***************************************************************** 07/12/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.162 ***************************************************************** 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 Earth Times: Germany widens inquiry on Iran nuclear exports 2 Reuters: Oil aid heads to North Korea, nuclear talks set 3 Asia Times: The world according to Pyongyang 4 [NYTr] Obit: Corbin Harney, Shoshone Leader, anti-Nuke Activist 5 Economist.com: Energy for China 6 UPI: FAS: China updating nuke launch sites 7 UNIAN: Russia to shut down early-warning radars in Ukraine NUCLEAR REACTORS 8 US: NRC: NRC Assigns New Resident Inspectors to Indian Point Nuclear 9 US: SignOnSanDiego.com: Hikers want wider access to land near Diablo 10 US: Platts: Vermont lawmakers fail to override veto of nuclear power 11 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Controversial letter not part of evidence 12 US: Reuters: California lawmaker seeks vote on nuclear power 13 US: TCPalm: Nuclear plant on Hutchinson Island builds for future 14 Kommersant Moscow: Belarusian Nuclear Plant Risks Going Underground 15 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin's 2nd unit supplies power to the grid 16 US: MHNN: Woodstock to Rock the Reactors 17 Hemscott: Japan plans reactor that can reduce nuclear waste b 40 pct 18 US: Hemscott: La.: Entergy seeks OK on energy project 19 US: ajc.com: Georgia Power clears early hurdle on nuke plans 20 US: TheDay.com: Dominion Looks to Produce More Electricity 21 Viet Nam News: France to help build nuclear plant 22 AFP: Bush, Singh discuss nuclear pact - 23 Whitehaven News: Thorp plant allowed to start operations again 24 DutchNews.nl: 'Wind power beats nuclear', says AD 25 AU ABC: Cyclists pedal against nuclear power ABC Sunshine and Cooloo 26 The Hindu: Nuclear deal in ‘make or break’ zone NUCLEAR SECURITY 27 US: newsobserver.com: GAO to review nuclear safety 28 US: Reuters: Fake firm gets nuclear license in U.S. govt sting 29 US: UPI: Fake U.S. firm able to buy nuclear devices 30 US: ST: Federal sting obtains materials for 'dirty bombs,' investiga 31 US: AFP: Sting exposes gaps in US security for nuclear material - re 32 US: AFP: Weak nuclear controls could allow 'dirty' bomb - US probe - NUCLEAR SAFETY 33 Platts: Vattenfall's Kruemmel BWR likely to be offline until late Au 34 US: NAS: Project: Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 35 US: TheStar.com: Protest planned against proposed uranium mine 36 BBC NEWS: Plutonium incident leads to fine 37 The Herald: Dounreay chiefs are fined Ł15,000 after worker breathes 38 NRC: USEC Centrufuge plant 39 RGJ.com: Political interference hurts offices' ability to function 40 RGJ.com: Shoshone, Paiute elder dies 41 US: AU ABC: Uranium explorer confident of Qld policy change - 42 US: AU ABC: Beattie urged to 'get with the times' over uranium minin PEACE 43 US: Indybay: Anti-Nculear Activist and Spritual Leader Corbin Harney US DEPT. OF ENERGY 44 Inside Bay Area: Site 300 doesn't make bio-lab list 45 Knoxville News Sentinel: Wamp touts Y-12 success, sounds warning ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Earth Times: Germany widens inquiry on Iran nuclear exports Posted : Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:07:10 GMT Author : DPA Potsdam, Germany - Germany has expanded an inquiry into how a crane and other parts for an Iranian nuclear power station were exported five years ago in defiance of a ban on nuclear trade. Christoph Lange, a spokesman for prosecutors in Potsdam near Berlin, said Thursday the number of firms implicated in the inquiry had grown to 50, most of them based in the west of Germany. The equipment was allegedly exported across the Polish border to Russia, which has a 1995 contract to repair and complete the damaged, German-built Iranian power reactor at Bushehr. Unlike Moscow, Berlin is strictly opposed to any nuclear exports to Iran. Lange said several of the business people had already been convicted and had received suspended jail terms or fines. Investigators discovered in 2004 that Russian engineers had bought in 2001 and 2002 a special crane to raise and lower the fuel rods in the Bushehr light-water reactor, which was designed by German engineering company Siemens before the Iranian revolution. Nuclear experts say it is feasible to obtain weapons-grade radioactive material from such a reactor. The Bushehr site, begun in 1974, was bombed and badly damaged during the first Gulf War. Because of the German design, standard Russian nuclear equipment would not fit existing reactor parts. Copyright © 2007 Respective Author (c) 2007 Earthtimes.org, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 2 Reuters: Oil aid heads to North Korea, nuclear talks set Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:27AM EDT By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea sent oil to the North on Thursday, part of a deal by which the communist state is to shut its nuclear reactor, and Beijing said big powers would meet next week for talks to push Pyongyang to scrap its atomic arms program. A ship carrying 6,200 tons of fuel oil was expected to dock in the energy-starved North on Saturday, the day a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog is due to arrive to oversee closure of the reactor, source of Pyongyang's weapons-grade plutonium. Speaking to reporters in Seoul, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it would take a month to set up all the monitoring equipment needed to make sure Pyongyang lives up to its pledge to mothball the Soviet-era reactor. "That is not a complicated process because we would simply, at that stage, shut down the reactor and make sure that there's enough monitoring equipment to ensure that at all times we can verify and provide assurance about the shutdown of the facility," Mohamed ElBaradei said. What is expected to be a 10-member IAEA team will gather over the next two days in Beijing and then fly into North Korea. At six-way talks in February, North Korea agreed to shut the reactor at Yongbyon, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, and allow IAEA inspectors back into the country in exchange for the oil supplied by the South. Last week, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the communist state might shut down the Yongbyon plant, which also contains a nuclear reprocessing facility, once the oil arrives. MOMENTUM BUILDING The next round of six-way talks, grouping the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, is due to open in Beijing on July 18, China's Foreign Ministry said. The scheduled two-day session comes as momentum has been building in an often sputtering denuclearization process. Continued... ***************************************************************** 3 Asia Times: The world according to Pyongyang Jul 13, 2007 By Andrei Lankov Over the past couple of weeks, the small community of Seoul-based Pyongyang watchers was busy discussing a minor professional sensation. The Wolgan Chungang monthly, widely known for its good insights on all things North Korean, published a lengthy transcript of a speech, allegedly delivered last December, by a high-level Central Committee official. He was obviously talking to a group of prominent academics and engineers. The official's name is cited as Chang Yong-sun, but he seems to be a complete unknown to the North Korea experts. The authenticity of the transcript cannot be proved beyond doubt, but the Seoul expert community tends to believe that this tape was indeed secretly recorded somewhere in Pyongyang a few months ago and then smuggled to the South. Being a former Soviet citizen, this author is inclined to believe this view as well. The tape rings true. This is how a high-level official would talk when lecturing lower layers of elite on the current situation, and such regular lectures were typical for many communist countries. The semi-privileged met the bigwigs to get instructions on recent events, as well as some alleged insiders' stories and anecdotes. The semi-privileged cadres felt themselves partaking in the enigmatic world of grand politics, and also learned something about the new trends in their leadership's thinking about the world. Most people who deal with "Chang's lecture" concentrate on those parts of the lengthy presentation that deal with US-North Korea relations and the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament. Indeed, such issues are treated at great length by this document. Many others pay attention to rather unfavorable depictions of the Chinese or outbursts of threats against Japan. However, I believe that there are more important things in the transcript than merely a North Korean version of what happened during former assistant secretary of state James Kelly's visit to Pyongyang or during the first rounds of the six-party talks. The tape allows us to have one more glimpse at the world view held by the North Korean elite or, at least, by its lower reaches. What are the features of the world as seen from Pyongyang? First of all, the significance of North Korea is blown out of all proportion. Somebody would describe this as Pyongyang megalomania, but perhaps author Bruce Cummings found a better term when he talked about "North Korean solipsism", an assumption that North Korea lies at the center of the world, and that the world itself surely must be aware of this. The North Korean press now tells its readers that the major international conflict of the modern world is the ongoing struggle between US imperialism and heroic North Korea. Chang Yong-sun even told his audience that the development of North Korean missiles has produced a serious impact on the public-health issues in the US: "Nobody can intercept our missiles now. All the people in the US are aware of this. "This is why all the people in the United States are completely allergic to missiles of our republic. Once they learn that we test-fired missiles, they become so worried about the rockets changing their directions and exploding over them and killing them, so they develop nervous diseases and nettle rash breaks out all over their bodies. This is what is happening in the United States." One should not feel too sorry about the bastards, however. According to the official North Korean world view, once again reiterated by Comrade Chang, the US is responsible for everything that goes badly in Korea, and the constant military threat from the warmongering Washington is the major fact of North Korean life. The audience was reminded that in 1950 it was the Americans who attacked North Korea, bringing death and destruction to the country (this official version of 1950 events seems to be almost universally believed by North Koreans). This great crime of 1950 has not been avenged yet, Comrade Chang reminded his listeners. Many people in the US want to believe that such hostility stemmed from President George W Bush's policies, but Comrade Chang reminded his audience a number of times that there is no real difference between the Republicans and Democrats: both US parties are pathologically hostile to the Country of the Beloved General. The differences between them are of a purely tactical nature, Chang Yong-sun told his audience. He said Republicans rely more on brute force, while Democrats are more canny and more willing to use ideological subversion and economic pressures. Chang Yong-sun repeated a number of times that the major threat from the US is not that of a sudden military attack. The imperialists are not that simplistic: these days their major weapon is internal subversion. He said: "Although it appears as if the Americans do good things to us, their real nature has not changed at all. Their primary objective is, from start to finish, to undermine us from within and melt us down by disarming us ideologically." Chang Yong-sun repeated the message that has been delivered countless times by North Korean leaders big and small: the ideological threat of the outside world constitutes a greater danger than all imaginable military threats. He alleged that the foreign enemies have designed some grand plan of subversion. Chang said specially designated think-tanks work on this issue day and night. If his fantasies are to be believed, one of such centers is somewhere in Washington and employs no fewer than 370 retired generals whose only job is to find ways to undermine North Korea from within. Being an enthusiastic supporter of soft power, the present author knows perfectly well that there is no coordinated plan of applying soft pressure on Pyongyang. The amount of money and efforts spent on broadcasts aimed at North Korea, on support of refugee groups and other similar activities, is ridiculously small. It is a dream to have a US research center specifically dealing with North Korean issues and stuffed with even, say, five post-doctoral candidates (let alone with 370 ex-generals). But this raises a question: If this the case, why do Pyongyang politicians keep repeating similar statements? Why do they refer to a non-existent threat? Perhaps because they know what they should be really afraid of. They know only too well how potentially precarious against such a challenge their position is, and they probably cannot even believe that their adversaries fail to appreciate the major vulnerability of Pyongyang and do nothing to exploit the related opportunities. Comrade Chang would be really surprised to learn how weak and disorganized are actual efforts of the "class enemies" in the area that he (perhaps correctly) considers decisive. Some twists of Pyongyang's official mindset might come as a surprise to many readers. For example, Comrade Chang found a source of great pride in the North Korean penchant for secrecy. He used one peculiar example to explain why this secretiveness is great. According to him, the Americans defeated the Iraqis because they imitated the voice of Saddam Hussein and then sent fake orders to Iraqi troops in his name. However, as he proudly reminded everyone, Marshal Kim Jong-il had spoken in public only once, so Americans will never find enough material for their perfidious schemes. The entire secrecy is necessary to keep foreigners at a disadvantage: "A long time ago, the Great General taught us to make sure that our internal things appears to be hazy as if covered by fog when the Americans spy on us. So we have made sure that internal things of our country appear really hazy as if in a fog when our country was viewed from outside." It is remarkable that the country's economic woes are explained in a novel way, which was made possible by the nuclear test. Until 2006, North Koreans were supposed to believe that the only reasons for the recent famine were huge floods that "might happen only once a century". Now it is admitted that the government needed money for missile and nuclear development, and hence had no other choice but to sacrifice some people to save the nation. Chang Yong-sun said: "To be frank with you, even if one sells 50 plants as large as Kim Ch'aek Steel Mill, the money is not continued © Copyright 1999 - 2007 Asia Times Online (Holdings), Ltd. Head Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East, Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau: 11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110 ***************************************************************** 4 [NYTr] Obit: Corbin Harney, Shoshone Leader, anti-Nuke Activist Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:01:29 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by Modem And Guitar - Jul 10, 2006 Shundahai Network Corbin Harney, March 24, 1920 - July 10, 2007 Corbin Harney passed at about noon today - it was a good passing. He is being taken home to Nevada. Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader, Passes On Public Statement by Corbin's Immediate Family July 10, 2007 (TurtleIsland). Corbin Harney Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone Nation crossed over at 11:00 a.m. this morning in a house on a sacred mountain near Santa Rosa, CA (Turtle Island). He had dedicated his life to fighting the nuclear testing and dumping. That battle claimed his life through cancer. Before he passed, he said to remember: "We are one people. We cannot separate ourselves now. "There are many good things to be done for our people and for the world. "It is important to let things be good. And it is important to teach the younger generation so that things are not lost." According to witnesses present, in the morning fog, the spirits of four Shoshoni dog soldiers were outside on horseback before Corbin's passing. But then one of the Shoshone present, Santiago Lozada, yelled "Tosawi Tosawi!" (White Knife). And then the fog shifted and there were thousands of spirits waiting. Corbin passed peacefully at the end. He was only worried that he still had more to do. When he finally let go and went with the dog soldiers, Red Wolf Pope, grandson of Rolling Thunder, was present and sang him the Tosawi death song to call the dog soldiers to come take him home. Golden eagles continue to circle the house hours after his crossing. True to form Corbin joked around several days ago that he was going to go at 11:00, and kept his promise. Over his lifetime, Corbin traveled around the world as a speaker, healer and spiritual leader with a profound spiritual and environmental message for all. He received numerous national and international awards and spoke before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Corbin also authored two books: "The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Earth" (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 1995) and a forthcoming book, "The Nature Way." Numerous documentaries have been made about his work and message. In 1994, Corbin established the Shundahai Network to work with people and organizations to respond to spiritual and environmental concerns on nuclear issues. He also established Poo Ha Bah, a native healing center located in Tecopa Springs, California. He will be missed but always honored for his work and dedication to traditional ways. Corbin Harney is descended from generations of Newe (Shoshone) traditional healers and was always grateful for the many extraordinary teachers who shared their knowledge in his lifetime. Corbin is survived by his daughter Reynaulda Taylor; granddaughters Ann Taylor and Nada Leno; grandsons Keith, Jon and Joel Leno and William Henry Taylor; seven great- grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and his sister Rosie Blossom's family and many cousins and other family members as well as many, many friends around the world. Corbin was preceded in death by his mother, father, sister, grandparents, uncle, great granddaughter, cousins, and friends. A very special thanks to Patricia Davidson, Corbin's caregiver in his final months; Dominic Daileda, Corbin's friend and companion for his support and compassion in hard times, and the family of Dixie and Martin van der Kamp for opening up their home and their hearts to Corbin and his family and friends during his time of need. Dates and times for services are being made with official announcement to follow. Three day services are planned at the home of Larson R. Bill, So Ho Bee - Newe Sogobe (Lee, Nevada - Western Shoshone Territory) with burial services at Battle Mountain Indian Community, Battle Mountain Nevada. Family contact information: Donations may be made either to the immediate family through: Reynaulda Taylor P.O. Box 397 Owyhee, Nevada 89832 775-757-2610 or 775-757-2064 annietaytay [at] yahoo.com Or, to: The Corbin Harney Way 6360 Sonoma Mtn. Rd. Santa Rosa, CA 95404 No other individual, organization or entity is authorized to receive donations on behalf of Corbin's immediate family or Corbin Harney. Remember Corbin Harney @; http://www.shundahai.org http://www.shundahai.org/Corbin_Harney.htm http://www.poohabah.com * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 5 Economist.com: Energy for China Thursday July 12th 2007 More diversity of supply, but demand is growing fast China's energy challenges are monumental. The economy is in the midst of a highly energy-intensive stage of growth, but domestic reserves—especially of oil—are far from adequate to meet burgeoning demand. As a result, the government faces a series of policy challenges: to expand supply while increasing efficiency, to allow fuel prices to increase and risk more social unrest, and to acquire energy assets overseas while China's international conduct is under close scrutiny. If the government fails in any of these delicate tasks, in the medium to long term the resulting energy crunch could pose a serious threat to China's economic growth and political stability—and hence to the global economy as well. The good news is that the government is focusing on energy issues and that progress is likely to be steady, if halting, on several fronts--from fuel-price liberalisation to diversifying energy sources and expanding imports. In the longer term, moreover, the maturation of the economy will help to enhance efficiency and ease the pressure to secure ever-greater supplies. What is the issue? Many countries are experiencing rapid economic growth, industrialisation and urbanisation. But China's sizzling pace of growth and its huge population make its energy needs particularly challenging. After two decades of rapid economic growth, China is now the world's second largest energy consumer (behind the US). Total energy consumption has risen by an annual average of more than 11% during the past five years, reaching 1.7bn tonnes of oil equivalent in 2006. China is well on its way to becoming the world's biggest energy consumer. Its per-capita energy use remains relatively small—only around one-third that of Japan and one-seventh that of the US—and the potential market for cars, air-conditioners and other energy-guzzling machines is vast. The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that China's energy consumption will continue to increase by at least 6% annually for the next several years—a more moderate rate than in some recent years, but one that will nevertheless require huge increases in supply as a consequence of China's massive size. China's energy crunch is exacerbated by the country's high energy intensity (the ratio of energy use to economic output). This is partly due to the large share of industry in the economy, but it is also because many sectors—such as steel and cement—are plagued by over-production, waste and inefficiency. China's overwhelming reliance on coal for the bulk of its energy—around 70%—also poses problems. Coal is relatively dirty, inefficient and difficult to transport, but it is by far the most abundant energy resource in China. China's energy needs are also having geopolitical repercussions, as the country's relative paucity of domestic oil reserves prompts efforts to expand imports and secure supplies abroad. For example, energy competition is a factor in China's territorial disputes with its neighbours, particularly in the East China Sea (with Japan) and the South China Sea (with eight South-east Asian countries). Large potential reserves of oil and natural gas are at stake in these disputes. China's energy security concerns also bolster its determination to develop its naval power, and to impose its rule on Taiwan, a de facto US ally that is adjacent to the shipping lanes to northern China. Why is it critical? Acute energy shortages in China would have serious economic and political consequences both at home and abroad. (This was illustrated clearly in 2004 when severe energy shortages at home resulted in a sharp increase in China's demand for imported oil, causing international energy prices to soar to 20-year highs.) Access to adequate supplies of energy is necessary for China's continued economic expansion. This is especially the case with oil and natural gas, but it is also an issue for the electricity sector more broadly. Even though generating capacity has been successfully bolstered following the recent power shortages, keeping pace with demand remains a long-term challenge. China's political stability, in turn, depends on sustained economic growth. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has staked its legitimacy on its ability to deliver ever-wider prosperity. As a result, the government's focus on energy security is not merely an economic necessity--it is also a fight for political survival. A Chinese economic slowdown, combined with potential political instability, would send shockwaves rippling through the global economy. The sheer size of China's economy, as well as its increasingly important role in the global economy, ensures that the effects of a serious energy-supply disruption or power shortage would be severe. What the government is doing To sustain rapid economic growth, the overarching priority of the government is to meet soaring demand for energy. Given China's limited domestic reserves of most fuels except coal, this will inevitably require a steady expansion of imports--imports of oil, in particular, are set to surge as industrial demand expands and sales of vehicles boom. China's widening dependence on imports, coupled with an awareness of the environmental challenges posed by soaring hydrocarbon consumption, is in turn motivating a drive to reduce energy intensity. Reforming the pricing system is a top focus. Although domestic energy and electricity prices have started to converge with global prices, they are still distorted by subsidies, quotas and other forms of state control. For example, retail fuel subsidies have worsened energy shortages in the past by prompting refining firms to cut back domestic sales in favour of the more lucrative international market. Artificially low energy prices also encourage waste and weaken incentives for domestic exploration and production. Recognising this, the government is slowly but systematically removing price ceilings, eliminating subsidies and opening retail-fuel markets. An ambitious programme of investment in domestic exploration and production is also under way. Some returns on the government's investments have already been forthcoming. In May 2007 state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation announced the discovery of a 1bn-tonne offshore oilfield in Bohai Bay. If the oil is entirely recoverable, this would boost China's reserves by around 50%. However, notwithstanding discoveries like these, China is unlikely to manage to expand its domestic production fast enough to meet demand. The country even became a net importer of coal in April 2007, and coal imports—especially from Australia and South America—are set to continue to expand. Furthermore, despite the abundance of China's coal reserves, the lack of adequate internal infrastructure makes it difficult to transport coal between northern and southern China—implying that parts of the country will remain highly dependent on imported coal. Another policy priority is the expansion and diversification of the country's energy sources, with an emphasis on hydropower, nuclear power and natural gas. For example, the government aims to raise the use of natural gas from just 2.9% of primary energy consumption in 2005 to 10% in 2020. Since China has just 1.3% of the world's natural gas reserves, meeting this target will require a big increase in imports. China is building a series of terminals on its southern coast to handle the anticipated surge in shipments from abroad. As China's dependence on foreign oil and gas rises, efforts to secure access to multiple sources of imports will continue. Already, China has actively sought to diversify its foreign supplies, focusing not only on the Middle East and Central Asia, but also increasingly on Africa, South-east Asia and Latin America. By 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration, foreign supplies will account for a dizzying 77% of China's total oil consumption, compared to the current level of less than 50%. Still, given the controversy created by the failed bid by China National Offshore Oil Corporation for US-based Unocal in 2005, and the limited amount of oil that can be secured through acquisitions of foreign energy companies, the emphasis is likely to remain on securing long-term supply contracts. The government is also building up strategic oil reserves, but these will be small by international standards and filling them will be a very long process—especially if international oil prices remain high. Meanwhile, China has embarked on a massive campaign to augment its domestic power-generation capacity. An estimated 81 gw of new capacity was added in 2006, and the government plans to invest a further Rmb600bn (around US$79bn) in new power plants during 2007-12, with the goal of reaching 1,000 gw of generating capacity. The vast bulk of this—around 600 gw—will still be coal-based, but the contributions of nuclear, gas and alternative energy are targeted to rise sharply. In January 2006 a law was passed specifically to promote the solar, wind, geothermal, biofuel and hydropower sectors. Scores of dams are under construction on the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Qinghai and Ningxia, and on the Jinsha River spanning Sichuan and Yunnan. Eight nuclear power reactors are under construction in Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian, with another 22 on the drawing board. Large amounts of maize are also being converted into biofuels such as ethanol, although the government will remain wary of jeopardising food security. The EIU view China's energy policymakers face several policy dilemmas that will complicate their efforts to keep pace with demand over the next several years. For one thing, the need to maintain political stability limits the government's ability to improve efficiency. There is plenty of room for improvement—China uses around three times as much energy per unit of GDP as the US, and nine times as much as Japan—but the goal of engineering a "harmonious society" ensures that economic growth targets will almost always trump efforts to cut energy consumption. Efficiency gains are also limited by the inability of the central government fully to impose its will on local leaders. Worries about political unrest also underscore the government's cautious approach to price liberalisation. Higher fuel prices could exacerbate rural poverty and accelerate the flood of migrants to the cities, while costing the CCP a measure of popular support among urban dwellers. In the past government efforts to increase resource prices have led to protests. These political concerns are one reason why China seems set to miss its energy-intensity targets by a long shot; the government aims to reduce energy intensity by 20% in 2005-10 but achieved a reduction of only 1.2% in 2006. Even this figure may be exaggerated, however, given the expansion of the metals and cement industries in 2006. Ultimately the key to reducing energy intensity will be a move away from investment-led economic growth—a long-term transition that is unlikely to have made much headway by 2010. Policymakers must also juggle the aims of energy independence and energy efficiency. China's most abundant domestic energy resource (coal) is highly polluting and relatively inefficient, yet diversification into more efficient, less polluting sources of energy will require expanded imports. Price reforms could also increase import-dependence as domestic energy becomes more expensive. Plans to increase the use of natural gas will depend on reducing its current high cost. China's import-dependence will in turn continue to undermine its efforts to be seen as a responsible stakeholder in the international system. As a relative latecomer to the global scramble to secure energy supplies, China's overseas investment options are limited. Its involvement in pariah states such as Sudan (where oil reserves are still relatively untapped) will expand, as the fear of the domestic political consequences of an economic slowdown—as well as the commercial interests of China's state-owned energy firms—will continue to trump the desire to avoid international opprobrium. Given China's apprehensions about import-dependence and its colossal pollution problems, the prospects for China's fledgling alternative energy industry should be bright. In reality, however, the government's targets will be difficult to achieve, and the industry faces so many impediments that even its most ardent advocates are at best only cautiously optimistic about its future. The main hurdle continues to be cost. Although technologies needed to generate electricity from alternative energy sources are getting cheaper and more efficient in China, production remains relatively expensive, particularly when compared with coal-based energy. The government's target for hydroelectricity—240 gw by 2020—looks particularly problematic, as it would require the construction of the equivalent of the huge Three Gorges dam project every two years. The target for nuclear-generated electricity looks similarly daunting, implying the need to invest more than US$3bn annually for the next 20 years. Meanwhile, the central government will continue to face difficulties preventing local authorities and township enterprises from building cheap, inefficient coal-fired power plants. Despite these challenges, China is likely to make steady progress towards its energy goals. We expect energy consumption growth to slow to around 6% a year by 2010, down from 16% as recently as 2004. Meeting this lower level of demand growth will be no small feat, and a heavy dependence on energy imports seems inevitable. However, looking beyond the government's immediate policy dilemmas, China's energy crunch is set to ease as the economy matures. In the long run, structural changes already under way—such as price liberalisation, the consolidation of inefficient industries, the expansion of the services sector and the transition from investment-driven to consumption-driven growth—should help to moderate the energy intensity of the economy. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2007. All rights ***************************************************************** 6 UPI: FAS: China updating nuke launch sites United Press International - Security & Terrorism - Published: July 12, 2007 at 6:02 PM WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. expert said Thursday China had updated some of its key nuclear ICBM sites that could threaten the United States. The Federation of American Scientists said in a statement that Hans M. Kristensen, the director of its Nuclear Information Project, had "analyzed commercial satellite images that show China has significantly reorganized facilities believed to be launch sites for nuclear ballistic missiles near Delingha in the northern parts of Central China. "The images indicate that older liquid-fueled missiles previously thought to have been deployed in the area may have been replaced with newer solid-fueled missiles. From the sites, the missiles are within range of three Intercontinental Ballistic Missile fields and a bomber base in the southern parts of central Russia," the FAS statement said. "Clearly visible in the images are eight 13-meter trucks lined up on a launch pad," the statement said. "The satellite image is not of high enough resolution to identify the trucks and their features with certainty, but they strongly resemble the six-axle transport erector launchers (TELs) in use with the 10-meter DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile. A vague line across the trailer two-thirds toward the rear resembles the position of the hydraulic pumps used to erect the missile canister to a vertical position." The U.S. Department of Defense warned in its most recent annual report on China's military strength mandated by Congress that China was investing an unprecedented level of resources in expanding and modernizing its armed forces, including its strategic nuclear capabilities. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 UNIAN: Russia to shut down early-warning radars in Ukraine [12.07.2007 12:42] Russia will shut down a pair of early-warning radar stations operating in Ukraine, Korrespondent magazine reported on Thursday, according to EarthTimes. The Soviet-era installations are located in the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea and the west Ukraine border town Mukachevo. Moscow pays Kiev 1.5 million dollars rent a year to operate both sites, with the rental contract running out at the end of 2007. Both complexes are outdated and replacable by more modern monitoring systems within Russia proper, the report noted, citing an unnamed Russia defence ministry official. Ukraine in February 2005 suggested a hike in the rent for the radar sites, a suggestion the Kremlin rejected at the time on the grounds that a rental contract still was in effect. A bill before the Duma, Russia`s parliament, proposes the construction of two Ukrainian radar sites using advanced technologies near the town Lekhtus in Russia`s western Leningrad province, and near the town Armavir in Russia`s southern Krasnodar province. Kiev later that year conducted exploratory talks with the United States on the eventual turning over of the radar sites at Mukachevo and in Crimea to NATO, according to the report. Russia has been in a long-running row with Kiev over its military installations in Ukraine, particularly over Russian naval forces in Crimea. Moscow is also in conflict with the US over Washington`s plan to build early-warning radars in East Europe. The US argues that the detection systems would be aimed at potential nuclear enemies like Iran or North Korea, while the Kremlin claims the proposed East Europe radars would undermine Russian national security. ctnstant URL of article: http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-203106.html © 2001 - 2007 UNIAN.NET All Right Protected. ***************************************************************** 8 NRC: NRC Assigns New Resident Inspectors to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2007- 039 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Region I Office has assigned Paul C. Cataldo as the new senior resident inspector and Christopher A. Hott as the new resident inspector at the Indian Point 3 nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y. Indian Point Energy Center, which has two operating nuclear power units, is operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast. “Both Paul Cataldo and Chris Hott have extensive technical and regulatory experience, and have demonstrated dedication to safety to carry out NRC’s commitment to protect people and the environment," said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. “They are our eyes and ears on site, monitoring daily operations.” Most recently, Mr. Cataldo was the NRC’s senior resident inspector at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pa. Prior to that, he was a resident inspector at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He joined the NRC’s Region III office near Chicago in 1996 as an operator licensing examiner. Prior to joining the agency, Mr. Cataldo was a test reactor operator at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He also has experience in the manufacturing industry, in which he performed, among other things, quality assurance inspections between 1989 and 1993. Mr. Cataldo also served as a machinist's mate aboard a U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell with a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering. Mr. Hott’s previous assignment was as a project engineer in the NRC Region I Division of Reactor Projects. He joined the agency in 2003. He has worked as a reactor inspector in the Division of Reactor Safety and as a nuclear materials inspector in the Division of Nuclear Materials and Safety. Before coming to the NRC, Mr. Hott spent 9 years in the United States Navy nuclear program. He holds a double-major bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering and engineering physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Each U.S. commercial nuclear plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They are assigned to each facility, conducting inspections, monitoring major work projects and interacting with plant workers and the public. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Thursday, July 12, 2007 ***************************************************************** 9 SignOnSanDiego.com: Hikers want wider access to land near Diablo Canyon nuke plant ASSOCIATED PRESS 6:44 a.m. July 12, 2007 SAN LUIS OBISPO – Hikers have told the California Coastal Commission they want wider access to property north and south of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Commissioners on Wednesday toured the Point San Luis Lighthouse, which hikers want to be able to visit without having to be led across property owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., operators of the plant. Commissioners meeting in San Luis Obispo this week took the field trip to examine a main component of a commission-mandated plan to allow far greater access to the historic light station. Details of the plan are being drawn up. The surrounding PG&E property is off-limits as a security buffer. More than a dozen people told commissioners that hiking should be allowed in the area without escorts. Access is now restricted to strenuous, three-mile docent-led hikes several times a week that must be reserved weeks in advance. There are also plans to allow people to reach the lighthouse in van shuttles and across the water using a landing at the port breakwater, said Andrew Merriam, president of the nonprofit Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers. Information from: The Tribune, www.thetribunenews.com © Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ? A Copley Newspaper Site ***************************************************************** 10 Platts: Vermont lawmakers fail to override veto of nuclear power tax bill 2007-07-11 Charlottesville, Virginia (Platts)--11Jul2007 Despite a recent plea by former Vice President Al Gore, Vermont lawmakers Wednesday failed to muster enough votes to override Governor Jim Douglas' veto of a bill that would have taxed nuclear power to pay for energy efficiency programs. The state House vote in favor of an override was 86 to 61, 12 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed. Gore had entered the fray over bill (H.520) in late May when he endorsed the measure in a video conference aired in six Vermont towns. Entergy Vermont Yankee, which supplies one-third of Vermont's power, had lobbied heavily against the legislation, saying it would add $25 million to the nuclear power plant's tax bill over the next five years. The money would have been used to expand the offerings of Efficiency Vermont, a non-profit provider of efficiency services, to begin providing heating efficiency programs. Brian Cosgrove, Entergy's manager of government affairs, praised Wednesday's vote, saying it reflected bipartisan support for Douglas' veto." The bill passed the House in April and Senate in May. Douglas,a Republican, vetoed the measure on June 6. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Electric Power Daily at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=2_31&products_id=47 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 11 Brattleboro Reformer: Controversial letter not part of evidence at VY hearings BRATTLEBORO, VT By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Thursday, July 12 NEWFANE -- During his testimony Tuesday, David Deen, the river steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council attempted to discuss a letter he received on July 2. Deen, a 35-year resident of Westminster, flyfishing river guide and Democratic legislator, testified for more than four hours Tuesday about what he had learned over the years about the effects of increased river temperature water on American shad. To buttress his contention that the disappearance of a shad hatchery at the Bellows Falls Dam could in part be attributed to the thermal effect of hot water entering the pool above Vernon Dam from the cooling outflow pipe of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, he referred to a letter from the Silvio Conte Fish Laboratory in Turners Falls, Mass. The letter, from the branch chief of the Department of Interior which oversees the lab, supplied answers by two scientists to questions Deen asked May 29 about the passage of American shad on the river. After several objections by attorneys representing Entergy -- the owner and operator of the power plant -- Vermont Environmental Court Judge Merideth Wright ruled the letter inadmissible. But Wright left the door open for attorneys representing the watershed council and the New England Coalition on Nuclear Power to introduce the letter later during the hearings if a qualified expert should bring it up. "It is possible that one or more of the experts in this proceeding may testify in reliance on the facts contained therein," said Wright. "We will take it up whether it may be used when it is sought to be used by such other witnesses." Deen received the letter via e-mail July 2, and immediately forwarded it to Pat Parenteau, a professor and former director of the Vermont Law School's Environmental Center who is representing the watershed council during the hearings. Attorneys for Entergy objected several times as Deen attempted to comment on how the letter supported his conclusions that increased river temperatures were damaging the river's ecosystem. Elise Zoli, an attorney with Goodwin Procter in Boston, wanted to know why the watershed council did not disclose to Entergy the May 29 letter that Deen sent. "No response was guaranteed," said Deen, about the document not being entered into evidence prior to the start of the hearings in Newfane. "Entergy had no reasonable basis for expecting the Conte letter," said Zoli, adding there was no way to question the scientists who answered Deen's questions in the letter if Interior won't allow them to testify. "We have no ability to address the substance of the letter or its reliability," said Zoli. Most importantly, she said, the letter is "inherently untrustworthy" because neither of the scientists are subject to cross examination. "It becomes fairly clear what it is a couple of laboratory scientists who were either unhappy with a DOI decision or wanted to stage their own mini coup." The letter -- which Vermont Law School's Justin Kolbert called "a list of unanswered questions" -- was the result of a series of conversations begun over a year ago with a number of people at the Conte lab. "The upshot of all those discussions was to write a letter with specific questions about the shad and other things they would know about to the Conte lab," said Deen. "The letter was simply seeking information," said Kolbert. "Entergy had plenty of notice and time of its own to inquire into Conte Labs." Kolbert also contended the letter was not hearsay, and simply "a compilation of publicly available data," adding the document was "self-authenticating. A signed government document with the seal of a federal agency." "If someone from the lab was willing to be a witness in this proceeding that would probably not happen," said Deen, who was reminded several times by Wright to answer only the questions posed to him and not add additional information. Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273 ***************************************************************** 12 Reuters: California lawmaker seeks vote on nuclear power Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:22PM EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will try to put an initiative on the ballots in June 2008 for Californians to decide whether the state should allow construction of nuclear power plants, his office said on Wednesday. The Republican from Irvine in Orange County, who has failed to get the state legislature to lift a ban on new nuclear power plants, needs to get signatures of 500,000 registered voters. To ensure those signatures can be validated, he wants to collect 1 million. In 1976, California banned construction of new nuclear power plants until "there exists a demonstrated technology for the permanent disposal of spent fuel," according to the California Energy Commission. In February, DeVore introduced a bill to lift the ban, but that bill died in committee in April. The committee vote was along party lines -- six Democrats against, three Republicans for. DeVore says he will bring the bill back to the legislature next year, in addition to working on the ballot initiative. "Modern nuclear power will allow us to add jobs while improving the environment. There are really no other options capable of generating the large amounts of power we need," DeVore said. Proponents of nuclear power argue that it is better for the environment than other sources because it does not emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming. Opponents fear dangerous accidents and say there is no safe way to dispose of the spent fuel. California last year passed an ambitious law requiring the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, to levels not seen since 1990. DeVore wants to get his measure on the June ballot but may have to delay until November 2008. He said he prefers June to avoid competing for attention during the presidential election. California has two working nuclear power plants, both in place before the 1976 ban. Those plants along with imported nuclear power -- mainly from Arizona -- account for about 14 percent of the electricity the state consumes. No new U.S. nuclear power plants have been ordered since 1978, the year before the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. DeVore said a draft of his initiative mentions dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel as a solution to the waste issue. He said such storage -- already in use at the two California plants -- can keep the spent fuel for at least 100 years, when a long-term storage site or other solution can be found. ***************************************************************** 13 TCPalm: Nuclear plant on Hutchinson Island builds for future photos by MATTHEW RATAJCZAK matthew.ratajczak@scripps.com Florida Power & Light Co. employees watch as four dry storage modules and other components arrive from Virginia at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on Hutchinson Island on Wednesday. Worker begin dismantling tie-downs on dry storage modules and other components that arrived by barge Wednesday. The thick steel and concrete pieces, ranging from two to four feet thick, will be assembled to safely store used nuclear fuel assemblies on-site. Dry storage modules sit at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on Hutchinson Island. When completed, a total of 14 modules, each housing 32 used fuel assemblies, will rest on a four-foot thick concrete pad with 250 tons of rebar steel that measures 45 feet by 350 feet. After a dry run simulation of the entire loading process, to be observed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in early 2008, the actual spent fuel will be loaded into the modules, sealed and stored on-site until it can be transported to Yucca Mountain Repository for permanent storage. Wet storage of spent fuel: Used fuel assemblies are stored in cooling pools at the nuclear power plant site. Dry storage: The fuel assemblies are placed in metal canisters and transported to the storage location within the plant's protected area. The canisters are then loaded into concrete modules and placed on a storage pad. By CHRIS YOUNG chris.young@scripps.com July 12, 2007 HUTCHINSON ISLAND ? As a barge from Virginia docked at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant on Wednesday, officials said its payload will allow the plant to store its spent uranium for decades. The barge contained parts for concrete storage modules that soon will house spent uranium above ground on-site. Florida Power & Light Co. officials said the parts will be assembled into "dry storage" modules to store fuel assemblies of the uranium pellets sometime in 2008, in a secure area south of the two big containment domes. The concrete storage modules are 2 to 4 feet thick, 19 feet high and eventually will hold 32 fuel assemblies each. They are part of about $500 million in upgrades to the plant, said Vicki Spencer, director of the FPL Energy Encounter. The plant feeds the power grid to the Treasure Coast. Dry storage is new to the St. Lucie plant, but has been used for more than 20 years at several dozen nuclear plants around the United States, a fact that assuaged county officials in a FPL presentation last year. "This is common practice right now," said Dr. Alireza Haghighat, chairman of the Nuclear and Radiological Engineering department at the University of Florida, at the time of the presentation. "All the reactors are applying to do that (dry storage) so it's nothing special." FPL spokesman Nick Blount said the dry storage doesn't expose residents or workers to any radiation. The St. Lucie Plant has stored all its spent uranium fuel underwater on-site since it opened in 1976 ? the "wet storage" method ? but will run out of space starting next year, prompting the addition of dry storage. FPL officials said a federal site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada will be the eventual repository for the nation's spent uranium fuel, but it won't open until at least 2015. While the St. Lucie plant goes to dry storage, state policy advisers began forming recommendations this week on how the state should expand its electricity production to meet its future growth, which would include building more nuclear plants. Disposal of the used uranium nationwide "has been a problem and will be as we expand our nuclear portfolio (of plants)," said J. Sam Bell, chairman of the Energy Supply and Delivery Advisory Group to the Florida Energy Commission. But his group was exploring the possibility of a uranium reprocessing facility to reuse the state's spent uranium. Though there isn't talk of a location yet, he said reprocessing was a decades-old technology used successfully in other countries. DRY STORAGE MODULES ? FPL to build 14 concrete storage modules at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant starting in August. ? Parts for four modules arrived Wednesday by barge. Two more shipments will come two weeks apart. ? Dry storage of uranium fuel assemblies starts in 2008 because the plant will run out of wet storage space. ? FPL says dry storage is safe to the public and securely monitored. The plant can hold enough spent fuel in dry storage to last the life of the facility's licenses, through 2043. © 2007 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Site Users are subject to our Privacy Policy and User Agreement. Contact TCPalm.com at Feedback@tcpalm.com | Subscribe | Contact Us | ***************************************************************** 14 Kommersant Moscow: Belarusian Nuclear Plant Risks Going Underground - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other officials have repeatedly declared plans to build the first nuclear power station in the country. Photo: Dmitry Azarov July 12, 2007 Belarusian officials warn that the construction of the country’s first nuclear power station could be in jeopardy after chalk deposits have been discovered on the site. Experts say that the soil perhaps would not sustain the weight of the nuclear reactor. “The site for the future nuclear stations has chalk deposits, and there are doubts if the soil would sustain the weight of the reactor,” said Alexey Shcheglov, chief of the Belarusian nuclear power watchdog. He added that the Ukrainians had similar problems constructing the Khmelnitskaya nuclear plant which have been resolved. “The chalk deposits are 30 meters underground,” Mr. Shcheglov said. “Some 11,000 wells have been drilled to pump in concrete.” He also refuted reports that construction at the Krasnopolyansky site has already begun. “A final decision has not been made,” the official said. Alexey Shcheglov also said that Belarus is now in talks with Russian counterparts for a joint project. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other officials have repeatedly declared plans to build the first nuclear power station in the country. Some reports said that the plant may be situated in a region bordering on Russia. Unofficial sources said it could be launched in 2015. www.kommersant.com © 1991-2007 ZAO "Kommersant. Publishing House". All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin's 2nd unit supplies power to the grid after 2 mths Friday, 13 July 2007 / Log in By Prague Daily Monitor/CTK / Published 12 July 2007 Temelin, July 11 (CTK) - The second unit of the nuclear power plant Temelin resumed power supplies to the grid Wednesday morning after a two-month shutdown, Vaclav Brom, spokesman for the CEZ group which operates Temelin, told CTK. The unit was disconnected from the grid early in May. Temelin's staff replaced a quarter of fuel for a better quality one during the shutdown. "Now, we will raise output of the reactor to 80 percent, which will be achieved in the evening," said Brom, adding that also tests of a turbine with a new high-pressure part of the rotor are being made. The second unit will be operating at full capacity at the weekend. The first unit has been producing power without limitations. During the two-month shutdown, the staff placed 48 modernised fuel assemblies made by U.S. company Westinghouse into the reactor which contains 163 fuel assemblies in total (with 92 tonnes of fuel), as the original assemblies got deformed more than expected, and rearranged the remaining ones. They also placed a new part of the high-pressure rotor into the turbine that will raise the output of the 1,000 MW equipment by 20 MW. A quarter of fuel was replaced for the better quality one at the Temelin first unit at the beginning of this year already. Another quarter is to be replaced during the summer shutdown to start in August during which part of the turbine's high-pressure rotor will be exchanged for a new one. Consequently, both units will jointly produce power by the end of July. CEZ has a contract for fuel supplies with Westinghouse until 2010. Then, Russia's TVEL will supply the fuel. The contract secures supplies for Temelin's both units for a further ten years. During that time, TVEL is to supply some 400 tonnes of fuel to Temelin. The company is a long-term supplier of fuel also for the second Czech nuclear power plant of Dukovany, south Moravia. This story is from the Czech News Agency (CTK). The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content. Copyright 2007 by the Czech News Agency (CTK). All rights reserved. Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the prior written consent of CTK is expressly forbidden. copyright 2007 monitor ce media services s.r.o. | all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 16 MHNN: Woodstock to Rock the Reactors July 12, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mid-Hudson News Network, a division of Statewide Woodstock – The people of Woodstock, over the years, have championed many causes: peace, love, rock-n-roll, the arts and all forms of culture. A group of anti-nuclear activists is planning a “Rock the Reactors” concert this Saturday to voice their opposition to the proposed relicensing of the Indian Point nuclear power plants. The idea for the event came from green activist Remy Chevalier of Weston, CT. “There’s a lot of old fighters in Woodstock; there’s guys who have basically been in the environmental movement and the peace movement for many, many years and sort of went and retired there, and I thought that if we could do an event that was pretty cool, and the Colony Café seems like the ideal location to do that, we could bring out a lot of old fighters,” he said. “We’ve been talking to a lot of them and they seem to want to be dusting themselves off and get back into the swing of things.” Chevalier is teaming up for the concert with local resident Stacy Fine. “I had attended ‘No Nukes’ in 1980 when I was a teenager, and I’ve thought of Indian point before and heard it was built on a fault and things like that, and I thought, ‘why not?’ I’m going to tie in with these people and get active too.” Among the performers will be Haale, Ruth of all Evil, Crash Corpse and BF Skinnher. The Hudson Valley Horrors, Kingston’s roller derby team will also make an appearance and Ulster County Legislator Brian Shapiro is expected to brief those in attendance about the latest developments regarding Indian Point. HEAR today's news on MidHudsonRadio.com, the Hudson Valley's only Internet radio news report. ***************************************************************** 17 Hemscott: Japan plans reactor that can reduce nuclear waste b 40 pct - report TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - The Japanese government and the private sector will jointly develop a next-generation nuclear reactor that has high output capacity and can reduce the amount of spent nuclear fuel by up to 40 percent from conventional reactors, the Nikkei reported on Friday. The government and about 10 companies will share the 60 billion yen in development cost, with the aim of commercializing the new reactor by 2025, the financial daily said, without identifying its sources. Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc and companies including Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Hitachi Ltd will participate in the project, according to Nikkei. The new reactor is expected to produce 30-40 percent less spent nuclear fuel than conventional reactors, while it will also have the capacity to generate 1.8 million kilowatts, about 30-60 percent more than existing reactors, the daily said. (1 US dollar = 122.47 yen) yasuhiko.seki@thomson.com yas/ms Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, ***************************************************************** 18 Hemscott: La.: Entergy seeks OK on energy project NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Entergy Louisiana LLC formally asked Louisiana utility regulators on Wednesday to allow it to convert an electricity generator in the New Orleans area to use petroleum coke and coal -- fuels the company says could save customers $2 billion over 30 years. If the Public Service Commission goes along with the $1.55 billion plan, Entergy Louisiana, which has about 640,000 customers, also wants to charge customers for a portion of the construction costs before the generator actually produces power. Entergy Louisiana, a unit of Entergy Corp., said that would save customers interest costs that will have to be paid after the generating unit is completed. Cleco Corp. has been allowed by the PSC to recover a portion of its construction financing costs for a petroleum coke-fired generator. Earlier this year, the PSC also agreed to allow any utility deciding to build a new nuclear generating plant in Louisiana to recover a small portion of construction financing costs from customers before power is produced. Regulated power utilities are allowed to pass on the construction costs of new generating units to ratepayers, but the PSC must first decide if the project is financially prudent. Entergy Louisiana's plan, initially announced on April 4, calls for the conversion of the largest of three generators at its 46-year-old Little Gypsy power plant in St. Charles Parish. Those generators currently use natural gas and oil as fuels. At current costs for energy sources, Entergy Louisiana said ratepayers would enjoy large savings from the conversion to petroleum coke -- a byproduct of the refining process -- and coal. Escalating natural gas prices have socked many Louisiana ratepayers with higher bills in recent years -- a problem that also has been cited in attempts to attract new industry to the state. 'Once online, this unit will allow us to rely less on natural gas as a fuel source to generate electricity,' said Entergy Louisiana president Renae Conley. 'Power generated with petroleum coke is significantly cheaper than base load power generated by natural gas.' Entergy Louisiana wants initial approval in the PSC in November to allow the company a long lead time in obtaining manufacturing agreements for major equipment. After that, the PSC would determine whether the project should go forward. Entergy has estimated that the project will produce about 4,190 new jobs -- most in the construction fields -- at the peak of construction. If approved, the company wants the plant on line in either 2011 or 2012. Earlier estimates put the project's cost at about $1 billion. However, Entergy said that estimate was based on an initial study completed 15 months ago and, since then, labor costs and the prices of such needed construction commodities as nickel, steel and copper have increased substantially. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright 2007 Hemscott Group Limited. ***************************************************************** 19 ajc.com: Georgia Power clears early hurdle on nuke plans ajc.com > Business By MARGARET NEWKIRK The Atlana Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/12/07 Georgia Power can move ahead on plans to build the state's first new new nuclear reactors in years, but it will have to consider other power sources as well. So says a new long-term electric energy plan adopted unanimously Thursday by the state Public Service Commission while a handful of anti-nuclear protesters picketed outside. The plan includes five new energy efficiency measures and, to the dismay of the protesters, a nod toward allowing Georgia Power to build the new reactors. It also requires Georgia Power to consider other options for producing more power — a huge concession on the part of the utility. The approved plan was a settlement between Georgia Power, its biggest consumers, the PSC staff and and the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, among others. The deal ended three months of debate over Georgia Power's plans to feed the state's growing appetite for energy. The new nuclear reactors were the most controversial part of the debate, with environmental groups and citizens urging the PSC to stop the proposed nuclear expansion, which would double the Vogtle plant's size by 2016. Georgia Power had originally asked the PSC to waive state laws requiring that it solicit bids from other power suppliers before building new plants on its own. Opponents said the waiver would be akin to giving the company a blank check. Georgia Power conceded on the bid waiver last week, paving the way for the settlement approved Thursday. The settlement says Georgia Power will put out requests for proposals this fall. The company's own proposal will still be new nuclear plants, which are already moving through other permitting options. But competitors will have a shot: Among those signing off of the settlement deal, for instance, was Longleaf Energy, which is building a huge new coal plant in South Georgia. Other than the bidding language, the deal didn't satisfy enviornmental activistits, who had argued against new nukes and for more ambitious investments in energy efficiency and renewable sources of power. Glenn Carroll was among the picketers outside the PSC. The head of Nuke Watch South, she said she cut her teeth as a nuclear opponent when Georgia Power was building the first reactors at Vogtle. "Here we are again in front of this arcane body, talking about this antiquated technology," Carroll said. She said the commission needs to figure out a way to allow Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Co., to make as much profit from cleaner energy resources as it does by building new nuclear plants. The settlement endorses five new energy efficiency programs proposed by Georgia Power. The plan allows Georgia Power to earn a profit off such programs for the first time — although less than half as much profit as the company had originally requested. The programs are intended to encourage consumers to use low-wattage light bulbs, programmable thermostats and water heater insulation and to replace old refrigerators with new ones, among other things. The company will also allow apartment dwellers to participate in a program that pays customers who allow their air conditioners to be cycled off on the hottest days. That program had been available only to single family homes. © 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | ***************************************************************** 20 TheDay.com: Dominion Looks to Produce More Electricity By Patricia Daddona Published on 7/12/2007 Waterford - The owner of the Millstone nuclear complex is planning to boost power at one of its reactors, a move that could bring electricity to more homes in the region as soon as next fall. Dominion, the owner of the power station, decided today to submit its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a proposed “uprate” for Unit 3, its newest reactor. An uprate is an adjustment to equipment that safely allows the reactor to use more fuel to generate more electricity. After 16 months of study, the company determined that minor enhancements to some equipment used to produce steam that drives turbines to generate electricity would make an uprate both feasible and safe, said Spokesman Pete Hyde and Michael O’Connor, Millstone’s manager of systems and component engineering. If approved, Millstone could generate an additional 80 megawatts of electricity, which would boost total output from the two reactors from 2,038 megawatts to 2,118 megawatts. That would bring electricity to an additional 60,000 homes, Hyde said. The 2,038 megawatts power about 1,528,500 homes. One megawatt is enough to serve about 750 homes. With the uprate, about 1,588,500 homes would be served, Hyde said. NRC Spokeswoman Diane Screnci said the federal review could take about a year, and would be subject to a possible public hearing. Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2007 The Day Publishing Co. 104 ***************************************************************** 21 Viet Nam News: France to help build nuclear plant Thursday, July 12, 2007 HA NOI — France has agreed to help Viet Nam develop its first nuclear power plant at an atomic energy seminar between the two nations that began on Tuesday in Ha Noi. Organisers said French experts emphasised the importance and benefits of nuclear energy in terms of the economy and environment during talks about their own nuclear programmes. Nuclear energy was one of the key measures for stable development in the future as it would helped solve energy shortages as well as limit greenhouse gases, they said. French nuclear technicians spoke about their experiences in the field and emphasised the need for safe production methods, measures to protect against radioactivity and solutions for sudden breakdowns, as well. The French also said they would assist Viet Nam to build the necessary legal framework and pave the way for issuing specific orders regulating the power plant’s operation. According to organisers, the rest of the seminar will touch on challenges Viet Nam will likely face like labour demands for the construction and operation of a nuclear plant, public awareness activities, financial investment and research. The French will also use the meeting to give the Ministry of Science and Technology access to software used to simulate natural disasters based on experiments in a pressurised water reactor. The two sides also signed an agreement yesterday to extend the co-operation agreement between their respective Atomic Energy Commissions. A number of leading experts on the issue from both countries are participating in the three-day seminar organised by France’s Embassy in the capital and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The workshop will further strengthen bilateral co-operation said other sponsors from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Industry. Currently, the 58 nuclear facilities in France produce 63,000MW of electricity and accounts for 88 per cent the country’s total requirements. — VNS Copyright by Viet Nam News, Vietnam News Agency 11 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi, Vietnam Editor in Chief: Tran Mai Huong Tel. 84-4-9332316; Fax: 84-4-9332311 E-mail: vnnews@vnagency.com.vn Publication Permit: 599/GP-INTER Granted by the Ministry of Culture and Information on April 9, 1998. ***************************************************************** 22 AFP: Bush, Singh discuss nuclear pact - Thu Jul 12, 12:49 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the US-India nuclear agreement and efforts to promote global trade, the White House said. The two leaders "spoke by phone this morning and discussed the transformation of our bilateral relationship, including the civil nuclear cooperation initiative," said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "They also agreed on the need to provide leadership to achieve a successful Doha round," he added, referring to the stalled negotiations on global free trade. "The president noted the one-year anniversary of the July 11, 2006, Mumbai train bombing and praised the leadership of Prime Minister Singh in dealing with terrorism," said Johndroe. India and the United States have been discussing the fine print of the accord for two years after Washington agreed in principle to reverse three decades of US sanctions on nuclear trade with India. The outlines of the deal were agreed even though New Delhi refuses to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had tested nuclear weapons in 1998. Under the deal, India is to separate nuclear facilities for civilian and military use and set up a regime of international inspections in return for technology and nuclear fuel supplies. Despite several rounds of talks, India has stood fast against accepting any curbs on its reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. India also wants assurances that Washington will continue to supply fuel for its atomic plants in the event New Delhi conducts further nuclear weapons tests. AFP/File Photo: US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the US-India nuclear... Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 23 Whitehaven News: Thorp plant allowed to start operations again Published on 12/07/2007 THORP has been put on trial following the serious radioactive liquor leak which has left Sellafield’s troubled flagship plant virtually shutdown for nearly three years with the loss of many millions of pounds worth of valuable reprocessing income. Thorp is being allowed to start serious operations again by its owners, the NDA, who hopes the plant will come through with flying colours over the next month and pave the way to a full re-start. The Whitehaven News understands this is virtually a trial period to make sure everything is working all right after the expensive repairs to the plant along with checks on a vital support evaporator. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has already given thumbs up to a phased re-start but the final consent is subject to performance over the next few weeks. First material to be treated is the massive amount of liquor which spilled in the leak which went undetected for eight months. Most of the 800 or so Thorp operators are working normally again. Some have had to undergo “behavioural” training as a result of the leak. A damning official report into the incident said one of the reasons for the leak not being spotted for so long was that vital alarms were missed. There was a culture that “condoned the ignoring of alarms, the non-compliance with some key operating instructions and safety-related equipment which was not kept in effective working order for some time, so this became the norm,” said the report. On top of the heavy financial losses caused by the long shutdown, operators British Nuclear Group were fined ÂŁ500,000 with costs of more than ÂŁ67,000 for breaches to the site licence. The NDA is banking on Thorp and Mox to make profits to offset the huge costs of Sellafield’s decommissioning otherwise a shadow will hang over the future of the two big production plants. ***************************************************************** 24 DutchNews.nl: 'Wind power beats nuclear', says AD Thursday 12 July 2007 On-shore wind turbines will overtake nuclear power plants as the cheap alternative to fossil fuels, according to a draft report leaked to the AD newspaper today. According to the report by the Energy Research Centre (ECN), the cost price of electricity production – around 6.6 euro-cents per kilowatt hour – is already comparable. However nuclear power is more expensive if the additional costs of security against terrorist attacks is taken into account. Meanwhile technological advancement will make wind power increasingly cheaper in the coming years. The report was commissioned by one of the social and economic council (SER), one of the government’s most important advisory bodies, which is currently looking into whether the Netherlands should expand its nuclear power production. It currently has just one plant located at Borssele. The SER hopes to make its recommendations to the cabinet at the end of this year. ***************************************************************** 25 AU ABC: Cyclists pedal against nuclear power ABC Sunshine and Cooloola Coasts ABC Home Radio Television News …More Subjects Posted July 12, 2007 10:22:00 Seven cyclists campaigning against nuclear power in Australia have arrived on the Sunshine Coast. The cyclists began their trek 17 days ago from Rockhampton, in central Queensland, and are due to arrive in Canberra in September. Cyclist Valerie Thompson says the group has its own solar panel to charge its equipment and is promoting clean, sustainable energy production. "We've got a solar panel which we use to recharge our mobile phones and our computers and just the fact that we're cycling itself is a great inspiration to people because it's such a radical and accessible alternative to our fossil fuel dependency on motor vehicles," she said. Tags: environment, alternative-energy, nuclear-issues, activism-and-lobbying, solar-energy, nuclear-energy, maroochydore-4558 ***************************************************************** 26 The Hindu: Nuclear deal in ‘make or break’ zone Friday, Jul 13, 2007 Siddharth Varadarajan ‘Talks will show if U.S. is taking Indian concerns seriously’ New Delhi: While nobody on the Indian side expects next week’s talks between India and the United States to fully remove the major obstacles standing in the way of the proposed nuclear cooperation (123) agreement, officials here say the interaction will at least provide them with a “clear understanding of the [Bush] administration’s intentions.” They said India had last month conveyed a major proposal on the establishment of a fully safeguarded reprocessing facility to handle American-origin spent fuel. But until now, there has been no feedback from Washington about this suggestion. “It is possible that they have begun a process of consultation with Congressional leaders based on our ideas” to see whether a 123 agreement including reprocessing rights would pass muster on the Hill, said an official. But if that process had not even started, this could only mean the Bush administration had not taken India’s concerns seriously, he added. If this is so, the view among officials is that further progress would be difficult if not impossible. “Neither a firm deadline nor a drawn-out process of talks will help if there is such a major gap in perception,” said an official, adding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh repeatedly said the final obligations and benefits from the deal had to be fully in conformity with what was contained in the July 2005 and March 2006 Indo-U.S. agreements. The perception that the deal is now entering a ‘make or break’ zone is further strengthened by the composition of the high-level delegation that will depart for Washington on Sunday. Among the top officials accompanying National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan are Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Anil Kakodkar and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon. According to a Reuters report from Washington on Thursday, the nuclear deal is stuck in choppy waters. The news agency quoted “a Congressional source who tracks the issue” as saying the U.S.-India negotiations “are not going well at all” with new areas of disagreement opening up. Reuters added that the same source “questioned whether the accord could be completed before Bush leaves office in January 2009”. Though the status of the nuclear deal figured prominently in the telephone conversation the Prime Minister had with President George W. Bush on Wednesday and was mentioned by the U.S. National Security Council spokesman in Washington on Thursday, the official PMO statement curiously chose not to use the ‘N-word’ anywhere. Earlier this week, Dr. Singh convened a special meeting of the “scientist” members of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to reiterate the Government’s position on the implementation of the nuclear deal. Two former AEC Chairmen Homi Sethna and P.K. Iyengar were also invited to attend, though the latter was unable to go for health reasons. According to M.R. Srinivasan — a former AEC chairman and current member of the AEC — the meeting stressed the importance of the proposed 123 agreement incorporating “upfront” and “without qualification” the right of reprocessing. Dr. Srinivasan said that in the context of U.S. attempts to push the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) — with its idea of a handful of “supplier” nations providing fuel cycle services to the rest of the world — India had no intention of allowing multinational fuel cycle facilities or initiatives to substitute for its national reprocessing programme. “The separation of pure plutonium from the spent fuel is crucial for our fast reactors and the move to thorium for our energy,” he said. In an attempt to allay any proliferation concerns the U.S. might have since pure plutonium can also be used for weapons purposes, India last month offered to go beyond the March 2006 separation plan by undertaking to reprocess U.S.-origin spent fuel in a facility that would be under regular rather than ‘campaign’-IAEA safeguards. “But the Americans have not even looked at this offer,” Dr. Iyengar told The Hindu. Describing the nuclear deal as a “sinking boat,” he said the U.S. needed to realise that India was not prepared to curtail i ts sovereignty. Dr. Srinivasan said the mini-AEC meeting also reiterated the importance of India sticking to its stand on fuel supply assurances, the absence of secondary or fallback safeguards, the insulation of India’s strategic programme from any adverse impact, and the protection of India’s research and three-stage programme. He added that the scientists also expressed their concern at several extraneous provisions of the Hyde Act, passed by the U.S. Congress, which presume to dictate Indian policy in a number of areas. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 27 newsobserver.com: GAO to review nuclear safety Thursday, July 12, 2007 Federal agency will examine enforcement of fire safety at nuclear plants John Murawski, Staff Writer The independent research arm of Congress has agreed to review fire safety enforcement at the nation's nuclear power plants, including Progress Energy's Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County. The Government Accountability Office will begin the safety review in September at the behest of U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat who represents the western Triangle. Price requested the GAO study in May on behalf of public officials from Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Hillsborough and Carrboro, as well as Orange and Chatham counties. Price's congressional district includes Progress Energy's Shearon Harris nuclear plant. Fire walls and fire retardants at the plant have sometimes failed standards since 1989, two years after the plant began operating. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said five years ago that 6,500 feet of electrical cable at Shearon Harris does not meet federal fire safety standards, but the NRC is allowing the power plant to use interim safety measures until the problem is fixed in late 2010. The electrical cable -- required to operate emergency equipment -- is wrapped in fireproof insulation that did not withstand intense heat under laboratory conditions. The goal of the GAO study is to reassure the public that the NRC's oversight of nuclear fire safety is adequate, or to point out deficiencies and suggest improvements. The NRC has repeatedly rebuffed nuclear opponents and supported Progress on the fire-safety issue. The NRC this year turned down a request by nuclear critics to shut down Shearon Harris or issue daily fines until the plant's insulation is fixed. The nuclear critics are again raising the fire-safety issue to challenge Progress' application to extend the Shearon Harris operating license by 20 years until 2046. The NRC has said those concerns are not relevant in a license renewal proceeding, but the final decision will be up to an independent panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Progress Energy is not directly involved in the GAO study, said company spokesman Julie Hans. "It's a review of the NRC's enforcement policies," Hans said. "We comply with the NRC." Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at 829-8932 or john.murawski@newsobserver.com. newsobserver.com © Copyright 2007, The News & Observer Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 28 Reuters: Fake firm gets nuclear license in U.S. govt sting Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:51AM EDT By JoAnne Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Undercover investigators, working for a fake firm, obtained a license to buy enough radioactive material to build a "dirty bomb," amid little scrutiny from federal regulators, according to a government report obtained on Wednesday. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the license to the dummy company in just 28 days with only a cursory review, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to be released on Thursday. The GAO, which set up the sting, said the NRC approved the license after a couple of faxes and phones calls and then mailed it to the phony company's headquarters -- a drop box at a United Parcel Service location. "From the date of application to the issuance of the license, the entire process lasted 28 days," the GAO said. "GAO investigators essentially obtained a valid materials license from the NRC without ever leaving their desks." The NRC oversees the U.S. nuclear industry and nuclear material safety issues. The GAO report said its undercover agents made counterfeit copies of the license, changed the wording to remove restrictions on how much they were allowed to buy and then ordered enough radiological materials to build a dirty bomb. The GAO, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, said its investigators did not take possession of the radiological materials. U.S. officials have warned that militant groups, including al Qaeda, could use conventional explosives and material from sources as common as hospital X-ray departments to build so-called dirty bombs that could spread radioactive waste across urban centers. The GAO sting was requested by a Senate panel that has been exploring post-September 11 security gaps in the U.S. government's regulation of radioactive material. The senior Republican on the panel, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, said the panel found the NRC was issuing licenses for "dangerous" level materials before visiting facilities making the applications. "The NRC's first visit to the facilities could be up to one year after the license was issued. That's like handing out a gun license and waiting a year to do the background check," Coleman said in a statement. The GAO recommended the NRC improve its process for examining license applications for radioactive materials and explore ways to prevent the counterfeiting of licenses. ***************************************************************** 29 UPI: Fake U.S. firm able to buy nuclear devices United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: July 12, 2007 at 7:32 AM WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- A fake Virginia company set up by U.S. government investigators was able to get licenses to acquire enough nuclear material to build a dirty bomb. At the request of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the top minority member of the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, staff members of the Government Accountability Office tested the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing system, The New York Times said. The GAO report released Thursday said the NRC approved the nuclear license with a minimal background check, no face-to-face interview or visits to the company, The Washington Post said. The machines the fake company were given permission to buy -- but did not -- contained americium 241 and cesium 137, radioactive elements that could create a non-fissile bomb that spreads radiation over a wide area, CNN reported. NRC spokesman Eliot Brenner said the loopholes the GAO found have been fixed. "We moved rapidly to fix this," Brenner told CNN. "Now, any new applicant for a license for these far less dangerous materials will get a visit from the NRC or have to come to see us and prove their bona fides." © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 ST: Federal sting obtains materials for 'dirty bombs,' investigators reveal Results of the operation, called for last fall by Sen. Norm Coleman, will be released today at a subcommittee meeting. By Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune Last update: July 11, 2007 – 8:22 PM WASHINGTON -- Government investigators posing as construction executives were able to get federal licenses to buy the ingredients for a small "dirty bomb," a report is to reveal today. Results of the sting operation will be presented to the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which launched the probe last October at the behest of Sen. Norm Coleman, the Minnesota Republican who then chaired the panel. Federal regulators down-played the significance of Coleman's findings, saying that while the licenses shouldn't have been granted, they involved trivial amounts of radioactive materials. Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Edward McGaffigan, in an interview with the Star Tribune, said the amount of material involved, turned into a bomb, "might contaminate up to 165 meters up to the dose that someone would get at the Mayo Clinic if they had a CAT scan of their chest." But Coleman cited the fear that could be fueled by a terror group's use of such a weapon, saying it would have "a devastating impact economically and psychologically." Though Coleman no longer holds the committee gavel under the new Democratic control of Congress, the dirty bomb probe maintains his visibility on the same panel he used to launch an investigation into the United Nation's pre-war oil-for-food program in Iraq. While Coleman has garnered headlines on the committee, Democrats have complained that under his leadership the panel failed to investigate contractor abuses in Iraq and other topics that could shed critical light on Bush administration war policies, which are the focus of a Senate debate this week. Coleman, who is up for reelection next year, said his work on the committee reflects its history of bipartisan cooperation. "Anybody who makes that criticism doesn't understand the nature of this committee," he said. A spokeswoman for the current committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said his staff worked with GOP staff members "every step of the way," on the dirty bomb investigation. Nuclear regulators the target The committee's latest inquiry followed a similar probe last year in which undercover federal agents were able to drive across the borders from Canada and Mexico with radioactive materials in the trunks of rented cars. The main target in both exercises was the NRC, which regulates nuclear reactors as well as the purchase and transportation of radiological materials in the United States. Last year's "red team" exercise led to more stringent communications between customs officials and the NRC, according to Senate investigators. The new investigation, NRC officials said Wednesday, has already led to tighter licensing procedures. The alleged dirty bomb vulnerabilities came to light a day after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spoke of a "gut feeling" about an upcoming period of increased risk of terrorist attack, in the wake of recent bombings and attempted bombings in England and Scotland. Nevertheless, the government has not raised the official threat level. Coleman, briefing reporters on the sting, accused the NRC of an old mind-set focused almost exclusively on nuclear reactor safety. "We're living in a post-911 world," he said, "and they're still worrying about Chernobyl." Investigators with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, say they formed a dummy company to obtain NRC licenses to buy four or five moisture density gauges, radiological devices used to look for voids in asphalt. Most of the information was provided by fax or phone, and no site inspection was necessary, according to Coleman and committee staffers who worked with the GAO on the sting. "It was as easy to get these licenses as it is to get a DVD from Netflix," Coleman said. Although the congressional investigators did not actually buy any of the radiological gauges, they said they were able to forge or alter their licenses in order to contract to buy a total of 45 of the devices worth a total of $225,000. They said they contracted for enough devices to provide them with 2.7 curies of radiological material, enough for what they called a small "dirty bomb." McGaffigan, who is scheduled to testify before the committee today, said that while the sting is cause for concern, the agency's procedures were revamped last month, within weeks of getting the panel's report. Kevin Diaz ? 202-408-2753 ? kdiaz@startribune.com © 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488 (612) 673-4000 ***************************************************************** 31 AFP: Sting exposes gaps in US security for nuclear material - report - Thu Jul 12, 10:51 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Undercover investigators posing as businessmen easily obtained a license from US nuclear regulators that would have allowed them to buy radioactive materials needed for a "dirty bomb," US newspapers reported on Thursday. The investigators from Congress's Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the sting operation showed that US security measures remain inadequate despite new policies designed to prevent radioactive material from falling into the hands of terrorist networks. The investigators easily secured the license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 28 days after a minimal background check without an interview or a visit to the purported company, the Washington Post reported, citing the GAO report to be released later Thursday. The GAO agents ordered portable moisture density gauges, which contain radioactive americium-241 and cesium-137 and are often used at construction sites to assess soil, water and pavement, the paper said. The investigators were able to alter the license, removing a limit on the amount of radioactive material they could buy, the report says. "We altered the license so that it appeared our bogus company could purchase an unrestricted quantity" of radioactive material, the Post said, citing the report. "Given that terrorists have expressed an interest in obtaining nuclear material, the Congress and the American people expect licensing programs for these materials to be secure," said Gregory Kutz, an investigator at the accountability office, in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing. Counter-terrorism experts have warned of the threat posed by a dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives as well as radioactive material to contaminate a wide area. The investigators called off the operation before the devices were delivered, The New York Times reported. A previous undercover operation purchased enough radioactive material abroad to make two dirty bombs and smuggled them into the United States at two points, one on the Canadian border and one on the border with Mexico. The GAO report is due to be released at a Senate hearing on Thursday. GAO Photo: Undercover investigators posing as businessmen easily obtained a license from US nuclear regulators that would... Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 32 AFP: Weak nuclear controls could allow 'dirty' bomb - US probe - Thu Jul 12, 4:57 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US investigators with a fake company got a license to buy enough nuclear material to build a radioactive bomb without a background check, said a report to Congress Thursday. In four weeks, investigators working for Congress obtained the license from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to purchase enough nuclear material to build a so-called "dirty" bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material. "Given that terrorists have expressed an interest in obtaining nuclear material, the Congress and the American people expect licensing programs for these materials to be secure," Gregory Kutz reported to lawmakers. Kutz was one of the authors of the report for the Government Accountability Office, which mounted the sting operation at the request of Republican Senator Norm Coleman. The investigators obtained the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license and ordered the fissile material without leaving their desks, Kutz said. "The NRC has a pre 9-11 mindset in a post 9-11 world, focusing just on preventing another Chernobyl," Coleman said. "The economic and psychological effects of a dirty bomb detonating on American soil would be devastating," he said. Investigators obtained the permission by fax and telephone calls, without appearing in person or allowing the regulatory commission to visit their premises. The investigators posed as representatives of a company that used radioactive isotopes americium-241 and cesium-137 to measure soil density in construction. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 33 Platts: Vattenfall's Kruemmel BWR likely to be offline until late August 2007-07-12 London (Platts)--12Jul2007 Vattenfall's Kruemmel BWR will likely be offline at least through late August, nuclear safety sources told Platts July 11. Kruemmel has been offline since it scrammed June 28 following a short circuit and a transformer fire. Following a meeting with owner Vattenfall Europe AG held July 9, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's head federal regulator, and state regulatory officials have vowed to keep the unit offline until the safety significance of the June 28 event is probed and any regulatory actions are taken. Regulatory sources said July 11 that the reactor will likely remain offline at least until a planned routine maintenance and refueling outage, scheduled for early August, is carried out. A week ago, regulators had proposed that the outage be carried out then while investigation of the transient was under way. Now, however, regulators believe that the investigation into the background of the June 28 event may take more time. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 34 NAS: Project: Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune Project Title: PIN: BEST-K-06-08-A Major Unit: Division on Earth and Life Studies Sub Unit: Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology RSO: Martel, Susan Subject/Focus Area: Environmental Issue Project Scope A committee of the National Research Council will review the scientific evidence on associations between adverse health effects and historical data on prenatal, childhood, and adult exposures to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The committee will assess the strength of evidence in establishing a link or association between exposure to trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and other drinking water contaminants and each adverse health effect suspected to be associated with such exposure. For each health effect reviewed, the committee will determine to the extent practicable with the available scientific data (1) whether a statistical association between such contaminant exposures and the health effect exists, (2) whether there exist plausible biological mechanisms or other evidence of a causal relationship between contaminant exposures and the effect, (3) the strength of evidence for causal inference for each of the health effects, and (4) other scientific considerations that may help the Department of the Navy prioritize future activities. The committee's review will include an evaluation of the toxicologic and epidemiologic literature on adverse health effects of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, including studies of populations exposed to similar levels of the contaminants of concerns; risk assessment reports from government agencies; recent literature reviews by the National Research Council, Institute of Medicine and other groups; completed and ongoing ATSDR studies at Camp Lejeune; and published meta-analyses. In the evaluation of previous and current health studies of residents of Camp Lejeune, the committee will review the appropriateness of the study question, design, analysis, results, and conclusions. Sponsor: Department of Defense Starting date: 04/10/07 A final report will be issued at the end of the project in approximately 18 months. Project Duration: 21 months Provide FEEDBACK on this project. Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry or to schedule an appointment to view project materials available to the public. Committee Membership Meetings Reports Reports having no URL can be seen at the Public Access Records Office Email: info@nas.edu ***************************************************************** 35 TheStar.com: Protest planned against proposed uranium mine Jul 12, 2007 04:30 PM Canadian press SHARBOT LAKE, Ont. – Aboriginal protesters occupying the site of a proposed uranium mine in eastern Ontario are planning a march Friday to voice their growing concerns about mining on traditional lands. Group spokeswoman Paula Sherman says they're not just worried about the potential hazards of uranium mining on the environment and health of those who live in the area near Sharbot Lake. She says they're also upset that government officials aren't consulting with native communities before allowing companies to mine on traditional lands. Members of the Sharbot Lake and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations say they want a moratorium on uranium mining on the land. Non-native residents in the area have also voiced their opposition to the project, some with makeshift signs along the highway saying "No uranium mine" and "Radioactive death." Sherman says the group is still in talks with the mining company, Frontenac Ventures Corp., which has mineral claims covering an area of about 60 square kilometres in Frontenac County. © Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2007 | ***************************************************************** 36 BBC NEWS: Plutonium incident leads to fine Last Updated: Thursday, 12 July 2007, 12:39 GMT 13:39 UK The plant's Marshall Lab carried out research for Japan The operators of the mothballed Dounreay nuclear complex in Caithness have been fined Ł15,000 after an employee breathed in plutonium. The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) pleaded guilty to the health and safety breach at Wick Sheriff Court. Speaking outside the court, a UKAEA spokesman said procedures had been tightened since the incident. Simon Middlemas, Dounreay's site director, said: "We accept some mistakes were made in the Marshall Lab at the beginning of last year resulting in a worker receiving a very minimal plutonium intake. "It should not have happened and we, very quickly, addressed a number of issues." DOUNREAY FACTFILE Dounreay was Britain's centre of fast reactor research from 1954 to 1994 The site is now being decommissioned at a cost of Ł2.9m The Marshall Lab was built in 1981 and carried out development and trials for Sellafield and Japan's mixed oxide fuel reprocessing programme UKAEA's director of safety, Dr John Crofts, added: "Our procedures have been tightened and a number of behavioural safety initiatives have been set in place to ensure this type of incident should never occur again." The worker breathed in plutonium at the plant in January last year. The prosecution followed an investigation by inspectors into record keeping and the storage of material at a former fuel reprocessing laboratory which the employee had been sent to help decommission. The charge, brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act, cited the source of contamination as a number of lead bricks. Earlier this year the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, the nuclear industry's on-site regulator, served two formal improvement notices on the UK Atomic Energy Authority. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 37 The Herald: Dounreay chiefs are fined Ł15,000 after worker breathes in plutonium Web Issue 2885 July 13 2007 DAVID ROSS, Highland Correspondent July 13 2007 Dounreay's operators were fined Ł15,000 yesterday for a series of health and safety failings that led to a worker breathing in plutonium which will remain in his system for life. It follows a Ł140,000 penalty that the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) received in February for releasing radioactive particles into the sea and illegally dumping radioactive waste over 20 years. The latest fine came after an incident in January last year when a male employee and a female colleague at the Dounreay site were exposed to the radioactive material as they disposed of contaminated bricks in a laboratory. The UKAEA admitted breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Wick Sheriff Court. Tests revealed one of the employees, Brian Grant, received a plutonium intake. The matter was reported to the Health and Safety Executive, whose nuclear installations inspectorate issued the plant with two improvement notices after an investigation. UKAEA's solicitor David Stewart said the dose Mr Grant received was less than one-tenth of the annual permitted legal dose. He added that Dounreay now had risk assessment documents in place and general advice directing that respirators should be worn when disposing of low level and intermediate level waste. The court heard the nuclear plant now required all items which were in transit for storage to be properly labelled and inspected. Mr Stewart said: "There is absolutely no doubt this should not have happened. We put our hands up to that. All we can do is make sure that this does not happen again." Sheriff David Sutherland told UKAEA he would have fined them the maximum penalty of Ł20,000 if they had not entered a guilty plea at an early stage. Lorraine Mann, of Scotland against Nuclear Dumping, who has been Dounreay's most persistent critic, said: "It is absolutely disgraceful that this sort of thing is happening time and time again. "The UKAEA seems absolutely incapable of getting on top of the profound health and safety problems on the Dounreay site." In March 2000 the UKAEA was fined Ł100,000 at Dornoch Sheriff Court for failing to properly protect three workers from exposure to radiation in 1995 when they suffered exposure up to nine times the permitted levels. It was fined a further Ł1000 for an incident in 1998 when an 11,000 volt cable was damaged by a digger driver, cutting off power to the fuel cycle area where all nuclear processing and reprocessing was done. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights ***************************************************************** 38 NRC: USEC Centrufuge plant FR Doc 07-3403 [Federal Register: July 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 133)] [Notices] [Page 38103-38104] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr12jy07-89] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [EA-07-180, Docket No.: 70-7004, License No.: SNM-2011] In the Matter of USEC, Inc., American Centrifuge Plant; Order Modifying License For Additional Security Measures (Effective Immediately) I USEC Inc. (USEC or the Licensee) is the holder of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License No. SNM-2011, for the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP), issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 70. This license authorizes the Licensee to construct and operate a uranium enrichment facility, in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70. The USEC license was issued on April 13, 2007, and is due to expire on April 13, 2037. II On September 11, 2001, terrorists simultaneously attacked targets in New York, NY, and Washington, DC, using large commercial aircraft as weapons. In response to the attacks and intelligence information subsequently obtained, the Commission issued a number of Safeguards and Threat Advisories to its licensees, to strengthen licensees' capabilities and readiness to respond to a potential attack on a nuclear facility. The Commission has also communicated with other Federal, State, and local government agencies and industry representatives, to discuss and evaluate the current threat environment, to assess the adequacy of security measures at licensed facilities. In addition, the Commission has been conducting a comprehensive review of its safeguards and security programs and requirements. As a result of its consideration of current safeguards and security plan requirements, as well as a review of information provided by the intelligence community, the Commission has determined that the Licensee must implement certain additional prudent measures to address the current threat environment. Therefore, the Commission is imposing requirements, set forth in Attachments 1 and 2 \1\ of this Order, which supplement existing regulatory requirements, to provide the Commission with reasonable assurance that the public health and safety and common defense and security continue to be adequately protected in the current threat environment. These requirements will remain in effect until the Commission determines otherwise. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Attachments 1 and 2 contain safeguards information and will not be released to the public. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Commission recognizes that some of the requirements set forth in Attachments 1 and 2 \2\ to this Order may already have been initiated by the Licensee on its own. It is also recognized that some measures may need to be tailored to specifically accommodate the specific circumstances and characteristics, existing at the licensee's facility, to achieve the intended objectives and avoid any unforeseen effect on safe operation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \2\ To the extent that specific measures identified in the Attachments to this Order require actions pertaining to the Licensee's possession and use of chemicals, such actions are being directed on the basis of the potential impact of such chemicals on radioactive materials and activities subject to NRC regulation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In light of the current threat environment, the Commission concludes that the Additional Security Measures must be embodied in an Order, consistent with the established regulatory framework. To provide assurance that the Licensee is implementing prudent measures to achieve an adequate level of protection to address the current threat environment, SNM-2011 shall be modified to include the requirements identified in Attachments 1 and 2 to this Order. In addition, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202 and 70.81, I find that, in light of the circumstances described above, the public health, safety, and interest, and the common defense and security require that this Order be immediately effective. III Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 53, 62, 63, 81, 147, 149, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and 186 of the AEA of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70, it is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that material license SNM-2011 is modified as follows: A. The Licensee shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any Commission regulation to the contrary, comply with the requirements described in Attachments 1 and 2 to this Order. The Licensee shall immediately start implementation of the requirements in Attachments 1 and 2 to the Order and shall complete implementation, unless otherwise specified in Attachments 1 and 2 to this order, no later than six (6) months before facility operation. B. 1. The Licensee shall, within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order, notify the Commission; (1) If it is unable to comply with any of the requirements described in the Attachment; (2) if compliance with any of the requirements is unnecessary in its specific circumstances; or (3) if implementation of any of the requirements would cause the Licensee to be in violation of the provisions of any Commission regulation or its license. The notification shall provide the Licensee's justification for seeking relief from, or variation of, any specific requirement. 2. If the Licensee considers that implementation of any of the requirements described in Attachments 1 and 2 to this Order would adversely affect safe operation of its facility, the Licensee must notify the Commission, within twenty (20) days of this Order, of the adverse safety impact, the basis for [[Page 38104]] its determination that the requirement has an adverse safety impact, and either a proposal for achieving the same objectives, specified in Attachments 1 and 2, in question, or a schedule for modifying the facilities, to address the adverse safety condition. If neither approach is appropriate, the Licensee must supplement its response to Condition B1 of this Order, to identify the condition as a requirement with which it cannot comply, with attendant justifications, as required in Condition B1. C. 1. The Licensee shall, within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order, submit to the Commission, a schedule for achieving compliance with each requirement described in the Attachment. 2. The Licensee shall report to the Commission when it has achieved full compliance with the requirements described in the Attachment. D. Notwithstanding any provision of the Commission's regulations to the contrary, all measures implemented or actions taken in response to this Order shall be maintained until the Commission determines otherwise. The Licensee's response to Conditions B.1, B.2, C.1, and C.2, above, shall be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 70.5. In addition, the Licensee's submittals that contain Safeguards Information shall be properly marked and handled in accordance with the Order issued on October 4, 2006, requiring a program for protecting Safeguards Information. The Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the Licensee of good cause. IV In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, the Licensee must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order, may submit an answer to this Order, and may request a hearing on this Order, within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of time in which to submit an answer or request a hearing must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the extension. The answerer may consent to this Order. Unless the answerer consents to this Order, the answerer shall, in writing and under oath or affirmation, specifically set forth the matters of fact and law on which the Licensee or other person adversely affected relies and the reasons as to why the Order should not have been issued. Any answer or request for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary, Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; to the Assistant General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement, at the same address; to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303-8931; and to the Licensee, if the answer or hearing request is by a person other than the Licensee. Because of possible disruptions in delivery of mail to United States Government offices, it is requested that answers and requests for hearing be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission, either by means of facsimile transmission, to 301-415-1101, or by e-mail, to hearingdocket@nrc.gov, and also to the Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission, to 301-415-3725, or by e- mail, to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309. If a hearing is requested by the Licensee or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), the Licensee may, in addition to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the Order, on the grounds that the Order, including the need for immediate effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence, but on mere suspicion, unfounded allegations, or error. In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section III above shall be final twenty (20) days from the date of this Order, without further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section III shall be final when the extension expires, if a hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this order. Dated: July 5, 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Michael F. Weber, Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 07-3403 Filed 7-11-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4590-01-P ***************************************************************** 39 RGJ.com: Political interference hurts offices' ability to function July 12, 2007 Editorial AP/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Former U.S. Surgeon General Vice Adm. Richard Carmona, the 17th surgeon general, told lawmakers that all surgeons general have had to deal with politics but none more so than he. Nevadans shouldn't be surprised at the former surgeon general's testimony that the White House muzzled him on hot-button political issues. This is, after all, the president who told the state's residents during the 2000 campaign that a decision on going ahead with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository would be based on science, and then ignored his promise when he won office with the help of this state's voters. However, despite the millions of dollars that already have been spent on the Yucca Mountain project, it has always been more about politics than science. Politics trumped science early in the process, when Congress voted, over the protests of Nevada's leaders, to eliminate potential sites for the waste dump in Arizona and Louisiana to concentrate on Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which could muster little political support in Congress. Since then, both Democratic and Republican administrations have forged ahead with the plan to move the waste from the nation's nuclear power plants -- none located in Nevada -- to the mountain north of Las Vegas. Even accusations that contractors falsified important data and a judge's ruling that standards for the repository had no basis in science were unable to stop the project. Why, then, should anyone be surprised by former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona's testimony on Tuesday that the White House had politicized his office, as it has other offices that deal primarily with science? Speaking before the House Oversight Committee, Carmona, who served in the office from 2002 to 2006, accused administration officials of censoring his speeches, preventing him from speaking to reporters and telling him to follow administration policy instead of science. (A White House spokesman denied the allegations.) He also said that the administration blocked reports or his input on a range of issues, from emergency preparedness to mental health. He was joined by two other former surgeons general, C. Everett Koop and David Satcher, who said that this administration's efforts went well beyond those experienced in the past. It should go without saying that politics should have no part in such scientific endeavors. When it becomes clear to the American public that politicians are skewing science to fit their own beliefs and aims, they will lose confidence in those offices and the policies that are recommended. Sounds a lot like what's happened to Yucca Mountain, doesn't it? © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 40 RGJ.com: Shoshone, Paiute elder dies July 12, 2007 GERALDA MILLER RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Posted: 7/12/2007 CHAT(read PROVIDED TO THE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone and Paiute spiritual leader, died Tuesday. He was 87. Corbin Harney, an elder and spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone and Paiute people and internationally known anti-nuclear activist, has died. Harney died of complications with cancer Tuesday morning on a sacred mountain near Santa Rosa, Calif., his family said in a written statement. He was 87. His work on environmental justice issues and spiritual teachings is being remembered by those who knew him. "Corbin was one of the most revered and respected spiritual leaders of the Western Shoshone and Paiute people of the Great Basin," said Norm Harry, former tribal chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. "Corbin's presence will certainly be missed by all who knew him. But his work and teachings will continue." "We have truly lost a lot," said Harney's nephew, Santiago Lozada, who was with him when he died. "Corbin was a World War II veteran and was known around the world for his activism against radioactivity and nuclear weapons," said Robert Hager, a Reno-based lawyer for the Western Shoshone tribe. "He's irreplaceable to the Western Shoshone nation." His activism included leading prayer services and demonstrations at Yucca Mountain and the Nevada nuclear test site and singing songs at the United Nations in Geneva. In 2003, he was awarded the Nuclear-Free Future Award, an international award for opposition to nuclear arms and atomic energy. In 1994, Harney founded the Shundahai Network, an organization meant to guarantee that American Indian issues and voices are heard. He also founded Poo Ha Bah, a traditional healing center outside of Death Valley, Calif. "Corbin was not only one of the most powerful spiritual leaders in the world, but a dear friend to all of us," said Bob Fulkerson, state director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. Harry said Harney was a mentor who shared his vision for healing Mother Earth. "The one thing he always stressed to me and it struck with me was, as native people, we can't stand alone and we have to ask others to assist with the healing process," Harry said. Harney was a member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley but had not lived in the area for several years, said Ted Howard, the tribe's cultural resources director. In the American Indian tradition, Howard said Harney had "done his part and it was time for him to move on." "In our beliefs, he crossed into the spirit world and we will see him again," Howard said. "He now is one of those spirits that we summon for strength and direction. Even though the body is gone the spirit lives on." The family is completing funeral plans, but a sunrise burial service will be Monday in the Battle Mountain Indian Community, where his wife, Marge, is buried. He is survived by a daughter, two granddaughters, four grandsons, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. With wire service reports. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 41 AU ABC: Uranium explorer confident of Qld policy change - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted July 12, 2007 09:25:00 Three sites in the Bowen Basin, in central Queensland, could be explored for uranium as part of what is thought to be the first major search for the mineral in Queensland in three decades. Exploration company Duyfken Energy has lodged 38 applications for permits to look for uranium deposits across Queensland, despite the State Government's no uranium mining policy. Duyfken director Pepita Maiden says the issue will have to be addressed soon. She says uranium could match coal in terms of future benefits for the region. "It's a huge industry and there's a lot of potential for the state," she said. "From our point of view, Queensland is a pro-mining jurisdiction. Mining is an industry in which there is a great deal of experience and expertise and the state has mined uranium in the past." Tags: business-economics-and-finance, industry, mining, environment, mining, uranium-mining, mackay-4740 ***************************************************************** 42 AU ABC: Beattie urged to 'get with the times' over uranium mining - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted July 12, 2007 12:42:00 Federal Energy Minister Ian Macfarlane says the Queensland Government's anti-uranium mining position is denying the state up to $10 billion in exports and jobs. Mr Macfarlane says the nuclear energy debate is one that Australia needs to have and that Premier Peter Beattie needs to "get with the times". A uranium exploration company has lodged applications to explore 920 square kilometres of land around Dalby and Kingaroy in the state's south-east as well as other sites in northern Queensland. Mr Macfarlane says it is ridiculous the state allows mining companies to explore for uranium, but prohibits its mining. "What that says to me is that at a time when Peter Beattie thinks it's politically opportune, he will simply roll over and allow the mining of uranium, which is a commonsense thing to do and one which is supported by his party nationally," he said. Tags: business-economics-and-finance, industry, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, uranium-mining, dalby-4405, kingaroy-4610, mount-isa-4825, rockhampton-4700, townsville-4810 ***************************************************************** 43 Indybay: Anti-Nculear Activist and Spritual Leader Corbin Harney Passes Away by Christina Aanestad Wednesday Jul 11th, 2007 10:52 AM Corbin Harney, spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone passed away yesterday of cancer, on Turtle Island, Santa Rosa, California. Harney led the successful resistence to stop the Divine Strake, a nuclear testing plan on Shoshone Lands in Nevada earlier this year. “My name is Corbin Harney, I’m a Shoshone Indian. I invite each and every one of you on the Shoshone land. Let’s all unite ourself toether and stop this nonsence of what our government is doing to us. Together we can change the direction of what our nuclear energy department is doing. If they want to continue using it why don’t they bury in their own back yards? This is why I ask you people to come out here. This is something that you have to do, you have to decide. Think about the younger people, think about the plant life, the animal life, and so forth. Let’s enjoy them so they can enjoy us. Let’s work together as one people. Thank you.” That was the voice of Corbin Harney, Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone Nation, who passed away today from cancer. He had dedicated his life to fighting nuclear testing and dumping. In 1994, Harney established the Shundahai Network to respond to spiritual and environmental concerns of nuclear issues. Harney also established Poo Ha Bah, a native healing center located in Tecopa Springs, California. Julie Ann Fischer is an attorney with the Western Shoshone Defense Project and personal friend of Harney’s. “His push for people to understand and to relearn traditional ways of living and to relearn traditional indigenous ways of respecting the earth and the sacred elements of the earth, especially the water and the air-these were real core components of all his life’s work, because without the land, the air, the wate, there would be no life.” Over his lifetime, Corbin Harney traveled around the world as a speaker, healer and spiritual leader with an environmental and spiritual message. He received numerous national and international awards and spoke before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Corbin also authored two books: “The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Earth” and a forthcoming book, “The Nature Way”. A public statement by Harney’s family says “he will be missed but always honored for his work and dedication to traditional ways.” © 2000–2007 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless ***************************************************************** 44 Inside Bay Area: Site 300 doesn't make bio-lab list Facility for studying contagions to be built outside California By Mike Martinez, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 07/12/2007 02:51:56 AM PDT TRACY ? Federal officials have whittled down their list of potential locations for a proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, and Site 300, in the hills south of Tracy, is not on it. The Department of Homeland Security selected sites in Mississippi, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia as finalists for the proposed lab, much to the delight of local activists. Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, called it "a major victory for the community." "It's a victory the community as a whole has won," Kelley said. "This facility is going to be one of the most dangerous bio-warfare agent research facilities in the world, not just the country. It's going to be bigger than five Wal-Marts." The lab had proposed that the research laboratory be built at Site 300. The facility, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, would research and develop cures for life-threatening diseases affecting both humans and animals. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory spokeswoman Susan Houghton said officials were "extremely disappointed." "We felt our proposal was extremely strong," she said. "We felt more importantly that it was vital that a facility like this be located in the state of California because there was a lot the state had to offer. We don't know any of the specifics why our facility was not selected." The facility will replace an aging, smaller lab at Plum Island, N.Y., where security lapses after the 2001 terrorist attacks drew scrutiny from Congress and government investigators. Congress provided money for the $47 million design and architecture, but no money has been appropriated for construction or operations yet. The site should be announced next year, and the lab should be operating by 2014. The Plum Island lab conducts research on foot-and-mouth disease and other germs to protect agriculture and livestock from foreign diseases. The new lab will do that and research on other diseases and contagions, possibly including anthrax, smallpox, and Marburg and Lassa, rare hemorrhagic fevers that attack the vascular system. The sites were chosen by a team from Homeland Security, along with the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. One of the criteria examined by the panelists selecting the final sites was community acceptance. In January, the Tracy City Council voted 3-1 to send a letter opposing the Site 300 proposal. A grass-roots effort, spearheaded by Tri-Valley Cares, also collected thousands of signatures in opposition. "We don't want to see any unnatural hazards happen in any community," Kelley said. "Even as we're celebrating our victory today, and it's a huge victory, I'm going to sleep better tonight knowing the Ebola virus, foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax are not coming to Site 300, but they are still planned from some community." Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the University of California, which operates the Livermore Lab and Site 300, said even though their proposal is no longer under consideration, the university remains committed to working with Homeland Security in the future. "UC is hopeful that the DHS will not rule out options to locate a bio- and agro-defense facility in California in the future," Harrington said in a prepared statement. "California is the nation's largest food producer ? which includes the largest dairy industry ? and the state that has the largest volume of agricultural imports and exports through seaports and borders. "Working with the DHS to ensure the safety of the multifaceted food production and safety systems of California and the nation will remain a high priority for UC." Site 300 is still awaiting word on paperwork resubmitted to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to raise the amount of outdoor explosives allowed during outdoor testing. The permit application, filed April 6, said the lab anticipates using up to 350 pounds per day and up to 8,000 pounds of explosives per year. Among the dangerous materials expected to be found in the explosions are thallium and depleted uranium, according to the application. Last November, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory was granted permission to expand its explosives testing from 1,000 to 8,000 pounds per year. But the air district rescinded the permits following an appeal hearing in February. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mike Martinez can be reached at (209) 832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com. © 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers | Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 45 Knoxville News Sentinel: Wamp touts Y-12 success, sounds warning By Frank Munger (Contact) Updated 01:52 p.m., July 10, 2007 J. Miles Cary Congressman Zach Wamp was the keynote speaker at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly constructed Jack Case Center and New Hope Center at the Y-12 Nuclear Security complex Tuesday. OAK RIDGE — Calling it a first step toward modernization of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., today hailed the ahead-of-time, under-budget completion of two privately financed facilities. “This is a big, big day,” the congressman said at the dedication of the New Hope Center, the plant’s new visitor center, and the Jack Case Center, an enormous office facility that will house about a third of the Y-12 work force. Wamp compared the two Oak Ridge facilities, which total 550,000 square feet and cost about $150 million to build, to the new visitors center at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. — a project of similar size and scope, but still uncompleted after six years of work and a taxpayer investment of nearly $600 million. The comparison underscores the difference between innovation in private industry and the sluggish process often associated with government projects, he said. Tom D’Agostino, the deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the federal agency plans to apply the Oak Ridge model to other sites in the nuclear weapons complex. “I really want to copycat what you’ve done here,” said D’Agostino, the nominee to become administrator of the NNSA, a semi-independent part of the U.S. Department of Energy that runs the weapons program. Lawler-Wood of Knoxville was developer of the successful Oak Ridge project and will lease the two facilities to BWXT Y-12, the contractor that manages Y-12 for federal government. Turner Universal was the construction chief for New Hope and Jack Case. While praising the cost control and tight schedule on the privately financed facilities, Wamp acknowledged the price tag for federal projects at Y-12 has escalated. The Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility is now projected to cost about $549 million, more than double the original estimate. Construction of the high-security storage facility, which will house the nation’s stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, is about 60 percent complete. The cost of the Uranium Processing Facility, a proposed facility that is supposed to replace the plant’s main production center, is now expected to cost about $2 billion — double the initial estimate — and construction has not yet begun. The rising costs have been mostly blamed on security changes needed to meet the evolving threat of terrorism. In an interview before today’s ceremony, Wamp was asked if federal agencies are using national security and homeland security as an excuse to spend carte blanche. “I’m constantly asking the question you just asked,” he said. “You can’t just spend regardless of cost. You have to weigh it and balance it.” Wamp said he believes the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, after earlier problems, is now under control, “on track and responsibly managed.” He said the Uranium Processing Facility is only going to be built if the HEUMF is successfully completed. The congressman said there may be other, more creative ways to procure these federal projects, even a high-security facility such as the UPF — where Y-12 would process uranium and build warhead parts. The new facilities are Y-12 are critical to the nation’s security, Wamp said, but he added: “We have to make sure that it’s not a bottomless pit … You can’t just go haywire. There’s got to be some cost control and containment,” he said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************