage. If Yucca Mountain is still closed for business, that waste is going to DOE facilities in South Carolina, Washington or Idaho. Past experience tells us that we can bank on that, no matter what the energy department says now. What's remarkable about the DOE's double-dealing with Idaho is that it's transcended both Republican and Democratic administrations. Is it just part of the agency's culture to dissemble, or has Idaho not made itself clear? Idahoans don't sign agreements in disappearing ink, and we expect the same of DOE. Yucca Mountain or no Yucca Mountain. Our view: By any legal means necessary, Idaho must hold the federal Department of Energy to its pledge to remove high-level nuclear waste from the Idaho National Laboratory by 2035. What do you think? We welcome viewpoints from our readers on this and other issues. Jim Sylva (id:CitizenJ) wrote on Jun 21, 2007 10:04 AM: " Thank you for the timely and accurate article. Unfortunately, there never will be safe place to store the radioactive and toxic wastes produced by INL, Hanford, Tennessee Valley, and commercial power plants. The EPA has been required by Congress to develop a storage plan for Yucca Mountain that will allow for the safe storage of nuclear waste for ONE MILLION YEARS or "25,000 generations of Americans." This is an impossible task. To try to put the task in perspective, historical accounts of human cultures exist for only the last 5,000 years, 1/2 of 1% of the time required to render the radioactive materials safe. " Peter Rickards (id:PeterRickards) wrote on Jun 21, 2007 9:21 AM: " Well, I'm glad the Times-News is acknowledging what liars the DOE are! But please remember, they are doing this with the permission of our bought politicians! Our Idaho politicians and officials have eagerly signed on to opening new plutonium dumps, onsite! Their speeches tell us we should embrace nuke power like the French do, but neglect to say that the French simply bury their high level fuel rods in shallow dirt pits. That is OK with our nuclear politicians. While they would prefer forcing the waste into Nevada for show purposes, they are happy to declassify and rename any problem. In fact, the nuclear waste deal, in section J4, states that Idaho must agree to forgive any broken promise in the deal, if any Environmental Imapct Statement concludes, for example, that Yucca Mt should not open! That's right, we have already agreed to not sue the feds if they break promises at Yucca Mt. I respect Nevada for trying to protect their water from federal lies, and block Yucca Mt. Last year the Nevada law team uncovered internal federal emails from the so-called safety engineers who are approving Yucca as safe. The internal email said, "If they want more proof of safety, I'll be happy to make up more data" !!! Wake up Idaho. We have been chosen to cluster plutonium production and merchant nuke power here. Our politicians have volunteered your family for more frontline nuclear duty. " Copyright © 2006, Lee Publications Inc. Magicvalley.com is an on-line division of The Times-News, published ***************************************************************** 38 Aiken Today: Future of SRS pit plant uncertain AikenStandard.com Thu, Jun 21, 2007 By JOSH VOORHEES Staff writer The future of a proposed billion-dollar facility currently slated for construction at the Savannah River Site was debated on the U.S. House floor Wednesday afternoon. The day's action came to a close without a vote on an amendment offered by a California congresswoman which would reverse existing language in a proposed appropriations bill seeking to move the facility to a plant in Armarillo, Texas. If the amendment is defeated and the current version of the bill passes, the language in the bill would be the first in a long series of events required to move construction of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) from SRS to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo. "It is very early on in the congressional appropriations process," said Julianne Smith, spokeswoman for the National Nuclear Security Administration. "We'll continue to work with and engage all of our committees on issues that are important to NNSA." Before the House Appropriations Committee's bill called into question the fate of the pit processing plant, it had long been believed to be destined for SRS. Under the Energy Department's existing plan, the plutonium pit plant was to join the mixed-oxide fuel facility at the site. The pit plant and the MOX plant are the final two major steps in a three-part nonproliferation process that removes weapons-grade plutonium from nuclear warheads and converts it to a mixed plutonium-uranium fuel that can be used in commercial nuclear reactors. The first step in that process occurs at the Pantex Plant, the nation's only nuclear weapon dismantlement plant. "Co-locating the Pit Disassembly facility with the pit storage facilities at the Pantex Plant provides an obvious security improvement and program efficiency element" over the current plan, the committee said in its energy and water spending bill. Despite the House committee's desire to see the pit plant moved to Texas, the bill first needs to be passed in the House. Language moving the facility would then need to find its way into the Senate's version of the same bill before the decision could begin to become a reality. In the eyes of the House committee members, the department's existing plan of shipping the plutonium pits from Pantex to SRS is "not appropriate in the light of the post 9/11 security environment." However, according to Mal McKibben, executive director of the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, the new plan might not be any better than the old one in regards to national security. "The committee claims in the bill that there is a big advantage because you would not have to ship the plutonium pits, but you would still have to ship the oxide" ? which is what the pit plant converts the pits into ? "and that's just as susceptible to threats," he said. "There is no advantage there; if anything, it might be a disadvantage because the oxide is closer to what is used in weapons." McKibben has already written a letter to both Georgia and South Carolina senators outlining the variety of problems ? most notably a possible delay in construction ? he believes the move would cause and calling on the lawmakers to ensure the $1.2 billion pit facility stays at SRS. Projections for the pit plant estimate that it would provide around 450 permanent operations jobs and would see a peak of around 1,000 workers during construction. The amendment to the bill that would reverse the language and preserve the Energy Department's original plan was introduced by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) Tuesday. In addition to the relocation of the pit plant, the House appropriations bill also called for the facility to be moved from the NNSA's nonproliferation program into another office of the Energy Department. There is no word yet whether the MOX plant would be affected by such a move. Contact Josh Voorhees at jvoorhees@aikenstandard.com © 2005 The AikenStandard. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 39 Lodinews.com: Explosives test range Site 300 questioned over cleanup plan By Bob Brownne San Joaquin News Service Last updated: Thursday, June 21, 2007 6:59 AM PDT Reresentatives of the U.S. Department of Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory say they've made substantial progress in 25 years of cleanup efforts at Site 300, but lab critics said the overall cleanup plan does not go far enough. "I'm surprised you would consider a cleanup plan without considering the pollution from further activities at the site," said local businessman Bob Sarvey, one of about a dozen speakers Wednesday as the DOE and the lab collected public comments for its cleanup plan. "As part of your cleanup, you must stop polluting the site," Sarvey said. Leslie Ferry, of the lab's environmental restoration division, said most of the contamination addressed in the plan is the result of past practices at the high explosives test range, including disposal of radioactive uranium and tritium into unlined landfills. "The experiments at the site are now designed with a much better understanding of environmental protection," she said. By next year, the lab and DOE expect to have a "record of decision" on the site-wide cleanup plan, which will define where the rest of pollution is and what it will take to clean it up. Ferry outlined cleanup efforts that started in 1982 when the lab started to remove toxins from soil and groundwater around the 7,000-acre high explosives test range southwest of Tracy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared the site a top national priority in 1990, which accelerated efforts to remove solvents and radioactive contaminants from soil and water. Ferry said the lab and DOE have treated about 250 million gallons of groundwater and removed about 12,000 pounds of contaminants. She also described how a mile-long plume of groundwater contaminated with trichloroethelyne along Corral Hollow Creek has been removed, and how groundwater pollution from radioactive tritium has been curtailed at one explosives firing table in the northwest corner of the site. The lab plans to cap trenches filled with uranium and tritium-tainted material and install drains around them, but does not plan to excavate the radioactive debris. While the lab has no plan to remove tritium from groundwater, it does expect that its radioactive half-live of 12_ years will cause the radioactivity to deteriorate before the groundwater migrates off-site. Kathy Setian, Site 300 project manager for the EPA, said one particular landfill at the northwest corner of the site, another source of radioactive tritium and uranium pollution, appears to be contained now that the landfill has been capped. "If this remedy works, there will be no further releases of tritium from Pit 7 into the groundwater," Setian said. But critics of the lab, such as Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, pointed out that the lab and DOE have performed no analysis of how continued explosions at the site will contaminate soil and groundwater. "It's surreal for me to listen to this presentation about how this cleanup is foolproof," said Loulena Miles, staff attorney for the group. She was one of many to point out that continued tests using depleted uranium are proposed for the site. At the same time, the University of California hopes to put a biological research site, specializing in animal diseases, on the site. "A robust cleanup is important for a number of reasons," she added. "Cleanup must take into account a wide variety of future uses," she said. Contact reporter Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com. 125 N. Church St. P.O. Box 1360 Lodi, CA 95241 (209) 369-2761 Fax: (209) 369-1084 * Map ***************************************************************** 40 Tri-City Herald: HAMMER victory Opinions Published Thursday, June 21st, 2007 Congressman Doc Hastings kept faith with Sam Volpentest by doing something Sam would completely understand -- prodding an administration for HAMMER training center money. And like Volpentest so many times before, Hastings came away victorious. Volpentest was a leading advocate for HAMMER and other Hanford projects and programs until he died at age 101 in 2005. The center is named in his honor. The U.S. State Department promised HAMMER $2.25 million to complete a classroom training wing. Then, as will happen in Washington, D.C., the money was temporarily put on hold. That's when Hastings wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to remind her of the commitment. And, without an unpleasant word being said, the money was restored. Good for Doc. Good for HAMMER. And, even two years after his death, good for Sam. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 41 Hanford News: More public access to monument sought This story was published Thursday, June 21st, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should allow as much public access to the Hanford Reach National Monument as possible, Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said in a statement Wednesday. He's particularly interested in four areas: -- Public access to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain, which is closed now. -- Retention and improvement of the White Bluffs boat launch. -- Consideration of controlled hunting for elk on the Arid Lands Ecology reserve. -- Keeping the six McNary Wildlife Refuge islands open to reasonable public use. The Fish and Wildlife Service released a draft plan in late 2006 that looked at six alternatives for managing the monument over the next 15 years. Now it's working on a final plan that could be finished later this year. Public access should be a priority, while still ensuring protection of the area for future generations, Hastings wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Some areas are susceptible to vandalism and invasive weeds if not protected, and the service has a tight budget that might limit some options, he wrote. "However, there should also be recognition that much of the surrounding area of Central Washington is already under some form of federal land management where hunting and recreational uses such as horseback riding are often restricted," he wrote. Rattlesnake Mountain has been closed to the public since World War II, when it became part of the security zone around the Hanford nuclear reservation. Because of the unparalleled view and an observatory with a powerful telescope at the mountain top, Fish and Wildlife should give serious consideration to allowing public access, Hastings said. That includes improving the steep, narrow road to the observatory. In addition to concerns about allowing the public on the road, Fish and Wildlife has been concerned about private communication towers on the mountain and areas that are culturally sensitive to several tribes. None of the alternatives would allow access to Rattlesnake Mountain except by two hiking trails. The White Bluffs boat launch would be closed to motorized boats and better launches developed at Vernita and Ringold under some of the alternatives. The launch needs improvements and is near culturally sensitive areas. However, Hastings said closing the launch would leave a 30-mile stretch of river without an access point, creating safety problems. A controlled hunt program on the Arid Lands Ecology to control large numbers of elk has been considered in the past, but the Department of Energy, which owns the land managed by Fish and Wildlife, has not agreed. In the 15 years covered by the new management plan, problems preventing a hunting program could be resolved, Hastings said. Those include addressing concerns of nearby landowners about hunters trespassing onto their land, the possibility that elk would be driven onto highways and liability issues. Hastings also called for reasonable access to the six islands on the Columbia River that are part of the McNary Wildlife Refuge, including allowing some hunting above the high water mark. Most other islands in the area already are off limits, he pointed out. The management plan also should make it clear how local government and the public can continue to have a voice in planning and management of the monument over the plan's 15-year life, he said. "Over the last several decades, federal land policy in general has become ever more restrictive," Hastings wrote. "Once recreational activities are no longer permitted or areas are closed to the public, they tend to remain that way." © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 Jakarta Post: Anger over verdict in aircraft firm firings National News June 22, 2007 Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung Hundreds of former employees of state-owned aircraft company PT Dirgantara Indonesia caused chaos Thursday, after a Bandung judge acquitted the firm's president of all charges laid against him. One protester smashed a window pane with two flower pots, while another threw a bench at the court room floor. Wives of the protesters wept, and one collapsed. The verdict was read by Judge Abdul Moehan, in a repeat trial of a case involving an employment quarrel between Edwin Sudarmo and 6,000 employees he fired in January 2005. The repeat trial was made possible after the Supreme Court allowed a judicial review of an earlier verdict, issued in July 2005, when Edwin was sentenced by Judge Marni Emi Mustofa to two months in prison. Edwin was found guilty by Marni of violating Article 26 Paragraph 4 of a 1957 law on labor dispute settlement and of not abiding by the decision by the Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes to pay severance to the employees. The verdict, which also obliged Edwin to pay Rp 5,000 (55 U.S. cents), was strengthened by a 2006 decision by the West Java High Court. Edwin went into hiding and only emerged again in public after the Supreme Court accepted his request to reconsider the case and ordered the district court to hold a repeat trial. Outside the court, protesters burned tires. Police were deployed to main security and drove around 700 protesters from the area. Edwin was escorted out the back door by police and officers of the court. Moehan said his verdict was in line with the 2004 Industrial Relations Law, which states that disputes between employees and employers can only be settled through a civil case, while Judge Marni had applied the penal code. "We decided to acquit the defendant of all charges, repair his right and dignity and impose the costs of the trial on the government," Moehan said. The protesters threatened to occupy the court and sleep outside in tents, but began to leave at 12.30 p.m when it started to rain. Siddharta, a spokesman for the protesters, said they wanted to continue their protest at the House of Representatives, the National Human Rights Commission, the office of the state minister for state enterprises, the Attorney General's Office and the Supreme Court in July. "We're disappointed by the verdict. It shows the Supreme Court does not side with the powerless and defends only the corrupt," he said. ***************************************************************** 43 UPI: Argonne aiming for isotope lab United Press International - NewsTrack - Science - Published: June 20, 2007 at 10:36 PM CHICAGO, June 20 (UPI) -- Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago and Michigan State University are top contenders for one of the world's most advanced science labs. The Advanced Exotic Beam Laboratory, which would cost $550 million to build and $80 million a year to operate, would allow researchers to study everything from medical tests to nuclear bombs, the Chicago Sun-Times said Wednesday. Argonne announced this week it has hired Walter Henning, head of Germany's top physics lab, to lead efforts to win the beam lab. The beam lab would include two subatomic particle accelerators. Scientists would produce isotopes in the first accelerator and study them in the second accelerator, where the isotopes would smash into various targets, the newspaper said. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 44 Albuquerque Tribune: House shoots down Udall's effort to restore New Mexico's nuclear labs' funding : By James W. Brosnan (Contact) Thursday, June 21, 2007 WASHINGTON ? It was obvious that reversing the deep cuts in funding for New Mexico's nuclear weapons laboratories didn't stand a chance in the House when the author of those reductions attacked Los Alamos for an incident that happened at Sandia National Laboratories. The funding battle now moves to the Senate, where Albuquerque Republican Pete Domenici is hoping for more support for the labs than was shown on June 20 in the House - which squashed an amendment by Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat, to restore $192 million of the more than $600 million in cuts for the labs. Udall's move failed by a 312-121 vote, an ominous sign for the New Mexico congressional delegation. "The road ahead remains difficult," Domenici said after the House vote. According to some estimates, the cuts could force the loss as many as 2,000 jobs at Los Alamos and more than 900 at Sandia. In rejecting Udall's amendment, the leaders of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee - Chairman Peter Visclosky, an Indiana Democrat, and ranking Republican David Hobson of Ohio - made clear they were not only seeking to curtail nuclear weapons production but to punish Los Alamos for repeated security and safety breaches. Visclosky said Congress should be most worried about the case of Shawn Carpenter. "Mr. Carpenter worked at Los Alamos. Mr. Carpenter was concerned about security at Los Alamos," said Visclosky. "He went to the FBI and was terminated." In fact, Carpenter worked at Sandia, not Los Alamos. And he was not concerned about security at Los Alamos but about the hacking by the Chinese into various government computers. He did go to the FBI and was fired by Sandia managers who said his activities were unauthorized. An Albuquerque jury recently awarded Carpenter more than $4 million in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. Visclosky's press spokesman, Justin Kitsch, told The Tribune that Visclosky had "a slip of the tongue." Hobson was even harsher toward Los Alamos and its 9,000 employees. "I would argue our national security might actually be improved by cutting 1,800 jobs from a facility that can't seem to manage sensitive information. We'd have a lot less people to watch," said Hobson. Udall acknowledged there have been "unacceptable" managerial problems at Los Alamos, but he blamed those on the National Nuclear Security Administration and defended lab workers. "The scientists at LANL are the best in the world, and they work with a commitment to both national security and the pursuit of scientific knowledge," Udall said. Udall did not attempt to restore funding for the two major weapons programs eliminated by the committee - the reliable replacement warhead and new facilities at Los Alamos to support continued production of the plutonium pits that trigger nuclear bombs. Instead, he sought to restore funding for a Los Alamos high-speed supercomputer system, plus stockpile stewardship programs - which test components to make sure the bombs are safe and reliable without underground testing of the weapons themselves. Some of the science funds also could have been used at Sandia. Visclosky said he feared some of the $192 million would filter back into new weapons production. Hobson said taxpayers' dollars would be better spent on conventional weapons and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons around the world than on the nuclear weapons complex in the United States. He said Udall's amendment was not about national security but about jobs at a lab that "has held a pre-eminent place at the federal trough for years." "All told, Los Alamos receives close to $2 billion a year. I cannot tell you what we get in return for that investment," said Hobson. Domenici denied that the delegation was simply trying to protect New Mexico jobs. "The House plan represents a seismic shift in American nuclear weapons policy with national and international implications," he said. While funding for the labs looks dire, President Bush is threatening to veto the bill, mostly because it spends nearly more than $1 billion more than he requested overall, but also because of the nuclear weapons budget. If Bush does veto the bill, it would be unlikely that Democrats could muster the two-thirds vote for an override. That would force Democrats to negotiate a second bill with the White House and the Republicans or wrap the spending into a continuing resolution at current spending levels. The House agreed on June 20 to postpone final action on the bill until July. © 2007 The Albuquerque Tribune ***************************************************************** 45 Albuquerque Tribune: Eric Griego: Bright side of lab cuts Maybe this is our opportunity to move from nuclear weapons to energy innovation Thursday, June 21, 2007 The Democratic Congress is proposing major cuts at Los Alamos and Sandia national labs that could remove hundreds of millions of dollars from the state economy and thousands of jobs. The cuts are due in part to what some see as a bloated nuclear weapons budget. News of the cuts was greeted with near-hysteria at home. The prospect of two of the state's main economic drivers being slashed is worrisome, given that high-paying lab jobs have buoyed New Mexico's economy for a generation. But could the cuts really be an opportunity? Could the proposed cuts to the labs be the impetus so desperately needed to finally change the mission of both labs to one focused on renewable energy development instead of protecting and developing nuclear weapons? Conservationists and those who oppose continued nuclear weapons development have tried for years to redirect the mission of the state's two national labs in the direction of renewable energy. Sandia has taken on more renewable energy work over the past several years, but Los Alamos has actually deepened its nuclear mission. The proposed cuts have put Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in the awkward position of having to defend Los Alamos' expanded nuclear mission - something many of his base supporters oppose. But for local leaders, nuclear weapons jobs, after all, are still good-paying jobs. Meanwhile, state Republicans are blaming Udall, a recent appointee to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, for not doing enough to protect the millions that have gone to the labs for years. Instead of blame-storming, the New Mexico congressional delegation should do what Colorado's delegation did when the Bush administration tried making cuts to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. The delegation worked across party lines to make sure the lab was spared of most of the cuts. The best hope of keeping Sandia and Los Alamos off the chopping the block in the future is to diversify their missions now. While nuclear weapons stewardship and development have brought in billions to the state over the past few decades, it is a declining industry. At least most of us hope that our state's future does not lie in pushing for growth in nuclear weapons development. Economist Joseph Schumpeter called such declines "creative destruction." As older industries stagnate and eventually die, newer technologies and innovations replace them. It is sort of economic Darwinism. To survive, companies must constantly innovate. But does the argument apply to big public investments like national laboratories? Must they also evolve or die? Or can we keep on spending public dollars on outdated missions? Most entrepreneurs were driven to invention and success not by being coddled. Most lost their jobs and had to find gainful employment. Sometimes the security of a large, well-funded organization breeds stagnation. Innovation usually comes from bare necessity: survival. Maybe the shake-ups at Sandia and Los Alamos will be just what they need to start them looking at how they can be more relevant to our biggest national security challenge: energy security. The damage that fossil fuels are doing to the environment threatens millions around the world. Whether it is the potential catastrophic damage caused by global warming, the mercury now found in many native fish, the increasing birth defects or the dirty air from coal-fired power plants that has increased asthma rates in millions of children, we must change our energy mix as a society, or we might face the fate that Schumpeter has talked about in the business world. This year's funding crisis at the labs might be remembered as the moment New Mexico began truly to lead the nation in the development of renewable energy. That's if our leaders in Washington push for the change, instead of clinging to big dollars that have supported our nuclear past. © 2007 The Albuquerque Tribune ***************************************************************** 46 Tracy Press: Lab touts Site 300 cleanup Administrator Wednesday, 20 June 2007 By Bob Brownne The people from the U.S. Department of Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory say they’ve made substantial progress in 25 years of cleanup efforts at Site 300, but lab critics said the overall cleanup plan does not go far enough. “I’m surprised you would consider a cleanup plan without considering the pollution from further activities at the site,” said local businessman Bob Sarvey, one of about a dozen speakers Wednesday as the DOE and the lab collected public comments for its cleanup plan. “As part of your cleanup, you must stop polluting the site,” Sarvey said. Leslie Ferry, of the lab’s environmental restoration division, said most of the contamination addressed in the plan is the result of past practices at the high explosives test range, including disposal of radioactive uranium and tritium into unlined landfills. “The experiments at the site are now designed with a much better understanding of environmental protection,” she said. By next year, the lab and DOE expect to have a “record of decision” on the site-wide cleanup plan, which will define where the rest of pollution is and what it will take to clean it up. Ferry outlined cleanup efforts that started in 1982 when the lab started to remove toxins from soil and groundwater around the 7,000-acre high explosives test range southwest of Tracy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared the site a top national priority in 1990, which accelerated efforts to remove solvents and radioactive contaminants from soil and water. Ferry said the lab and DOE have treated about 250 million gallons of groundwater and removed about 12,000 pounds of contaminants. She also described how a mile-long plume of groundwater contaminated with trichloroethelyne along Corral Hollow Creek has been removed, and how groundwater pollution from radioactive tritium has been curtailed at one explosives firing table in the northwest corner of the site. The lab plans to cap trenches filled with uranium and tritium-tainted material and install drains around them, but does not plan to excavate the radioactive debris. While the lab has no plan to remove tritium from groundwater, it does expect that its radioactive half-live of 12˝ years will cause the radioactivity to deteriorate before the groundwater migrates off-site. Kathy Setian, Site 300 project manager for the EPA, said one particular landfill at the northwest corner of the site, another source of radioactive tritium and uranium pollution, appears to be contained now that the landfill has been capped. “If this remedy works, there will be no further releases of tritium from Pit 7 into the groundwater,” Setian said. But critics of the lab, such as Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, pointed out that the lab and DOE have performed no analysis of how continued explosions at the site will contaminate soil and groundwater. “It’s surreal for me to listen to this presentation about how this cleanup is foolproof,” said Loulena Miles, staff attorney for the group. She was one of many to point out that continued tests using depleted uranium are proposed for the site. At the same time, the University of California hopes to put a biological research site, specializing in animal diseases, on the site. “A robust cleanup is important for a number of reasons,” she added. “Cleanup must take into account a wide variety of future uses,” she said. ***************************************************************** 47 lamonitor.com: Business owners grapple with lab uncertainties The Online News Source for Los Alamos CAROL A. CLARK Monitor County Editor Gloom and doom talk is all over town in the shadow of potential budget cuts at Los Alamos National Laboratory and last week's revelation that classified information was e-mailed through non-secure computers. Local business owners took time Wednesday to share their perceptions about the laboratory and those of their customers. Metzger's has been a community fixture for decades. The owner recently spent some $300,000 in remodeling the main hardware store on 15th Street. "We've made a big investment in the future of our business in this community," longtime General Manager Dennis George said. "We aren't growing as quickly as we thought we would after a major remodel, but in talking with other businesses we are doing well." George spoke of his customers who work or worked at LANL. "We hear people's fears; they say, 'I've just been laid off' or 'I've quit,'" he said. "I've heard people say, 'I didn't have long to go to retirement so I retired because I just couldn't take the uncertainty anymore.'" George expressed concern over the $400,000 budget cut pending in Congress. He said he worries about its affect on LANL employees, whether they'll lose their jobs and on the real estate market. "I know a number of people trying to sell their homes," George said. "Homes used to sell in eight to 10 days and these homes have been on the market eight to 10 months." People are unsure about the future and unwilling to go shopping, he said. "They're not willing to spend spare income because they aren't sure how long they will be working." George said Metzger's appreciates the people in this community and only hopes the best for them and their work situation. "We're concerned for their welfare and we know we couldn't be in business without them." George shared the perception he has about who's really pulling the strings at LANL. "I'm not sure the decisions about Los Alamos are made in Los Alamos," he said. "Maybe if we had an opportunity to speak with the people who do make the decisions, then we'd have a better idea as to the future. They have to have some kind of a plan and it would be nice if they'd let us know what that plan is." Peggy Durbin retired from LANL a year ago. She went straight into working at Otowi Station Bookstore, which she and her partner purchased in 2005. "I retired at the end of May, right before they flipped the switch," Durbin said, alluding to June 1, 2006, when Los Alamos National Security (LANS) took over management responsibilities of LANL. "The time seemed right so I retired and devote myself full time to the bookstore," Durbin said. "While I loved my work and loved my colleagues, with the uncertainty and low morale it wasn't fun anymore. And from what I'm hearing from folks, it's still not a whole lot of fun. Of all the labbies that come in (the bookstore) since then, only one says she likes working there. Most are demoralized, angry, fearful and disgusted." Durbin worked at LANL for 22 years. She was a writer/editor on an assignment project to ARIES. Her job was to publish the results of research. "There's no money now (for publishing) so how can anyone know all the great work they are doing at the lab?" she said. She shared her vision of LANL in a perfect world. "The lab should completely rethink its mission to focus on renewable, affordable energy and they should focus on AIDS research and the data base - that's of worldwide importance," she said. "They should develop large-scale waste management projects, and the Genome Project - go back to the mission of science serving society." Durbin continued, "This town should be a hot bed of science and technology. There should be a steady stream of people coming up the hill to do business. Retail follows progress; retail doesn't create progress." Durbin said she has seen a "significant drop in all non-taxable sales" at her bookstore over the same time last year. Cook'n In Style owner Liz Thomson said, "We don't know if the emotions of the community are affecting our business. We have no way of knowing because we've only been in this new location (15th Street and Central Avenue) for eight months. " Cook'n In Style is doing well, Thomson said, adding that it's in a summer slump, which she said happens every year. Thomson hasn't noticed strong concern expressed by her customers but rather the occasional comment such as, "Gee, I hope we're still here next year." "I think some of the upper echelon are more worried than the troops because of the scrutiny on LANS," she said. Thomson pointed to two main areas of concern expressed by her customers. "'The lab's errors keep being made' is a concern expressed by the upper echelon. Then there's the general concern of the budget cuts. This town has gone through these cycles again and again and there's always a certain element who says, 'We'll ride it out.' Domenici (Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.), always comes through so people are hoping he'll pull it out of the fire this time." © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 Canon City Daily Record: Nation owes Rocky Flats workers The Daily Record 701 S. Ninth St. Cańon City, CO 81212 Telephone 719-275-7565 Circulation 719-275-7568 Fax 719-275-1353 Publisher's Comment Line 1-800-796-8201, Ext. 417 Publish Date: 6/20/2007 A panel charged with investigating whether health and radiation dose records were adequate enough at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility in Jefferson County may have met its charge, but it certainly has left former public servants in a lurch. As a result, many of the former public employees, who were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation as they helped the nation build the nuclear bombs that ended the Cold War, will die before they receive the compensation rightfully theirs. It’s rare for members of the Colorado congressional delegation to agree on anything, but on this they are united: The nation owes former Rocky Flats workers expedited claims status, similar to the status already given to workers at all the other nuclear weapons factories in the country. Rocky Flats produced triggers for nuclear weapons starting in 1951 and continuing until the government shut down the plant in 1991. Triggers were ball-shaped components made of nuclear and explosive material meant to initiate the nuclear reaction of the bomb. Rocky Flats had a history of spills, leaks, fires and explosions that exposed workers to excessive doses of radiation. The FBI raided the facility in 1989, and that investigation resulted in Rockwell International, the contractor, being fined $18.5 million. Workers at Rocky Flats have waited patiently as first the Department of Energy botched its responsibility, and now the Department of Labor has continued to block timely payment of medical claims. Just the process of trying to secure special exposure status has taken more than two years. The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health did provide expedited status to plant workers there from 1959 to 1966. But workers after that time, even those diagnosed with any of 22 cancers typical of radiation exposure, will need to go through standard dosage reconstruction from dusty and incomplete records in order to receive compensation. The nation owes these workers more. They need to have their claims processed while they are still alive and while they can use the money for treatment that might extend their lives. If the federal bureaucracy cannot act expeditiously on their claims, then Congress will need to step in to assure that they receive what they are due. Publish Date: 6/21/2007 All contents Copyright © 2007 The Cańon City Daily Record. All ***************************************************************** 49 KnoxNews: Bechtel Jacobs assumes cleanup Incinerator operations change hands after Shaw's contract expires By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com June 21, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Bechtel Jacobs Co. has taken over operation of the government's toxic-waste incinerator and apparently will operate it through 2009. Bechtel Jacobs, the Department of Energy's cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, previously subcontracted the incinerator operation to Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure. Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, said Shaw's contract expired earlier this year, and he said Bechtel Jacobs looked at several options - including putting the work out for commercial bids. Bechtel Jacobs ultimately decided to do the work itself because that provides more flexibility during a time of "federal budget uncertainties," Hill said. The Oak Ridge incinerator burns so-called mixed wastes, containing hazardous chemicals - such as polychlorinated biphenyls - as well as radioactive materials. Shaw operated the facility for the past seven years. The contract expired Feb. 13, but it was extended to April 22 to provide time for the management transition. Bechtel Jacobs assumed the operator role April 23. "BJC was not dissatisfied with Shaw's performance," Hill said. "We appreciate Shaw's hard work and efforts to provide quality services while maintaining safe, compliant operations." Walter Perry, a spokesman in DOE's Oak Ridge office, said the incinerator operation is part of the "scope of work" within the environmental management program. He said it's up to Bechtel Jacobs, the manager of the program, to decide how to carry out those activities. "We will continue to safely operate the incinerator and get the work done," Perry sad. "It's an important part of our cleanup program." DOE plans to operate the incinerator through 2009, Perry said. However, the federal agency has already extended the lifetime of the incinerator several years past the original schedule for closure, and DOE officials will not rule out the possibility of another extension. The incinerator was built in the 1980s, and Perry said no decision has been made on who will decommission the incinerator after it is shut down permanently. That is considered "optional work" under Bechtel Jacobs' contract, he said. DOE plans to burn about 10 million pounds of waste over the next three years, with much of it coming from federal nuclear sites in other states. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 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