***************************************************************** 07/01/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.153 ***************************************************************** 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 UPI: Bush likely to lobby Putin on Iran 2 AFP: NKorea says US conducted 1,100 spy missions this year - 3 Guardian Unlimited: Bush-Putin Meeting Has No Set Agenda 4 Reuters: In Maine, Bush tries to revive rapport with Putin 5 Guardian Unlimited: Putin Comes to Maine Sunday to See Bush 6 AFP: India rebuffs US call over foreign policy - 7 AFP: Japan defence chief says US A-bombs ended war 8 AFP: Iran, Venezuela bash US, seek stronger ties - 9 AFP: Chilly ties on menu as Bush hosts Putin by the sea - 10 AFP: Bush and Putin to make new bid to ease tensions - 11 The Hindu: Nimitz captain: India free to conduct radiation surveys 12 Times of India: USS Nimitz loaded with hi-tech weapons 13 Guardian Unlimited: Japanese Official: A-Bomb Was Inevitable 14 Reuters: Japan minister apologizes for atomic bomb remarks 15 AFP: Japan defence chief apologises for atom bomb remarks - 16 Japan Times: A-bombings 'couldn't be helped' - Kyuma 17 India: Deccan Herald: Nimitz on N-scientists radar 18 Hindustan Times: Another round of Indo-US nuclear talks next month- 19 The Hindu: Ship officials non-committal on nuclear weapons on board NUCLEAR REACTORS 20 India PRwire: Indian scientists designing thorium reactor - 21 US: sacbee.com: Steve Wiegand: Nuke power -- time to re-energize? - 22 US: Herald News: Nuclear station back online 23 earthtimes.org: German nuclear plant back in service after forced sh 24 US: SanLuisObispo.com: Reactor trend is to use same site 25 US: Burlington Free Press: Yankee tax no threat to business - 26 US: Rutland Herald: Energy bill restores fairness 27 US: Rutland Herald: Worker, not plant, liable for Yankee incident 28 US: Rutland Herald: Vt. to poll residents on power future 29 US: Triangle Business Journal: Progress Energy nuke employees say no 30 Reuters: German reactor running again after outages 31 Peterborough Today: Breath of fresh air for Chernobyl children NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 32 edmontonsun.com: Nuke risk stopped 33 Daily Breze: `Orphans' of a nuclear age 34 US: Pantagraph.com: Local vets had front-row seats to July `57 nucle 35 The Hindu: Mehta allays fears of radiation NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 36 Green Left: No NT nuclear waste dump! 37 ReviewJournal.com: Yucca Mountain team may have to stop using state 38 thewest.com.au: Proposed nuclear dump in quake hot spot 39 US: Daily News Journal: County calls for its own landfill tests 40 Chillicothe Gazette: BWX to work on centrifuge project 41 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: GNEP alliance now in waiting mode for de 42 US: Buffalo News: U.S. names new firm to supervise $159.3 million nu 43 Scotland on Sunday: Bury your own nuclear waste, Executive told 44 US: Star Phoenix: Nuclear demand will outstrip supply - CEO 45 US: Star Phoenix: Russian warheads boost nuclear supply 46 icNewcastle: Nuclear dump fallout fears 47 Sydney Morning Herald: Warning on nuclear waste storage - PEACE 48 BBC NEWS: Atom bomb row minister apologises 49 Guardian Unlimited: Kyuma: Atomic Bombs Ended World War II US DEPT. OF ENERGY 50 Aiken Today: Company bought by SRS contractor 51 SF New Mexican: While lab celebrates, critics push change 52 Chillicothe Gazette: Activist : A nuclear facility doesn’t always me 53 Knoxville News Sentinel: Getting ready for new role at Battelle 54 lamonitor.com: Congress will be told about future security slip-ups 55 lamonitor.com: Delivery of first plutonium pit draws visitors ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 UPI: Bush likely to lobby Putin on Iran United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 30, 2007 at 3:02 PM KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine, June 30 (UPI) -- President Bush plans to seek Russia's assistance in putting pressure on Iran's nuclear program when Vladimir Putin comes calling this weekend. The Russian leader will be at the Bush cottage in Maine starting Sunday and likely will be pitched on a U.S. proposal made in the United Nations to squeeze Tehran through increased inspection of cargo headed into Iran. The New York Times said Saturday that U.S. officials were not certain how Putin would react to the idea or whether he would attempt to seek some kind of deal on U.S. plans to place missile-defense infrastructure in eastern Europe. Bush and Putin are expected to talk business; however, the Times said socializing also was expected, including some fishing and a dinner attended by Bush's parents. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: NKorea says US conducted 1,100 spy missions this year - Sunday July 1, 05:37 PM North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of conducting at least 1,100 spy plane missions over the communist state in the first half of this year, official media said. They carried out more than 170 flights in June alone, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. North Korea has issued a monthly report on alleged US and South Korean spy plane missions which it denounces as preparations to invade the communist nation despite repeated denials from Washington and Seoul. The North is in a standoff with the United States over its nuclear weapons programme. Tensions have been eased since an aid-for-disarmament deal for Pyongyang was reached in February. The two Koreas, despite recent peace initiatives aimed at ending enmity dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, still remain technically at war as the conflict was ended in an armistice not a peace treaty. KCNA said the US had mobilised such reconnaissance planes as the U-2, RC-135, E-3, EP-3, RC-7B and RC-12 to spy on the North while the South has also used RC-800 and RF-4C aircraft for the spy missions. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Bush-Putin Meeting Has No Set Agenda Sunday July 1, 2007 11:16 PM By JENNIFER LOVEN Associated Press Writer KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) - Relations are rocky between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but their meeting began Sunday with handshakes and smiles, flowers and kisses from Putin for the first lady and Bush's mother. Bush waited at his family's seacoast estate as his father, former President George H.W. Bush, met Putin at a nearby airport and rode with the Russian leader in a helicopter to the compound. Emerging from a limousine, Putin handed large bouquets of flowers to first lady Laura Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, then kissed them on both cheeks. ``It's pretty casual up here - unstructured,'' Bush said about the setting for his talks with Putin. Bush knows what he wants from the visit. Convince Putin that a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe would not threaten Russia. Bring the Kremlin behind tough new penalties aimed at Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. Generally defrost relations. What the Russian president seeks is less clear. Putin requested an audience with Bush before going to Guatemala, where Olympic officials are picking a host city for the 2014 winter games. But, awaiting Putin's arrival Sunday at the century-old stone-and-shingle Bush family compound, Bush aides braced for the possibility of a surprise on the scale of the one the Russian leader dropped last month in Germany, on the missile defense dispute. ``Does Putin have something he plans to throw at Bush's feet?'' wondered Sarah Mendelson, Russia policy expert and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Both sides insisted there was no set agenda and scant potential for announcements. With expectations lowered and an itinerary that amounts to little more than three meals, a meeting and maybe some fishing, Mendelson only somewhat jokingly termed it ``the no-summit summit.'' Before leaving for the U.S., Putin said his ``very good, I would say friendly'' relations should create a positive atmosphere. ``If it wasn't that way, I wouldn't go, and I wouldn't have been invited,'' he said. ``In politics, as in sports, there is always competition.'' U.S.-Russian relations have slid to their worst point since the Cold War. An anti-terrorism bond forged after the Sept. 11 attacks has been chipped at repeatedly. Disputes developed over the Iraq war, missile defense plans, the fate of democracy in Russia, NATO expansion to Russia's doorstep and sniping over what each side views as meddling in former Soviet republics. There has been increasing cooperation on Iran and weapons proliferation. But Putin, appealing to nationalist sentiments in Russia and eager to re-establish his energy-rich country on the world stage, already was becoming more assertive. Things then took a bad turn after the U.S. said in January it planned to build a missile defense system based in the Czech Republic and Poland, ex-Soviet satellites that now are NATO members. Moscow is not persuaded by the argument that the system targets a possible future threat from Iranian nuclear missiles. The Kremlin threatened to aim missiles at Europe and denounced the U.S. as an irresponsible source of force. At a summit last month of world economic powers, Putin surprised Bush by proposing that the system instead use an old Soviet-era radar facility in Azerbaijan instead of the Czech and Polish sites. It is an idea that U.S. officials do not want to reject outright. But they have concluded it would not work as a substitute, only perhaps as an early warning supplemental component. The two sides also are fighting over Kosovo. The U.S. backs the Serbian province's desire for independence; Russia sides with Serbia and opposes it. On Iran, Bush is seeking Putin's backing for a third round of penalties against Tehran for defying U.N. orders to halt uranium enrichment. Iran says the enrichment is intended for a nuclear energy program. The West suspects Iran wants to develop nuclear bombs. The U.S. has begun discussing with Security Council members a proposal to require all nations to inspect cargo for illicit nuclear-related shipments or arms coming from or going to Iran and to freeze assets of a number of Iranian banks, a senior administration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are in their initial stages. Russia and China previously have balked at such measures, supporting more modest penalties that have had little effect. But there are signs the Kremlin may now be in a more cooperative mood. Stephen Sestanovich, an ambassador to former Soviet republics under President Clinton, said the issues are too technical and the sides too entrenched for heads of state to produce breakthroughs. What Bush can accomplish, he said, is soothing Russia's sense it has been ignored while making the case that tough talk is hurting Moscow. ``This wouldn't be the worst moment to call Putin on the kind of rhetoric you've heard out of Moscow of late,'' said Sestanovich, now at the Council on Foreign Relations. The meeting is the only one Bush has held with a foreign leader in Kennebunkport. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser, criticized it as a ``ridiculous'' reward for Putin's harsh stance and an inappropriate setting for serious talks. Hundreds of demonstrators, too, protested the meeting with a march toward Walker's Point. Still it could be the last chance for, as Mendleson called it, ``rebooting the relationship.'' Russia holds elections in March to choose Putin's successor. Bush is out of office in 19 months. So the only other time for the leaders to get together is briefly on the sidelines of a fall summit in Australia of Asia-Pacific leaders. Dinner on Sunday was to include former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, as well as first lady Laura Bush. Putin's wife did not make the trip. George W. Bush and Putin planned to have breakfast alone Monday, followed by an informal meeting and a brief appearance before reporters. The less-than-24-hour visit was ending with lunch. --- Associated Press writer David Sharp contributed to this story. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 4 Reuters: In Maine, Bush tries to revive rapport with Putin Sun Jul 1, 2007 6:15PM EDT By Caren Bohan KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (Reuters) - President George W. Bush sought to mend his strained relationship with Vladimir Putin on Sunday, as he hosted the Russian president at his family's oceanfront home for talks on Iran and plans to build a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe. Just before Putin arrived, more than a thousand anti-war protesters rallied near the century-old Kennebunkport estate of Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush. While waiting for the Russian president, Bush spoke publicly for the first time about the car explosion at Glasgow airport and bomb plots in London, saying, "It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on." He praised British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a "very strong response" to the attacks." When Putin arrived, Bush shook his hand as he got out of a limousine at Walker's Point and then ushered him toward the guest house. Putin's invitation to the family compound marks the first time Bush will host a foreign leader there and the presence of the president's father lends extra prestige to the visit. Foreign policy analysts say the venue underscores Washington's seriousness about soothing tensions between the two countries that have evoked comparisons to the Cold War. U.S. and Russian officials have described the Kennebunkport meeting as informal and played down any expectations of breakthroughs on difficult issues, such as the missile shield plan, independence for Kosovo and the United States' accusations that Russia is backsliding on democracy. Protesters descended on picturesque Kennebunkport seeking to remind Bush of public opposition to the Iraq war. ***************************************************************** 5 Guardian Unlimited: Putin Comes to Maine Sunday to See Bush From the Associated Press Saturday June 30, 2007 7:16 PM By JENNIFER LOVEN Associated Press Writer KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) - The personal touch is sometimes a pivotal item in the diplomatic toolbox. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, time and again, have reached for just the thing to improve one of the world's most crucial partnerships. A grinning Putin once put Bush behind the wheel of his prized 1956 Volga at his dacha outside Moscow. Bush has brought Putin to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. He made Putin the first head of state to visit his Texas ranch, entertaining the Russian leader with square dancing. At a lavish Red Square military parade in Moscow celebrating World War II's victory, Putin saved the seat closest to him for Bush and risked alienating other world leaders by grandly terming the American his guest of ``special importance'' above all the others. Now, for less than 24 hours starting Sunday afternoon, the U.S. president is hosting his Russian counterpart at the Bush family's stone-and-shingle summer home on the craggy Maine coast. No other leader has received such a rarified invitation. The Russian leader gets two presidents in one visit: Bush's dad, former President George H.W. Bush, owns the home and is playing low-key host to the meetings. Putin also will be feted with spectacular views, sparkling New England summertime weather, lobster at nearly every meal, and possibly a striper fishing excursion on the elder Bush's speedboat. ``You only invite your friends into your house,'' Bush said in November 2001, when Putin came to Crawford, Texas. But six years of gestures from the extravagant to the odd have not masked or solved the problems that increasingly dog U.S.-Russian relations. Observers say the alliance lately has reached its lowest point in recent memory and they were skeptical that what amounts to three meals and a meeting can give it a lift. ``The gulf separating the government of Russia's official discourse and the United States' concept of what the relationship should be has gotten wider than it has been in a long, long time,'' said Stephen Sestanovich, an ambassador to former Soviet republics under President Clinton who now is at the Council on Foreign Relations. For decades, relations between Washington and Moscow have been particularly defined by the personal chemistry between the people at the top, said Sarah Mendelson, Russia policy expert and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Think Reagan and Gorbachev or Clinton and Yeltsin. The relationship between Bush and Putin started with a bang in June 2001 with the president's now-infamous assessment of Putin. ``I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy,'' Bush said after that first meeting, in Slovenia. ``I was able to get a sense of his soul: a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.'' Even at the time, critics said Bush's unconditional praise - intended by most accounts as a tactical attempt to connect with Putin and speak of hope as reality - was nonetheless naive, given a crackdown on civil society groups in Russia that had begun and Moscow's brutal war in Chechnya. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, came just three months after the Slovenia meeting. Putin offered bold and immediate terrorism-fighting support that endeared him to Bush. The next May, at a Moscow summit, the leaders signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty and agreed to a broad cooperative agenda. But problems hovered. Bush's moves to expand missile defense, including withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, rankled Russia. The Kremlin's politically charged campaign against the Yukos oil company and its leaders alarmed Washington. The acrimonious debate leading up to the Iraq invasion in March 2003 cooled things considerably. The two sides also sniped about interference in Ukraine's 2004 presidential election. Generally, the Kremlin chafed at what it saw as U.S. meddling in its sphere of influence, through NATO expansion and relations with former Soviet republics. In 2005, at a meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, U.S. concerns about democratic backsliding in Russia spilled into the open. In recent months, a string of developments has caused a deeper slide, even amid greater cooperation against Iran's nuclear program and broader weapons proliferation. Moscow's unrelentingly hostile response to Bush's plan to build a missile defense system in Europe, based in the Czech Republic and Poland, has included threatening to aim missiles at Europe and inflammatory rhetoric denouncing the United States' ``hyper use of force'' in the world. Russia is blocking independence for Kosovo, favored by the U.S. Russia also is aiding separatists in Georgia and Moldova and has prevented peaceful demonstrations in Moscow. There are worries about Russia's manipulation of energy resources. Putin, appealing to nationalist sentiments at home and eager to re-establish Russia's geopolitical stature, bristles at U.S. criticism of human rights in Russia. He says the U.S. missile defense system on Russia's doorstep, in former Soviet satellites, is a security threat. Said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: ``There is a great need for extra attention, extra attention on the highest level.'' The Kennebunkport meeting was suggested by Putin. Bush chose the setting, the oceanfront compound built by his great-grandfather over 100 years ago on a finger of rock jutting into the water. ``They are both now playing for history and legacy, and I really don't think that either of them want, as part of their legacy, a trashed U.S.-Russian relationship,'' said Andrew Kuchins, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. But neither side has shown any give on the issues most dividing them, such as missile defense or Kosovo. ``There really are no obvious candidates for a breakthrough issue that would impart a positive momentum to the broader relationship,'' said Steven Pifer, a deputy assistant secretary of state during Bush's first term. --- Associated Press writer Jerry Harkavy contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: India rebuffs US call over foreign policy - by Penny MacRae Sat Jun 30, 11:59 AM ET NEW DELHI (AFP) - India has rebuffed a US call to ditch the Non-Aligned Movement, saying it remains strongly committed to the 116-member organisation that includes some of Washington's biggest foes. "There can be no question of India's firm and abiding commitment to non-alignment," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement Saturday. India's declaration came after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on New Delhi last Thursday to "move past old ways of thinking" and chart a global partnership with the United States. Rice told the United States-India Business Council in Washington that non-alignment may have "made sense during the Cold War when the world really was divided into rival camps" but since then it "has lost its meaning." The Times of India newspaper quoted on Saturday unnamed Indian government officials as saying the timing of Rice's comments was "particularly poor," as India and the United States are at a sensitive stage of discussions to clinch a landmark civilian nuclear technology deal. Some Indian critics of the deal say Washington wants to influence New Delhi's strategic policies in the talks. The newspaper cited the government officials as saying Rice's remarks would only fuel such suspicions. The government officials also said India, one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement, would never allow Washington to dictate its foreign policy. "It would have been political suicide for the government not to react (to Rice's statements)," said New Delhi-based security analyst Uday Bhaskar. "The government has to respond robustly. The last thing they want domestically is to be seen mortgaging India's future," he told AFP. The US, which has locked horns with Tehran over its atomic programme, has already voiced strong objections to India's plans to receive gas from energy-rich Iran via a multi-billion-dollar pipeline through Pakistan. The Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations was founded in 1961 to avoid alignment with either the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The grouping includes fierce US critics such as Iran and communist Cuba, together with governments friendly to Washington. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said the movement is still relevant as it fosters cooperation among developing nations, but others argue that it has struggled to achieve new purpose since the end of the Cold War. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Japan defence chief says US A-bombs ended war Sat Jun 30, 12:08 PM ET TOKYO (AFP) - The atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan were the inevitable way to end World War II, preventing the Soviet Union from invading the Asian country, Japan's defence chief said Saturday. The controversial comments came as Japan was preparing for key upper house elections on July 29, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeking to turn around plummeting public support. "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped," Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a speech at a university east of Tokyo. Some historians say that the US atomic bombs dropped in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing about 210,000 people, were unnecessary to make Japan surrender. But the United States must have thought the atomic bombs "could prompt Japan's surrender, thus preventing the Soviet Union from declaring war against Japan," Kyuma said. "I don't have a grudge against the United States," he added. His remarks drew immediate protests from victims of the attacks. "His comment as a cabinet member is outrageous. He must know hundreds of thousands of people died, and died in terrible agony," said Terumi Tanaka, 75. "I will demand Mr. Kyuma to retract his comment," Tanaka told AFP, adding, "He is from Nagasaki, and I'm ashamed of him as a person from the same prefecture." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe played down Kyuma's speech, saying: "I understand he just explained the US position. Anyway Japan's important role of seeking abolition of nuclear weapons remains unchanged." Post-war Japan has formally been pacifist under the US-imposed 1947 constitution that says Japan forever renounces the use of force to resolve international disputes. Japan, as the only country to have suffered nuclear attack, has championed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 8 AFP: Iran, Venezuela bash US, seek stronger ties - By Hiedeh Farmani AFP - Sunday, July 1 08:42 pm TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday slammed arch-foe the United States and pledged to boost trade ties. "The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela ... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Chavez. "America's greatness has deteriorated and it faces many problems, independent countries should consider this and expand their cooperation." Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with Washington, which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus. "The election of anti-American governments in the (Latin American) region shows that US imperialism is weakening," Chavez said. "Numerous oil and gas contracts between Iran and Venezuela show the two countries are serious in developing ties," he said, describing Iran as a "good model for other countries." Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for stronger ties with Latin America in talks with his "ideological brother" Chavez. "Latin American countries can expand ties with other countries especially Iran by creating joint trade companies, trade fairs and strengthening a joint investment fund," Ahmadinejad said. Aside from their anti-US stance, the two countries enjoy warm ties and cooperation in the energy sector, with Iran OPEC's second largest crude producer and Venezuela also a major player in the cartel. Chavez, who is accompanied by his foreign, communications, energy, industry and economy ministers, is expected to sign 20 agreements including the construction of 7,000 houses, a petrochemical plant and a vocational training centre in Venezuela. The two leaders will inaugurate construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday in the southern industrial zone of Asaluyeh which will produce a million tons of methanol every year. A similar plant would be built in Venezuela to give Iran better access to Latin American and Brazilian markets and provide easier reach to India and Pakistan for Venezuela, state news agency IRNA said. Ahmadinejad toured Latin America in January in a bid to seek support from the region's leftist leaders who share his scornful defiance of the United States. Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful. His trip comes as Iran is being threatened with toughened UN Security Council sanctions for its continued refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be the core of an atomic bomb. The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979, has been spearheading the international campaign to stop Iran's enrichment programme and has never ruled out a military option to halt the drive. Venezuela and several other Latin American countries are members of the Non-Aligned Movement that at a summit last year emphatically backed Iran's "right" to nuclear energy. Venezuela was alone in September 2005 in opposing a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that found Iran in violation of nuclear safeguards, paving the way for its referral to the Security Council. Before heading to Iran, Chavez met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and urged a global revolution against Washington. He has also discussed possible purchases of submarines and other defence equipment from Russia, arguing that these are needed to defend his oil-rich country against the United States. Chavez said on his arrival in Tehran he might withdraw Venezuela's application for full membership in Mercosur, South America's leading trade bloc, in response to objections from Brazilian lawmakers. Earlier this month, Iran welcomed Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a Cold War foe of the United States. Tehran has also boosted ties with other countries which have frosty ties with Washington, notably Belarus, whose president has been condemned by the European Union for rights violations. Bolivian President Evo Morales is also expected to visit Tehran in the coming months. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 AFP: Chilly ties on menu as Bush hosts Putin by the sea - by Laurent Lozano 2 hours, 27 minutes ago KENNEBUNKPORT, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Russia's Vladimir Putin convened a "lobster summit" Sunday bidding to take the sting out of bitter rancor over irritants such as missile defense. The two leaders met at the Bush family's summer retreat on the Atlantic coast for two days of talks, as protesters staged a mock funeral for the "death of liberty" in Bush's America, and denounced Russian policy in Chechnya. Putin flew in to Portsmouth in New Hampshire, down the coast from Kennebunkport, as the United States stepped up security at airports across the country following three failed car bomb attacks in Britain. Bush saluted the "very strong response" to the crisis by Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, and told reporters: "It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on." Security at Kennebunkport was also restrictive, with police barricades halting at least 1,500 peaceful protesters a few hundred meters (yards) from the Bush compound following a march from the town center. The Russian leader described his relations with Bush as "friendly" ahead of the Kennebunkport talks, which aides expected to address sharp differences over Kosovo and human rights as well as missile defense. "I hope that the dialogue with this person with whom I've formed good, I would say friendly relations, will take place in exactly that spirit," Putin was quoted by Interfax as saying before he left Moscow. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be going and wouldn't have received the invitation." Bush has assailed the state of democracy in Russia, which, flush with cash from an energy boom, has become more forceful in its dealings with Europe and the United States. Putin has condemned what he calls US efforts to dominate the world and has lashed out furiously at US plans to station missile-defense batteries and radar systems in eastern Europe. US officials hoped that during their brief time at Kennebunkport, the two leaders could regain the kind of personal rapport that six years ago, led Bush to speak approvingly of gaining an insight into Putin's "soul." Russia, however, showed no sign of backing down on issues like the missile defense scheme, which the US administration insists is intended to counter "rogue states" like Iran. "If the US is deploying a radar in the Czech Republic this radar will be aimed against us, because there won't be any other targets for that radar," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told foreign journalists Friday. But Peskov brushed aside suggestions the two countries were sliding toward a new Cold War. "Presidents facing a new Cold War don't invite each other to their fathers' houses," he argued. Both sides warned not to expect any formal agreements out of the summit at the holiday home overlooking the Atlantic where former president George Bush, father of the current US leader, is also vacationing. Bush wanted to meet in a relaxed setting "so that the two leaders could interact more informally, and that's what the meeting at Kennebunkport will facilitate," a senior US administration official said. US media have branded it "the lobster summit" -- a reference to the local seafood specialty, which was on the menu as the leaders headed into a private dinner. The White House said efforts to curtail Iran's and North Korea's nuclear ambitions could also be on the bill of fare. The United States on Friday conferred with Russia and other members of the UN Security Council about a US proposal to require all countries to inspect cargo to and from Iran for possible illegal nuclear-related material or arms, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Asked if Bush would lobby Putin to support such sanctions, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said "issues related to Iran are likely to come up, but let's let the meeting take place first." Some of the demonstrators castigated Russia's policy towards rebellious Chechnya, but most were there to condemn the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's alleged erosion of civil liberties. The demand was to impeach Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "for having dragged us into an immoral and illegal war, for torture, for war crimes," protest organizer Jamilla El-Shafei said. The demonstrators hauled a coffin containing a seven-foot (2.1 meter) Statue of Liberty in a cart "to mourn the death of liberty" under Bush. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 AFP: Bush and Putin to make new bid to ease tensions - Sunday July 1, 06:56 PM US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin make a new attempt Sunday to ease tensions over a proposed US missile defense system and Kosovo independence. With relations between the two countries at a post-Cold War low, the two leaders are to hold two days of talks with Maine lobster meals at the Bush family seaside vacation home. The two held out the promise of a new era in relations when they first met in 2001 but the quarrels have gradually grown. Putin has regularly criticized what he calls US efforts to dominate the world. Bush has been increasingly strident in assailing the state of democracy in Russia under Putin. Putin opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and now Western efforts to allow Kosovo to move toward independence from Serbia under UN supervision. Russia particularly sees a planned US missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic as a threat -- despite Washington's insistence that the system is targeted at possible attacks from a rogue state such as Iran. "The stationing of new military devices in Europe will lead to a debalancing of a very fragile balance of security," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told foreign journalists Friday. "If the US is deploying a radar in the Czech Republic this radar will be aimed against us, because there won't be any other targets for that radar," Peskov said. But he brushed aside suggestions the two countries were sliding toward a new Cold War. "Presidents facing a new Cold War don't invite each other to their fathers' houses," the Kremlin spokesman argued. Both sides say not to expect any formal agreements out of the summit at the Bush holiday home overlooking the Atlantic, where former president George Bush is also vacationing. The disagreements are too strong for that, experts say. The White House emphasized that areas of cooperation between the countries, such as stifling Iran's and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, could also be part of discussions. But their time together -- less than 24 hours over Sunday and Monday -- could at least serve to strengthen their personal rapport. Bush wants to meet in an informal setting "so that the two leaders could interact more informally, and that's what the meeting at Kennebunkport will facilitate," said a senior Bush administration official. "So it is not a formal summit where you should be looking for communiques, joint statements, major initiatives -- that's not its purpose," the official said. Locals have branded it "the lobster summit" -- a reference to the local specialty, which will be on the menu when the leaders dine. As Bush prepared for his meetings with Putin he took a fishing excursion with his father Friday and a mountain bike ride Saturday. He made no comment on the two car bombs discovered and defused in London or the crash of a blazing vehicle into the Glasgow airport terminal. But White House spokesman Tony Snow said that Bush was kept current with the news from Britain, as the government beefed up security at US airports. Security was heightened at US airports, train and mass transit stations but US officials did not raise the alert level nationwide. "There is no indication of any specific or credible threat to the United States, no change in the overall security level," Snow said. Kennebunkport, one of Maine's chic coastal tourist towns, prepared for the Russian leaders' arrival as well, with one local establishment offering up a new drink, "Putin Punch," made with rum and pineapple and orange juice. The town is also expecting protesters on Sunday, demonstrating against Bush, the Iraq war and Russia's policy towards rebellious Chechnya. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo!7 Pty Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 The Hindu: Nimitz captain: India free to conduct radiation surveys Monday, Jul 02, 2007 FIRST VISIT: An F/a-18 lands aboard USS Nimitz on Sunday as the aircraft carrier was cruising its way to the Chennai Port. ON BOARD THE USS NIMITZ: Late on Monday afternoon, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the USS Nimitz, will anchor off an Indian port for the first time, amid apprehensions of radiation safety and protests by Left parties. On Sunday afternoon, the aircraft carrier was just over 100 nautical miles south east of Chennai and headed towards the “recommended port” because of the “monsoon season” elsewhere. Briefing presspersons flown in from the Chennai airport, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 11, Rear Admiral John Terence Blake, said the crew looked forward to the “friendship visit,” to “foster military-military relations” and “to develop the partnership with the [Indian] Navy.” United States Ambassador to India David C. Mulford would also be here and the U.S. Naval officers would interact with their Indian counterparts, apart from taking part in community activities. “Our crew has donated out of their own pockets Rs. 1.6 lakh to help with some of the community relations projects,” he said. Commanding Officer Capt. Michael C. Manazir said that ideally he would have liked to come into the Chennai port. But the turning radius was not sufficient for a ship of the size of the Nimitz, which was 1092 feet long and 252 feet wide. Asked if they had heard about India conducting its own radiation surveys in the vicinity of the aircraft carrier, Rear Admiral Blake said India was free to conduct its own radiation surveys in Indian waters. “Anybody can test any water or any air outside the force protection zone,” said Capt. Manazir. “I would maintain a perimeter around the ship. I would make sure there would be no threat … Therefore anyone closing in on my ship I will have to look at from a force protection perspective. Not a threat. But I need to consider that. Outside of that perimeter, quite frankly sir, it is international waters … We take great pains to see to it that we do not pollute the environment,” he said. No ground support Asked what kind of support the Nimitz was providing for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rear Admiral Blake said the support was given when the Nimitz was deployed in the Persian Gulf and the nearby seas. The ship was no longer providing support to the ground forces in both the countries, he said. Capt. Manazir said there was no impact on the morale of the crew because of the protests by some political parties. “The morale of the crew is very, very high.” He said that there has been no incident involving a nuclear-powered carrier in the long history and there was no cause for concern. Capt. Manazir said the crew and officers brought their entire families on board when they were back home. “We would not bring our families on board if there was any safety concern … There is no danger to the public or the crew … We do not discharge any radioactive waste into the environment. We are very, very careful.” Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 12 Times of India: USS Nimitz loaded with hi-tech weapons 1 Jul, 2007 l 0029 hrs ISTlSubodh Varma/TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: Though the exact number of fighter planes on board the USS Nimitz is unknown, it’s 4.5-acre landing deck may have twelve 18E/F Hornets, thirty-six F/A-18 Hornets, four E-2C Hawkeyes, and four EA-6B Prowlers, besides four SH-60F and two HH-60H Seahawks helicopters. The Hornets are fighter planes with a maximum speed of about 2,000 kmph at altitudes upto 15,000 metres. A Hornet can fly over a thousand kilometers with 450 kgs of bombs, and an assortment of missiles including Sidewinders, Sparrows, Harpoons and high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMS). Among the bombs it carries are cluster bombs, each of which releases 247 bomblets with high explosives, sufficient to penetrate 7 inches of steel armour. Thousand of these deadly and highly destructive bombs have been used in Iraq. Most of the loaded bombs are “smart” – they are guided to chosen targets. Each Hornet aircraft is also equipped with one six-barrelled Vulcan cannon which fires 6,000 rounds per minute. The two types of Sikorsky helicopters on board the Nimitz have offensive as well as defensive functions. The SH60, with a range of over 700 kms., carries three torpedoes besides Hellfire and Penguin missiles. It is also armed with machine guns. The HH 60H helicopter carries a variety of jamming equipment, and laser, radar and missile detectors. It too carries Hellfire missiles and several window- or cabin-mounted guns. Apart from the aircraft, the Nimitz is loaded with several missile systems and sophisticated guns. The 12 feet long Sea Sparrow missiles travel at 4,256 kmph striking targets upto 55 kms away with 40 kgs of fragmentation explosives. The small Sea Rams also travel at nearly 2000 kmph to deliver fragmentation explosives 7.5 kms away. Then you have the Nixie torpedo countermeasure and decoy systems for countering a submarine attack. On the deck of the Nimitz are nine Phalanx close-in weapons systems, each with its radars and a Gaitling gun which fires an incredible 4,500 rounds per minute. It can use depleted uranium or tungsten ammunition, which is highly penetrative and causes complete burning of human bodies. The Nimitz can also deploy Tomahawk missiles with nuclear warheads and 2,500 km range, although it is claimed that these are not aboard it at present. Inventory of several other weapons and armour is classified and hence not known. The United States has 8 war ships of the Nimitz class, built over the past 25 years. The latest one is called USS George H.W.Bush, after the father of the present President Bush. The Nimitz cost $4.5 billion dollars when it was commissioned in 1975, which at today’s prices would be about $8.3 billion dollars. Its annual operating cost itself is about $160 million (Rs 6,400 crore). It has seen action all over the world, but since the nineties mainly in the Gulf. It was part of Operations ‘Desert Storm’, ‘Southern Watch’ and now, ‘Iraqi Freedom’. USS Nimitz is named after Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, who accepted the Japanese surrender at the end of the Second World War. In 1949, he was appointed the Administrator for a plebiscite in Kashmir under a UN plan. So, what is this death-ship, commanded by Captain Michael ‘Nasty’ Manazir, doing in an Indian port? It’s on a peace mission, say the American and Indian governments. Go figure. Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. For ***************************************************************** 13 Guardian Unlimited: Japanese Official: A-Bomb Was Inevitable From the Associated Press Saturday June 30, 2007 4:16 PM By CHISAKI WATANABE Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) - Japan's defense minister said Saturday that the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war, drawing criticism from atomic bomb survivors. ``I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped,'' Kyuma said in a speech at a university in Chiba, just east of Tokyo. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II, in the world's only nuclear attacks. Kyuma, who is from Nagasaki, said the bombing caused great suffering in the city. Part of his speech was aired by public broadcaster NHK. He also said he did not resent the U.S. because the bombs prevented the Soviet Union from entering the war with Japan, according to Kyodo News agency. The remarks, rare for a Japanese Cabinet minister, were quickly criticized by atomic bomb victims. Kyuma said later that his comments had been misinterpreted, telling reporters he meant to say the bombing ``could not be helped from the American point of view.'' ``It's too bad that my comments were interpreted as approving the U.S. bombing,'' he said. On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb nicknamed ``Little Boy'' on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people in the world's first atomic bomb attack. Three days later, it dropped another atomic bomb, ``Fat Man,'' on Nagasaki. City officials say about 74,000 died. Japan, which had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver diseases. ``The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved American lives,'' said Nobuo Miyake, 78, director-general of a group of victims living in Tokyo. ``It's outrageous for a Japanese politician to voice such thinking. Japan is a victim.'' Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue was quoted as saying by Kyodo, ``The use of nuclear weapons constitutes the indiscriminate massacre of ordinary citizens, and it cannot be justified for any reason.'' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to play down Kyuma's comments. ``I understand he explained American views in those days,'' Abe was quoted as saying by Kyodo. ``At any rate, it is Japan's mission to abolish nuclear weapons and Japan is playing a key role at the U.N.,'' he said, according to Kyodo. In America, the bombings are widely seen as a weapon of last resort against an enemy that was determined to fight to the death but instead surrendered unconditionally, six days after Nagasaki was attacked. Critics - including many Japanese and also some Americans - believe President Truman's government had other motives: a wish to test a terrifying weapon and the need to strengthen Washington's hand against Moscow in what would become the Cold War. In January, Kyuma called the U.S. decision to invade Iraq a ``mistake'' because it was based on the false premise that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Kyuma later said those remarks, too, were misinterpreted. He said he meant to say that he thought at the time that the United States needed to be ``more cautious.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 14 Reuters: Japan minister apologizes for atomic bomb remarks Sun Jul 1, 2007 9:54AM EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's defence minister apologized on Sunday for comments about the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attacks on the country that outraged survivors and drew criticism from the ruling bloc ahead of a key election in July. Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma said he had not meant to offend the victims when he said on Saturday that the bombings "couldn't be helped" because they had brought World War Two to an end and prevented the Soviet Union from entering the war against Japan. "If my remarks were seen as lacking regard for the feelings of atomic bomb victims, then I am sorry," he told a news conference. On Saturday, Kyuma had said in a speech: "My understanding is that it ended the war and that it couldn't be helped ... I don't hold a grudge against the United States." The remarks drew condemnation from victims of the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima and the August 9 attack on Nagasaki, which together killed more than 210,000 people by the end of the year. Some opposition parties demanded Kyuma's resignation. Five groups representing Nagasaki bomb survivors on Sunday asked Kyuma, elected from a Nagasaki constituency, not to attend a peace ceremony on the anniversary of the bombing next month, Kyodo news service reported. The groups, including the Nagasaki Council of A-bomb Sufferers, noted that Kyuma had attended the annual event in the past, adding: "While listening to those who suffered from the atomic bombing wish for peace, you most probably must have been thinking it 'can't be helped.'" Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday he would not fire Kyuma, although he called the bombings "an unforgivable act". "I want Mr. Kyuma to exercise his leadership as the defence minister on the issue of nuclear disarmament in the future," Abe said in a debate with Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party. But ruling party executives urged Kyuma to apologize for his remarks, in a bid to minimize the damage ahead of the July 29 upper house election. "If the comments were misunderstood, then he should explain and apologize," Shoichi Nakagawa, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said earlier on Sunday. Abe has seen his support ratings drop to around 30 percent recently largely due to voter anger over the government's mishandling of pension records. Officials in Japan -- the only nation to suffer an atomic bombing -- typically express sympathy for the victims, but most avoid criticizing the attacks out of consideration for Tokyo's ties with Washington, its closest ally. Defenders of the bombings say they convinced Japan to surrender and saved lives that would otherwise have been lost had fighting continued. Critics say the United States used the bombs to bolster its post-war position against the Soviet Union. ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: Japan defence chief apologises for atom bomb remarks - Sun Jul 1, 7:07 AM ET TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's defence minister apologised Sunday after sparking outrage over remarks which implied that the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan were the inevitable way to end World War II. Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a speech on Saturday: "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped." He apologised on Sunday during a news conference in Nagasaki, which was devastated by a US atomic bomb and which Kyuma represents in parliament. "I am very sorry that my remarks gave an impression that atomic bomb victims were made light of," Kyuma told reporters. "I have to apologise to people in the prefecture and people across the nation for causing trouble." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chided Kyuma for his remarks but indicated he had no plan to sack the minister. "I want (Kyuma) to refrain from making remarks that may lead to people's misunderstanding," Abe told a one-to-one debate in Tokyo with the head of the largest opposition Democratic Party Sunday afternoon. But "I would like him to continue working hard as defence minister to abolish nuclear weapons," Abe said. Both the ruling and opposition parties had denounced his remarks, which came as Japan was preparing for key upper house elections on July 29 with Abe seeking to turn around plummeting public support. "As victims of atomic bombs, we never justify nuclear weapons no matter what the conditions are," Takeaki Matsumoto, a senior lawmaker of the Democratic Party, told a television debate earlier Sunday. Legislator Tomoko Abe from the Social Democratic Party told the debate: "(Kyuma) is disqualified as defence minister. We demand his resignation. Abe is also responsible for appointing him." Some historians say that the US atomic bombs dropped in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing about 210,000 people, were unnecessary to make Japan surrender. But the United States must have thought the atomic bombs "could prompt Japan's surrender, thus preventing the Soviet Union from declaring war against Japan," Kyuma said Saturday. He also came under pressure from the ruling parties. "Nuclear weapons are absolute evil," said Tetsuo Saito, a lawmaker of the New Komeito, the sole coalition partner of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "The remarks run against the grain of the Japanese people," Saito said. "They are the remarks any state minister must not make." Shoichi Nakagawa, LDP's chief policy maker, also said: "The remarks are not in line with my idea. It was regrettable." Post-war Japan has formally been pacifist under the US-imposed 1947 constitution that says Japan forever renounces the use of force to resolve international disputes. Japan, as the only country to have suffered nuclear attack, has championed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Japan Times: A-bombings 'couldn't be helped' - Kyuma japantimes.co.jp Web Sunday, July 1, 2007 Defense chief says USSR had to be kept from attacking Compiled from Kyodo, AP Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said Saturday he thinks the dropping of the atomic bombs by the U.S. in the closing days of World War II "could not be helped," as it was aimed at preventing the Soviet Union from entering the war against Japan. Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma says he doesn't "hold a grudge" against the U.S. for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bombings. KYODO PHOTO "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped," Kyuma said in a speech at a university in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture. The remarks may become another headache for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which has been already gripped by the pension fiasco and other scandals, ahead of the July 29 House of Councilors election. Though Prime Minister Abe defended Kyuma, saying, "I understand that he was presenting the thinking of the United States in those days," the remarks drew immediate criticism from atomic bomb victims. It is rare for Cabinet ministers in the only nation to suffer an atomic bombing to make such remarks. The U.S. "dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki even though it knew Japan would lose the war," said Kyuma, who represents the Nagasaki No. 2 district. He said the U.S. must have thought the use of an atomic bomb would prompt Japan's surrender, thus preventing the Soviet Union from declaring war against Japan. "Luckily Hokkaido was not occupied. In the worst case, Hokkaido could have been taken by the Soviet Union," he said. "I don't hold a grudge against the United States." Kyuma said he still wonders whether the bombings were absolutely necessary because the U.S. victory was certain. Considering international circumstances and occupied Japan's situation after the war, "One should bear in mind that such a thing (bombing) could be an option," he said. On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people in the world's first atomic bomb attack. Three days later, it dropped another atomic bomb, "Fat Man," on Nagasaki. City officials say about 74,000 died. Kyuma has a record of upsetting Washington with a string of comments after assuming his post last September. In January, he said the U.S. decision to invade Iraq was "wrong." This time he angered the victims of atomic bombs. "The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved many American lives," said Nobuo Miyake, 78, director general of a group of victims living in Tokyo. "It's outrageous for a Japanese politician to voice such thinking. Japan is a victim." Kazushi Kaneko, 81, head of a group of survivors in Hiroshima, said Kyuma "ignores the fact that many A-bomb survivors are still suffering today." Bomb survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver diseases. In Nagasaki, Nobuto Hirano, 60, a child of an A-bomb victim, said the remarks are unacceptable and inappropriate, considering that Kyuma is elected from a Nagasaki district. "It is unforgivable to make comments that justify the dropping of the A-bombs," Hirano said. "I'm more depressed than angry." Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said, "The use of nuclear weapons constitutes the indiscriminate massacre of ordinary citizens, and it cannot be justified for any reason." Speaking in the city of Nagasaki, Nobel prizewinning novelist Kenzaburo Oe said Kyuma's remarks are "meaningless and criminal," adding that a lawmaker must be critical of nuclear weapons, the largest burden borne by human beings, if he or she seriously seeks peace in the future. Kyuma defended his controversial comments, saying, "It is regrettable if I gave the impression that I approved the dropping of the A-bombs." 1 In the U.S., the bombings are widely seen as a weapon of last resort against an enemy that was determined to fight to the death but instead surrendered unconditionally six days after Nagasaki was attacked. Critics — including many Japanese and also some Americans — believe President Harry Truman's government had other motives: a wish to test a terrifying weapon, the desire to defeat Japan before the Soviet Union arrived, and the need to strengthen Washington's hand against Moscow in what would become the Cold War. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 17 India: Deccan Herald: Nimitz on N-scientists radar Monday, July 2, 2007 DH News Service, Chennai: An Indian Navy ship, with scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Baba Atomic Research Centre on board will be anchored one mile from the USS Nimitz. An Indian Navy ship, equipped with a radiation monitoring laboratory, will keep a watch on the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz when it comes calling at the Chennai port on Monday. The ship will have on board scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Baba Atomic Research Centre. It will be anchored one mile from the USS Nimitz which will drop anchor about 10 nautical miles from the port. Scientists will periodically take water and air samples, and the Indian and US naval personnel will guard the warship round-the-clock. A R Reddy, Chairman of the Environmental Safety Committee, DRDO, told reporters here that monitoring would be done prior to the ship’s arrival on Monday, from three static locations by two vans along the coast and a boat which will collect water samples. The naval officer in charge of Tamil Nadu, Commodore P E Vanhalteren, said “The USS Nimitz is not the first nuclear-powered warship to visit India. A standard operating procedure had been in place to clear a port for the berthing of nuclear vessels since the induction of INS Chakra into the navy in 1988. Since then, ten foreign nuclear warships had berthed at Indian ports, he said. The Left parties, meahwhile have planned to hold a demonstration in front of the port on Monday. Copyright 2007, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G. Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001 Tel: +91 (80) 25880000 Fax No. +91 (80) 25880523 ***************************************************************** 18 Hindustan Times: Another round of Indo-US nuclear talks next month- Press Trust Of India New Delhi, June 30, 2007 Keen to conclude the civil nuclear deal by the year-end, India and the US will hold another round of high level talks next month to sort out differences that have been nagging the negotiations for months. National Security Adviser (NSA) MK Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon are expected to visit Washington on July 16 for talks with US NSA Stephen Hadley and Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns on 123 agreement, which will operationalise the civil nuclear deal. The high-level meeting will come close on the heels of technical-level discussions between the two sides earlier this week in Washington where effort was made at formulating a mutually-acceptable language for the agreement. India's High Commissioner to Singapore S Jai Shankar, one of the key negotiators from the Indian side, was in Washington for three days during which he held discussions with Richard Stradford, Director in the State Department's Nuclear Division, and some other officials, sources said. The involvement of National Security Advisers from the two sides is intended to give a push at a higher level to the negotiations that have got stuck due to differences on issues like reprocessing. India has been insisting on getting the reprocessing right but the US is reluctant, leading to a logjam. The talks between NSAs will be followed by discussions at a higher level when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits India towards the end of next month or early August. The two sides are aiming at concluding the agreement by the end of the year and are expressing confidence that it can be done. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that "one or two issues" remained to be resolved and hoped the deal would come through soon. Projecting the civil nuclear deal as "the first fundamental pillar" of Indo-US relations, Rice on Wednesday expressed confidence that the "win-win" agreement will be finalised by the year-end. She pointed out that negotiations on the deal were difficult but hoped the bipartisan support for it will help the 123 agreement, operational pact of the deal, go through the Congress. "This is a huge step forward. We're not quite there yet. But with will and determination and more hard work to do, I am certain that we will reach final agreement and be in a position to complete this deal by the end of the year," Rice said. ***************************************************************** 19 The Hindu: Ship officials non-committal on nuclear weapons on board Sunday, Jul 01, 2007 USS Nimitz will dock within 16 km from the Chennai port — PHOTO: PTI CARRYING CONTROVERSY: An F/a-18 Hornet lands aboard USS Nimitz on Saturday as the warship was cruising its way to the Chennai port. ON BOARD USS NIMITZ: As the nuclear-powered warship is set to arrive in Chennai, top officials of USS Nimitz CVN 68 refused to either “confirm or deny” the presence of nuclear weapons on board. “We can neither confirm nor deny the presence of weapons on board the ship. The general U.S. policy is that we do not routinely deploy nuclear weapons on any of our ships, attack submarines or aircraft,” Rear Admiral John Terence Blake, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 11 of USS Nimitz, told newspersons on Saturday. USS Nimitz, one of the biggest aircraft carriers in the world, will dock within 16 km from the Chennai port, according to another top official. “We do not deploy [nuclear weapons] ‘routinely.’ We do not go into specifics. We are required to do a wide range of activities both offensive and defensive like humanitarian work. These are warships not cruise liners. But when we go out, we are required to perform a wide range of activities,” he said during the course of interaction on the ship, presently about 750 km from Chennai and 160 km from the Sri Lankan coast. Capt. Michael C. Manazir, Commanding Officer, USS Nimitz, also toed the same line. “We can’t confirm the presence or absence of nuclear weapons on board.” The statements come amid widespread protests from political parties and environmental agencies against the docking of the ship at the Chennai port between July 1-5 and the Defence Ministry clearing its arrival in Chennai. The Communist Party of India is planning protest against the berthing of the ship at the port on Tuesday. Ministry stand Both the Defence Ministry and the U.S. Embassy had issued statements saying that there were no nuclear weapons on board the Nimitz. “USS Nimitz is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is not known to be carrying weapons with nuclear warheads. It is not going to enter the on-shore or alongside berths in Chennai port but will be anchored in water some distance away from the land,” a Ministry statement said. However, Capt. Manazir told reporters that “the Nimitz will be berthed a couple of miles from the port and permission has been given to anchor right of the port. In fact, you will be able to see the ship from the beach.” The Nimitz was involved in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and was supporting the coalition troops fighting in Iraq. “We are completely prepared to do both offensive and defensive operations at any moment.” Capt. Manazir said the Airwing Commander of INS Viraat and 15 other officials of the Navy visited the ship on Thursday. “It was a nice visit. We showed them our ship and answered their questions...It is about transparency.” Both officials described the port call as a chance to further strengthen ties between the two navies and “fostering relationship with India.” Community work The crew members of the Nimitz will be involved in community work in Chennai, including cleaning up the Marina Beach, visiting old age homes and painting murals at a school. — PTI Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 20 India PRwire: Indian scientists designing thorium reactor - Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:42:28 +0600 A team of scientists at a premier Indian nuclear facility has made a theoretical design of an innovative reactor that can run on thorium - available in abundance in the country - and will eventually do away with the need for uranium. Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 2007-07-01 17:45:01 A team of scientists at a premier Indian nuclear facility has made a theoretical design of an innovative reactor that can run on thorium - available in abundance in the country - and will eventually do away with the need for uranium. But the success of the project largely depends on the US playing ball. The novel Fast Thorium Breeder Reactor (FTBR) being developed by V. Jagannathan and his team at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai has received global attention after a paper was submitted to the International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems (ICENES) held June 9-14 in Istanbul. Power reactors of today mostly use a fissile fuel called uranium-235 (U-235), whose 'fission' releases energy and some 'spare' neutrons that maintain the chain reaction. But only seven out of 1,000 atoms of naturally occurring uranium are of this type. The rest are 'fertile', meaning they cannot fission but can be converted into fissionable plutonium by neutrons released by U-235. Thorium, which occurs naturally, is another 'fertile' element that can be turned by neutrons into U-233, another uranium isotope. U-233 is the only other known fissionable material. It is also called the 'third fuel'. Thorium is three times more abundant in the earth's crust than uranium but was never inducted into reactors because - unlike uranium - it has no fissionable atoms to start the chain reaction. But once the world's uranium runs out, thorium - and the depleted uranium discharged by today's power reactors - could form the 'fertile base' for nuclear power generation, the BARC scientists claim in their paper. They believe their FTBR is one such 'candidate' reactor that can produce energy from these two fertile materials with some help from fissile plutonium as a 'seed' to start the fire. By using a judicious mix of 'seed' plutonium and fertile zones inside the core, the scientists show theoretically that their design can breed not one but two nuclear fuels - U-233 from thorium and plutonium from depleted uranium - within the same reactor. This totally novel concept of fertile-to-fissile conversion has prompted its designers to christen their baby the Fast 'Twin' Breeder Reactor. Their calculations show the sodium-cooled FTBR, while consuming 10.96 tonnes of plutonium to generate 1,000 MW of power, breeds 11.44 tonnes of plutonium and 0.88 tonnes of U-233 in a cycle length of two years. According to the scientists, their FTBR design exploits the fact that U-233 is a better fissile material than plutonium. Secondly, they were able to maximise the breeding by putting the fertile materials inside the core rather than as a 'blanket' surrounding the core as done traditionally. 'At present, there are no internal fertile blankets or fissile breeding zones in power reactors operating in the world,' the paper claims. The concept has won praise from nuclear experts elsewhere. 'Core heterogeneity is the best way to help high conversion,' says Alexis Nuttin, a French nuclear scientist at the LPSC Reactor Physics Group in Grenoble. Thorium-based fuels and fuel cycles have been used in the past and are being developed in a few countries but are yet to be commercialised. France is also studying a concept of 'molten salt reactor' where the fuel is in liquid form, while the US is considering a gas-cooled reactor using thorium. McLean, Virginia-based Thorium Power Ltd of the US, has been working with nuclear engineers and scientists of the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow for over a decade to develop designs that can be commercialised. But BARC's FTBR is claimed to be the first design that truly exploits the concept of 'breeding' in a reactor that uses thorium. The handful of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) in the world today - including the one India is building in Kalpakkam near Chennai - use plutonium as fuel. These breeders have to wait until enough plutonium is accumulated through reprocessing of spent fuel discharged by thermal power reactors that run on uranium. Herein lies the rub. India does not have sufficient uranium to build enough thermal reactors to produce the plutonium needed for more FBRs of the Kalpakkam type. The India-US civilian nuclear deal was expected to enable India import uranium and reprocess spent fuel to recover plutonium for its FBRs. But this deal has hit a roadblock. 'Jagannathan's design is one way of utilising thorium and circumventing the delays in building plutonium-based FBRs,' says former BARC director P.K. Iyengar. Meanwhile, India's 300,000 tonnes of thorium reserves - the third largest in the world - in the beach sands of Kerala and Orissa states are waiting to be tapped. The BARC scientists say that thorium should be inducted into power reactors when the uranium is still available, rather than after it is exhausted. But the FTBR still needs an initial inventory of plutonium to kick-start the thorium cycle and eventually to generate electricity. A blanket ban on India re-processing imported uranium - a condition for nuclear cooperation with the US - could make India's thorium programme a non-starter. Iyengar has one suggestion that he says must be acceptable to the US if it is serious about helping India to solve its energy problem. 'The US and Russia have piles of plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons,' Iyengar told IANS, adding: 'They should allow us to borrow this plutonium needed to start our breeders. We can return the material after we breed enough.' - By K.S. Jayaraman Copyright © India PRwire/Indo Asian News Service. Reproduction of ***************************************************************** 21 sacbee.com: Steve Wiegand: Nuke power -- time to re-energize? - By Steve Wiegand - Bee Columnist Last Updated 12:06 am PDT Saturday, June 30, 2007 Here's what's new on nuclear energy in California: Zip. Zero. Zilch. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But only a bit. The Assembly has killed an effort to repeal the state's moratorium on new nuclear plants, and a bill to make it tougher for the current nukes to extend their life spans is still alive. But 31 years after legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown imposed the ban, the prospects of nuclear expanding its role in the state's ongoing energy drama remain dim. The 1976 moratorium requires the state Energy Commission to assure the Legislature that there's a good way to permanently and safely dispose of spent nuclear fuel, or to reprocess fuel rods, before any new plants can open in California. In 1978 and again in 2005, the commission formally said ixnay. Another report is due to lawmakers and the guv in November. And judging from the tone at two days of commission hearings on the subject this week, the answer is almost certainly going to be the same: No new nukes even started in California for at least a decade. Nuclear power already plays a sizeable supporting part in the state's ongoing energy drama, although that may be a surprise to people who figured nukes lost their glow about the time Three Mile Island had a meltdown in 1979. Actually, California still gets about 15 percent of its electricity supply from nuclear plants. "It's something of a backbone of energy production in the state," said Steven McClary, an energy consultant hired by the commission to help produce the November report. But the backbone is arthritic, crippled by a daunting burden of scientific debate, bureaucratic bungling and political intransigence. The federal nuke waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nev., which was supposed to open in 1998, won't even get an operating license before next year and won't open until 2017 at the very earliest. A fair number of scientists say the site isn't safe. Nevada politicians -- notably U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- are adamantly opposed and may have the clout to cut much of the funding for Yucca Mountain, and there is an impression the U.S. Department of Energy couldn't organize a one-car funeral, let alone build a nuclear waste dump. As for recycling waste, the draft report by consultant McClary's firm notes that the Bush administration last year proposed something called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which is supposed to find a way to recycle spent fuel. That's a marked departure from 25 years of federal opposition to commercial reprocessing because of fears the recycled fuel might be used to make nuclear weapons. But GNEP is still a very iffy proposition, and years, if not decades, away from having any real impact. So, that leaves California with 2,437 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel within its borders, more than $1 billion in California ratepayer money already spent on getting Yucca Mountain off the ground, so to speak, and no real prospect of turning nuclear plant waste into anything useful. Of course other states face the same problems. But since they don't have 30-year-old moratoriums that discourage any substantive planning, about 20 nuclear plants are at least being looked at elsewhere in the country. Maybe it's time to rethink California's 1976 ban. In the last year or so, we've turned down coal and rejected building a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast. Renewable energy is only going to go so far in a state of 37 million. And notwithstanding the merits of conservation, changing the kinds of light bulbs we use just isn't going to be enough to keep them lit up. * Reach Steve Wiegand at (916) 321-1076 or swiegand@ sacbee.com. Back columns at www.sacbee.com/wiegand Copyright © The Sacramento Bee 2100 Q St. P.O. Box 15779 Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 321-1000 ***************************************************************** 22 Herald News: Nuclear station back online June 30, 2007 FROM STAFF REPORTS BRACEVILLE -- Operators at Braidwood Generating Station placed Unit 1 back in service at 10:54 p.m. Thursday following an automatic shutdown that occurred Wednesday morning, Exelon officials announced. The unit automatically shutdown when a pump tripped following an electrical surge caused by a lightning strike. The plant is designed to automatically shutdown when discrepancies of this nature occur. The plant responded as expected and without incident. Work performed during the shutdown included inspection and repairs of equipment affected by the electrical surge. Braidwood Unit 2 continued to operate at full power during the Unit 1 shutdown, and there was no interruption of service for Exelon customers. heraldnewsonline.com: Feedback | Contact Us | About Us | Advertise With Us | Media Kit Herald News: Subscribe | Online Photo Store Affiliates: RogerEbert.com | SearchChicago - Autos | SearchChicago - Jobs | NeighborhoodCircle.com | Centerstage ***************************************************************** 23 earthtimes.org: German nuclear plant back in service after forced shutdown Posted : Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:26:00GMT Berlin - The Brunsbuettel nuclear plant in northern Germany was reconnected to the power grid on Sunday after a short-circuit led it to be switched off on Thursday. Another nuclear plant in Kruemmel near Hamburg, which was shut down the same day after a fire broke out in a transformer near the reactor building, remained out of service while an investigation into the incident was under way. Approval to restart the Brunsbuettel facility was given on Saturday by Gitta Trauernicht, social affairs minister in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein where the plant is located. Both plants are operated by energy concern Vattenfall Europe. Regulators said no radioactivity was released but anti-nuclear figures and German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel charged that the incidents showed nuclear power was unsafe. German legislation requires all 17 existing nuclear plants to gradually be phased out by 2021. Operators and centre-right politicians have been calling for a reprieve so that Germany can hold down its carbon-dioxide emissions. A Greenpeace spokesman, Thomas Breuer, said the fire showed "how dangerous nuclear energy really is," adding that Kruemmel had suffered about 300 malfunctions requiring reports since it was commissioned in 1983. Vattenfall Europe said the Brunsbuettel Power Station had suffered a short-circuit during maintenance work. Two hours later fire broke out at Kruemmel, apparently because of an electrical arc in a transformer. This set fire to the oil in which the transformer is immersed. Copyright © 2007 Respective Author (c) 2007 Earthtimes.org, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 SanLuisObispo.com: Reactor trend is to use same site Posted on Sun, Jul. 01, 2007 Nuclear Renaissance But local officials want the waste problem settled before allowing extra reactors at Diablo Canyon By David Sneed dsneed@thetribunenews.com After the state’s two nuclear power utilities announced last week they are interested in joining a nationwide nuclear renaissance, local officials said they are concerned about the continuing stockpile of highly radioactive used reactor fuel at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Jack Keenan, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s chief nuclear officer, told the state Energy Commission on Thursday that new nuclear reactors are part of the mix of energy sources the utility is looking at as it plans its energy supplies for the next 25 years. Officials with San Onofre nuclear generating station near San Clemente have expressed a similar interest in new nuclear plants. And several utilities, mostly in the Southeast, have specific plans for new nuclear reactors that they are planning to submit to the federal government for licensing. Most of the more than 30 new nuclear reactors being planned nationwide will be added to existing nuclear plants rather than building new plants. However, PG&E has not proposed a new reactor at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, said Pete Resler, Diablo Canyon spokesman. The utility is looking regionally as well as in adjacent states for possible locations. “There are so many factors in picking a new site,” he said. “We haven’t delved too deeply into any of those things at this stage.” County Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Jerry Lenthall said a permanent solution to the storage of highly radioactive used reactor fuel needs to be found before any new reactors are proposed locally. “Waste is my number one concern,” Lenthall said. “I’m not happy with having it in my backyard.” Opening of a centralized underground repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada is at least a decade away. In the meantime, PG&E is constructing an aboveground dry cask storage facility at Diablo Canyon that will give the plant enough capacity to store all the plant’s spent fuel through 2025. PG&E is a top taxpayer The state’s two operating nuclear plants provide about 13 percent of the state’s electricity. Additionally, there are two closed nuclear plants that have stockpiles of spent fuel. One is in Humboldt County and the other is near Sacramento. The county has little authority in permitting new nuclear reactors compared to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gibson said. He added he is “very interested” in seeing a cost-benefit analysis done that would determine the economic feasibility of building new nuclear plants. Because of Diablo Canyon, PG&E is the leading payer of property taxes in San Luis Obispo County. These taxes mostly benefit county government and local school districts. Ed Valentine, superintendent of San Luis Coastal Unified School District, said the district would welcome any responsible exploration of clean power. “If it is responsible and beneficial, then it’s something we would be interested in seeing move forward, but both conditions must be determined,” he said. Locating and permitting a nuclear reactor is a much more complicated and lengthy process than building another type of power plant. This will limit the number of locations for a new reactor, Resler said. Possible limitations Some of the factors PG&E will take into consideration, if it decides to move ahead with a new reactor, include the availability of cooling water, how receptive the local community is and the ability to install transmission lines. “The bottom line is that it will be a business decision,” Resler said. “That will limit our options greatly.” Cooling water could be particularly problematic. Diablo Canyon uses billions of gallons of ocean water a day to cool its turbines. However, state and federal regulators are growing increasingly hostile to this so-called once-through cooling because of the damage it does to the marine environment. PG&E officials maintain that the damage cooling system does to the ocean is minimal and causes fewer environmental impacts than other cooling methods, such as cooling towers. Rochelle Becker, who heads the watchdog group Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, said these environmental issues coupled with a state law that prohibits new reactors until the Yucca Mountain repository is ready will prevent any new plants from being built. She is concerned that talk of new reactors will distract the public from the more pressing issue of whether Diablo Canyon’s two operating licenses should be renewed. The licenses will expire in the mid- 2020s, and PG&E is expected to apply to renew them for an additional 20 years. Tribune staff writers Bob Cuddy and AnnMarie Cornejo contributed to this report. Reach David Sneed at 781-7930. ***************************************************************** 25 Burlington Free Press: Yankee tax no threat to business - My Turn: Michael Granger Opinion burlingtonfreepress.com | Burlington, Vermont Sunday, July 1, 2007 Contact Editorial Department “Ignoring the Legislature, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Sustainable Energy Resource Group, Vermont Natural Resources Council and too many others to list.” Ignoring the Legislature seems like a good move on Douglas’s part, he’s the only one who sees the non – need of more government telling us what to do. And as the rest of the groups have become nothing but mouth pieces for the global warming alarmist he’s correct in Ignoring them as well. I had a little VPIRG brown shirt visit my house looking for a signature against The Douglas veto. As he informed me “now that discussion was over on global warming”, I didn’t have the heart to tell him it’s not over it’s just not being allowed any longer, we need to hold Gov Douglas accountable. I informed him I believe Douglas has shown he’s one in Montpelier who can be counted on to have Vermonters concerns at heart where as the current crop in the legislature has shown they have special interests that require more concern then tax paying Vermonters. Since he was in a more Conservative Vermont Area, I just said I approve of The Douglas Veto as More Government is not needed to tell us how to save energy. Making the tools available and not taxing us to the point of having no money to make improvements is what’s needed. We have enough transplant greenies here now and we don’t need to make more job openings in bloated Vermont government. Like was stated before Vermonters are frugal by nature and have been doing a good job so far in being clean (top of the cleanest state pile). So it must be the flatlander’s needing the instruction. How about a flatlander tax? On the last part of that quote who is the too many others to list? Is that business or just more GW supporters. I did see another opinion piece from a large business group that was against this expansion of government and implications of the nuke tax. Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:26 pm ......meanwhile, back at the "ranch" half of the liberals who are so keen on this bill are driving big SUV's and living in 10,000 square foot houses. You see, it's akin to the AlGore system of being green. Trashing the Gov and sticking Vermonters with another social(ist) program makes the yuppies feel better about their massive overconsumption. Real Vermonters have always been about conservation and leaving a small footprint on the earth, not as some sordid yuppie feel-good aren't we the cat's meow self-aggrandizement measure, but because that's HOW we ive; within our means with an attitude of waste not want not. We don't need a bunch of socialists to tax us to death so they feel better about themselves. Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:06 pm ====================================================================== The point that seems to be missed in these discussions is one of taxation. Any and all agreements can be modified or even disregarded if the government so decides, then it becomes an issue for the courts. It looks like the legislature has come up with this grandiose scheme to make everyone "energy efficient", when in effect, it will benefit mostly the alternative energy business's moreso than anyone else. They have to find the money to fund this pork and Vt Yankee is the "golden goose" for this. In the past, tax credits and what not for energy have benefitted only the ones who could afford the money up front,while taking tax credits over a number of years. Programs to help the "poor" were tax subsidized with increased taxation either on business, other homeowners, or bonds. People who didn't bother to take the credits or already had upgrades were socked with the bill through increased costs, either directly or indirectly, as the VY tax will do. The legislature passed and the governor will veto this bill. The discussion should be more about the cost of this bill than it's merits or any agreements made to VY. Overall, the cost of this legislation does not justify it's implementation. It will not achieve it's stated goal nor will it benefit the state. Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:25 pm ====================================================================== Thanks, jcarter. I read the comments most every day, but must have missed it somehow. The reference to 2003 helps narrow the search, but the main legislative "event" of the 2003 session, Act 50 (started as H.473) contains no references to tax formulas in place through 2012 whatsoever. Sec. 3 merely refers to years 2004 and then 2005 as the point at which provisions of the bill and then the current formula take effect. According to a draft summary of Yankee taxation issues prepared by the Joint Fiscal Office and posted on June 13, there have been at least 5 different tax formulas / provisions in place since Yankee opened, including generation and education tax elements. The formula has changed at least 4 times since 1991, thus the average duration of any one formula since '91 is about 4 years. H.520's language wouldn't take effect until 2009. The question then becomes, is there something else besides Act 50 in place? Not that i know of..... Anyone? Here is the link to Act 50 / H.473: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2004/acts/ACT050. HTM Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 9:26 am My Turn: Yankee tax no threat to business Published: Saturday, June 30, 2007 By Michael Granger Making good on his word, Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed H.520, a conservation and energy bill that has wide support around the state. Ignoring the Legislature, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Sustainable Energy Resource Group, Vermont Natural Resources Council and too many others to list, the governor has chosen his own conservative, pro-corporation agenda versus the consumer. The comprehensive bill he vetoed would expand the state's energy-efficiency programs, set a goal of 25 percent renewable energy use by 2025, help the low-income weatherization program, improve commercial building efficiency standards, encourage renewable energy projects on our farms, promote a simpler process for permitting of alternative energies, compensate small producers putting power back into the grid, advance the sustainability of our renewable forests, study incentives for efficient public transportation and encourage green building development. His underlying objection to this comprehensive bill is his concern over the proposed tax on Entergy Nuclear -- Vermont Yankee. The $10.9 billion, out-of-state corporation received a 20 percent uprate. This was only the second time such a large uprate was granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, potentially handing them an additional $20 million profit a year with no rate benefits to consumers. The proposed tax puts Entergy on a par with renewable energy sources like new wind farms and is entirely equitable. Gov. Douglas, in response to the veto, put forth his own plan, proposing using $600,000 in state funds -- our tax dollars -- and asking working and poor Vermonters to increase their debt load to make their homes more efficient against exploding heating costs. His minimal energy plan after taking office five years ago, together with tepid support for wind and hydro generation and this latest proposal, a tenth of what H.520 would accomplish, make it apparent he has no vision for dealing with the effects of "peak oil," resulting energy costs or foreign and multinational corporations holding Vermont consumers hostage. The governor's continued use of IBM's name as a concern about the tax, as though a parity tax on the nuclear power plant is somehow going to carry over to all large corporations in Vermont, is simply deceptive. The last I checked, IBM wasn't producing energy or plutonium. As George Bush's election and re-election chairman for the state, Douglas seems to be taking a page right out of his mentor's playbook. Please call your representative and urge them to override the governor's veto when they reconvene on July 11 and let them know you are watching their vote. H.520 is a smart energy bill, asking Entergy to pay its fair share for desperately needed conservation and transition from traditional and centralized energy sources. A small percentage of their enormous profits is also not too much to ask for the 20 percent increase in potentially deadly plutonium that will sit in a pool or dry casks on the banks of the Connecticut River for who knows how long. Michael Granger lives in Newfane. Copyright ©2007 Burlingtonfreepress.com All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 Rutland Herald: Energy bill restores fairness June 30, 2007 Gov. Douglas' veto of energy bill H.520 shows our governor to be guardian of the owners of one Vermont business, Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, rather than guardian of all the people of our state. Our Legislature should override his veto. Douglas vetoed because of one provision in H.520, the higher tax on that nuclear plant. Douglas claims that H.520 is unfair and hurts that business. Yet other Vermont businesses pay a higher tax rate than the nuclear plant owners. Vermont Yankee currently pays a property tax rate of only .001 cents per kilowatt-hour. Other energy generators, such as wind farms would be required to pay a rate three times as high. While most Vermonters are paying more in taxes, Vermont Yankee's tax bill has actually gone down since 2001. The problem the Legislature addressed, and that Douglas should be addressing, is that Vermont Yankee has been getting a cut-rate bargain tax rate that no other energy generator in Vermont gets. That preferential treatment means millions of dollars lost in education funding and higher taxes for other Vermonters and other Vermont businesses. We need to level the playing field. H.520 lets Entergy ramp up its tax rate over several years to eventually pay closer to their fair share, eventually giving them the same stable rate as wind farms. H.520 also includes excellent provisions that put hundreds of Vermonters to work saving energy for homeowners and Vermont businesses and cutting Vermont's contribution to global warming. H.520 is fair for all Vermont businesses, including Entergy. I urge our Legislature to override the veto. JAMES MARC LEAS South Burlington © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 27 Rutland Herald: Worker, not plant, liable for Yankee incident June 30, 2007 By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff BRATTLEBORO — A radiation protection technician "willfully" allowed another worker at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to enter a high radiation zone without first surveying the area as required, federal regulators said Friday. But Entergy Nuclear, the owner of the reactor, won't face a penalty because it reported the incident to federal inspectors and acted quickly to resolve the situation. "The NRC further determined that the technician's actions were willful, in careless disregard for the requirements," stated a letter from David C. Lew, director of reactor projects for the NRC to Theodore Sullivan, the Entergy Nuclear site vice president. The exposed worker's dose was still within annual limits, according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, although he didn't know the exact dosage the worker received during the Aug. 17, 2006, incident. The technician, who had 31 years experience working at nuclear power plants, is no longer employed at Vermont Yankee, according to spokesman Larry Smith. He said he didn't know how long the technician worked at the Vermont plant, but he said it was for "many years." "It was a very experienced contractor who violated the rules and he's no longer working at the site," Smith said. "We take it very seriously." According to the NRC letter, the violation was more serious because of the technician's attitude. "The NRC concluded that the violation, absent willfulness, would be considered minor, because the exposure from this incident did not result in the individual's occupational dose limits being exceeded. However, the NRC increased the severity level … because the technician's actions were willful," the letter added. The technician had received no supervision leading up to the task, but the NRC said that the problem was not due to lack of management oversight. "It was reasonable to expect that a (technician) with 31 years of experience would not need significant oversight to perform this task," the letter added. Sheehan said that nuclear power plant workers are allowed 5,000 millirems of exposure each year. For comparison, a typical chest x-ray contains 8 millirems, he said, or a coast-to-coast plane ride adds 5 millirems. Someone smoking 20 cigarettes a day for a year will exceed the 5,000 millirem level, he said, by more than 300 millirems. He said the exposure by the auxiliary operator "didn't come close" to the 5,000 millirem level, and the man's work was not restricted as a result. Smith, the Entergy spokesman, said that the violation came to light during the plant's regular review of procedures. "Everything we do is by procedure and we're going to know when something's not right," Smith said. Smith said that while the technician actually worked for a contractor, he was treated the same as an Entergy employee. Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 28 Rutland Herald: Vt. to poll residents on power future June 30, 2007 By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER — By the end of the year, state regulators hope to have a good idea from what sources Vermonters want to buy their electricity in the future and whether they believe the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant should keep running. Lawmakers who heard about the progress on those plans this week said they were surprised at the number of years nuclear waste may be stored at the Vernon plant while the federal government tries to figure out what to do with it. The question about where the state will get its electricity is becoming critical as the power contracts with Yankee and Hydro-Quebec — which account for the vast majority of Vermont's power supply — approach the end of their lives. Although the plant will seek an extension, Yankee's operating license expires in 2012 and the contracts with the owners of the massive network of Canadian dams begin to phase out a few years later. Two years ago, lawmakers passed bills signed into law by Gov. James Douglas requiring that the Department of Public Service study how Vermonters feel about the future of their power supply. But that presented a difficulty. Simply polling residents about a complicated topic like whether the state's utilities should buy power from wind projects, nuclear power, Hydro-Quebec of any of the other sources of electricity available when the current contracts expire would prove of limited benefit, experts and officials decided. So instead the "public engagement process" requested by the Legislature and created by the department will have three parts. In all it is expected to cost roughly $520,000. The heart of the process will consist of deliberative polling, in which roughly 200 Vermonters selected from a telephone poll of 5,000 candidates will spend a weekend hearing from experts about power sources from wind to coal. Their responses to the worthiness of different possible energy sources — and the expected cost of each — will then be part of a report that will give utilities and policy makers guidance as they seek new supplies. Also included in that study will be the results of five meetings from around the state on energy supply issues, which will include polling of those attending. Finally there will be an Internet site that will also gather information on Vermonters' preferred electricity sources. "This is about gathering relevant hard data on what can be a very mushy topic," said Stephen Wark, a spokesman for the department. Between the weekend of "deliberative polling" and the meetings around the state "this is, we believe, the largest sample of citizens ever taken in the country on the question of energy." Lawmakers and members of the Douglas administration may be more or less in agreement about the public engagement process, but they are in a tussle over this year's energy bill. That is because the bill would establish a new efficiency program for heating fuels — perhaps funded with a tax increase on Vermont Yankee. Douglas vetoed the bill, H.520, and lawmakers are expected to return to Montpelier in early July to vote on a veto override. Although the bill was not on the agenda for Thursday's Legislative Joint Energy Committee meeting, Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien and lawmakers disagreed over the impact on future power rates of the proposal. O'Brien warned that the proposal to increase the tax on Yankee's parent company could harm future negotiations with Yankee, Hydro-Quebec and other companies. "Ratepayers will not see the best possible price," if the state is viewed as unreliable or predatory, he said. "If there is going to be another contract, it has already been undermined by the discourse of the last several weeks." "The Legislature has to be accountable for that," he said. "It was clear to me today they don't want to acknowledge that." But legislators bristled at that suggestion. "You are giving them cover," said Sen. Mark MacDonald, chairman of the committee. Lawmakers questioned whether O'Brien had already made up his mind that Yankee should continue to operate past 2012 — something that will take both legislative and Public Service Board acceptance. "By no means do we see ourselves here to protect Entergy or defend Entergy, that is not our jobs," O'Brien said. However, the economic benefit of 600 jobs and cheap power from the plant must be part of the consideration of the nuclear plant's future, he added. "From an economic standpoint … the state of Vermont would have a hard time making up for that" if the plant closed, O'Brien said. Another question the four lawmakers who attended the Joint Energy Committee meeting this week raised was how long nuclear waste will be stored at the Yankee site in so-called "dry casks." Given the federal government's failure to prepare for such storage as soon as promised — the first loads of waste were originally slated to leave Vernon in 1999 — it may be many more decades than the 20 years they were originally told, MacDonald said. "It is two years later and we are told that is not the case," he said. "Often the bill doesn't come due until long after you have used the electricity." Meanwhile, money gathered by the feds from ratepayers to pay for long-term storage of waste sits largely unused. So far $143 million has been collected from electricity users in Vermont alone. One place where his company agrees with nearly everyone — even anti-nuclear advocates — is that the federal government ought to fulfill its obligation to take care of storing or recycling spent fuel from the plants as promised, said Brian Cosgrove of Entergy "The federal government ought to do the right thing," he said. "The ultimate solution is for the federal government to live up to its commitment." In addition to the overall public engagement process, the Department of Public Service is starting on several studies about Vermont Yankee, including the economic benefit of the plant and other aspects of its potential continued operation. Those studies will likely cost between $60,000 and $85,000, and will in part form the basis of the discussion among lawmakers and regulators about whether the plant should gain a longer term to operate. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 29 Triangle Business Journal: Progress Energy nuke employees say no to union - Raleigh/Durham > News > Industries > Energy - Electric Utilities Employees at Shearon Harris and two other nuclear power plants owned by Raleigh's Progress Energy voted against unionization, the company said Friday. Workers voted against joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which has more than 750,000 members, by a 499-to-157 margin. The drive for unionization began last year at the Brunswick nuclear plant near Wilmington, spreading later to the Shearon Harris plant in Wake County and the Robinson plant in South Carolina. Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) expressed happiness over the outcome of the vote, with Chief Operating Officer Bill Johnson saying in a written statement that he was "more confident than ever in the people and the future of Progress Energy." © 2007 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. All ***************************************************************** 30 Reuters: German reactor running again after outages 30 Jun 2007 18:21:44 GMT Source: Reuters BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) - German authorities gave the green light on Saturday for the Brunsbuettel nuclear plant in northern Germany to be reconnected to the power grid after a short-circuit led it to be switched off on Thursday. "There are no security issues and therefore there are no legal reasons preventing it from being started up again," said Gitta Trauernicht, social affairs minister in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein where the plant is located. Another nuclear plant in Kruemmel near Hamburg, which was also shut down on Thursday after a fire broke out at a nearby electric power substation, remained switched off pending further investigations into the incident. Authorities said the fire had not damaged the reactor nor posed a threat to people in the area. Both plants are operated by Vattenfall Europe and E.ON and together supply 16 terawatt hours or half of Schleswig Holstein's annual power requirements. Vattenfall Europe said on Thursday that the switch-off at Brunsbuettel was related to a load drop on the power network when Kruemmel was taken out. The unscheduled outages boosted wholesale power prices on Friday, traders said. Kruemmel, which opened in 1983, is one of the oldest types of reactors still working in Germany. The country is in the process of phasing out nuclear power by 2020 under plans agreed under the previous governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. ***************************************************************** 31 Peterborough Today: Breath of fresh air for Chernobyl children Monday, 2nd July 2007 By Staff Copy YOUNG victims of the world's worst nuclear power accident – Chernobyl – have arrived in the Peterborough area to stay with host families for a month. The accident, which happened on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine, saw 190 tonnes of highly radioactive uranium and graphite expelled into the atmosphere. It still has a major impact on people’s lives in the area, particularly children. On Sunday sixteen seven to nine-year-olds and two interpreters from Mogilev, in eastern Belarus, arrived in Helpston, near Peterborough, and were met by members of the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children (FOCC) group, who arranged the trip. The area in which the children live remains seriously contaminated as a result of the accident, and the children now have respiratory problems. FOCC, a charity founded in 1994, raises funds to bring children who are at risk of radiation to the UK for a month every year. The children will benefit from the stay in a number of ways – it will boost their immune systems, helping them to resist or recover from serious illnesses because they will be benefiting from fresh air and clean food. During their visit the youngsters, who are from orphanages and disadvantaged homes, will receive optical, dental and health checks as well as a 12-month supply of vitamins. Co-ordinator of Helpston and District FOCC Cecilia Hammond, said: “When the children arrived they only had small bags – some just had carrier bags, containing gifts for their host families and very little else. We greeted them with a teddy bear each, which were a great success, and a great comfort to the children who are so far away from home. “This is a preventative programme to increase their immunity so they are less likely to succumb to radiation related illnesses. “Many of the children suffer from low self-esteem so we also plan to tackle this through teaching them to swim and encouraging them to take part in English lessons. “I’m excited about their stay and grateful to people for their support.” During their four-week stay, the children will also benefit from a variety of social and educational visits. On Monday the children took part in an art day at John Clare Primary School. On Thursday they visited Helpston Scout Hut and were each presented with a new pair of shoes. It costs FOCC ÂŁ450 to bring each child over from Belarus – money which the group raises through sponsorship. n If anyone who would like to help sponsor a child, call Cecilia on 07779 264591. Comment: Page 6 Last Updated: 29 June 2007 6:42 PM ***************************************************************** 32 edmontonsun.com: Nuke risk stopped Sat, June 30, 2007 The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, fearing a radiation leak and the insecure storage of nuclear goods, has suspended the licences of an Edmonton oilpatch company. The Ottawa-based CNSC concluded after several hearings that Enviropac, which specializes in doing work for the oilpatch, had not made "adequate provision for the protection of the environment, the health and safety of persons and the maintenance of national security and measures required to implement international obligations to which Canada has agreed." The CNSC suspended indefinitely Enviropac's three licences to store, process unsealed nuclear substances and calibrate, said the CNSC in a decision. The decision also says that inspectors were denied entry into Enviropac's offices, 2236 80 Ave., on Sept. 14, 2006. It adds inspectors figured the business was carrying out "unlicensed activities, including the servicing of radiation devices ... manufacturing of radiation devices and the transfer of licensable material to unlicensed users." CNSC inspectors noted radiation levels around the premises were "elevated," said the report. The high doses, the report said, "posed a risk to the public ..." CANOE home | We welcome your feedback. Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved. Test ***************************************************************** 33 Daily Breze: `Orphans' of a nuclear age Today is Sunday, July 01, 2007 U.S. survivors of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been participating in health screenings -- like those at Torrance's Little Company of Mary Hospital. » Video By Josh Grossberg Staff Writer When Kaz Suyeishi went to see a doctor about a rash she had developed, he told her she was probably suffering from a case of homesickness. Home was Hiroshima, Japan, where, as a teenager, Suyeishi survived the atomic bomb blast that leveled the city and killed more than 140,000 people. Doctors in Japan had been studying the effects of radiation on survivors, but, as Suyeishi found out, Japanese immigrants to the United States were pretty much on their own. "Between the two countries we were war orphans," she said. With the help of people like Suyeishi, that attitude has changed. And on Saturday, the Torrance resident joined about 150 other bomb survivors at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance for what has become a ritual every other year. Thirty years ago, Suyeishi approached a Hiroshima doctors group that started monitoring the health of bomb survivors shortly after the war. She asked them to include American residents, and in 1977 the survivors project started making trips to the United States. Now in their 70s and 80s, survivors of the blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were given exams to see how, even all these years later, the events of that day in 1945 were affecting their health. They were examined by a team of physicians from the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association. In all, about 450 patients will be tested in four cities with sizable Japanese populations. "Based on the research, the radiation has affected their stem cells," said Dr. Makato Matsumura, who spoke through a translator. "We're finding more cancer. They are aging. The risk of cancer is increasing. The cause of cancer is various and unknown, but, based on research, survivors have a 10 to 20 percent higher rate of cancer." Matsumura, whose mother survived the blast and suffers from hypertension and post traumatic stress disorder, said victims deserve attention, no matter what country they live in. "Survivors are survivors whether in Japan or the U.S." he said. Now 80, Suyeishi is the president of the American Society of Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors. Although the bombing was more than 60 years ago, she remembers it as clearly as the blue sky that August morning. Page 2 of 2) "It was the most beautiful day," she said. "All of a sudden, I saw a white spot in the blue sky. What is that? I pointed and then there was a flash. One second before was heaven. One second later, hell." This was the first year the tests were conducted at Little Company. Dr. Fred Sakurai, who is president of Japanese Community Health Inc., asked hospital administrators to host the event and they agreed. His brother has suffered numerous bouts with cancer in the years since the bombing. "I feel a strange connection," said Sakurai, who was recently awarded a medal from the emperor of Japan. "I'm sorry I can't be in Japan to help him, but I can help the survivors here." At 72, Kiyoko Speed only feels only a few aches and pains from time to time. She credits her good health to drinking tea instead of water in the days after the bombing. But she's been tested every two years since the program began just to be safe. "I want to see that everything is OK," the Oxnard resident said. "You never know." josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 34 Pantagraph.com: Local vets had front-row seats to July `57 nuclear test Bloomington-Normal, Illinois NewsSaturday, June 30, 2007 8:22 PM CDT By Scott Richardson srichardson@pantagraph.com BLOOMINGTON — Fourth of July fireworks were never the same for Clark Taminger and Bill Bartosik after July 5, 1957. The Twin City men were among about 2,500 Marines tucked into trenches not far from where a nuclear weapon was detonated at a test site in the Nevada desert. They felt the earth move. Light from the explosion worked like an X-ray. “It felt like you put someone in a pencil case and just shook it,” said Bartosik, 71, of Normal, a retired printer. “The flash was so bright, you could see the bones in your arms,” added Taminger, 70, owner of Westside Clothing in Bloomington. But 50 years later, what the two men remember most about that day are the moments just after they raised their heads and looked toward ground zero. A mushroom cloud rose in the dawn’s early light. “Just seeing the mushroom go up, it was beautiful, but, my God, the damage it could do,” Taminger said. “That was awesome,” agreed Bartosik. “Here is every color in the world — orange, purple, green, black, blue. It boiled up thousands of feet in the sky.” Code-named Hood, the test was one of 24 nuclear explosions that were part of the Plumbbob series from April 24 to Oct. 7, 1957, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Hood was the largest atmospheric detonation ever to occur at the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flats. Detonated while suspended 1,500 feet off the ground, the blast equaled 74 kilotons of TNT, the department said. By comparison, the nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima that hastened the end of World War II was 12.5 to 15 kilotons. The one dropped on Nagasaki was about 21 kilotons. ‘I knew I had to be there’ Taminger, who was a private working in communications, and Barosik, who finished his stint as a sergeant and a rifleman, were stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., when their battalion was told to move to Nevada temporarily to witness a nuclear test. The idea was that the Marines had to know what to expect if they were deployed in wartime and American decision-makers decided to drop nuclear bombs again. Neither man worried or felt like they were being used as guinea pigs, and neither has experienced any health problems they attribute to exposure to radiation. “I wasn’t afraid of being there. I knew I had to be there. It was my duty to do what they told us to do,” Taminger said. “You cooperate. You get along better in the world if you cooperate with everybody. 
 I’m the type of guy, what will be will be. If it’s my time to go, it’s my time to go.” “At the time, we were young and gung ho,” added Bartosik. “I thought about it a few times (since). 
 People in Yucca Flats downwind from the blasts had a lot of cancer. But we didn’t think about it at the time. I don’t think the Atomic Energy Commission knew a lot about it either.” The location of the test site had its advantages, they said. In their off-time, they traveled to Las Vegas, which was just starting to earn a name as a place to gamble. The younger of the two at 20, Taminger had to sneak into a casino. “I got tossed out,” he said, laughing. Hoping for big July 4 blast Bartosik recalled how the Marines were hauled to the test site in trucks. They were told how to cover themselves with their ponchos and field jackets. They were ordered not to look at the explosion until they were given the all-clear. They waited, and then they were loaded back into trucks and returned to their camp. Weather conditions weren’t suitable. “They wouldn’t set it off unless the wind was just right,” said Taminger, who had hoped the test would be on the Fourth of July. Instead, the nuclear fireworks were set off the next day. The time was 4:30 a.m., according Department of Energy records. The bomb exploded. The ground shook. The light flashed. The mushroom cloud rose overhead. “It was the most awesome thing I ever saw in my life,” Bartosik said. Scientists took readings of the radioactive fallout. When they thought safe levels were reached, the Marines were taken closer to ground zero where vehicles had been parked in a simulated town to gauge the force of the blast. Nothing was left but charred debris. “It was like you see as the result of Nagasaki. It burned up everything,” Bartosik said. Perspectives on war The experience didn’t change Taminger’s attitude about the bomb after he returned to Bloomington and his job at the clothing store, where he had worked after high school and before he enlisted. He understood the need to drop the bombs on Japan to quickly end the war and avoid an invasion that would have cost many American lives. “That’s what won the war. Thank God we had a president who wasn’t afraid to do it,” he said. He felt secure at first knowing only the United States had the bomb, he said. He remained confident even after the former Soviet Union developed its own version and the Cold War took the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust. Today, he feels more confident. “The war technology has gotten so developed. Now they could throw up a missile and we could knock it out,” he said. Bartosik is less sure. “You kind of think about it. ... You read about it, Nagasaki, they’re still suffering from it and dying by the thousands,” he said. Perhaps everyone, especially the politicians who shape world events, should see what he and Taminger saw that day in the desert a half century ago, Bartosik said. “If they took some people out there 
 maybe they wouldn’t start wars if they knew what the results were going to be,” he said. Nuclear History 101 Following are key dates in U.S. nuclear testing and technology: June 1942: The United States begins nuclear development program, the Manhattan Project. Experiments at the University of Chicago helped advance understanding of atomic theory. July 16, 1945: The world’s first atomic bomb, a U.S. weapon code-named Trinity, explodes 100 feet over a portion of the southern New Mexico desert. August 1945: The United States drops one nuclear weapon each on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki over a four-day period, hastening the end of World War II. August 1949: The Soviet Union conducts its first nuclear test. 1950: Test site in Nevada created because of the need for a continental site following testing in Pacific Ocean. Spring 1957: The Operation Plumbbob test series begins at Nevada Test Site. July 1957: The largest atmospheric nuclear test in U.S. history, code-named Hood, was conducted at NTS. The test included troop maneuvers by 2,500 Marines and other personnel. March 1954: The Castle Bravo test is conducted in the Marshall Islands. At an unexpectedly high 15 megatons, it is the most powerful recorded U.S. detonation, producing substantial fallout. October 1961: Soviets detonate the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated. 1963: President Kennedy signs the Partial Test Ban Treaty, moving all testing underground and prohibiting testing underwater and in outer space. Sept. 23, 1992: The last U.S. underground test is conducted. 1996: Many nations sign on to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a total prohibition on nuclear explosions. The United States has signed the treaty, but not ratified it. SOURCES: U.S. Department of Energy; www.nuclearweaponarchive.org; www.nuclearfiles.org. Compiled by Ryan Denham Bill Bartosik, left, and Clark Taminger look at articles and photographs Wednesday (June 27, 2007) at Taminger's home in Bloomington. Both former Marines witnesses to an above ground atomic bomb codenamed Hood on July 5, 1957, in the Nevada desert. (Pantagraph/CARLOS T. MIRANDA) Reader99 wrote on Jul 1, 2007 8:23 AM: " The atomic power was used against Japan because of the loss of lives an invasion of that country would have cost the american military. Its two sides I guess. My age group(mid 60's) was told if the invasion of Japan had taken place that the death toll would have been so great that 4 of every 10 of your classmates would not have been born. " My grandfather witnessed wrote on Jun 30, 2007 9:45 PM: " Operation Crossroads/Baker while in the Navy. He understood the importance of the "nuclear deterrent"......Yet,he had the same opinion Mr.Bartosik has....If the politicians were to see the devastation these things cause, nuclear war wouldn't even be dreamed of. " Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323 Lee Illinois Regional Newspapers: Carbondale | Charleston-Mattoon | Decatur | DeKalb Copyright © 2007, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All ***************************************************************** 35 The Hindu: Mehta allays fears of radiation Sunday, Jul 01, 2007 — Photo: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH SAFETY TO THE FORE: Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta addresses a press meet in Kolkata on Saturday. Kolkata: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Saturday allayed fears of radiation from the ‘USS Nimitz,’ scheduled to dock at the Chennai port next week, saying all set procedures to check against radiation from the gigantic nuclear-powered aircraft carrier have been followed. “It is the Government of India’s job to see that the safety of the people is ensured. There are set procedures for it. These have been followed in this case and there is nothing to worry,” Admiral Mehta told a press conference here. The Government had earlier issued a notification saying that monitoring against radiation has been done. The U.S. Navy also said it had done all safety checks. “There is also a radiation contingency plan in place,” Admiral Mehta said. Referring to the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant, he said, “If you can have a nuclear power plant in the country, what is wrong with a nuclear-powered ship berthing on our coasts?” A Defence Ministry spokesman said in Delhi on June 27 that a standing environmental safety committee had cleared the anchorage of ‘USS Nimitz’ from the radiation hazard point of view after carrying out a detailed survey of the Chennai port. With a radiation safety contingency plan in place, experts from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have set up radiation monitoring laboratories on ships for frequent monitoring of water and air samples during the course of the three-day visit of the aircraft carrier. — PTI INS Vikramaditya to join Navy by 2009 Staff Reporter reports: The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, Admiral Gorshkov, will join the services of the Indian Navy in the later part of 2009, Admiral Mehta, said. “There has been a delay though I am not privy to any official Russian response on the matter,” said Admiral Mehta who was on his first visit to the city. “We were hoping it would be delivered by the end of the next year, but it seems unlikely now owing to certain imponderables involved in the rebuilding of a ship,” he said. He said that the docking of the nuclear warship USS Nimitz at the Chennai port would be done according to the procedures laid down for the purpose and there would be proper monitoring to see that the ship poses no danger. A total of 33 ships and 6 submarines are being built in various docks throughout the country, Admiral Mehta said. The submarines, which would be ready six to seven years down the line, would not lead to any incremental increase in the fleet as some of the older ones would be laid off by then, he said. He also pointed out that a greater proportion of the ships that will be acquired in the next five to six years will be big ships, that is, a distinct bias for blue water ships. “Our area of operation is not just restricted to the Indian Ocean; we are also engaged in securing energy lines and sea lines of communication,” he said, adding that as economic linkages increase, the Navy also needs to protect areas of trade. Admiral Mehta said the new naval academy for officers at Ezhimala in Kerala will start its full fledged course and induct the first batch of around 700 cadets by mid 2009. An Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, involving the countries along the entire rim of the ocean, will also be held early next year where the chiefs of various navies will work out the methodologies of connectivity and joint exercises. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 36 Green Left: No NT nuclear waste dump! Shua Garfield, Sydney 30 June 2007 Ninety people crowded into the Redfern Community Centre on June 25 to hear traditional owners, environmentalists and Aboriginal rights activists explain their concern about federal government plans to set up a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory. It was the last event of the ?From the Heart, For the Heartland? national speaking tour. Natalie Wasley of the Arid Lands Environment Centre and Beyond Nuclear Initiative told the meeting that a large campaign had stopped plans for a waste dump in South Australia. This forced the federal government into a desperate search for an alternative site before waste from the Lucas Heights reactor was returned to Australia in five years time, to avoid the embarrassment of the waste being returned to Sydney after promises that it would not be. NT was chosen because there are fewer legal avenues to challenge the plans than in the states. Audrey McCormack, Arrernte woman and Athenge Lhere traditional owner from the Wherre Therre community, three kilometres from a proposed Mount Everard dump site, and Priscilla Williams, Arrernte woman from the Atitjere community, near the proposed Harts Range site, both expressed concerns about the contamination of food sources. Diane Stokes, Warrumungu and Warlmanpa woman and Muckaty traditional owner from the Kalumpurlpa community, rejected the nomination by the Northern Land Council of the Muckaty Land Trust site: ?People say we said yes, but we didn?t say yes to it.? She explained that community elders had rejected the plan when they realised the waste was poisonous, but they weren?t listened to. Mitch, Eastern Arrernte and Luritja woman from the Engawala community, 18km from the Harts Range site, also spoke. The tour?s organisers have produced a booklet profiling the speakers, explaining the history of the campaign, and countering government misinformation about the issue. For more information about the campaign email Natalie at natwasley@alec.org.au or phone (08) 8952 2011. From: Australian News, Green Left Weekly issue #716 4 July 2007. From: Australian News GLW issue #716 - 4 July 2007: Authorised by K. Miller, 23 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, NSW. Site by Kiwa Systems ***************************************************************** 37 ReviewJournal.com: Yucca Mountain team may have to stop using state water Jun. 30, 2007 By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL The Department of Energy continues to use the state's water for drilling at the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site while State Engineer Tracy Taylor contemplates resuming his order to halt the practice, a federal spokesman said Friday. "He did lift the restriction," said Allen Benson, spokesman for the Energy Department's Office of Repository Development in Las Vegas. "Until he reinstates it, we will continue to abide by the federal district court order that we operate under." Meanwhile, Gov. Jim Gibbons has remained mum on the issue. The Review-Journal last week asked the governor's communication director about Gibbons' stance on the matter. "The governor and his staff are looking into this issue and all of its potential ramifications," Communications Director Brent Boynton said Friday. Taylor issued a cease-and-desist order on June 1 against the Energy Department. But he also gave the agency a reprieve on his own order while federal officials submit the information he requested on the drilling program and the water use. Taylor has said he never granted the Energy Department permission to use Nevada water for drilling bore holes to gather scientific data. Under a court-approved agreement, the Energy Department is only supposed to use the state's water for flushing toilets, fire suppression and dust control. The Energy Department does not have approval to use Nevada water for scientific investigation of the site, located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Bob Loux, Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency chief and a critic of the Energy Department's effort at Yucca Mountain, has said the federal entity is using the water to cool drill bits and collect samples from what will be 80 bore holes by the time the effort is completed. The samples are being gathered from deep below where the Energy Department wants to put surface facilities for handling and aging spent nuclear fuel. The samples are needed for a license application that the Energy Department intends to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by June 2008. John wrote on June 30, 2007 02:14 PM: I think every state that uses nuke power should get its own Yucca Mountain. Then they should build it 100 miles away from the most popular city in that state. So in New York, put it about 100 miles from NYC, in IL put it out in DeKalb county, in Tennessee put it 100 miles from Nashville and in Georgia put it 100 miles outside of Atlanta. The smaller NE states will have to share their nuke waste dump though since they don't have more than 100 miles total area to cover. See how they like that idea. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 38 thewest.com.au: Proposed nuclear dump in quake hot spot 2nd July 2007, 4:44 WST A Northern Territory site nominated for a national nuclear waste dump is near one of Australia's earthquake hot-spots. Muckaty Station, nominated by the Northern Land Council for consideration by the federal government for the national facility, is about 120 km north of Tennant Creek - one of the most seismologically active areas in Australia, The Northern Territory News reports. The paper says figures confirmed by Geoscience Australia, the government seismological monitoring body, show there have been 239 earthquakes in the area in the past 10 years and 1,298 earthquakes since 1988. The majority of the quakes since 1988 were measured at less than 4.0 in magnitude, but 24 had a magnitude greater than 5.0. The 1989 Newcastle earthquake measured 5.6. Tennant Creek was also the scene of a powerful 6.3 quake in 1988 that split open the earth south of the town. Territory Senator Nigel Scullion defended the process used to choose a nuclear waste site. "There is an assessment process in place which takes all these issues into consideration and I have full confidence in this process," the paper quoted him as saying. But anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned the nomination of Muckaty as a sham. The Environment Centre NT's Emma King said the federal government should go back to the drawing board and start a process based on consultation and science. "It's another example of the government going for political expediency rather than proper scientific evaluation in terms of siting a waste dump," she said. Seismologists say the frequent quakes are due to a fault line running through the area. Two small quakes have hit the Tennant Creek area in the past three weeks, both measured under 3.0 in magnitude. A nuclear waste site in the Territory has been opposed by environmentalists, the NT government and some traditional owners. AAP West Australian Newspapers Limited 2007. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 39 Daily News Journal: County calls for its own landfill tests www.dnj.com - By TURNER HUTCHENS trhutchens@dnj.com — Turner Hutchens, (615) 278-5161 Independent tests for radioactivity and other hazardous material around the Middle Point Landfill will go ahead. The Rutherford County Commission unanimously approved a resolution Friday to allow County Mayor Ernest Burgess to enter into a $10,000 contract with Griggs & Maloney, a Tennessee-based environmental and engineering consulting firm that has come up with a plan for testing several sites near the landfill on Jefferson Pike for radioactive materials. The commission also approved up to $10,000 more to test for other potentially hazardous materials in the area's water supply. Commissioner Robert Peay said it is important to take a look at all potentially hazardous materials from the dump. "If you don't know what's going into that landfill, you don't know what to test for," Peay said. "We don't know what's going in it." Kathy Ferris, a member of Rutherford County's Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee, and Rutherford Neighborhood Alliance President Stephen Schroeder both urged the commission during a meeting at the County Courthouse Friday to use experts from MTSU in the independent study. "Someone who's going to be drinking that water needs to be involved in any testing," Ferris said. The dumping of the low-level radioactive material at Middle Point under the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Bulk Survey for Release Program was brought to light last month in a report from the Maryland-based watchdog organization Nuclear Information and Resource Service. A 60-day moratorium on radioactive dumping at Middle Point Landfill until Sept. 4 was put in place by the state Legislature this month. Middle Point is one of five landfills in Tennessee used for such materials, but the moratorium applies only to Rutherford County. The state's Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee meets Thursday to initiate a state study. State officials and industry representatives have maintained that the level of radiation in the materials going into Middle Point is extremely low and, therefore, safe, but the assurances have done little to ease the minds of residents. Consolidated Utility District, which supplies water to much of Rutherford County, is also running tests on its water supply to determine if there are any increased levels of radioactivity. Murfreesboro previously conducted similar tests, though the results did not produce any red flags. Post a Comment View All Comments ====================================================================== Wake up! ClOSE THE DUMP. It is too close to the area water source. Other states, cities and localities dealt with this YEARS ago. Get your heads out of the Fifties and Sixties. You are just posturing. Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:55 am ====================================================================== Let's don't just do 'testing'. Let's have legislative hearings on how this even originated from 1995 binding agreement and signature. We need legislative hearings with the state government involved. A small trace of carcinogen (poison) leads to cancer, not only to those in Lascassas, but ALL of the groundwater and soil in Ruth. County! How many citizens of this county will be affected and DIE because of this poisonous waste so freely dumped? Let's not just discuss the 'testing'. Let's discuss CLOSING the agreement to taking Nashville's trash - all of it....! and become the most huge landfill in the history of the state per capita. Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:17 am State Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, announced Friday that he will introduce a bill to ban radioactive and nuclear dumping in Tennessee when the Legislature reconvenes in January. The proposed legislation comes after last month's disclosure that low-level radioactive waste is being dumped at Middle Point Landfill in Rutherford County under the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Bulk Survey for Release Program. "Rutherford County has become the dumping ground for radioactive waste not only from Tennessee, but all over the country, and I refuse to stand by and watch it happen," Tracy said. "My belief is that any additional amount of radioactive materials in our community is too much," Tracy said. "If it poses no harm to others, why have other states banned this practice?" Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 40 Chillicothe Gazette: BWX to work on centrifuge project www.chillicothegazette.com - Chillicothe, OH Sunday, July 1, 2007 The Gazette Staff PIKETON - A Virginia-based company will do manufacturing work for the American Centrifuge program. The U.S. Enrichment Corp. selected BWX Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Houston-based McDermott International, Inc, to do the work. Previously, the work was expected to be done by the Chicago-based Boeing Co., but USEC said this week Boeing is working with the city of Oak Ridge to make its facilities available for USEC's centrifuge manufacturing. USEC said it chose BWX because of its extensive experience with the design and cost-effective manufacturing of nuclear components and classified machinery. Originally published July 1, 2007 Copyright ©2007 Chillicothe Gazette ***************************************************************** 41 Carlsbad Current-Argus: GNEP alliance now in waiting mode for decision By Kyle Marksteiner Article Launched: 06/30/2007 08:59:53 PM MDT CARLSBAD ? Aspiring participants in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership have turned in their homework, so to speak, but it will be some time before they find out exactly how the papers will be graded. A site in Lea County, recommended by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, is one of 11 potential locations for a proposed nuclear fuel reprocessing center and an advanced burner reactor. In the spring, the sites submitted their suitability studies, which the Department of Energy will use to determine which sites may be appropriate. The Department of Energy's plan, according to Alliance members, called for drafting an environmental impact statement on three or four top sites. A final decision on the proposed GNEP facilities, based on DOE's schedule this year, was expected to be made by June 2008. The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance is a limited liability corporation consisting of the two counties, along with the cities of Hobbs and Carlsbad. The Alliance is working with Washington Group International and Areva, a French company, as its business partners. But President Bush's outline for GNEP doesn't appear to have received the full support of either branch of the now Democrat-dominated Congress. The president's request, to continue the GNEP process as scheduled, was for about $400 million in FY2008. The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, in its 2008 Energy and Water proposal, proposed $120 million for GNEP $275 million below the president's request. "It is unnecessary to rush into a plan that continues to raise concerns among scientists and has only weak support from industry given that there are reasonable options available for short term storage of nuclear waste and that this project will cost tens of billions of dollars and last for decades," the committee concluded in its official press release on the bill. But while House committee members question GNEP, they do not appear to be opposed to nuclear power in general. The same bill also called for $639.2 million for nuclear energy funding, including funding for a Next Generation Nuclear Power Plant at the Idaho National Lab. The bill also calls for $100 million in funding for an International Atomic Energy Agency Nuclear Fuel Bank, which will create a "reliable source of nuclear fuel for countries should their traditional sources be interrupted." The bank, according to the House's press release, would eliminate the need for countries to develop their own nuclear fuel uranium enrichment programs. The Senate seems to be in the middle. This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee's FY2008 Energy and Water Development bill called for $242 million for GNEP $153 million below the budget request. The Senate's bill directs DOE to focus less on commercial deployment of the advanced reactors and spent fuel reprocessing facilities, and to put more effort toward demonstrating the technical feasibility as well as a proven safety record. New Mexican Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, a supporter of GNEP, was likely outvoted. "Although I share the president's desire to address our spent fuel inventories by recycling and reducing this material, I recognize that the new congressional leadership is seeking a more modest program that can more fully demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of closing the nuclear fuel cycle as other countries have done," he said in a prepared statement earlier this week. What's ahead? With officials in Washington, D.C. continuing the debate over funding, the Eddy-Lea Alliance and other site applicants presently don't know exactly what the nation's vision of GNEP will be for next year. At the very least, the DOE should still be funded to draft environmental impact statements on some possible locations, said Mark Turnbough, principal investigator for the alliance. Moving forward on the site selection process, Turnbough said, would be a key step. "We think that if the House version prevails, there's not going to be enough money to do anything for awhile except finish the EIS and let the Secretary (of Energy) make a decision," he said. Turnbough noted that it may actually benefit supporters of GNEP to delay eliminating any potential applicants. Congressmen representing communities "still in the running" are more likely to be in favor of funding. But even the moderate Senate plan seems to suggest moving away from commercial deployment and into the realm of research. Turnbough said he feels corporations involved in the process, including Washington Group and Areva, will remain involved no matter what direction GNEP takes. Such companies are continuing to examine future commercial prospects. "These companies are looking at commercial alternatives to move forward," he said. "I think it is in their own best interests to go ahead and support the expansion of the nuclear power industry as much as possible. There could be a second life which is more commercial driven." The GNEP process so far has represented a policy change that has already stimulated a huge amount of private interest in recycling nuclear fuel, Turnbough noted. Environmental view Environmental groups opposed to GNEP obviously have different thoughts on Congressional funding. Retired minister and Carlsbad resident Gene Harbaugh has often been the single voice of opposition at GNEP meetings in Carlsbad over the past year. Harbaugh has found like-minded individuals in northern New Mexico, and even in Roswell, another potential GNEP participant. A slower-moving GNEP plan that seems to focus more on research partially appealed to him. "I think at this point there is some question about the technology, and whether the technology that is proposed will actually work," Harbaugh said. "If there is money for research, that could help to clarify that it would be clean and safe, then I think there's something there to look at." But, Harbaugh said, he would still rather see the money invested in other directions. "We have not been able to solve the toxic waste problem," he said. "We continue to spend billions to clean up messes we made. Had that money been spent in research and development of alternate sources, we would be much further ahead." Harbaugh said his primary objection to GNEP is over some of the toxic byproducts that will be produced. And he also opposed GNEP due to some of the potential political ramifications related to proliferation the process involves. He also said that nuclear energy remains a heavily subsidized industry with money that he again stressed could be better spent in a different direction. "If that money were spent in research in solar, wind and other types of clean energy, the rewards will be immense," he said. Harbaugh stressed that he is not an outright opponent of the original concept of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, noting that it was "a good kind of proposal, and at least a solution," but he was one of a handful of Carlsbad residents who spoke out several years ago when Carlsbad was being considered for a proposed plutonium pit manufacturing facility. The National Nuclear Security Administration later downgraded its pit needs after a study concluded that pits degrade at a much slower rate than previously believed. "And we were about to build a $6 billion facility," Harbaugh observed. "There seems to be a history of having a big hype about a possibility of a big development, then we never hear about it again. I think it often has to do with the fact that it does not gain enough support. And I think that's what's going to happen to this one (GNEP). I don't believe this program has enough merit to be able to gain the support it needs in Congress. It will fail, and we will have wasted that much more time and money in developing something that is unusable." Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group ***************************************************************** 42 Buffalo News: U.S. names new firm to supervise $159.3 million nuclear waste cleanup Other WNY Updated: 06/30/07 7:11 AM ASHFORD — The next phase of the cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project will be conducted by West Valley Environmental Services LLC of Aiken, S.C., the U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday. West Valley Environmental Services will be paid about $159.3 million through June 30, 2011. This is not the last step in the cleanup. That is being negotiated between state and federal agencies. The new contractor will perform radioactive waste disposal, decontamination, deactivation and disposition of facilities, and infrastructure/landlord activities. Bryan Bower, federal project director at West Valley, said Friday that under the new contract, the former Western New York Nuclear Service Center’s main process plant will be decontaminated and prepared for demolition. Also, all facilities no longer needed for future operations will be removed, and waste OK’d for acceptance at disposal facilities will be removed. West Valley Environmental Services comprises Washington Group International, Jacobs Engineering Group, Environmental Chemical Corp. and Parallax Inc. The company will work with the outgoing contractor, West Valley Nuclear Services Co., under a 90- day transition period beginning Sunday. Ju The state-owned site— where the only U.S. commercial nuclear fuel-reprocessing facility operated — has been the focus of cleanup efforts for more than 30 years. Ninety percent of the West Valley budget is paid by the federal government. The project will receive $75 million in funding during 2007. The workforce, which has been reduced from 1,200 to about 300 in the past decade, will be determined during the transition period. In the meantime, a future decommissioning decision will decide the fate of building foundations, high-level waste canisters and waste created by the high-level waste-solidification project, along with two burial grounds containing high- and low-level wastes, underground high-level waste tanks and other types of high-level and low-level wastes in other forms. During a meeting Wednesday of the advisory West Valley Citizen Task Force, representatives of the site administrator, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), unveiled a proposal to remove controversial issues from consideration in the decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship plan. Three key areas in the plan are removal of the main process building, remediation of a migrating radioactive plume of underground water containing strontium, and formation of an advisory panel of scientists on issues such as the potential for soil erosion over the next several thousand years. © 2007 The Buffalo News. The information you receive online from The ***************************************************************** 43 Scotland on Sunday: Bury your own nuclear waste, Executive told Sunday, 1st July 2007 Change Date Sellafield: plant currently stores radioactive waste from Scotland. Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Editorial MURDO MACLEOD POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT SCOTLAND has been warned that it will have to dispose of its own nuclear waste after pulling out of UK-wide talks on dealing with the highly radioactive material. Local authorities at the Sellafield nuclear-processing plant in Cumbria say they may refuse permission for shipments and storage of spent fuel rods from north of the Border. They have accused Scottish ministers of being "parochial" and "entrenched" after the Executive said it would no longer work with a UK government committee which is examining how to store nuclear waste in the long term. The nuclear waste is a mixture of radioactive metals, which together have a half-life of about 1,000 years - the time taken for the radioactivity to fall by 50%. After that period, although the substances are still radioactive, they are much less toxic. However, the waste needs to be stored and monitored for centuries afterwards. The Scottish Executive last week pulled out of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) talks, which are focusing on burying waste deep underground in shafts. The outline plans include a deep store somewhere in Scotland. This could be available for waste of particular grades from both sides of the Border. But the SNP Executive is opposed to new nuclear power north of the Border and insiders believe the CoRWM talks are aimed at justifying the case for building more nuclear plants in addition to dealing with waste. Scotland's two operational nuclear power plants send hundreds of tonnes of spent fuel rods south of the Border to Sellafield each year. There they are reprocessed to be used in other parts of the nuclear industry and each rod produces a pellet of waste about an inch long which is encased in glass. Currently , the waste from the fuel rods is being held at Sellafield pending a longer-term solution to the question of where to put it. One of the options for long-term storage of such waste is to keep it at Sellafield in a deep shaft. But council leaders in the area have warned they may veto plans for waste from Scottish rods to be stored in the area. Although they have no formal powers to block future plans by a UK government to allow waste to be stored in the area, they must be consulted by law. Ministers have made it clear they would not force a repository to be built in an area where the local authority was opposed to it, and they have also accepted the right of councils to limit the amount of waste they receive and where it comes from. Timothy Heslop, the executive member on Cumbria County Council for economic regeneration and nuclear issues, said: "If the Scots are taking the view that they are, then let them accept that their waste is not coming across the Border." He added that Cumbria will debate its position after the summer break, but that there was a cross-party consensus among both the Tory-Lib Dem coalition on the council and the Labour opposition that the Scottish waste should not be allowed to remain long term. Tim Knowles, the Labour nuclear spokesman at Cumbria, said: "Given that Scotland has taken against nuclear across the board, I'm quite happy for Scotland to look after their own nuclear waste. The CoRWM was actually a very good consultation. If the Scottish position wasn't so entrenched then there would be room for some movement." An insider added: "It would work like this: the minister will get up and announce where the repository is to be built, and a local MP - primed by both the council and the minister - will ask whether Scottish waste will be stored at the repository. Minister replies, no, that the Scots have decided to go their own way and do their own thing and they can store their own waste." The Executive said it was justified in pulling out of the talks and would remain in contact with the rest of the UK on the issue of nuclear waste even if it no longer had a role in CoRWM. A spokesman said: "The Scottish government will of course continue to work closely with the UK government and other devolved administrations on radioactive waste policy, but we believe that a geological repository in Scotland is not the right way forward." Related topic * Nuclear energy http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1343 This article: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1026452007 Last updated: 30-Jun-07 00:51 BST ©2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms & conditions ***************************************************************** 44 Star Phoenix: Nuclear demand will outstrip supply - CEO Reuters Published: Saturday, June 30, 2007 Uranium spot prices are unsustainable at current levels over the long term, the chief executive of miner Cameco Corp. CCO.TO said on Wednesday, but he also forecast global demand for the nuclear fuel outstripping production for the next eight or nine years. Jerry Grandey told reporters at the company's head office that he expects uranium demand to grow at three per cent annually for the next decade, forcing utilities to continue to depend on inventories to fill the gap. The supply-demand imbalance has driven prices up sharply over the past few years. Spot prices hit $136 a pound recently, a level which Grandey admits he never anticipated back when Cameco -- now the world's largest uranium producer -- was buying up low-cost, high quality reserves before the recent price run-up. "There are properties that we acquired and then gave up, around which people have now built companies," he said. "If we had anticipated properly that it was going to be $136 a pound, then we may have been more active in acquisitions." However, Grandey is not in any rush to jump back in and start buying up smaller players outright, preferring instead to take small stakes in companies with near-term production prospects, with the rights to raise the stake depending on the eventual production. "There isn't a whole lot of out there to acquire that's meaningful," he said, but added that he wouldn't rule out a major takeover. Such an approach varies from its competitors, such as French state-owned Areva CEPFi.PA, which recently made a $2.5-billion cash offer for Toronto-listed uranium explorer UraMin Inc. UMN.TO, which owns exploration rights on several properties in Africa. © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007 © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks ***************************************************************** 45 Star Phoenix: Russian warheads boost nuclear supply canada.com where perspectives connect Reuters Published: Saturday, June 30, 2007 Russia has enough highly enriched uranium in the form of aging nuclear warheads to help supply the nuclear energy industry until about 2030, the chief executive of uranium producer Cameco Corp. said on Wednesday. Jerry Grandey, whose company is part of a consortium charged with managing the sale of the fuel, said Russia has an additional 800 tonnes of the material, over and above the 500 tonnes it agreed to sell under a 20-year contract with the United States signed in 1993. "The Russians have got a lot more weapons material beyond 2013. There's a suspicion that some part of it could be contaminated, we don't know how much," Grandey told reporters at Cameco's head office in Saskatoon. View Larger Image A scoop loader with a bucket full of low grade uranium is tested for grade after it was drilled out at the Cameco McArthur River uranium mine site in northern Saskatchewan "We believe there's another 800 metric tonnes that Russia would have in lots of different forms. The issue is whether there's going to be some kept strategically for military purposes." Under the 1993 agreement, the high-grade uranium is diluted into low-enriched uranium suitable for nuclear fuel. The supply from the original agreement has helped make up for mined uranium supply falling short of demand in recent years. © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007 ***************************************************************** 46 icNewcastle: Nuclear dump fallout fears Jul 1 2007 By Robert Weatherall, The Sunday Sun Communities bidding to store thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste have been warned they could be left financially ruined if they win the controversial contract despite the promise of huge Government subsidies. Volunteer local authorities are being looked for to host an underground storage site for radioactive material in return for millions of pounds of investment in schools, roads and sports facilities. But Greenpeace campaigners are warning the "winners" could end up with a poisoned chalice. A study carried out in the 1980s identified two sites in the North as potential homes for a storage area. These were an offshore facility near Redcar, Teesside and another at Sellafield in Cumbria. Greenpeace nuclear advisor Jean McSorley - who lives in Cumbria - claims that apart from the obvious environmental dangers of hosting radioactive waste civic leaders should think about the long-term economic effects of their area being essentially marketed as a nuclear dumping ground. She explained: "Ideally we think that waste should be left at the sites where it is being stored at the moment and made as secure as possible. "Transporting it and putting it all in one place means that if the selected site has problems you have put all your eggs in one basket." Any storage facility would need to be around 1000 metres below ground in reinforced concrete tunnels with the waste secured in iron reinforced copper canisters. Ms McSorley added: "The financial incentives which are on offer will need to be balanced against any lack of investment which may occur. The world is becoming increasingly green and in decades to come I can't see businesses wanting to invest in an area associated with the stigma of being the world's largest nuclear waste disposal site." Redcar and Cleveland Council have said they have no intention of bidding to host the sites but their counterparts at Cumbria County Council have not ruled themselves out of the running. Cumbria County Councillor Timothy Heslop - who has responsibility for nuclear issues - said: "It is made clear that the Government is looking to encourage communities to volunteer rather than imposing facilities. "That is something we have been lobbying strongly for. It needs to be clear from the outset how communities will be rewarded for agreeing to host a disposal facility and I believe those rewards need to be considerable. "It's not yet time for communities to put their hands up and say `we'll have this'". Copyright and Trade Mark Notice ***************************************************************** 47 Sydney Morning Herald: Warning on nuclear waste storage - www.smh.com.au Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington July 2, 2007 AUSTRALIA should allow nuclear waste to be stored in the outback as part of a worldwide effort to secure fissile material and prevent it falling into the hands of terrorists, the former US ambassador on disarmament and weapons of mass destruction, Robert Gallucci, believes. "The thing that keeps national security strategists awake at night is not nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran and North Korea," he told the Herald in an interview before his arrival in Australia tomorrow. "It's fissile material in the hands of a terrorist organisation. "Against that threat we have no answer. We can't deter it; we can't negotiate. You have got to make sure they don't get the material in the first place." Dr Gallucci, who spent 21 years with the US State Department and is an expert on nuclear proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, will visit Australia this week to talk to government officials and speak at several conferences. He is now dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University but his experience has included being deputy executive chairman of the United Nations Special Commission overseeing the disarmament of Iraq after the first Gulf War and the chief US negotiator during the North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994. The former president Bill Clinton made him special envoy on disarmament and weapons of mass destruction. Dr Gallucci's message to Australian officials may not be entirely welcome. He said Australia, because of its geological stability, space and stable political climate, was well placed to become a repository for nuclear material. "It's not a technical challenge, it's a political challenge," he said, noting that the US storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, approved in 2002, was still not commissioned. Dr Gallucci said the lack of storage meant that countries that had nuclear reactors were reprocessing their fuel rods and producing additional plutonium or highly enriched uranium, both of which were highly fissile and could be used in a dirty bomb. "What do you do when you find yourself in a hole? Stop digging. We are in a hole now. The first thing to do is to stop producing more plutonium or highly enriched uranium, and the second thing is to secure all that we have. The third thing is to bury what we have." Dr Gallucci said the risks of terrorists getting hold of material for a nuclear device were growing with the rise in the amount of fissile material in countries that had inadequate storage and security. Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 48 BBC NEWS: Atom bomb row minister apologises Last Updated: Sunday, 1 July 2007, 08:05 GMT 09:05 UK Mr Kyuma is an MP for Nagasaki Japan's defence minister has apologised for saying the US atom bomb attacks in World War II were inevitable. Fumio Kyuma's comments had outraged bomb survivors and sparked calls from opposition parties for his dismissal. The minister said he was sorry if he had given the impression he lacked respect for the victims of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had said in a speech at a university that the bombing appeared to be "something that couldn't be helped". See a graphic showing how the Hiroshima attack took place The US, he added, must have thought the bombs "could prompt Japan's surrender, thus preventing the Soviet Union from declaring war against Japan". Hiroshima has preserved some of its ruins from the blast Japanese leaders rarely comment on the use of the atom bomb against Japan for fear of damaging ties with the US. In a television debate, opposition politicians condemned Mr Kyuma's speech. "As victims of atomic bombs, we never justify nuclear weapons no matter what the conditions are," said Takeaki Matsumoto, a senior MP in the Democratic Party. Another MP, Tomoko Abe of the Social Democratic Party, said that Mr Kyuma was not fit to be defence minister and should resign. The bombs which hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima, in a US bid to force Japan to surrender in 1945, killed about 240,000 people. The row comes ahead of upper house elections on 29 July in which the ruling party faces dwindling public support. THE ATTACK ON HIROSHIMA 0812 local time, 6 August 1945: 1. American B-29 bomber Enola Gay approaches Hiroshima at an altitude of about 9,357 metres, and begins its bombing run 2. At 0815 it releases the atomic bomb Little Boy 3. The aircraft then performs a sharp, 155-degree right turn and dives an estimated 518 metres 4. At 0816, the bomb explodes with a force of 13 kilotons at a height of approximately 576 metres above the city 5. About a minute later the first shock wave, travelling at about 335 metres per second, hits the aircraft HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI 'Black rain falling' on Hiroshima Witnessing Nagasaki 'bonfire' Survivors keep memories alive Memories of the Enola Gay Hiroshima arguments rage on Hiroshima then and now WATCH/LISTEN Survivor interviews * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 49 Guardian Unlimited: Kyuma: Atomic Bombs Ended World War II From the Associated Press Saturday June 30, 2007 5:46 AM TOKYO (AP) - Japan's defense minister said the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan during World War II ``couldn't be helped,'' a news report said Saturday. ``The bombing ended the war, and I think that couldn't be helped,'' Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma was quoted as saying in a speech by Kyodo News agency. Japan is the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 50 Aiken Today: Company bought by SRS contractor AikenStandard.com Sat, Jun 30, 2007 By JOSH VOORHEES Staff writer One of the nation's leading nuclear contractor's announced this week that it has acquired a South Carolina waste management company. EnergySolutions, which manages the solid waste treatment on the Savannah River Site, purchased Columbia-based NUKEM Corporation. "We are delighted to have NUKEM Corporation join the EnergySolutions family," said John Christian, president of commercial services for EnergySolutions, while making the announcement. "It is a quality organization with skilled and experienced personnel and proven technologies that will improve our ability to serve our customers." NUKEM has approximately 70 employees, many of whom are based in South Carolina offices and facilities. The company, founded in 1982, operates the Columbia Maintenance Facility. "This is a great opportunity to join such a dynamic growing company with such far reaching capabilities," said John Raymont, president of NUKEM. In addition to EnergySolutions current work at SRS, the company is also one of three contractors responsible for the design, construction and operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at SRS. The facility has an expected start-up date in 2009. The company has also submitted its bid to the Energy Department to build two new nuclear facilities in Barnwell that would be key elements in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. The GNEP program is a part of President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, which seeks to reduce the nation's reliance on imported oil by pursuing alternative energy opportunities. Contact Josh Voorhees at jvoorhees@aikenstandard.com. © 2005 The AikenStandard. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 51 SF New Mexican: While lab celebrates, critics push change By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican June 30, 2007 LANL produces first nuclear-weapons trigger in 18 years Los Alamos National Laboratory officials, along with some of their biggest supporters, on Monday will celebrate a major milestone for the lab’s nuclear-weapons program. Opponents of such weapons, meanwhile, plan to counter the celebration as they continue their push for a new mission for Los Alamos, birthplace of the atomic bomb. The lab has produced the first plutonium pit to be accepted by the government for use in the nation’s nuclear-weapons stockpile in 18 years, the National Nuclear Security Administration reports. Plutonium pits are the triggers for nuclear weapons. “In an era where dangerous nations are trying to develop nuclear capabilities, the United States must maintain its national security, and that includes a strong nuclear deterrent,” U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said recently through a spokesman. “That’s just a simple fact. We cannot ignore this very real threat, and LANL has been assigned the mission of ensuring our nuclear deterrent is the strongest it can be.” Domenici is scheduled to attend a news conference in Los Alamos with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and officials from the U.S. Department of Energy. That event is closed to the public. U.S. Rep. Tom Udall of Santa Fe and U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, both Democrats, were not listed on the program. Meanwhile, a group of doctors, religious leaders and lab watchdogs plans to gather at the Hilltop House Hotel in Los Alamos to argue for “an alternative mission that envisions tackling national security threats, and the energy challenges facing the U.S. and the world,” a news release from the New Mexico Conference of Churches said. That event, set for 11 a.m. Monday, is open to the public. Global warming, energy problems and nonproliferation are examples of the type of work that could be tackled at Los Alamos, said Mike McCally, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, which is also part of Monday’s event. “It’s the right thing to do,” McCally said. “We don’t need a Cold War weapons program.” The lab does some energy and nonproliferation work now, but most of its budget is for the weapons program. The federally-funded laboratory — a major force in Northern New Mexico’s economy — is part of an ongoing debate over whether the country should build more triggers and new warheads in coming years. Supporters say it’s good to have replacement parts and new designs in the nuclear-weapons stockpile. Others, however, say it’s not necessary and sets a bad example to the rest of the world. Arguments over the mission of Los Alamos made news recently when the U.S. House of Representatives moved to cut weapons programs and increase renewable-energy research spending across the country. A Senate version of that spending bill, crafted with great input by Domenici, would restore the cuts that otherwise would hit Los Alamos the hardest. Wilson said recently that the cuts would “devastate the nuclear-weapons program.” Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. ***************************************************************** 52 Chillicothe Gazette: Activist : A nuclear facility doesn’t always mean jobs for community Lois Gibbs visits Pike County www.chillicothegazette.com - Chillicothe, OH Sunday, July 1, 2007 By ASHLEY LYKINS Gazette Staff Writer PIKETON — “Nuclear” isn’t synonymous with “jobs,” said one activist in Pike County Saturday night. A handful of people, including noted author and activist Lois Gibbs, gathered for an intimate town meeting with speakers who touched on topics ranging from the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership to newly discovered earthworks near the Department of Energy reservation. “Moving (spent nuclear fuel rods) at all is a tremendously risky opportunity for God knows what to happen,” said Mary Olson, director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service’s southeast office. One of 11 sites to be chosen for review for GNEP, the Piketon Uranium Enrichment plant could be home to a program officials say will recycle spent fuel rods and convert them to new fuel for nuclear power plants. Olson called GNEP a magician’s scarf and dove that inherently has an agenda to “stick it to the community.” If the Energy Department chooses to place the partnership in Piketon, two possible facilities could be built, including an advanced nuclear fuel recycling center, which would separate used nuclear fuel into its reusable and waste components. The other building would be an advanced recycling reactor, which would demolish radioactive aspects of the used fuel while generating electricity. However, Olson believes the location of Piketon, where she thinks storage of nuclear waste will occur, and the location of Asheville, N.C. — both on U.S. 23 — is indicative of an already planned situation. She said it's possible Asheville would be the reprocessing site while the waste would be brought north to Piketon. “It makes sense they would think of a storage site here,” she said. “This would be a huge regional impact ... It’s a false construct that nuclear equals jobs.” Nonetheless, the Southern Ohio Nuclear Integration Cooperative insists the project would be a catalyst to economic development, bringing a mass of jobs to an impoverished region. It has consistently refused that Piketon would become a dumping ground for nuclear waste, noting no nuclear material would be brought in unless the GNEP facilities were constructed. The cooperative is made up of the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, based in Piketon, and the Piketon Initiative for Nuclear Independence, a privately-held group in Cleveland. Expressing concern, Geoffrey Sea, co-founder of the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group, which opposes GNEP, maintains SONIC didn’t mention any historically significant sites in the area in its study for the partnership, when he said he found a giant earthwork that had been “lost” near the Energy Department reservation. “No one knew the earthwork was there,” he said, noting it has a 320-feet diameter and it was last photographed in 1930. Sea said a major entrance road goes over the site, which is currently being surveyed. “This isn't supposed to happen,” he said. “This is plainly visible by looking at aerial photographs ... There’s no excuse for the atomic agency ... to not know it’s there.” Gibbs, founder and director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, spoke about environmental justice issues Saturday evening. She founded the Love Canal Homeowners Association nearly 30 years ago, when she raised awareness of a chemical dump site's potentially hazardous health threats in Love Canal, N.Y., according to a news release from the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group. She authored “Love Canal: My Story” in 1982 and has another book in the works. The group compares Piketon resident Tressie Hall, co-founder of Southern Ohio Neighbors Group, to Gibbs because she began organizing people in Pike County in 1989. “They have acted like they can do absolutely anything here without question or opposition, even making us into a national dumping ground for nuclear waste,” she said in the news release. “We may suffer for lack of education, but we know better than to let this go on the way it has.” Representatives from the nuclear integration cooperative couldn’t be reached Saturday. (Lykins can be reached at 772-9376 or via e-mail at anlykins@nncogannett.com) Originally published July 1, 2007 Copyright ©2007 Chillicothe Gazette ***************************************************************** 53 Knoxville News Sentinel: Getting ready for new role at Battelle Former ORNL chief Wadsworth talks strategy and vision for 7 national labs By Frank Munger (Contact) Sunday, July 1, 2007 Video: An ORNL director's goodbye Outgoing ORNL director Jeff Wadsworth reflects on the state of the laboratory as he leaves to assume a top position with Battelle in Columbus, Ohio. ABOUT BATTELLE Founded in 1929 by the estate of Gordon Battelle to encourage inventors and support charitable work Based in Columbus, Ohio Employs 20,000 people at 120 locations worldwide Conducts $3.8 billion annually in research activities, with more than 100 patents annually Bills itself as the “world’s largest nonprofit independent research and development organization’’ OAK RIDGE — Jeff Wadsworth is a big fan of Manchester United, a champion soccer club with a storied history in his native England. That seems oddly relevant as Wadsworth describes plans to nourish science and technology in the United States and help sustain U.S. leadership internationally. “I like dynasties,” he said during one of his final days at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a lab he directed for the past four years. Wadsworth, 57, left Oak Ridge last week to assume an executive role with Battelle — a budding dynasty in U.S. research. The nonprofit company currently manages or co-manages seven national laboratories, including the one in Oak Ridge, and exerts influence in ways that may not be fully seen or understood for years to come. From Battelle headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, Wadsworth will oversee the work at those laboratories, chart ways to retain management contracts as they come up for renewal — three are back on the market at the moment — and develop strategies for expansion. “There are some new targets, both nationally and internationally, that we’re exploring,” he said. Some scientists, including a few veteran researchers in Oak Ridge, have expressed concern that the Battelle juggernaut could result in cloned research factories that ultimately stifle creativity and productivity. Wadsworth sees Battelle’s ascension as a noble cause in a rapidly changing world where science rules and where advancements can translate into economic power and homeland security. “We have to stay ahead,” he said. The 21st century playing field is no longer restricted to traditional heavyweights of the industrial world. Wadsworth pointed to China, where a Taiwanese businessman recently put up the capital to build a nanoscience center at a Beijing university in return for 50 percent of the intellectual properties. According to Wadsworth, the Chinese facility matches anything of its kind in the United States, including ORNL’s $65 million Center for Nanophase Materials Science that came into being last year. These kinds of developments are cropping up everywhere. For $100 million a year, a country can become a big-time player in the world of supercomputing, Wadsworth said. For about half that investment, he said, it’s possible to make a difference in biology — where the map of the human genome and half of the scientific starter kit is available on the World Wide Web. With an annual investment of maybe $300 million, an international team could get serious about the nexus of information science, nanoscience and bioscience, where all sorts of important results may be unleashed, he said. “For a nation state, that’s not that big a bill,” Wadsworth said. “That’s going to become increasingly competitive because a lot of countries can play.” Staying ahead may require a new model, he said. “We have to be smarter and more agile than before. And I think if you have multiple assets, such as Battelle, you’re in better position to do that because you can think about how to integrate them, how to leverage them, how to focus in one or more areas more readily than people who don’t have our breadth of assets.” Besides ORNL, which Battelle co-manages with the University of Tennessee, the company has a major involvement at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York; Idaho National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado; the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center in Maryland; and (beginning in October) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. All but one of the labs are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. Given its position, Battelle has an opportunity and an obligation to move science forward and solve national problems, Wadsworth said. “We spend about $3 billion of other people’s money at these labs, and we have some of the world’s most powerful facilities and a lot of the country’s brainpower collected in these various areas. We have partnerships with all the great universities, with lots of international partnerships. So I think we’d be selling ourselves short if we didn’t think about how we should help in the national debates on science futures.” Battelle’s broad presence increases the likelihood of multiple labs working together, using shared lessons and successes, and that provides a greater return to the federal government, Wadsworth said. It also makes it easier for research scientists and engineers and administrators to move their careers along by changing locations, he said. Most of Battelle’s acquisitions have taken place in the past decade, but Wadsworth said the company does not aspire to manage all government labs. In fact, he said Battelle generally passes on opportunities to manage “single-purpose” labs — such as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The company also steers clear of nuclear weapons work. Although Battelle is part of the new management team at Lawrence Livermore, a weapons design lab, Wadsworth said the company is specifically in charge of the non-weapons “work for others” program there. The Battelle model focuses on large, multi-purpose science research laboratories, he said. Even then, there are exceptions, such as the decision not to bid on Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. “We didn’t think their portfolio was something that would complement what we were currently doing,” Wadsworth said without being specific. Still, Battelle is in a dominant position with the DOE contracting world, and one of Wadsworth’s jobs is to keep it there. He said Battelle had studied the tenure of contractors that earlier ruled the roost — Westinghouse, Lockheed Martin, EG&G — and tried to figure out why and how they fell from favor. “Our conclusion was they didn’t pay attention to operational stuff, and they didn’t keep an ‘A’ team. In order words, they allowed themselves to become diluted in terms of the quality of people they put on (new contracts),” he said. Battelle emphasizes recruiting and succession planning and tries to rotate talented people at different labs to give them experience and broaden their view, Wadsworth said. Thom Mason, the new ORNL director who takes office Monday, is a relative newbie by Battelle standards. He directed the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source through successful construction and initial operations but had limited experience at other sites. Wadsworth, on the other hand, worked at Battelle Memorial Institute, where he was recruited from Lawrence Livermore before coming to Oak Ridge. Bill Madia, Wadsworth’s predecessor as executive VP for lab operations, was lab director both at Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest. “You have to enjoy complex systems and a certain amount of chaos,” Wadsworth said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 54 lamonitor.com: Congress will be told about future security slip-ups The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor The Department of Energy promised to do a better job notifying Congress about security incidents. Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell sent out a memorandum spelling out the new rules for promptly informing staffs of key congressional committees about loss of personal information and compromised classified material, among other matters. Sell's guidelines, issued last week, were included in a news release from the Committee on Energy and Commerce on Friday. Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., chairman, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee's oversight panel, had requested additional information in a June 14 letter to Energy Secretary Bodman about a previously undisclosed security breach by a consultant and board members of Los Alamos National Security, LLC. That incident had not been reported to the committee, when it became known within the department on Jan. 19, 2006, a few days before Stupak's subcommittee held a hearing related to an incident discovered in Oct. 2006, involving classified material removed from the premises of Los Alamos National Laboratory by a contract employee. Dingell and Stupak said they had learned of the violation, rated as "a most serious risk" only after the hearing and by sources other than DOE. They asked Bodman for a briefing, a copy of the classified incident report, and an unclassified version of the report. In reply, Bodman called the incident "human error" and said it was not evidence of a widespread security failure. New instances of potential security lapses were reported in the national press last week. An incident involving a LANL employee's laptop lost in Ireland was discounted by lab and national officials, but an unsecured e-mail transmission of classified information by a laboratory worker to colleagues at the Nevada Test Site was still under investigation. Sell's instructions to the department called for reporting "penetration of a classified network," and "systemic compromise" of classified intelligence information, based on scale and persistence. Sell also offered quarterly reports on security incidents and trends to the key energy, appropriations, defense and intelligence committees. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 55 lamonitor.com: Delivery of first plutonium pit draws visitors The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor Los Alamos National Laboratory will host a group of national officials Monday, marking the resumption of a manufacturing capability considered critical to the maintenance of nuclear weapons. Since the Rocky Flats plant in Colorado was closed in 1989, the nation has lacked the ability to make triggers, known as pits, for its nuclear weapons. The occasion marks the first pit accepted for delivery to the nation's nuclear stockpile, signifying that the capability has been restored. The W-88 pit is used on submarine-launched Trident II missiles. In a recent list of achievements for this year, LANL said it would complete 10 war-reserve pits by the end of September. A Congressional Research Service document in 2004 on pit production issues explained that a war-reserve pit is a certified pit, as distinguished from a certifiable pit. The laboratory has produced certifiable pits over the last few years using approved processes and standards, but a certified pit, qualified to be used in the deployed nuclear arsenal, must meet demanding performance standards as a product. Without testing, the report stated, the laboratory was expected to demonstrate through computer models, various large and small scale experiments and archived data from past nuclear tests "that Los Alamos pits are equivalent to Rocky Flats pits in many key characteristics." The guests for Monday's tour and ceremonies will include Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.; Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.; and Bill Ostendorff, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. Also Monday, a collection of groups advocating changes in the laboratory mission in view of contemporary security threats and energy challenges, plan to hold an alternative meeting in the Tyuonyi Room , Hilltop House Hotel (Best Western), 400 Trinity Drive at Central Avenue. The group includes Mike McCally, executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Jay Coghlan, director, Nuclear Watch New Mexico; Barbara Dua, New Mexico Conference of Churches; and Bob Peurifoy, retired vice resident of Sandia National Laboratory (by teleconference). © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************