***************************************************************** 07/18/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.167 ***************************************************************** 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 UN Inspectors Verify Shutdown Of Dpr Korea Nuclear Facilities 2 IAEA: IAEA Team Confirms Shutdown of DPRK Nuclear Facilities 3 US: Platts: US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending 4 RIA Novosti: Russia ready to discuss CFE Treaty with U.S. despite mo 5 BBC NEWS: Musharraf faces big decision 6 Reuters: EU backs Britain in row with Russia 7 AFP: Russia rejects NATO offer but rules out 'new Cold War' - NUCLEAR REACTORS 8 IPS-English ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Quake Devastates Nuclear Power 9 The Hindu: Reprocessing under safeguards will affect N-prog - scient 10 US: ISB: Permit process begins for company proposing nuclear plant i 11 US: Times-News: Nuke planner submits CUP application 12 US: AZ Star: Feds launch investigation into mistake at Palo Verde nu 13 The Hindu: Nuclear deal in last lap 14 Arizona Republic: N-plant cover-up may cost APS | 15 BBC NEWS: Japan admits greater nuclear leak 16 Xinhua: Concerns over nuclear plant safety high after major quake in 17 US: St. Petersburg Times: Nuclear energy a laughing matter? 18 US: NRC: Sherwood Martinelli; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking 19 AFP: Vattenfall Europe chief quits after German nuclear incidents - 20 Reuters: U.S., India make another stab at nuclear deal 21 Reuters: U.S., India nuclear talks expected to go third day 22 Reuters: Japanese quake city orders nuclear plant to stay shut | 23 DW: Energy Giant's Europe Chief Quits After Nuclear Scandal 24 UPI: Japanese plant may be on quake fault line 25 Hemscott: German economy minister defends nuclear industry after Vat 26 Hemscott: French regulator identifies low-level risk at EDF nuclear 27 Guardian Unlimited: Mayor Closes Quake-Hit Japan Nuke Plant 28 AFP: Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant ordered to remain shut - 29 ITAR-TASS: Lithuania sets up working group for construction of new N 30 US: DNN: Nuke plant's false alarm should be a wake-up call - 31 US: Idaho Press-Tribune: Nuclear plant files application 32 Independent.ie: Nuclear energy is not the way forward, says Ryan - 33 OpEdNews: Japanese Earthquake Reactor Accident Worse Than Three Mile 34 csmonitor.com: Russia plans big nuclear expansion 35 Guardian Unlimited: Company Says Radioactive Leak Was Bigger 36 US: NRC: The NRC and the ‘Safety Business’” NRC Chairman Dale E. Kle 37 US: AFP: US to mull energy proposals from panel led by ex-Exxon chie 38 AFP: US, India identify solutions to salvage nuclear deal 39 AFP: US, India begin fresh talks to seal nuclear deal - 40 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Nuke Plant Leak Worse Than Thought 41 Guardian Unlimited: Damaged Japanese nuclear plant 'may sit on fault NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 42 The Hindu: Is maligning plutonium metal justified? 43 US: Spectrum: Downwinders concerned about Milford Flat Fire radiatio 44 US: APP.COM: Oyster Creek regulators can't ignore health risks | 45 US: LA Daily News: House OKs $1 million for cleanup of rocket fuel, 46 US: OH&S: Study: Leukemia Rates in Children Elevated Near Nuclear Fa 47 US: NAS: Project: Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 48 Pahrump Valley Times: Those darned headlines 49 US: ENS: Uranium Tailings Pile Near Colorado River to Be Moved 50 US: NRC: NRC, DOE to Hold Public Meeting in Washington on Non-high L 51 US: Platts: Spot uranium price weakens again on limited near-term de 52 ReviewJournal.com: Gibbons lets Yucca Mountain project use 53 Las Vegas SUN: Questions surface over appointee to Nevada's nuclear 54 US: Daily News Journal: Many residents still suspicious about radioa 55 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Goshute nuclear storage allies sue Interior D 56 US: deseretnews.com: Goshutes, PFS sue Interior 57 Hemscott: BNFL posts strong FY results as break-up gathers momentum 58 US: Murfreesboro Post: Landfill: A question of trust 59 US: Murfreesboro Post: 'We were lied to' rallying cry 60 NAS: Project: Internationalization of the Civilian Nuclear Fuel Cycl 61 Reid: Reid "Incredibly Disappointed" At State's Decision To Lift 62 barrow in furness: Historic nuke waste finally leaves village PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 63 SF New Mexican: Udall backs bill slashing lab funds 64 Hanford News: Nuke planner submits CUP application 65 Hanford News: Board hears comments on ill Hanford workers 66 Hanford News: Animal habitat up in smoke 67 Hanford News: PNNL to trim organization 68 Hanford News: Hanford manager promises openness 69 YN: "Bullying of career scientists and policy experts cannot be tole 70 CTFP: Y-12 facelift focuseson new Oak Ridge mission - 71 Knoxville News Sentinel: Praise the Lord, build the nukes 72 Knoxville News Sentinel: Report: Feds sneak ammo to Oak Ridge ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 UN Inspectors Verify Shutdown Of Dpr Korea Nuclear Facilities Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 15:01:48 -0400 New York, Jul 18 2007 3:00PM A team of inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has confirmed that five nuclear facilities in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been shut down. Experts from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (<"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2007/prn200712.html">IAEA) arrived at the Yongbyon nuclear site on 14 July to verify its closure. The agency team was told that the DPRK had shut down – that day – the Yongbyon Experimental Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, the Radiochemical Laboratory, the Yongbyon Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant, the Yongbyon Nuclear Power Plant No. 2 and the Nuclear Power Plant at Taechon. After verifying the closure, IAEA experts applied the necessary seals and took other appropriate measures, and they will complete the installation of surveillance and monitoring equipment in the next few weeks. “The IAEA’s verification activities are going smoothly with good cooperation from the DPRK,” said Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. “This is an important step in the right direction but only the first in a long journey.” Earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the news and encouraged all parties to further efforts for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. “This is just one step, but I think that it is a very important and encouraging step,” Mr. Ban said. Eventually, the DPRK will “have to dismantle and destroy all nuclear weapons and related programmes in return for economic assistance as well as the security assurance and political horizons, diplomatic horizons,” he added. 2007-07-18 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ _______________________________ To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/ ***************************************************************** 2 IAEA: IAEA Team Confirms Shutdown of DPRK Nuclear Facilities Press Release 2007/12 18 July 2007 | Following the recent understanding reached between the IAEA and DPRK, an IAEA team arrived at the Yongbyon nuclear site on 14 July 2007 to verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. The team was informed that the DPRK had on that day shut down the following facilities: the Yongbyon Experimental Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, the Radiochemical Laboratory, the Yongbyon Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant, the Yongbyon Nuclear Power Plant No. 2, and the Nuclear Power Plant at Taechon. The IAEA team has been able to confirm that the above five facilities have been shut down. The team applied the necessary seals and other measures as appropriate. The installation of the necessary surveillance and monitoring equipment by the IAEA team is expected to be completed in the next few weeks. "The IAEA´s verification activities are going smoothly with good cooperation from the DPRK," IAEA Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei said. "This is an important step in the right direction but only the first in a long journey." Press Contact Press Office Division of Public Information [43-1] 2600-21276 About the IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to society while verifying its peaceful use. NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the Press Section of the IAEA's website (http://www.iaea.org/Resources/Journalists/), or call the IAEA's Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270. Copyright ©, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: ***************************************************************** 3 Platts: US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending bill 2007-07-17 Washington (Platts)--17Jul2007 The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a $31.6-billion 2008 energy and water spending bill by a 312-112 vote. The bill would provide a significant increase in funding for solar energy, biofuels and other clean-energy technologies, as well as $1 billion in funds for members' priority projects. The vote margin would be sufficient to withstand President Bush's threatened veto of the measure, and any spending bill that significantly exceeds his budget request. The bill would provide the Department of Energy with $25.2 billion for fiscal 2008, an increase of $1.1 billion over the current funding level and $480 million more than DOE requested. Renewable energy programs would receive $632 million more than the Bush administration request. The bill would also increase funding for various clean-coal programs, providing these initiatives with $709 million, or $142 million more than DOE requested. DOE science programs would also see increased funding, especially initiatives that use state-of-the-art "supercomputers" to model the effects of global warming. The bill funded some of the Bush administration's nuclear energy priorities, but not others. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, which is designed to spur a renaissance in civilian nuclear energy through the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and other means, would receive only $120 million compared with the administration's $405 million request. The proposed federal nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada would receive all of the administration's requested $494 million, however, despite the project's low political clout since Nevada Democrat and Yucca opponent Harry Reid assumed the Senate's top job earlier in 2007. Meanwhile, a group of Republicans failed to eliminate all or part of a $1 billion earmarks package inserted into the bill by unanimous consent after it was approved by the appropriations committee. Appropriators opted for a post-committee approach to attaching earmarks to the measure so they can receive extra scrutiny, Appropriations Chairman David Obey, Democrat-Wisconsin has said. The amendment by Representative John Campbell, Republican-California, that would have struck the entire earmark package, was defeated on a 39-388 recorded vote. --Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com For more news, request a free trial to Platts Inside Energy 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=23_33&products_id=61 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 4 RIA Novosti: Russia ready to discuss CFE Treaty with U.S. despite moratorium -1 17:36 | 18/ 07/ 2007 (Adds details, background in paragraphs 2, 4-6) MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Despite a recent moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Russia is ready to discuss the issue with the United States, the Russian foreign minister told the U.S. secretary of state on the phone. Late last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed a moratorium on Russia's observance of the CFE Treaty and related agreements, citing the "extraordinary circumstances concerning Russia's security that require emergency measures." "[Russian Foreign Minister] Sergei Lavrov has informed the U.S. Secretary of State [Condoleezza Rice] of Russia's motives for suspending its participation in the CFE Treaty, and emphasized the [country's] readiness to continue discussing CFE-related issues and other strategic security problems with the United States," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. In the telephone conversation initiated by the United States the parties also discussed Tuesday several international issues, in particular prospects for holding an international conference on the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear program and Kosovo. Russia will consider the CFE Treaty and related international agreements frozen 150 days after all participants in the treaty have received notices from the country. Among other things, Russia will not comply with any conventional arms limits, the Foreign Ministry said, however, the amount of Russian weapons will depend on the situation in the military and political spheres. The Foreign Ministry added that the moratorium "does not imply that we are shutting the doors to further dialogue." RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 5 BBC NEWS: Musharraf faces big decision Last Updated: Tuesday, 17 July 2007, 10:54 GMT 11:54 UK By Ahmed Rashid Ahmed Rashid, guest journalist and writer on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, says Pakistan's leader faces a stark choice. The aftermath of the Red Mosque siege The storming of the Islamabad's Red Mosque last week, and the deaths of scores of Islamic militants has placed Pakistan and its leadership on the edge of a deadly precipice. One wrong move and the already deeply polarized country could plunge into a permanent state of anarchic violence, bordering on civil war. Al-Qaeda and underground Pakistani extremist groups have pledged to target President Pervez Musharraf, government ministers and the army in revenge for the commando action that bought down the Red Mosque, which had defied the state for six months. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao barely survived just such a suicide attack in late April. Gen Musharraf himself has been the target of several assassination plots. And since the Red Mosque siege some 50 soldiers have been killed by suicide bombers and in ambushes by the militants in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Whatever choice he makes, Gen Musharraf knows he will still be targeted by the extremists Now Gen Musharraf - himself a former commando - has promised to wage war against all extremist groups and to never allow a madrassa (religious school) to defy the state again. He has sent thousands of troops to Swat, a tribal territory of NWFP and to the town of Tank where Pakistani Taleban and al Qaeda are attempting to impose their version of a Sharia state. At the same time Gen Musharraf is faced with a middle-class movement of lawyers and professionals who are fed up with military rule and a burgeoning political opposition movement that held its biggest get together ever in London recently. He is under intense pressure to spell out soon a time table for free and fair elections and his own future political role. Although he has pledged to curb Islamic extremism repeatedly since 2001, he has failed to do so. But this time even he acknowledges that the crisis is far more serious. Open war between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the so called 'Sharia state' of the Taleban has to be avoided. Civilians are suffering in the violence in NWFP A close adviser to the president says that when he finds himself in a crisis or a political trap, he carries out "a tactical retreat" which he then manoeuvres into "a strategic advance" in another direction altogether - leaving the past issues unresolved behind him. "It's a typical commando's way of looking at politics and the world," says the adviser. Now there appears to be no space left for tactical retreats. Nexus He is faced with a stark choice - either go for the extremists in a consistent manner as he has promised to do in the past or once again try to appease them. The latter course, many fear, would put the future of Pakistan at risk. Supporters of Islamic parties voice their anger at President Musharraf Since 9/11 he has been accused of double-dealing with the West, sometimes bending to pressure to curb Islamic extremism and at other times allying himself with extremists to brow beat or blackmail the governments of Kabul, Delhi or Washington. Thus far, he has never attempted to break the three decades old nexus between the army and Islamic extremists. As a result al-Qaeda has found the space and support to regroup in Pakistan's tribal areas, the Afghan Taleban have found a safe refuge in Balochistan province and Pakistani Taleban have spread their propaganda across the Pashtun belt of north-west Pakistan. If Gen Musharraf takes the first choice he will need to first garner political support and a new political mandate by allowing secular national parties such as Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party and smaller regional parties back into the political arena. These are parties that have accused him of treating them with contempt since he seized power in a coup in 1999. But striking a deal with Ms Bhutto and others would mean that the army would have to hold a genuinely free and fair election by the end of the year, allow the independence of the judiciary and media and share power with the politicians - something President Musharraf has been loathe to do. Isolation risk Now it seems to many that the army needs to understand that it cannot take on the extremists unless it is prepared to have a credible parliament and civilian government to work with. If he takes the second path it would mean striking more controversial and fragile peace deals with the Pakistani Taleban, the extremists and militant madrassas. This would involve allowing a weakening of the state's authority and credibility. Taking the second path could also ultimately mean an abandonment of any pretence of democracy, the imposition of martial law, a further distancing from the West and enormous isolation from the majority of the people of Pakistan. Whatever choice he makes, Gen Musharraf knows he will still be targeted by the extremists. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore. He is the author of three books including Taliban and, most recently, Jihad. He has covered Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia for the past 25 years and also writes for the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Daily Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal. If you would like to send a comment about this story you can use the form below. Clearly Pakistan it at a breaking point and needs to change its entire course. President Musharraf could go down in history by holding free elections, empowering the judiciary and building the country's civil institutions. Easier said than done of course and it will require full cooperation from India, the US and EU to allow Pakistan to abandon its destructive military-driven policies. It is a shame to see a country with so much potential on the verge of collapse. Shareef, Canada It is necessary for the survival of Pakistan that President Musharraf should go, so that pure democracy can prosper. Rao M Yasrab, Pakistan Well, the chickens have come home to roost. General Musharraf always encouraged and allowed militant groups to train on the Pakistani soil, and then under the nose of the intelligence agencies they were sent across the border to attack targets in India. Now the president is not happy because he is getting the taste of his own medicine. Well it is a funny old world, and your past will always catch up with you. It is time the general was gone and elections called to give a little international respectability to his country. Hem Adwani, UK President Musharraf is creating "the perfect storm" for him to stay in power. He has used the Red Mosque siege as a trump card (after feeding it candy for over six months) to distract the present civil movement for democracy. He has told the West: "It is either me in my khaki uniform or the radical mullahs". This man is Machiavellian beyond reproach. In reality Pakistan has an alternative in people power... but Musharraf is keeping the shutters closed on secular political parties by the barrel of the gun, incarcerations, self-serving ordinances, etc. The West should have a rethink on supporting this dictator. Mohammad Ali Shaikh, Islamabad, Pakistan I don't think conventional methods will win the war, and the government needs to pursue more subtle methods to deal with the problem of extremism. It needs to start welfare projects, and somehow educate the masses of that area to adopt a new approach towards life. I know methods like these might take time, but this seems to be the only way we can win the war against fundamentalism. The results of such an approach will be long lasting. Lets hope the world is patient and supportive enough of President Musharraf to accomplish this job, because let's not forget this problem was seeded by the West, when fighters were needed to defeat the Russians, and now Pakistan has to clean up the mess! Abid Mohammadzai, US The article represents the typical American approach to dealing with so called extremists. Can he explain that the word "extremist" is only applicable to people who are talking about Islam or the word "extremists" is also applicable to "liberal extremists", who ally themselves with the US war on terror which has killed scores of innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. What about the biggest terrorists of the world, like the US and UK - who killed so many innocent people in the name of their so called war on terror - and call their atrocities "collateral damage". Mudassar Khan, Pakistan The general is in a very difficult situation. He certainly can not be criticised for his handling of the Red Mosque affair. He tried to work with the fanatics through negotiations to achieve a peaceful solution but they were having none of it so he had little choice but to use force. What makes the situation worse is that religious parties in Pakistan are fuelling an already tense situation by not openly condemning these terrorists but instead calling them martyrs. Islam has never permitted suicide or anything close yet these parties are indirectly praising and promoting it. President Musharraf needs to take the no-nonsense approach and use force if necessary to stamp out this dangerous fanatical uprising. Today Pakistan is at its best economic, financial, and defence (military) position it has ever seen and that is credit to the government of Musharraf Moazzem, UK I am reminded of the words of the Israeli politician, Shimon Peres, who after 9/11 commented, żGeneral Musharraf signed his death warrant the day he decided to collaborate with the US against the Taleban and al- Qaeda.' Azam Fazili, UAE Pakistan's military rulers are in the clutches of a dilemma. They can ill-afford the loss of US aid, the mainstay of the country's economy and its ability to support an out-sized military establishment. But, over the years, militant, sectarian Islamism, anathema to the US, has become the country's ideology and the military's partner in suppressing democracy. US interests are also some what complex. In the short term, it should encourage the clampdown of the militants. It should, in its long term interest, also make sure that democracy is restored and the military retires to the barracks for good - as soon as possible, and as smoothly as possible Thiruvengadam Ramakrishnan, US The brutal use of force has proved counter-productive in Afghanistan and Iraq. A similar experiment in Pakistan will not have a different result. The only solution to all the problems of Pakistan including extremism is a fair political process without any involvement of the army. If the US and west continue to support General Musharraf, they will not win any "hearts and minds" in Pakistan. While a failure of policy in Iraq and Afghanistan may be affordable, such a failure in a nuclear state such as Pakistan will have different and possibly catastrophic implications. Ali Akhtar Cheema, UK I do not agree with this method of labelling anyone who wants and Islamic system as extremist/terrorist. After all that is what Pakistan was created for, to provide an opportunity for the Muslims of the sub-continent to live in a country run according to the Islamic rules and laws. So what I am suggesting is another option for President Musharraf, that is to actually start implementing the Islamic laws, something that each ruler of Pakistan is asked to do in the constitution. But it is extremely unlikely that such a course of action will be adopted under a secular minded ruler like Musharraf, so far he has gone in the opposite direction. An example of which is the replacement of Hadood Ordinance with the Women's' Empowerment bill. Asim Mushtaq, UK All President Musharraf's troubles are due to the his policies of following the commands of the Bush administration to fight his "war on terror". Extremism can only be eliminated from Pakistan and in all other Muslim countries through positive steps to engage people, not by bombing and killing innocent civilians. QB, Pakistan * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 6 Reuters: EU backs Britain in row with Russia Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:53PM EDT By David Clarke LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union threw its weight behind Britain on Wednesday in a row with Russia over its refusal to extradite a man suspected of killing a former KGB agent in London last year. Britain increased existing tensions between Russia and the West by announcing on Monday it was expelling four Russian diplomats to show its mounting frustration with Moscow's lack of cooperation over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. EU president Portugal urged Russia to urgently cooperate with Britain. "The EU expresses its disappointment at Russia's failure to cooperate constructively with the UK authorities," it said in a statement. Underlining EU solidarity with Britain, it said the issue "raises important questions of common interest to EU member states," adding that Litvinenko's murder was "a grave and reckless crime." Relations between Russia and the EU have deteriorated over several issues such as energy policy, Kosovo and Moscow's treatment of European firms operating there. Russia has yet to respond to Britain's decision to expel diplomats. It was not clear whether the EU criticism of Russia over the case might push Moscow to respond more sharply. British prosecutors want former Russian agent Andrei Lugovoy to stand trial in Britain for the murder of Litvinenko, a British citizen who became a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin while living in London. The agonizing death of Litvinenko, who slowly wasted away in a London hospital, grabbed the world's attention because he had been poisoned with the rare radioactive isotope polonium 210 and blamed Putin for his murder. RUSSIAN RESPONSE EXPECTED SOON ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Russia rejects NATO offer but rules out 'new Cold War' - Thursday July 19, 05:14 AM MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia rejected a NATO offer for consultations on a key European arms treaty Wednesday, but said it would continue talks with the United States on the treaty and dismissed the idea of a new Cold War. Russia last week announced it would suspend participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) arms control treaty after months of tensions over US plans to deploy an anti-missile system in central Europe. In a statement on Monday, NATO expressed concern about the Russian suspension, urging Moscow to enter into talks to ensure the text was not abandoned. "I don't see much point in holding such a meeting since the position of NATO on the CFE treaty has not yet changed," Yevgeny Buzhinsky, a top defence ministry official, was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying. The CFE treaty limits deployments of tanks and troops in NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries. In a telephone call with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said bilateral talks on the treaty would continue. Lavrov emphasised Russia's "willingness to keep discussing a series of questions connected with the CFE," the ministry said in a statement. Buzhinsky, who heads up the defence ministry department in charge of international treaties, also questioned on Wednesday Russia's participation in two key nuclear arms agreements with the United States. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Washington should be turned into a multilateral agreement and the United States should respond to Russian offers on the Strategic Offensive Reductions treaty, Buzhinsky said. "This treaty imposes restrictions only on two sides. I would propose making it multilateral," Buzhinsky said, referring to the 1987 INF accord, which bans ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometres. On the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions treaty, which aims to reduce warheads in Russia and the United States by two-thirds, he said: "We still haven't received an answer to our proposals from the United States." He stressed that the treaty provisions run out in 2009. But the Russian general also rejected talk of a "new Cold War," which has gained ground because of the recent tensions between Moscow and Washington and an increasingly assertive Russian foreign policy. "I don't see the basis for a start of some new Cold War. There aren't the same ideological contradictions now that existed then. But it's true that we don't like the actions of our Western partners," he said. Buzhinsky also emphasised that Russia was not planning an arms build-up on its Western frontier and would not deploy short- and medium-range missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania. "The Russian moratorium on the CFE absolutely does not mean that our troops will be increased on the western frontier. We do not see this as necessary," Buzhinsky said. The Russian general said the CFE treaty should either be changed or a new one should be negotiated. If NATO countries do not ratify the treaty by December, Russia will pull out, he said. NATO has insisted that its members can ratify the treaty only after Russia pulls all its troops out of two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, where Russia has peacekeeping contingents. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 IPS-English ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Quake Devastates Nuclear Power Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 15:16:33 -0700 ROMAIPS AP WD EN IP SC SU KP TS NR ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Quake Devastates Nuclear Power Plans Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Jul 18 (IPS) - Reports of radiation leakages at a nuclear power plant, following the Niigata earthquake on Monday, have raised widespread public alarm and dealt a devastating blow to the government's plans to boost the nuclear power industry, both domestically and abroad. ''The problems now being reported from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant are deeply alarming. They prove that Japan is not prepared for a nuclear power disaster especially during an earthquake and can never be,'' Prof. Hiroaki Koide, nuclear safety specialist at Kyoto University, told IPS. The quake left nine people dead, more than 1,000 injured and forced thousands out of their homes and into makeshift shelters. Reports trickling out in the aftermath of the 6.8 Richter temblor show that at least 50 adverse events had occurred in the area that had, till now, been considered as a site least likely to be affected by an earthquake. But the epicentre of the quake was less than 10 km away. The transmission of seismic energy is influenced by the depth and location of the earthquake. A new safety allowance standard to minimise accidents had just been designed for the plant. The standards, admitted officials, will probably have to be reviewed after a detailed analysis of the accident. Akira Fukushima, deputy director general at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters Wednesday that the plant has been shut down and that the government was taking a strict stance against a quick resumption of operations. ‘'The delayed reaction to the accident by the operators of the plant is a serious concern. We have ordered an investigation,'' he said. Officially released information admitted that a fire had occurred soon after the quake hit the region and fuel leaked from a damaged pipeline between Kashiwazaki and Nagaoka in Niigata prefecture. The fire, the first at a nuclear plant hit by an earthquake, was extinguished two hours later with officials reporting no major threat to the public. On Monday, though, Japanese media carried reports of a leak of radioactive water from one of three reactors, some of it into the Sea of Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, initially said that 100 barrels tipped over, spilling contaminated waste, but later revised the number to 438 barrels. TEPCO runs seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex that have total generating capacity of over 8,000 Mw making the plant the world's largest. Lately, Japan has been focusing on expanding its nuclear power capabilities, justifying by pointing out that this carbon-free energy is essential to combat global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal and resulting in greenhouse gas emissions. Japan has 55 nuclear power plants that supply 30 percent of its electrical needs. The government is planning to build another this year and is extending support -- in the form of technology transfer -- to energy-short countries in Asia that are looking to nuclear plants. According to the International Energy Agency based in Paris, the world's energy needs will rise by 51 percent by 2030 because of industrialisation and population growth that could lead to an environmental nightmare. Japan's latest nuclear power policy pushes an alternative solution by promising to ensure its safety through technology that includes safe storage methods for highly radioactive nuclear waste. But this is being strongly opposed by activists. They argue that the Japanese government is being irresponsible by not taking into consideration the dangers posed by this industry as well as the high costs involved. Indeed, the latest crisis in the nuclear plant in Niigata is being closely followed by the Japanese media that had till now focused on the pollution-free benefits of nuclear power. The Tokyo Newspaper, a leading daily, in a report questioned the reliability of data for building sites provided by industry and government experts after it was revealed that the site was on a faultline and susceptible to tremors. The Asahi newspaper carried details of how TEPCO underestimated the amount of radioactive water that leaked into the sea. Hideaki Ban, director of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre, said the accident reveals poor planning and the determination of the government to expand nuclear power along with top electric companies. ‘'There have been several accidents in nuclear plants across Japan but officials toe the same line -- revisions rather than holding Japanese operators of nuclear reactors responsible by stopping the plants. The target is money rather than safety,” he explained to IPS. Another bone of contention with anti-nuclear power experts is the lack of transparency on information released by the government on the nuclear industry. ‘'When there is an accident we have to wait for information to be released by the government -- which is a problem when it comes to our own analysis,'' said Ban, a scientist himself. He said his organisation has been inundated by calls from people in Niigata asking for independent analysis of the accident. Nuclear safety specialist Koide says his research indicates that Japan's electrical needs can be supported by hydro-power given the country's abundant rivers and mountainous features. ‘'Nuclear plants are a danger in earthquake-prone Japan. There is simply no fool-proof safety standard. The whole industry is being pushed by companies with the backing of the government,'' he said. ***** +ENERGY: Nuclear Power No Panacea, Critics Say (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38575) + ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Mega Nuclear Plant Hits Popular Opposition (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38119) +ASIA: Tsunami a Reminder of Risks that Plague Coastal Nuke Plants (http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26845) + GERMANY: Breakdowns Renew Case Against Nuclear Energy (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38482) + Energy Crunch (http://ipsnews.net/new_focus/energy/index.asp) ***** + ENERGY: Nuclear Power No Panacea, Critics Say (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38575) + ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Mega Nuclear Plant Hits Popular Opposition (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38119) + ASIA: Tsunami a Reminder of Risks that Plague Coastal Nuke Plants (http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26845) + GERMANY: Breakdowns Renew Case Against Nuclear Energy (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38482) + Energy Crunch - IPS Special Coverage (http://ipsnews.net/new_focus/energy/index.asp) (END/IPS/AP/WD/EN/SC/KP/IP/TS/SU/NR/SK/RDR/07) = 07181831 ORP012 NNNN ***************************************************************** 9 The Hindu: Reprocessing under safeguards will affect N-prog - scientist Wednesday, July 18, 2007 : 1405 Hrs Sci. & Tech. New Delhi, July 18 (PTI): India's offer to set up a dedicated reprocessing facility under the civil nuclear deal with the US will "slowdown" the country's crucial Fast Breeder Reactor programme to harness atomic energy, a leading scientist has said. The dedicated reprocessing facility under interational safeguards would affect India's independence in the area that is crucial to the country's three-stage nuclear programme, said former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director A N Prasad. "Having one dedicated reprocessing plant will create a lot of problems (for the fast breeder reactor programme), said Prasad, regarded as the father of reprocessing technology in India. The indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor programme uses plutonium derived from the spent fuel of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors in the country. The current reprocessing facility, designed and developed by Indian scientists, is not under international safeguards and can be used to reprocess spent fuel derived from indigenous sources as well as those under global purview. "Safeguarded spent fuel is reprocessed in the plant under full safeguards and once the plant is washed and the fuel accounted for it comes out of the purview of international inspections," Prasad said at a seminar on the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal here last evening. "We have the flexibility to operate the plant on both modes -- for our own spent fuel and that under safeguards," he said but warned that the under the dedicated facility "this kind of flexibility will not be available." Prasad played a key role in setting up India's first spent fuel reprocessing plant that came up in 1965 much before the first nuclear reactor that was built in 1969. He said having a separate reprocessing facility that could be kept outside the purview of international inspections would be an expensive proposition. "By killing reprocessing there can be a slowdown in the Fast Breeder Reactor Programme," he said. With the success of the Fast Breeder Reactor programme, India can get a firm hold on thorium utilisation and take a lead in the sector where no country has tasted success. Prasad was sceptical of the 123 Agreement that is being negotiated by India and the US to operationalise the civil nuclear agreement. "We had signed a 123 agreement with the US in 1963 for uranium supplies for the Tarapur reactor. But the bilateral agreement was made to conform with a legislation which was promulgated much later," he said. Prasad said Indian scientists had mastered the reprocessing technology on their own. "We cannot give up that right," he said. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of ***************************************************************** 10 ISB: Permit process begins for company proposing nuclear plant in Owyhee County | Idaho Statesman Business Ken Dey - kdey@idahostatesman.com Edition Date: 07/18/07 The Virginia-based company proposing a nuclear power plant in Owyhee County has started the permit process with county officials. Alternate Energy Holdings filed an application for a conditional-use permit with the county Monday. Don Gillispie, the company’s president and CEO, said while the county permit process is ongoing the company intends to start the process of filing an application for the plant with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Company and county officials estimate that completing the county permitting process would require about 20 public meetings to get input from all those affected by the proposal. The company needs a conditional use permit to change the use of the land from agricultural to industrial. The company is proposing to build a $3.5 billion, 1,600-megawatt nuclear plant and accompanying ethanol plant on private land in Owyhee County near C.J. Strike Reservoir. Last month, Gillispie announced that the company had received a letter of intent from Fairport, N.Y.-based Cobblestone Financial Group to finance the project. IdahoStatesman.com ***************************************************************** 11 Times-News: Nuke planner submits CUP application Magicvalley.com, Twin Falls, ID Story published at magicvalley.com on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Watchdog group criticizes company's ethics By Matt Christensen Times-News writer BRUNEAU - The permitting process is underway for a proposed nuclear power plant in Owyhee County, as an Idaho watchdog group continues to blast the company and its plans. Alternate Energy Holdings, a company that plans to build Idaho's first commercial nuclear power plant, submitted a conditional-use permit application Monday to Owyhee County Planning and Zoning. The door is now open for the company to pursue federal licensing as the county reviews the permit, and a public comment period is also expected to begin soon. This latest development marks another success for the fledgling company - it announced last month it had received a $3.5 billion funding commitment from a New York investment firm - despite heavy opposition from environmental organizations such as nuclear watchdog Snake River Alliance. SRA says the company and its associates are shady at best. For example, AEH President and CEO Don Gillispie announced the plant was coming to Idaho before he'd contacted anyone at the county level. AEH's major financing firm has mostly funded smaller projects such as ice-cream parlors, as reported by The Associated Press. And the company's primary consultant, Mark Pecchenino, resigned in January from an Ada County position days after an investigation determined he'd violated the county's ethics policy. Pecchenino was doing business in Elmore County the same time he was an Ada County employee. His supervisors admitted they knew about his dealings but were unaware it violated the policy. "I had planned on resigning anyway," Pecchenino said Tuesday. Elmore County officials wrote Pecchenino a letter of recommendation shortly after his resignation, lauding his integrity. "I am credible and I do good work," Pecchenino said. SRA isn't so sure. "This guy was caught moonlighting," said Ester Ceja, outreach director at the watchdog group. "And he's supposed to have ethics?" AEH stands by Pecchenino, said Martin Johncox, a spokesman for the company. The public is yet to officially weigh in on controversial plans for the nuclear plant, but that will soon change. A public comment period expected to include 20 public meetings begins soon, though dates for the meetings are yet to be scheduled. Times-News staff writer Matt Christensen covers the environment. He welcomes comments at 735-3243 and at matt.christensen@lee.net. Copyright © 2006, Lee Publications Inc. Magicvalley.com is an on-line division of The Times-News, published daily at 132 W. Fairfield St., Twin Falls, Idaho 83301 by Lee Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises. ***************************************************************** 12 AZ Star: Feds launch investigation into mistake at Palo Verde nuke plant www.azstarnet.com ® Associated Press Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.18.2007 PHOENIX - Federal regulators are looking for answers from Arizona Public Service Co., the operator of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix. The issue centers around a plant operator who acknowledged making a mistake in November and trying to cover it up by falsifying records. Federal regulators are now deciding whether to penalize APS. Public safety wasn't threatened by the mistake, but federal officials say they are concerned about an attempt to cover it up. "We place a high value on the integrity and trustworthiness of nuclear plant personnel," Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said Monday. APS said it took appropriate action to fix the situation. According to the commission's investigation, the employee on Nov. 8 entered an incorrect number into a computer and when he realized his mistake, scratched out the mistake on a logbook and wrote in what he should have entered. The mistake caused the plant's computers to under report thermal power by 0.3 percent, according to the commission. When another employee noticed the mistake, APS notified federal regulators, prompting the investigation. The employee later resigned. The employee along with APS will face separate enforcement actions, Dricks said. It's not unusual for the commission to investigate such incidents, but "what's unusual is that someone falsify a record," Dricks said. "The essential issue in this case was the operator's failure to come forth with the error once he realized he had made it," said APS Chief Nuclear Officer Randy Edington. "This is not the normal practice at Palo Verde or anywhere else," Edington said. "This is just a lack of common sense on the part of management at APS," said Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes. "I'm certainly grateful the safety significance was not high, but that does not excuse what happened," Mayes said. "It's another troubling event at Palo Verde, and another piece of evidence that the management at APS had become very lax with regard to Palo Verde," Mayes said. Edington added the utility is focused on correcting its "safety culture" at Palo Verde. ***************************************************************** 13 The Hindu: Nuclear deal in last lap Thursday, Jul 19, 2007 New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday characterised the India-U.S. negotiations on the civilian nuclear deal as being “in the last lap.” “I do not know,” he replied when asked if the latest round of negotiations would produce a final agreement. The Prime Minister was interacting with the media after releasing a book at his official residence. The Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan and other senior officials are in Washington to talk with President Bush’s National Security Adviser. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 14 Arizona Republic: N-plant cover-up may cost APS | www.tucsoncitizen.com ® Published: 07.18.2007 Palo Verde worker made mistake, then falsified records A Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station operator has admitted making a mistake in November and trying to cover it up by falsifying records. Federal regulators are deciding whether to penalize the plant's owner, Arizona Public Service Co. The mistake didn't threaten public safety, but it concerns officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of the cover-up attempt. "We place a high value on the integrity and trustworthiness of nuclear plant personnel," NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said Monday. APS maintains it took appropriate action to fix the situation. The Arizona Republic first learned of the incident this week, another in a series of problems regarding safety at the nation's largest nuclear plant. On Nov. 8, a senior employee entered an incorrect number into the plant's computer, and when he realized his mistake, scratched out the mistake on a logbook and wrote what he should have entered, according to the commission's investigation. The mistake caused the plant's computers to under-report thermal power by 0.3 percent, according to the commission. When another employee noticed the logbook discrepancy that day, APS notified the federal regulators, prompting the investigation. Neither the power company nor the regulators would name the employee, who resigned six days after the incident. The employee and APS will face separate enforcement actions, Dricks said, declining to speculate on what punishment the troubled plant could face. It's not unusual for the commission to investigate such incidents, but "what's unusual is that someone falsify a record," Dricks said. APS can either present its case at an enforcement meeting scheduled Aug. 30 or through mediation, and officials haven't decided which route they will take. "The essential issue in this case was the operator's failure to come forth with the error once he realized he had made it," APS Chief Nuclear Officer Randy Edington said. "This is not the normal practice at Palo Verde or anywhere else." Edington joined the utility in January to help correct safety issues dating to 2004 that led to the plant being downgraded to Category 4 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, making it the most regulated plant in the country and one step above shutdown. State regulators said the latest investigation is "frustrating" because of Palo Verde's history of problems and because the utility didn't notify the Arizona Corporation Commission of the error or subsequent investigation until it was going to be made public. "This is just a lack of common sense on the part of management at APS," said Kris Mayes, one of five commissioners with oversight of the utility. "I'm certainly grateful the safety significance was not high, but that does not excuse what happened," she said. "It's another troubling event at Palo Verde and another piece of evidence that the management at APS had become very lax with regard to Palo Verde." It doesn't appear the state commission can punish the utility for failing to notify commissioners of the investigation, she said. The utility is focused on correcting its "safety culture," Edington said. "This issue took place before the start of the full recovery process at Palo Verde," he said. "An important part of the process that's under way is to conduct a thorough review of all areas of plant operations, including safety culture. The isolated nature of this issue should not make it more difficult for us to complete the task at hand." Should APS attend its scheduled enforcement conference, federal regulators have asked the utility to discuss: â—Ź Why a senior operator would feel compelled to cover up a mistake rather than admit it â—Ź How the mistake happened â—Ź How APS evaluated the trustworthiness and reliability of the worker Tucson Citizen www.tucsoncitizen.com | Copyright © 2007 Tucson Citizen All Rights Reserved. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 15 BBC NEWS: Japan admits greater nuclear leak Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 July 2007, 07:33 GMT 08:33 UK Experts are examining whether the plant lies on a fault line A radioactive leak at a major nuclear plant in Japan damaged by an earthquake on Monday was worse than previously thought, the plant's operators say. Owner Tokyo Electric Power company said 50% more radiation was discharged into the sea, following the magnitude 6.8 quake, than was earlier reported. But the firm insisted the leak was still well below danger levels. Hiroshi Aida said the plant could not reopen until its safety had been verified. Meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN's atomic agency, has called on Japan to investigate the incident to "make sure that we learn the necessary lesson from the earthquake". Exceeded expectations In a statement, the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) said there had been a mistake calculating the radioactive level of water that leaked into the sea. It was 50% more radioactive than had been announced, the company said. "But the corrected radioactivity is also below the legal limits and does not affect the environment," Tepco said. Despite Tepco's reassurances, the incident has triggered public concern and criticism of the company. The seven-reactor plant suffered more than 50 malfunctions as a result of Monday's earthquake. As well as the leak, a small amount of radioactive gas was emitted into the atmosphere. There was also a fire at an electrical transformer, and a number of drums containing low level nuclear waste came open after falling over. Tepco President Tsunehisa Katsumata has apologised for the incidents. "I think we can say the size of the earthquake was beyond our expectations," he said as he visited the plant. "We regret what happened and will strive to make this a power plant that is safe," he said. The plant is located close to the epicentre of Monday's earthquake, which killed nine people, injured hundreds and flattened scores of homes. Officials at Japan's Meteorological Agency said that they were examining whether a fault line could stretch underneath the plant. "We cannot deny the possibility" the plant sat on a fault, the French news agency AFP quoted the agency's Osamu Kamigaichi as saying. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 16 Xinhua: Concerns over nuclear plant safety high after major quake in Japan www.chinaview.cn 2007-07-18 19:40:11 ˇˇKASHIWAZAKI, Japan, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Frequent minor incidents from the world's largest nuclear plant after Monday's major earthquake have raised increasing concerns over the safety of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power facility in Niigata, Japan. The nuke plant, located at the coast of the Sea of Japan, is designed to withstand an earthquake caused by an unknown active fault up to a magnitude of 6.5. The magnitude 6.8 quake on Monday, apparently, has led to troubles unforeseeable. Some 50 trouble cases related with the earthquake have been confirmed by Tuesday evening at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant. The incidents included a fire, leakage of water containing radioactive material, detection of a small quantity of radiation from a ventilation filter and toppling of drums containing low-level radioactive waste, according Tokyo Electric Power Co., which managed the nuke plant. "We did not assume an earthquake of this magnitude at the time of designing the nuclear power plant," an official from the company was quoted as saying. Besides, the plant probably sit right on the fault line that caused the major quake, expert analysis showed. The epicenter of the magnitude 6.8 quake was around 9 km northeast of the nuclear plant and some 17 km underground. Aftershocks have been observed in a 15 km-wide, 30 km-long strip southwest of the epicenter. The fault line is believed to be descending underground from a Sea of Japan area toward the shore. "After looking at aftershock location data, we have come to realize a fault lies right below the nuclear power plant," the company official said. Aside from doubts over plant site selection, local media also raised questions over the safety management of the nuclear plant. When an electric transformer caught fire at the No. 3 reactor of the plant, only several untrained personnel were there to handle the issue before the firefighters came two hours later, local reports said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. was also rapped for not releasing related information as soon as possible. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters Wednesday that building nuclear plant on solid rock layers should be a basic principle. He urged the operator to have the public informed about any incidents happened in the nuclear plant. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday criticized the operator Tokyo Electric Power for being "too slow" in reporting the incidents and said it must ensure that top priority is given to the public's safety. On Wednesday, an incident of incorrect report of radiation level was released. The radiation leak in water discharged into the sea from the plant was initially put at 60,000 Bq and later found to be 90,000 Bq. It was accounted for as "computation errors" and the company said it would not cause a safety problem. Mayor of Kashiwazaki, where the plant is located, issued an order Wednesday to Tokyo Electric Power Co. to suspend the operation of the nuclear plant. In Kuala Lumpur, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei said Wednesday that the UN nuclear watchdog will be ready to join Japan in investigating the incidents at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. "Japan needs to go into full investigation of the structure, of the systems, of the components of the reactor," he told reporters during a visit to Malaysia. No direct harm to humans or the environment has been confirmed till now. However, for those 19 households living about a kilometer away from the nuclear power complex, the risk of a nuclear leak has become something like a taboo, which they would rather avoid mentioning at all. Editor: Lin Li ***************************************************************** 17 St. Petersburg Times: Nuclear energy a laughing matter? A consultant thinks it could be if a panel labels it renewable. By ASJYLYN LODER Published July 18, 2007 ST. PETERSBURG - On Tuesday morning, in an out-of-the way ballroom at the Vinoy, the first quiet skirmish marked the beginning of Gov. Charlie Crist's vision for Florida's energy future. In the half-empty room, about 50 spectators sat through the arcane musings of a little-known government body: the Florida Energy Commission's advisory group on renewable energy. At issue: what does "renewable" include, and what will count toward Crist's mandate that utilities get 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources? Can it include nuclear power, and even coal? Yes, said Bill Cramer Jr., a commissioner and chairman of the advisory group, arguing for a "nontraditional" definition of renewables. His argument left some in the group and the audience sputtering in disbelief. "I do think, worldwide, you'll have a hard time passing the laugh test," if the commission includes nuclear, said Christy Herig, a consultant on renewable energy and land use for Segue Energy Consulting. "I'm not worried about the world laughing," Cramer replied. The nine-member commission was appointed by the state Legislature in 2006 to study and make recommendations on Florida's energy policy. Its first report isn't due yet, and it remains to be seen how much say it will have in shaping the state's energy future. But the meeting Tuesday - watched by lobbyists, utility staffers and environmentalists - provided a glimpse of the struggle to come. "There is a struggle by various interested parties to pull the renewable definition one way or the other," said Frank Leslie, a member of the advisory group, and a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. "Nuclear is not renewable." Neither is nuclear "nontraditional," since it has been used for decades, he said. Tuesday's meeting was the first of several events scheduled to be held at the Vinoy this week. Today, the full Florida Energy Commission has a 10 a.m. meeting, followed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs "Farm to Fuel" summit on Thursday and Friday. At every meeting, and in the hallways, restaurants and bars nearby, Crist's energy policy will be debated and picked apart, said Susan Glickman, an environmental activist with the National Resources Defense Council and the Climate Group. Glickman said she expected heavy lobbying and quiet maneuvering from both sides. But instead of sports or warfare, she compared it to a different sort of drama: "It's like watching a soap opera." Asjylyn Loder can be reached at 813 225-3117 or aloder@sptimes.com. Fast Facts: If you go Florida Energy Commission meeting: Today, 10 a.m. Florida Farm to Fuel Summit: Preregistration is closed. On-site registration will be available on a first come, first served basis due to limited availability. Registration opens today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The summit will be held Thursday and Friday. For a full schedule , go to: www.floridafarmtofuel.com/agenda.htm. Both events are scheduled to take place at the Marriott Renaissance Vinoy Resort, 501 Fifth Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. [Last modified July 18, 2007, 01:17:14] © 2007 · All Rights Reserved · St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South · St. Petersburg, FL 33701 · 727-893-8111 Contact Us | Join Us | Advertise with Us | Subscribe to the Times Privacy Policy | Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: Sherwood Martinelli; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking FR Doc E7-13924 [Federal Register: July 18, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 137)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 39354-39355] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr18jy07-11] Proposed Rules Federal Register This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. [[Page 39354]] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 50 [Docket No. PRM-50-86] AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (PRM-50-86) submitted by Sherwood Martinelli. The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to provide financial protection for individuals harmed by releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility, and to require licensees to pay for satellite communication systems for nuclear power plant communities to ``protect human health and the environment.'' The petitioner also requested that nuclear facilities licensed by the NRC or the Federal government provide adequate funding to enable every family living within 10 miles of a nuclear facility to build, stock, and maintain a personal family shelter to allow families to shelter in place during releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility. ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition for rulemaking and NRC's letter to the petitioner may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), Public File Area Room O-1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. These documents also may be viewed and downloaded electronically via the rulemaking Web site. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7163; e-mail: MTL@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Petition The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to provide financial protection for individuals harmed by releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility, and to require licensees to pay for satellite communication systems for nuclear power plant communities to ``protect human health and the environment.'' The petitioner also requested that nuclear facilities licensed by the NRC or the Federal government provide adequate funding to enable every family living within 10 miles of a nuclear facility to build, stock, and maintain a personal family shelter to allow families to shelter in place during releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility. The petitioner also requested that the NRC amend its regulations so that anyone living within 10 miles of a licensed nuclear facility is able to demand an Independent Safety Assessment (ISA), which would include public review of onsite security and offsite evacuation plans for that licensee. The petitioner also sought other types of relief related to security issues at nuclear power plants. A notice of receipt of this petition was not published in the Federal Register. Reasons for Denial The NRC is denying this petition because the NRC has determined that PRM-50-86 requests the NRC to take actions that exceed the NRC's authority, requests that the NRC address issues that the NRC has already considered in previous rulemakings, and fails to adequately support its requests to revise NRC regulations. The petition requests the NRC to modify its regulations to require nuclear facilities licensed by the NRC or the Federal Government to provide adequate funding to enable every family living within 10 miles of a nuclear facility to build, stock, and maintain a personal family shelter to allow families to shelter in place during releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility. The NRC cannot grant this request, in part because the NRC is not authorized by Congress to make financial payments to individuals. Further, the petition does not establish that requiring licensees to pay for these shelters would be necessary, in light of existing NRC requirements on emergency preparedness, to provide reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency. The petition also asks that NRC regulations be revised to require licensees to pay for satellite communication systems for nuclear power plant communities to ``protect human health and the environment.'' The petition does not demonstrate how requiring licensees to pay for these satellite communication systems would provide, in light of existing NRC requirements on emergency preparedness, reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency. The petition requests that NRC rules be changed so that anyone living within 10 miles of a licensed nuclear facility is able to demand an ISA, which would include public review of onsite security and offsite evacuation plans for that licensee. The NRC already conducts detailed, objective inspections of licensed research and test reactors, operating power reactors, and fuel facilities. The NRC also performs assessments under a program called the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) at all operating power reactor facilities on a continuous basis. These assessments measure performance in seven fundamental areas to ensure safe plant operation. The ROP, as currently implemented, effectively incorporates the inspection elements of the 1996 Maine Yankee ISA. The NRC believes the ROP and NRC's regulatory framework effectively examine the same key aspects of plant safety as an ISA, but [[Page 39355]] with a better focus on potentially risk-significant problems. The request for public review of onsite security plans cannot be granted because public review of these plans is not permissible. Allowing the details of these plans to be made public could aid adversaries. However, information concerning emergency plans is publicly available. Residents within a radius of approximately 10 miles from a nuclear power plant receive emergency information materials annually, including information about protective actions such as evacuation and sheltering. For more information concerning emergency plans, including public inspection of these plans, a resident should contact their local emergency management organization. The petition also seeks revisions to NRC regulations because the petitioner claims that the Price-Andersen Act , the structures of corporate organizations, and NRC regulations do not adequately provide financial protection for individuals harmed by releases of nuclear material following an incident or attack at a nuclear facility. This claim challenges a statutory framework that the NRC is not authorized to change. Further, the petition does not explain why the current NRC regulations do not assure that the public will receive prompt financial compensation under available indemnity and underlying financial protection for damage resulting from the hazardous properties of radioactive materials or radiation. The petition seeks other relief related to security issues at nuclear power plants. The petition does not provide significant new information or arguments that were not previously considered by the Commission in its final rule on the Design Basis Threat, which was published in the Federal Register on March 19, 2007 (72 FR 12705), and became effective on April 18, 2007. For the reasons cited in this document, the NRC denies this petition. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of July 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. E7-13924 Filed 7-17-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 19 AFP: Vattenfall Europe chief quits after German nuclear incidents - by Matthias Lauber Wed Jul 18, 12:27 PM ET BERLIN (AFP) - The head of Vattenfall Europe, an arm of Swedish energy giant Vattenfall, resigned Wednesday after a series of incidents, including a fire, at two of the group's German nuclear power plants. Vattenfall Europe chief Klaus Rauscher "has offered to step down from his position," the company said in a statement which named Hans-Juergen Cramer, a member of Vattenfall's German management, as acting head of the company's European activities. Rauscher had come under fire for the company's opaque communication policy after two recent incidents at nuclear power stations in Kruemel and in Brunsbuettel, both in northern Germany. German officials have accused Vattenfall of failing to report the full extent of a fire at the Kruemmel plant and neglecting for days to inform authorities of operators experienced at nearby Brunsbuettel. "Klaus Rauscher explained that it cannot be denied that the event of the past few weeks have tarnished the image of Vattenfall Europe," the statement said. "Errors have been made for which he, as head of Vattenfall Europe, must bear responsibility. The company must now regain the trust which has been lost, in particular with regard to its customers, shareholders, and staff, and it must do so quickly." It said that Rauscher was stepping down because he did not want to "get in the way of a new start." The head of Vattenfall Europe's nuclear division, Bruno Thomauske, and communications chief Johannes Altmeppen have already left their posts in the wake of the scandal. Vattenfall initially said the fire at the Kruemmel plant had been isolated from the atomic reactor, but according to officials in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the flames had reached the building housing the reactor. The fire broke out just two hours after operators were forced to temporarily shut down the Brunsbuettel plant because its capacity had overloaded. Regional authorities claim that they were only told on July 6 that the water purification system at the nuclear reactor cooler at Brunsbuettel cut out twice as technicians tried to restart the reactor. Vattenfall has strongly denied that it sought to cover up the extent of the problems, but the incidents have caused an outcry in a country that is deeply divided over whether it should be using nuclear energy at all. Germany has begun a long-term phase-out of its nuclear energy programme and expects to mothball the last of its 17 plants around 2020. Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin that she could understand the public's concerns and its criticism of the nuclear industry, despite calls from conservatives to maintain nuclear power in Germany. "My pity for the industry is limited. After all, dramatic errors were committed," she said. But Merkel cautioned not to stigmatise the entire sector. "I wouldn't generalise," she said, while adding: "It must not happen again." The chief executive of the parent company, Vattenfall, Lars Josefsson, was named in December as Merkel's advisor on climate change. Josefsson travelled to Berlin to tell reporters that Rauscher's departure would allow the company to win back trust. "A new beginning is easier with new people," he said. Vattenfall earned half its turnover of 16 billion euros (22 billion dollars) last year in Germany. But Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democrats, opponents of nuclear power, said Vattenfall needed more than a reshuffle at the top. "A complete investigation and above all a change in the approach to security are needed," he said in a statement. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Reuters: U.S., India make another stab at nuclear deal Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:44PM EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and India on Tuesday began a high-level effort to conclude a controversial nuclear cooperation agreement that the State Department said was still within reach. Hoping to end months of stalemate, top officials met in Washington for two days of talks on the deal, which would give New Delhi access to U.S. nuclear fuel and reactors for the first time in 30 years. "There are a couple of tough issues we have left to resolve. We believe we can get a deal, we can get an agreement," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Indian officials said before the talks their government was expected to show little flexibility. The slow pace appears to have delayed a possible visit by Indian Prime Manmohan Singh to U.S. President George W. Bush's Texas ranch, which had earlier been anticipated for this month. Participants in the negotiations include Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. The Indian team is expected to meet at the White House on Wednesday with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Any deal must be approved by the U.S. Congress. Support there for rapidly improving U.S.-India ties is strong, but patience with what many see as India's unreasonable nuclear demands is waning. "Either it's unacceptable (to India) and we should renegotiate it, or the Indians should accept this and we should pass it," a congressional aide said of the deal. U.S. congressional sources and other experts blame India's department of atomic energy for thwarting compromise and say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is politically too weak to resist the nuclear establishment. Continued... ***************************************************************** 21 Reuters: U.S., India nuclear talks expected to go third day Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:18PM EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and India are likely to hold a third day of meetings to try to conclude a controversial nuclear cooperation agreement, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. The talks had been expected to end on Wednesday, but the official told Reuters "there will probably be another session" on Thursday. The two sides have been stalemated for months over the landmark deal, which would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and reactors for the first time in 30 years. "There are certainly possible solutions open to both sides," another U.S. official said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack refused to say whether negotiators had made any progress. "The United States has expressed its commitment and expressed its desire to reach an agreement. And we're sure that the Indian government wants to reach an agreement. The question is a matter of when and the timing of it," he told reporters. Any deal must be approved by the U.S. Congress. Support there for rapidly improving U.S.-India ties is strong, but patience with what many see as India's unreasonable nuclear demands is waning. Obstacles have included a U.S. congressional mandate that Washington halt nuclear cooperation if India tests a nuclear weapon as it did in 1998. Other disputed points have been the U.S. refusal to give India prior approval to allow reprocessing of spent fuel with U.S. components and to assure permanent fuel supplies. U.S. law prohibits such assistance to countries such as India which are not formally recognized as nuclear powers. Continued... ***************************************************************** 22 Reuters: Japanese quake city orders nuclear plant to stay shut | Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:23AM EDT By George Nishiyama KARIWA, Japan (Reuters) - A Japanese nuclear power plant was ordered to stay closed until safety was assured after an earthquake caused radiation leaks, while the U.N. nuclear watchdog said the operator had misjudged the risks. Just hours after the order on Wednesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) revised up the level of radiation it said had leaked into the ocean, one of about 50 problems it reported at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant after Monday's tremor. "It's clear that this earthquake, as TEPCO, the operating company, indicated, was stronger than what the reactor was designed for," International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. ElBaradei urged a thorough probe to find out what went wrong at the world's biggest nuclear power plant. The leaks into the ocean and atmosphere from the plant in the northwestern city of Kashiwazaki, near the epicenter of the 6.8 magnitude quake, have renewed fears about the safety of Japan's nuclear industry. A man's body was found under a collapsed temple building late on Wednesday, media said, bringing the death toll from the earthquake to 10. Roads at the nuclear plant complex were buckled and deeply cracked, while white steam emerged from one facility on site. The nuclear power sector, which supplies almost one-third of Japan's electricity, has been tarnished by years of cover-ups of accidents and fudged safety records. That record worried residents in the quake-hit area, which had suffered another big tremor in 2004 that killed 65 people. "We've had two big ones in three years," said 60-year-old Hoshi Murofushi, who was sheltering with her two grandchildren in an evacuation centre in nearby Kariwa. "There's no guarantee that there won't be another one. It will be too late if we have another Chernobyl." MISCALCULATION TEPCO said it had miscalculated and underreported the amount of radiation in 1,200 liters (317 U.S. gallons) of water that had leaked from the power plant, but that the leak was still within government safety regulations and posed no threat to the environment. "I apologize for causing you worry and trouble," TEPCO president, Tsunehisa Katsumata, dressed in blue overalls, told Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida as he bowed in apology. Another TEPCO official bowed as he accepted a written order from Aida not to re-start the plant until safety could be ensured. TEPCO asked six utilities for supplies of electricity to help fill an anticipated shortage from the shutdown, a company official said. Shares in the company fell 4 percent on Wednesday, their biggest drop in five months. The tremor flattened hundreds of homes, injured more than 1,100 people and thousands more are in evacuation centers. Senior officials, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have criticized TEPCO, saying it had been slow to issue information and risked undermining public trust in the nuclear industry. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki also said it was important not to cause unnecessary concern. "There were media reports this morning that 50 problems had been found," he told reporters on Wednesday. "But I asked about the content and while there were various problems, most were not directly linked to radiation emissions," he said. Quake-proofing regulations for nuclear power stations were tightened last year, requiring utilities to reassess the risks for their reactors. One expert said the incident, though small in scale, meant Japan needed stronger safety standards. "This is not an amount that needs to be worried about," said Tetsuji Imanaka, Assistant Professor at the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, of the miscalculated leak. "What's more of a concern is why it happened." Akira Fukushima, deputy director general of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said he could not rule out the possibility that an active faultline extended under the plant. (Additional reporting by Elaine Lies, Osamu Tsukimori and Linda Sieg) ***************************************************************** 23 DW: Energy Giant's Europe Chief Quits After Nuclear Scandal Deutsche Welle | 18.07.2007 Klaus Rauscher stepped down on Wednesday Amid growing criticism of the company's handling of fires at two German nuclear plants, Vattenfall Europe's CEO resigned Wednesday. Government leaders meanwhile mulled the future of atomic energy. Vattenfall Europe CEO Klaus Rauscher offered his resignation on Wednesday after the BrunsbĂĽttel nuclear power plant had to be shut off for the third time in three weeks because of problems. "Rauscher explained that it cannot be denied that the events of the past few weeks have tarnished the image of Vattenfall Europe," read a statement released by Vattenfall's supervisory board chief, Lars G. Josefsson. "Errors have been made for which he, as head of Vattenfall Europe, must bear responsibility." Bildunterschrift: KrĂĽmmel nuclear plant is still not back in operation A fire in the company's nearby KrĂĽmmel nuclear power plant in June had started a series of problems that led to the firing of Vattenfall Europe's nuclear energy chief, Bruno Thomauske, on Monday. Gradual disclosures since June 28, when electrical defects shut down the company's reactors at KrĂĽmmel and BrunsbĂĽttel near Hamburg, have revealed that staff at KrĂĽmmel were in crisis as a fire raged in a transformer. Neither reactor was damaged and no radioactivity was released, but Vattenfall -- and the whole nuclear industry in Germany -- suffered a public relations disaster. The company said it was commissioning an independent inquiry by scientists and business experts with a budget of 5 million euros ($6.8 million) to examine exactly what went wrong. Ministers divided on what to do Bildunterschrift: Sigmar Gabriel, Angela Merkel and Michael Glos (from left) German Economy Minister Michael Glos meanwhile sprang to the defense of the country's nuclear power stations on Wednesday, saying that despite the recent problems, even the oldest plants were ahead of the rest of the world in terms of security. "What's definite is that the reactors in operation are as safe as is humanly possible," Glos told German public television ZDF. "On this point, we in Germany are ahead", the minister said. Glos also added that said that the safety of the power stations had nothing to do with their age. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel on the other hand had called for the oldest plants, which began operating in the early 1970s, to be shut down. In return, the remaining operation time on these plants could be transferred to younger plants, but energy providers are not keen on doing so as the old ones operate much more profitably. Merkel has no pity Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has in the past supported a rethink of Germany's planned nuclear energy phase-out, said Wednesday that she could understand the public's concerns and its criticism of the nuclear industry. "My pity for the industry is limited," she said, adding that she found Vattenfall's information policy "totally unacceptable. "After all, dramatic errors were committed," Merkel said. But the chancellor also said that the entire industry should not be stigmatized. "I wouldn't generalize," she said. "It must not happen again." DW staff (win) DW-WORLD * "This Is the Acid Test for Climate and Energy Policy" German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel spoke to DW-TV about the environmental successes of Germany's EU and G8 presidencies, the need for a new Kyoto Protocol and problems at German nuclear power plants. (17.07.2007) * Vattenfall Sacks German Nuclear Energy Head After Problems The head of Vattenfall Europe's nuclear energy division was fired Monday following a string of problems in two of the company's German nuclear energy plants. (16.07.2007) * German Nuclear Plant Operator Admits "Misunderstandings" The Swedish operator of a German nuclear plant hit by a fire two weeks ago admitted to a "misunderstanding" between senior staff on duty at the time Saturday. Police investigating the fire searched the facility Friday. (14.07.2007) Audios and videos on the topic * DW-TV on the resignation of Klaus Rauscher, head of Vattenfall Europe * DW-TV on safety concerns after fires at two German nuclear plants 1. © 2007 Deutsche Welle ***************************************************************** 24 UPI: Japanese plant may be on quake fault line United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: July 18, 2007 at 2:53 AM TOKYO, July 18 (UPI) -- Japan's nuclear power plant affected by Monday's 6.8-magnitude temblor may be on an earthquake fault line, a report said Wednesday. Kyodo news service, quoting a Japan Meteorological Agency analysis of the quake, reported the fault line may extend right below the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station, the world's largest. "We did not assume an earthquake of this magnitude at the time of designing the nuclear power plant," a spokesman for the plant operator was quoted as saying. "After looking at aftershock location data, we have come to realize a fault lies right below the nuclear power plant." Numerous problems at the seven-reactor plant in the aftermath of the earthquake included a fire and radioactivity leaks. Kyodo reported a Tokyo high court in 2005 rejected a lawsuit by local residents to revoke a state permit on the installation of the plant's No. 1 reactor. The plaintiffs claimed an active fault existed around the site of the station. Earlier reports said the government has suspended operations at the plant until inspectors have checked it and safety is assured. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 Hemscott: German economy minister defends nuclear industry after Vattenfall incidents FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German Economy Minister Michael Glos has defended the country's nuclear power stations, saying that even the oldest ones are ahead of the rest of the world in terms of security, despite recent incidents at two Vattenfall Europe AG sites. A fire broke out at Vattenfall's Kruemmel atomic power plant on June 28, a fortnight after a capacity overload at its one in Brunsbuettel. Glos told public television channel ZDF today: 'What's definite is that the reactors in operation are as safe as is humanly possible.''On this point, we in Germany are ahead' of the rest of the world, the minister said. Glos said that the safety of the power stations has nothing to do with their age. Yesterday, environment minister Sigmar Gabriel said he wants to discuss shutting down the older nuclear power plants with their operators, after the summer recess. Nuclear power is a key bone of contention within Germany's ruling left-right coalition. Glos is a member of the conservative CDU party, while Gabriel is a Social Democrat. Chancellor Angela Merkel told a regular press briefing today that she could understand the public's concerns and its criticism of the nuclear industry. 'My pity for the industry is limited. After all, dramatic errors were committed,' she said. Merkel cautioned not to stigmatise the entire industry, though. 'I wouldn't generalise,' she said, while adding: 'It must not happen again.' tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com afp/jsa Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, Hemscott PLC - Serious Investment Research ***************************************************************** 26 Hemscott: French regulator identifies low-level risk at EDF nuclear plants PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Certain nuclear power stations run by EDF present a low-level risk due to oxide deposits in their steam generators, according to French nuclear safety authority ASN. The regulator said that the level of such deposits at some reactors with a capacity of between 900 and 1,300 megawatts electrical (MWe) represented an 'anomaly', which it classed as a level 1 risk, the lowest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale that goes as high as 7. According to the ASN, EDF has countered this problem by injecting a chemical solution at high temperature into the affected areas in order to dissolve the deposits. The deposits concerned develop between pipes and crosspieces within the steam generator, thereby partially blocking space intended for water to flow. The ASN said that this can lead to excessive vibrations of the pipes, with the risk of cracks developing. Cracks caused by deposits were cited by EDF as a major factor in a leak at the Cruas nuclear plant in 2006. The ASN said that its checks had shown that the deposits could occupy as much as 80 pct of the space intended for water to flow, while also noting an EDF estimate that such deposits are increasing by 5 pct a year. According to the safety authority, EDF 'should carry out more in-depth studies' in order to evaluate the level of oxide deposits and their effects, as well as proposing solutions. But EDF considers that the currently observed levels of deposits allow acceptable levels of safety to be maintained in the reactors, the ASN said. tfn.paris@thomson.com gt/rfw Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, Hemscott PLC - Serious Investment Research ***************************************************************** 27 Guardian Unlimited: Mayor Closes Quake-Hit Japan Nuke Plant Wednesday July 18, 2007 5:16 AM By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press Writer KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) - The mayor ordered that a nuclear power plant hit by a strong earthquake be shut down Wednesday until its safety could be confirmed after a long list of problems - including radiation leaks, burst pipes and fires - came to light. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's largest nuclear plant in power output capacity. Signs of problems after Monday's quake came first not from the officials, but in a plume of smoke that rose up when the quake triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer. It was announced only 12 hours later that the magnitude 6.8 temblor also caused a leak of about 315 gallons of water containing radioactive material. Officials said the water leak was well within safety standards. The water was flushed into the sea. Later Tuesday, it said 50 cases of ``malfunctioning and trouble'' had been found. Four of the plant's seven reactors were running at the time of the quake, and they were all shut down automatically by a safety mechanism. Hiroshi Aida, mayor of Kashiwazaki, a town near the epicenter that is home to the plant and 93,500 people, ordered operations halted Wednesday for ``safety reasons.'' ``I am worried,'' he said. ``It would be difficult to restart operations at this time ... The safety of the plant must be assured before it is reopened.'' Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the quake was stronger than planned for at its seven-reactor Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. But none of the problems posed serious threats to people or the environment, it said. Tsunehisa Katsumata, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., toured the site Wednesday morning, declaring it ``a mess.'' ``We will conduct an investigation from the ground up,'' Katsumata said. ``But I think fundamentally we have confirmed that our safety measures worked.'' Across town, more than 8,000 residents hunkered down for their second night in shelters. The death toll - nine, with one person missing - was not expected to rise significantly. Most of the newer parts of town escaped major damage. For residents, thousands of whom work at the plant, the controversy over its safety compounded already severe problems, which included heavy rains and the threat of landslides, water and power outages, and spotty communications. ``Whenever there is an earthquake, the first thing we worry about is the nuclear plant. I worry about whether there will be a fire or something,'' said Kiyokazu Tsunajima, a tailor who sat outside on his porch with his family, afraid an aftershock might collapse his damaged house. ``It's frightening, but I guess we are used to it,'' said Ikuko Sato, a young mother who was spending the night in a crowded evacuation center near her home, which was without water or power. ``It's almost the summer swimming season,'' she said. ``I wonder if it'll be safe to go in the water.'' The area around Kashiwazaki was hit by an earthquake three years ago that killed 67 people, but the plant suffered no damage. The malfunctions and a delay in reporting them fueled concerns about the safety of Japan's 55 nuclear reactors, which have suffered a string of accidents and cover-ups. Nuclear power plants around Japan were ordered to conduct inspections. The plant in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, 135 miles northwest of Tokyo, eclipsed a nuclear power station in Ontario as the world's largest power station when it added its seventh reactor in 1997. The Japanese plant, which generates 8.2 million kilowatts of electricity, has been plagued with mishaps. In 2001, a radioactive leak was found in the turbine room of one reactor. The plant's safety record and its proximity to a fault line prompted residents to file lawsuits claiming the government had failed to conduct sufficient safety reviews when it approved construction of the plant in the 1970s. But in 2005, a Tokyo court threw out a lawsuit filed by 33 residents, saying there was no error in the government safety reviews. Environmentalists have criticized Japan's reliance on nuclear energy as irresponsible in a nation with such a vulnerability to powerful quakes. ``This fire and leakage underscores the threat of nuclear accidents in Japan, especially in earthquake zones,'' said Jan Beranek, a Greenpeace official in Amsterdam. ``In principle, it's a bad idea to build nuclear plants in earthquake-prone areas.'' Nearly 13,000 people packed into evacuation centers in the quake zone, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. By nightfall, the number dropped to about 8,200. Nine people in their 70s or 80s were killed, and 47 were seriously injured. About 450 soldiers to sent to clear rubble, search for survivors under collapsed buildings, and provide food, water and toilets. About 50,000 homes were without water and 35,000 were without gas, local official Mitsugu Abe said. About 27,000 households were without power. Japan has a history of nuclear accidents, some of them deadly. In 2004, five workers at the Mihama nuclear plant in western Japan were killed and six were injured after a corroded pipe ruptured and sprayed plant workers with boiling water and steam. The accident was the nation's worst at a nuclear facility. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that nuclear plants be built with the capacity to withstand the strongest earthquake to hit its site within 100 years. In a ``safe shutdown earthquake,'' the chain reaction in the reactor stops, but the cooling system keeps running so excess heat is carried away from the core. William Miller, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Missouri, said the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant ``did what it was supposed to. It shut down.'' Although its operator said there were leaks, Miller called the amounts he had heard were ``so small as to be negligible.'' However, David Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, noted that fire and loss of power, both of which occurred at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, are the two most likely causes of meltdowns at nuclear facilities. --- AP writers Hiroko Tabuchi and Kozo Mizoguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo and AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo contributed from New York. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 28 AFP: Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant ordered to remain shut - Canada News Wed Jul 18, 8:13 AM KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AFP) - Authorities Wednesday ordered the world's largest nuclear plant to stay shut indefinitely after Japan's deadly earthquake, as its operator revealed a radiation leak was worse than thought. The sprawling Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant suffered a small radiation leak and dozens of other problems in Monday's 6.8 Richter-scale quake, whose epicentre was just nine kilometres (five miles) away. As revelations continued to surface, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, said water that leaked into the sea was 1.5 times more radioactive than initially estimated. But it said the level still did not pose a health risk. TEPCO president Tsunehisa Katsumata said there was "no doubt" that the earthquake was stronger than the plant was designed for, but he said there were no serious problems with the nuclear reactors. He changed from his usual business suit to a plant worker's blue uniform to visit the site northwest of Tokyo. "We regret what happened and will strive to make this a power plant that is safe and we can be proud of," he said. Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida summoned the TEPCO president and banned him from reopening any of the plant until it is confirmed safe. Katsumata bowed deeply before the mayor, saying: "I apologise from the bottom of my heart for causing tremendous concerns and nuisance." But the company continued to revise its earlier statements. It said 438 barrels meant for contaminated clothes and gloves tipped over within the facility and at least 40 opened. It had initially said about 100 barrels fell with few of their lids becoming unsealed. The plant's operations have been suspended since the earthquake, which killed nine people, injured more than 1,000 and forced thousands more into shelters. The controversy has also taken on an international dimension with Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, calling for transparency. "Clearly, Japan needs to go into a full investigation of the structure, the systems, the components of the reactor to make sure that we learn the necessary lesson from the earthquake," the International Atomic Energy Agency chief said on a visit to Kuala Lumpur. But with Japan heavily dependent on nuclear power and lacking natural energy resources, officials acknowledged the plant was unlikely to stay closed forever. "I don't think such a thing will happen only because of this case," Akira Fukushima, a senior industry ministry official in charge of nuclear safety, said of potentially stripping TEPCO's license. Japanese researchers were also looking into whether a break in the earth's crust that caused the quake may stretch under the seaside plant. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who faces tough elections later this month, has gone on the offensive against TEPCO, which is the world's largest private power company. Chief government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki demanded that power companies "explain things clearly enough for ordinary people to understand." "I want them to make announcements honestly and without any delays," Shiozaki told reporters in Tokyo. The rescue effort focused on providing food and other care for the elderly, considered the most vulnerable. But patience was tested at the shelters. Sachimi Inomata, 37, said her four-year-old daughter didn't want to use the toilets. "She cries that it smells," Inomata said. "I wonder why there are the same inconveniences everytime a big earthquake hits Japan. They must know from past experiences what most evacuees want." Housewife Yoshiko Aizawa, 63, watched television reports about the nuclear plant from her shelter. "No matter how old you are, accidents at the nuclear plant are the most dreadful thing to people," she said. "I'm particularly worried about the effects on my young grandchildren." AFP Photo: Policemen check out damaged houses in Kashiwazaki. ***************************************************************** 29 ITAR-TASS: Lithuania sets up working group for construction of new NPP CIS and the BALTICS 17.07.2007, 23.58 VILNIUS, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas signed a decree to set up a working group for talks on the construction of a new nuclear power plant, the governmental press service said on Tuesday, adding, Prime Minister’s Aide Saulius Specius will head the group. The working group will take part in talks and consultations with energy companies of the partner-countries engaged in the construction of the new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, as well as Lithuanian power grids’ linking to Polish and Swedish electric transmission lines, the press service said. The working group will regularly inform the prime minister about the results of talks and consultations, the press service said. The new nuclear power plant will be built on the site of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which will be closed in 2009 at the EU’s safety request. Jointly with Lithuania, taking part in the construction of the new nuclear power plant will be Latvia, Estonia and Poland. They plan to build the new power plant by 2015. This will be the most expensive project in independent Lithuania. Its cost is estimated at 22 billion litai (6.4 billion euros), which is equivalent to the yearly national budget of the country. According to preliminary documents, Vilnius will hold 34-percent stake in the project. The other participants in the project will receive 22-percent stakes each. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, store ***************************************************************** 30 DNN: Nuke plant's false alarm should be a wake-up call - Daily News of Newburyport NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport, MA Published: July 18, 2007 12:00 am It was a false alarm. But that was about the only good news regarding the malfunction of the Seabrook nuclear power plant emergency siren in the northwest corner of Amesbury late Friday night. The incident almost led to an understandable, but entirely unnecessary, panic. There was no communication and no information available to residents in the minutes following the alarm, leading to a local 911 center overwhelmed with calls from people wondering if they needed to evacuate the town. Some even packed their cars and were ready to flee. Police initially had no idea what was happening. Neither did the news media. A Seabrook official had the gall to say there was no emergency announcement on the radio because there was no emergency. How were Amesbury residents supposed to know that? When the alarm goes off, they need to be told immediately whether they need to flee or stay put. Yet it wasn't until hours later that radio stations broadcast information. Even worse, Seabrook officials didn't even know the alarm had malfunctioned until they heard of the situation from Amesbury police. That's right - the plant didn't even know one of its alarms was malfunctioning. If this is how they handle a false alarm, it does not inspire confidence about their handling of the real thing. The thousands of us who live in the shadow of the Seabrook plant put an enormous amount of faith in the plant's managers to jealously guard our safety. The primary system the plant uses to communicate with us in case of emergency is a air-raid-like siren, which has a terrifying wail. Clearly this system creates fear and potential panic, and it requires that accurate information be readily available to calm fears in the event of a false alarm. Alan Griffith, senior communication adviser for the plant, says he hopes to use the incident as a way to educate the public about what to do if the same thing happens again. That is good. But the plant's managers obviously need some education themselves. If they are running a nuclear power plant, they ought to have the technology to know when one of their sirens is sounding, whether it is caused by a malfunction or not. They should immediately communicate with the public, whether it is an emergency or not. Officials at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency say that communication will happen in the future. That is a comfort to hear, but it remains unsettling that it took an incident like this to prompt a policy that is simple common sense. Reportedly, emergency officials from both New Hampshire and Massachusetts are reviewing all of Seabrook's policies with those who manage the plant. That is an obvious necessity, as last Friday's incident proves. The Daily News of Newburyport, 23 Liberty Street, Newburyport, MA 01950 - 978-462-6666 © Copyright Eagle Tribune Publishing Company. All rights reserved. 100 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845 978-946-2000 ***************************************************************** 31 Idaho Press-Tribune: Nuclear plant files application Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 7:16 AM EDT Energy: Owyhee County receives application for proposed nuclear power facility near Bruneau; approval process will take time By Lee Vander Boegh lvanderboegh@idahopress.com BRUNEAU — Alternate Energy Holings has taken the next step in its efforts to bring a nuclear power plant to Southwest Idaho. The company presented a conditional-use permit application for the proposed $3.5 billion, 1,600-megawatt Idaho Energy Complex plan to Owyhee County commissioners this week. At the company’s request, the commissioners suspended the typical 125-day time limit. The county also deferred a fee schedule while it researches the proper price for such a complex application. “No one can say we’re rushing this,” Alternate Energy Holdings president and CEO Don Gillispie said in a statement. “We have asked the county to remove its typical 125-day deadline for setting applications for hearing, to allow the extra time to conduct its planning and zoning commission hearings while the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission review process is going on.” Gillispie estimates the NRC approval process could take three years. Owyhee County Commissioner Hal Tolmie agreed that the extension offers more time for public hearings. Tolmie expects at least 20 public hearings throughout the process. “What we did allows this whole process to move into the formal public process which we require of all applicants in the county,” Tolmie said in a county statement. “At the same time, it gives the county some time to develop an application processing fee that fits the nature of this major industry.” Alternate Energy Holdings has already secured a land partnership with Idaho landowner and businessman James Hilliard for Hilliard’s 4,000 acres near Bruneau. Rather than sell the land, Hilliard opted to invest in the company by way of yielding his property. The company has also reached an agreement with Cobblestone Financial Group, which has agreed to fund 100 percent of the complex’s construction costs. Assuming the company gets county approval, the next step is approval from the federal government — a process that could cost up to $100 million and take several years. But if it goes well, the Idaho Energy Complex could be producing 1,600 megawatts of energy and providing an estimated 500 full-time jobs by 2013. The Snake River Alliance, a local nuclear watchdog group, said the public hearing process is critical given the nature of the proposal. “Our concern is making sure there is an open, transparent public process,” Snake River Alliance outreach director Ester Ceja said. Comments are limited to 200 words or less. Dr. Peter Rickards DPM wrote on Jul 18, 2007 5:46 PM: " Dear Idaho Families, This is a merchant nuclear power plant. That means it will sell power to the highest bidder. So your family will be forced to risk nuclear disaster, but you will have to outbid California to buy the power. California won't let this nuclear disaster to be built in their state. Idaho can stop this disaster too, but our politicians get paid to sell you this with a smile. Please call Butch at 334-2100 and demand he stop this merchant plant. " Copyright © 2007 Idaho Press-Tribune. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 32 Independent.ie: Nuclear energy is not the way forward, says Ryan - By Anita Guidera Wednesday July 18 2007 ENERGY Minister Eamon Ryan has expressed confidence that any debate on Ireland's future energy supplies would show that nuclear energy was not the way forward. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources was speaking on the topic of 'Providing Our Energy' at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, last night. Among the other speakers was Dr Ed Walsh, University of Limerick founding president and proponent of nuclear energy. He claimed spiralling energy costs, loss of competitiveness, combined with global warming concerns, were changing attitudes to nuclear energy. "In time, we will look back and see the nuclear energy ban as ludicrous," he said. The minister also insisted that Ireland had more potential in developing its renewables such as wind, wave and biomass. - Anita Guidera ©independent.ie Sitemap | Contact Us | About Us | Terms & Conditions powered by Unison.ie ***************************************************************** 33 OpEdNews: Japanese Earthquake Reactor Accident Worse Than Three Mile Island July 18, 2007 at 12:40:07 by Sherwood Martinelli Page 1 of 1 page(s) http://www.opednews.com With each passing hour, with each passing day, the reports coming out of Japan make it clear that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant accident is in some ways far worse than the accident at Three Mile Island, and citizens in the area surrounding the reactors are in grave peril as long as these seven reactors owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company are in operation. As information comes streaming in, as the damage estimates and contamination amounts grow, one thing is obvious...all seven Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactors are in serious trouble, and need to be decommissioned in the name of public health and safety. To do other wise exposes the citizens of Japan to a nuclear disaster potentially far more devasting than Hiroshima ever was. In the early hours following the 6.8 on the richter scale earthquake, officials at Tokyo Electric Power knew they were in trouble, but refused to sound the alarm, waiting hours to inform the authorities that they were in trouble. Instead, they down played both the damage at the facilities, and the risk to human health and the environment, claiming the only damage suffered was a small transformer fire...suppose they (company management) were blinded to the obvious, which included buckled sidewalks, huge cracks and heaves in the plants road system, and concrete barriers tossed about like a child's Lego set. With each passing hour, the reports have grown more severe, the contaminant issues growing expodentially. For instance, the tipped barrel of radioactively contaminated materials went to a few, to fifty, then to 100, and now the count is 400 barrels of spilled contents. A leak of materials into the environment was originally stated as being less than two liters now stands at almost 400 gallons of highly toxic waste savagely dumped into the Japanese Sea, potentially threatening the fishing industry of the area. Additionally, we now know that an undisclosed amount of Cobalt 60, and other highly dangerous, cancer causing radioactive contaminants escaped into the air...with NO WARNING TO THE CITIZENS! The Mayor of Kashiwazaki, Hiroshi Aida tired of the lies and coverup by TEPCO has acted both quickly and decisively in ordering the entire facility closed until it can prove to the citizens it is a safe site that can be operated safely. If the mayor sticks to his guns, it may be impossible for TEPCO to prove these seven reactors are safe. New geographical information coming out into the light of day shows A) that the quake far exceeded the design basis criteria for the plants, which were only designed to survive a quake of a magnitude of 6.5, instead of the 6.8 quake that demolished much of the reactor site, and B) it is now believed that at least one of the reactors actually sits directly atop a fault line. In an attempt at damage control, in their drive for a Nuclear Renaissance, the heavy hitters within the nuclear industry are out in force downplaying the significance of the event, and offering Tokyo Electric Power whatever help is needed in getting the reactors back up online. Sad to think that political and financial agendas are taking a front seat to human health and safety, but if some of the remarks on the NEI Blog are any example, that is just what we are seeing. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei was quick to offer aid, saying he would be more than willing to put together a team of foremost experts from around the world, but then discredited himself and the IAEA by being quick to point out (without even having seen the damage) that he was sure the basic structural stability of the reactors was probably fine. The NRC was/is not much better, caring more about political spin, and keeping the GNEP, Nuclear Renaissance ball moving down the field than seeing to the safety of almost 100,000 Japanese citizens, even if it means losing seven of their precious reactors. Expecting Entergy to trot out any minute to the press to announce they are sending Paul Newman over to take a personal tour of the site, and give it a clean bill of health to resume operations. In a perfect Bill Clinton, George Bush tag team, Entergy could also snag Patrick Moore...after all, he never met a corporate jet and a $15,000 check he did not like. Entergy could make it the Three Musketeers by rounding off the group with Christine Todd Whitman. We'll call it the CASEnergy Nuclear Diplomatic Tour. Face it folks...the longer reactors are up and running, the closer we are getting to a disaster of Biblical Proportions, and try as they might, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the trouble plagued industry they represent cannot hide the horrid truths forever. A perfect example of the twisted lies told to protect the industry can be found in the differing views offered to the Press from a TEPCO spokesman, and a spokesman for Japan's Meteorological Agency. To mitigate public image damage, and the very real risk of having their reactors permanently shut down and decommissioned, TEPCO spokesperson Hiroshi Itagaki said aftershock data indicate a fault under the ocean floor near the plant. Meteorological Agency official Osamu Kamigaichi paints a far more troublesome picture though when discussing the EXACT SAME DATA when he stated to the press that the fault line runs directly under the plant, and that one reactor may actually sit directly on top of the fault line. Entergy's Indian Point and numerous other aging and brittled reactors also sit on or near MAJOR earthquake fault lines, and a quake of similiar numbers to the one in Japan would more than likely split the cores like an over ripe mellon. Our own reports from various people we have spoken with who are familiar with Entergy's problem plagued Indian Point reactors, which are leaking tritium and strontium 90 into the Hudson River lead us to believe that most of the sensors installed over 30 years ago to detect and record earthquake activity at the Indian point site are not only outdated and obsolete, but in too many cases are no longer functioning. One thing is certain...a earthquake of significant proportion at a site such as Indian Point, or California's Diablo Canyon would cause catastrophic harm, and financial damages would run into the hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. If New Orleans is any example, such and event would all but destroy New York City as we know it today. Hideyuki Ban, director of the civil group Citizen's Nuclear Information Center was quoted by the press"Japan has a dense population so the human damage would be major here. There would be many deaths," and "I think that a quake-prone country should phase out its use of nuclear power." He is absolutely correct. Neither America or Japan needs another Chernobyl or Hiroshima on their shores, yet the IAEA, NRC and the NEI seem willing to risk just that in their push to revitalize a failing industry. The NRC's rubberstamping of license renewal applications to maintain the nuclear industry's market share has got to come to a screeching halt. Here in New York we have 21 million people living within 50 miles of the crumbling Indian Point nuclear reactors, and a quake similiar to the one in Japan could potentially kill hundreds of thousands of those innocent people. Nuclear energy is neither safe, nor green, and the time to seek a different pathway to energy independence without nuclear is upon us. This article was written for my blog, The Green Nuclear Butterfly originally. http://greennuclearbutterfly.blogspot.com Anti-Nuclear activist, and publishero of two blogs on the subject of nuclear energy. Living less than three miles from Entergy's Indian Point, which is leaking tritium and strontium 90 into the Hudson, I write in the hopes of awakening the public to the horrors that are nuclear energy. NEI's( Nuclear Energy Institute) lies about nuclear energy being carbon free have to be exposed, their incestous relationship with the NRC and DOE has to be brought into the light of day, the wrongful rubber stamping of license renewals ended before and American Chernobyl occurs. Madness ... Indeed, it would be smart to shut down those plants. It would be smart to shut down all nuclear plants. But that's not going to happen. You know why? Because we're going to build MORE nuclear plants! And you know why? Because we're FUCKING NUTS! American Indians, when building their villages would MOVE them if the Earth shook beneath them and would never build there again. They marveled when the White Man would not only build on those lands, but even after their cities, towns or villages were devastated would RE-BUILD INSTEAD of moving! It's like we just crawled out of the cave, started standing up-right and "POOF" here we are Masters of our own destruction, waving weapons that for the first time in our brief history can truly end all life on this planet, and screwing with Mother Nature as though She won't have the last laugh. We're mad I tell you. For ever Einstein there are ten-million idiots. For every Olberman a thousand O'Riellys. We're out numbered, out gunned and those that control what's left of the natural resources they're for the most part ruthless sociopaths. I guess you can gleam I have no hope for mankind. That when given the choice between what's sane and right we as a species seem to choose the dead-end road every time. Something for philosophers to ponder, but not for long. by Com_n_Sense (0 articles, 221 comments) on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 8:04:33 PM Royce Penstinger The ways of men, and sadly money. Dear Com_N_Sense: In some ways, cannot say that I disagree with you. Dwindling world resources, yet no one wants to speak of serious conservation of what we have remaining. Global warming a frightening reality, and instead of learning to curb our energy appetite, the civilized people of the world want to embrace nuclear as the GREAT HOPE that will allow them to continue down their foolish path of convenience. At what cost? The money changers are in the temple of the heavens, tipping over pews, and ransacking the altar of Mother Earth, but she shall, one way or the other have the final laugh. There is nothing made by man that can withstand a three mile tall iceburg erasing all in its path. The ice caps have melted before, cooling the landscape, healing the surface of this home we call earth. Unless we change our ways, history will again repeat itself, small pockets of humanity perhaps left alive when they receed to try this experiment all over again. We are masters of our own destiny, but only if we as a nation, as a world stand up to those who would enslave us in the name of a one world corporate reality where the measure of a mans success is not his deeds but his possessions. In our desparate desire for newer toys, larger homes, and faster cars we are writing our own demise, but there is still time to wake up, still time to correct our mistakes such as over population, over consumption and personal greed...the question is, "Will we?" by Penstinger (2 articles, 6 comments) on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 8:26:28 PM Copyright © OpEdNews, 2002-2007 ***************************************************************** 34 csmonitor.com: Russia plans big nuclear expansion from the July 17, 2007 edition - Leading the globe in construction of new plants, it also hopes to export as many as 60 plants in the next two decades. By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Moscow Before the Chernobyl accident threw everything atomic into disrepute, Soviet economic planners dreamed of mobile nuclear power stations that would light up remote Arctic towns. Public antipathy and economic woes shelved those dreams for two decades. But now, under direct orders from the Kremlin, ambitious Soviet-era expansion plans are being dusted off and rapidly implemented – including the first-ever floating atomic power station, set to begin operations in the frigid White Sea by 2010. In a sweeping revival of Russia's nuclear industry, President Vladimir Putin has signed off on the construction of 26 major new nuclear stations, which will almost double the share of atomic power in Russia's electrical grid. In addition, the country's main atomic agency says it hopes to export as many as 60 nuclear power plants in the next two decades. Critics say those export plans – particularly for floating stations, which use uranium enriched nearly to weapons-grade level – pose a proliferation risk, and warn that the largely Soviet-era technology could have dire ecological consequences. But advocates say the expansion wave is unstoppable, due to a partial shift in public attitude, the exigencies of global warming, and increasing economic pressures. "Russia's economy is growing faster than anyone predicted; it's outrunning the capacities of our energy sector," says Vladimir Fortov, director of the official Institute of High Energy Physics in Moscow. "We're already starting to feel shortages of electricity, even in the Moscow region." About 15 percent of Russia's electricity comes from nuclear power. Putin wants to increase that to 25 percent or more by 2030. New state-run behemoth Nuclear power engineering is no longer the Cinderella of Russian industry but "a priority branch for the country, which makes Russia a great power," Mr. Putin said last year, inaugurating the new program. "The most ambitious projects and progressive technologies are linked with this branch." To facilitate the crash expansion, the Kremlin this month ordered more than 30 nuclear-related companies to amalgamate into a single state-owned behemoth, which will control every stage of civil atomic engineering from uranium mining to construction and export of power stations to fuel enrichment to decommissioning old reactors. The new nuclear giant, to be called Atomenergoprom (Atomic Energy Industry Complex), is similar to other conglomerates that the Putin government has created and now runs in branches such as aircraft production, arms exports, electricity, and gas. "I hope Putin has taken steps to avoid a second Gazprom," the natural-gas juggernaut that's sometimes accused of dictating state policy, says Gennady Pshakin, director of the independent Center for Non-Proliferation Studies in the formerly closed nuclear-science city of Obninsk. "It's going to be a monopoly, and that's not always a good thing." Surveys suggest that Russian public opinion has shifted somewhat in favor of nuclear energy since the post-Chernobyl nadir in the 1990s. But many people remain skeptical. A recent poll by the state-run VTsIOM agency found that just 27 percent of Russians want to see new nuclear-power plants, while 42 percent support keeping the 31 reactors already operating. Just 19 percent were completely opposed to atomic energy. Not in my back yard But, according to the online newspaper Gazeta.ru, 70 percent say they're strongly against any atomic station in their own neighborhood. Though there's talk of technology breakthroughs, such as breeder reactors that produce more fuel than they use, the new stations to be built and exported are basically pre-Chernobyl Soviet designs that have safety systems added on. Russia is currently building seven nuclear stations abroad – more than any competitor – in Iran, China, India, and Bulgaria. In addition, atomic officials say they're in talks with at least a dozen developing countries, from Algeria to Vietnam, about buying Russian reactors. "We are world leaders in developing nuclear technology," says Sergei Novikov, spokesperson for RosAtom, the official atomic-energy agency. "We are major innovators in safety systems, and new reactors we are building are among the most secure in the world." Worries of proliferation The planned floating nuclear stations have attracted fierce criticism. "These platforms will need to be protected by warships to prevent anyone getting near them; they are much less secure than land-based stations," says Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair of Eco-Defense, a Russian environmental group. Since they use fuel that's been enriched to 20 percent (nuclear fuel for most civilian reactors is about 4 percent), "they pose a clear risk of proliferation," he warns. Russian experts say the units have been offered to Persian Gulf states, where they could be used to run desalinization plants, as well as to such countries as Indonesia, Algeria, Malaysia, and Argentina. Some Russian sales successes, such as the $1 billion Bushehr nuclear station in Iran, have prompted allegations that Moscow is already providing dangerous technologies to rogue regimes. Russian experts argue that Bushehr has nothing to do with Iran's alleged drive to acquire nuclear weapons, since there will be total Russian control over the reactor's fuel cycle. For reasons that remain unclear, construction at Bushehr has been stalled for many months, and Russia has delayed delivery of the first installment of fuel rods. Officials insist it's not about politics. "Since January, the Iranians have not been making the agreed payments," for Bushehr, says Mr. Novikov. "You can't build a reactor on good relations alone. Why they're not paying is a question to ask the Iranian side." US-Russia deal for close monitoring At the Kennebunkport summit early this month, Putin and US President George Bush approved a long-stalled Global Nuclear Energy Partnership deal which, if ratified by Congress, could enable Russia and the US to move toward joint marketing of nuclear technology. The idea, long advocated by Putin, would be to make atomic energy widely available while imposing tight control over the potential weapons-producing stages: the enrichment of nuclear fuel and reprocessing of reactor waste. "We have a common vision, to expand the use of nuclear energy while keeping the world safe," says Mr. Pshakin. "It's a dream, but it's time to introduce it to the world community." But critics say that Russia's nuclear industry, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption and unsafe practices, needs to clean up its own act first. "The Russian atomic establishment is not ready to carry out this massive planned buildup," says Mr. Slivyak, the environmentalist. "There are lots of reasons to worry that all this haste could lead to bad consequences." Christian Science www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. ***************************************************************** 35 Guardian Unlimited: Company Says Radioactive Leak Was Bigger Wednesday July 18, 2007 12:01 PM By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press Writer KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) - The company that operates an earthquake-ravaged nuclear plant said Wednesday that a radioactive leak was bigger than first reported but still below danger levels, escalating the showdown over a long list of problems at the facility. The company also said about 400 barrels containing low-level radioactive waste were knocked over as a result of Monday's quake, revising an earlier figure of 100. Also Wednesday, the mayor of nearby Kashiwazaki city ordered the facility to shut down until its safety could be confirmed. Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced that a leak of radioactive water into the Sea of Japan was actually 50 percent bigger than initially announced Monday night after the deadly 6.8-magnitude quake. ``We made a mistake in calculating the amount that leaked into the ocean. We apologize and make correction,'' the statement said. Spokesman Jun Oshima said the amount was still ``one-billionth of Japan's legal limit.'' Another spokesman, Tsutomu Uehara, told reporters in Tokyo that inspections at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant showed 400 drums had fallen over and that lids had come off 40 of them. No radiation has been detected outside the facility, Uehara said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 36 NRC: The NRC and the ‘Safety Business’” NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein Speech - 07-036 - “ OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: Public Affairs Web Site Remarks Prepared for NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein Women in Nuclear Conference Anaheim, CA July 16, 2007 Thank you. I am very glad to see such a large turnout at this meeting. Nuclear engineering is much different today than when I first got into the field years ago. Both the academic and business aspects are changing, more rapidly all the time it seems—and not just in the U.S. but around the world. So today, for example, when I travel I find more and more often that my counterpart is a woman… such as Judith Melin in Sweden, or Linda Keen in Canada. And we are quite proud of the increasingly important role women play at the NRC. If I may brag for a moment, Undine Shoop, an engineer who works in the NRC’s Communication’s Office, is on the cover of the current issue of Woman Engineer. Now, the changing face of the nuclear power business is a positive development for a number of reasons including basic fairness and greater diversity. There is also the simple fact of self-interest: ensuring full access for women essentially doubles the talent pool. And both government and industry are going to need all the talent we can get. In fact, there are now more women in college than men—so if industry wants to build a future with the best and brightest young talent, it needs to attract and encourage people of both genders and all races. Another benefit is tied to the fact that the success of the Nuclear Renaissance—if it is to happen—will depend ultimately on public trust. That’s a theme I will come back to in a minute. But my point right now is that the more an organization looks like the public, the more likely it is to earn that trust. After all, people are more comfortable with what is familiar. So the more the organization represents society at large, the more likely that it will be trusted by society at large. This is all the more important today, because one of the potential bottlenecks I see for future growth is workforce development. One of the challenges facing both industry and regulators is the need to prepare the next generation of engineers, as well as electricians, welders, and other skilled crafts people. I have said before that none of our interests is going to be well served if we spend our time and money chasing after a limited number of candidates. Instead of bidding against each other, all of us – industry and government alike – must focus on an intensive nationwide effort to expand the base of qualified people. And reaching out to people who were not traditionally well-represented in this business is one of the best ways we can do that. So I am very pleased to see how large and strong a force WIN has become for expanding the industry’s talent pool. On the subject of workforce development, I want to commend you for your decision to hold this event at Disneyland. I assume you chose this venue so that we could all check out the competition… because I know that I regard Disney as my competitor. That may seem like a somewhat cryptic remark, so let me explain what I mean with a brief story. Bill Gates was once asked who Microsoft’s biggest competitor was. He responded, rather surprisingly, that his biggest competitor was Goldman Sachs. Gates explained that both companies were in what he called “the IQ business.” “Microsoft must win the IQ war,” he said, “or we won't have a future. I don't worry about Lotus or IBM, because the smartest guys would rather come to work for Microsoft. Our competitors for IQ are investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley." So what does that story have to do with nuclear energy and Disneyland? I think it comes down to a similar commonality: safety. I don’t mean to discount IQ, of course. But since we are in a room full of nuclear engineers, I think we can take high IQ’s in the nuclear energy business as a given. And, as you know, the NRC is not a Mickey Mouse operation. But what Disney and the nuclear energy business have in common is that they both depend for their success, for their existence, on an absolute commitment to safety. That focus is key to a successful in-house engineering operation, with a comprehensive education, training and development program. I think you will find this kind of program in companies that understand, as Disney appears to, that without their customers’ trust, nothing else matters. What does it mean for us to recognize that we are in the safety business? And I say “we” because, of course, the safe operation of commercial nuclear plants is a joint responsibility that requires the active cooperation of the utilities and the NRC. What is required for us to fulfill our separate but complementary responsibilities? I am glad you asked, because that brings me to the theme of our panel, “Rebuilding the Nuclear Industrial Infrastructure.” As I have remarked several times over the last few months, I firmly believe that while the NRC faces significant challenges in the near future, we will not be a roadblock to the anticipated growth in nuclear power, if we receive high-quality applications. But I have also pointed out that there seems to be two other areas that may present bottlenecks. I have already talked about workforce development. The second potential bottleneck is the ability of the global manufacturing sector to meet the growing demand for high-quality nuclear components in a timely way. I should mention that the relatively small number of firms producing major components at least makes it relatively easier to oversee the quality and authenticity of these components. But we—and I mean here both the utilities and the regulatory community—face a different challenge in ensuring the quality of the thousands of smaller parts and materials that are manufactured in other parts of the world. The construction of a commercial nuclear plant today involves pumps, valves, motors, fans, pipes… and even bolts… that may be produced by any number of companies—both private and state-owned—around the world. And the close scrutiny that regulatory agencies and nuclear customers can bring to bear on major manufacturers to assure that quality components are produced does not always apply with the same intensity to the sub-vendors that supply parts and materials to the manufacturers. To address this, I have suggested in meetings with regulators from other nations that we establish more extensive channels of communication to share information about any components or equipment that may be substandard, counterfeit, inadequate or inappropriate to a nuclear power plant. Regulatory agencies and industry would benefit from sharing this data under normal circumstances, but it seems to me even more critical during the current worldwide push to build new plants. Whether it involves major components, smaller parts, nuclear plant designs, or the actual construction and operation of power plants, we all have an interest in encouraging high levels of safety, and strong safeguards in every country that participates in the fuel cycle. Now, when I address the need for industry to join with us in being vigilant in this area it is not intended to cast aspersions. It is simply meant to recognize that the NRC depends on industry to be the first line of safety. It is a well-known adage around my office that if there is something amiss at a commercial nuclear plant, the plant owners and operators should find it first. If they don’t find it, INPO should. If INPO doesn’t find it… and it falls to the NRC resident inspector to find it… well, then industry has, in a sense, failed. So what I am trying to do when I revisit these themes is to avert problems before they come to our attention as a regulator. Still, some people wonder why I keep coming back to this theme. So let me offer two examples of why I think this issue is important, and why I want to ensure that all of us are putting sufficient effort into addressing it. Because I have always said that ensuring high-quality components is a challenge we must address together. Here is the first example: According to data compiled by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the number of ASME Nuclear Certificates holders fell worldwide from nearly 600 in 1980, to under 200 this year. More strikingly, the decline was due almost entirely to the loss of nuclear certificates among American companies. The number of certificates held by other nations has remained fairly steady—around 100—since 1980, but the number of American certificate holders today is one-fifth of what it was 27 years ago. Clearly, this must be a consideration as we contemplate the anticipated growth in the demand for parts. The second point is more anecdotal, but I am sure it is something you have been following in the news… and it seems to be happening more and more often. I am referring to the problems with regard to quality control over both food products and manufactured items that are bought and sold on the global market. This is bad enough when it concerns contaminated consumer products—which is certainly very serious. But it is a matter of even greater concern when supposedly high-quality machine components are substandard or counterfeit... particularly when such defective or fraudulent parts could find their way into a commercial nuclear reactor. That has not happened. And I am confident that it will not happen… as long as we remember that at the end of the day, nuclear power plants are really in the safety business. So the question I would leave you with is: Are we being vigilant enough? Is industry doing enough to: Establish more rigorous safeguards and oversight in procurement? Find quality vendors and ensure that they maintain high standards? Make quality assurance a top priority? That is my charge to you today. To come back to the point I made at the beginning—it clearly appears Disney understands this. There is a reason they are known and loved and trusted around the world… because this park is a global enterprise, too. No ride, no attraction will be enticing enough if people don’t feel safe bringing their families here. That same confidence, that trust, should be the ultimate goal of those of you trying to bring about the revival of commercial nuclear power. NRC speeches are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when speeches are posted to NRC's Web site. July 18, 2007 ***************************************************************** 37 AFP: US to mull energy proposals from panel led by ex-Exxon chief - Wed Jul 18, 5:30 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government will consider a range of recommendations on energy policy made by a high-level panel led by the former chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil Corp., officials said Wednesday. US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said he had already started reviewing the proposals made by the National Petroleum Council (NPC) after commissioning a study from the body about America's energy needs and security. America is the world's biggest oil consumer, but has to import most of its oil due to declining domestic energy sources. The NPC, which is headed by former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, delivered its recommendations to Bodman Wednesday at a meeting in Washington. Its vice chairman is David O'Reilly, a chairman of Chevron Corp, another big energy firm. The NPC serves as an advisory body to the US Department of Energy. Its findings, packed into a dense 116-page report, include several key recommendations aimed at enabling America to meet future energy challenges. Council experts urged the government to cool spiking energy demand by boosting economy standards for motor vehicles and called for the expansion and diversification of US energy sources among other proposals. Energy policy should also be incorporated into trade, economic and foreign policies, and Washington should broaden its dialogue with oil-producing states, the report's authors urged. Industry analysts welcomed some of the NPC's recommendations. "Increase the fuel mileage standard: That's a very good way to cut demand because if you double the fuel mileage standard from 20 to 40 miles a gallon you can cut a lot of gasoline consumption," said Eric Wittenauer, an analyst at AG Edwards. "The sooner you react or the more proactive approach you take in it, the easier it is to solve the problem," Wittenauer said. The report was released following a recent jump in US gasoline prices which have surged above 3.00 dollars a gallon in some American cities, triggering criticism of oil firms from some consumer groups. Bodman praised the NPC's work as a "landmark effort," but said "ultimately, I believe, the transition to a more energy-efficient US economy will happen as a result of changes that arise largely from the private sector, in some cases with government support." The NPC urged the government to diversify production from clean coal, nuclear, biomass, renewables and other energy sources. The report was the culmination of an 18-month study in which more than 350 experts were consulted. It was released as the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a powerful coalition of business and environmental groups, announced that Xerox Corp. and NRG Energy had joined USCAP. The alliance is calling on the US Congress to "swiftly enact national economy-wide legislation to address the adverse impacts of climate change." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 38 AFP: US, India identify solutions to salvage nuclear deal by P. Parameswaran Wed Jul 18, 5:17 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and India have identified possible solutions to issues hampering a final accord on a landmark bilateral civilian nuclear deal, the State Department said Wednesday. The two powers have been for two years trying to devise a comprehensive agreement under which the United States would provide nuclear technology and fuel after agreeing in principle to reverse three decades of sanctions. "I think they have clearly identified the issues, I think there are certainly possible solutions to both sides," said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We'll see if we are able to bridge the difference," said the official after senior American and Indian officials entered their final day of talks in Washington. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also met Wednesday with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who together with National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar made up the high-powered Indian delegation. Narayanan met separately with US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at the White House. "Certainly, there's no time like the present to reach a deal," said State Department spokeman Sean McCormack. The Indian officials were to meet Nicholas Burns, the US pointman to the nuclear talks, and Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and central Asian affairs, later Wednesday in a bid to conclude the talks. McCormack refused to speak about the issues clouding the deal, saying "this is not an issue in which I do play-by-play analysis. "You know, we'll see where we are at the end of the day." 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. Indian officials have reportedly proposed to set up a special unit to reprocess spent atomic fuel under international safeguards in a bid to break the impasse. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush, who laid the groundwork for the deal two years to the day on July 18, 2005, discussed the issue over the telephone last week. Last year, the US Congress approved the nuclear deal in principle and a bill to that effect was signed into law by Bush. It was subject to both sides crafting a comprehensive bilateral accord or "123 agreement" capturing all implementing aspects of the deal that has to be passed again by Congress. India also needs to sign an additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and get the approval of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 AFP: US, India begin fresh talks to seal nuclear deal - by P. Parameswaran Wed Jul 18, 2:41 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and India began a fresh round of talks to finalize a landmark civilian nuclear accord, with Washington saying they are prepared to grapple with tough outstanding issues. The two sides are attempting to devise a final pact that would give India access to previously forbidden atomic technology to generate power for its booming economy after Washington agreed to reverse three decades of sanctions on nuclear trade with India. "It's really to try to make a push to get this agreement over the finish line," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. "There are a couple tough issues that we have left to resolve. We believe that we can get a deal, we can get an agreement," he said as senior Indian officials began two-day talks with US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. 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. Asked how Washington and New Delhi would overcome the two issues, McCormack said: "We'll see if we're able to bridge the differences. "There is a willingness on our part to work in a constructive manner to get a deal done and I suspect that you would hear the same thing from our Indian partners," he said. The talks between Burns and the high-level Indian delegation, which includes India's National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar, and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, were to spill over into a US-hosted dinner Tuesday, officials said. The Indian side also meets with US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at the White House on Wednesday, the second anniversary of a July 18, 2005 deal between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George Bush to forge the historic civilian nuclear partnership. Indian embassy spokesman Rahul Chhabra had said earlier that New Delhi looked forward to finalizing the nuclear agreement as "early as possible." Both Singh and Bush discussed the nuclear issue over the telephone last week. On the margins of a Group of Eight summit in Germany last month, Indian officials reportedly proposed to set up a special unit to reprocess spent atomic fuel under international safeguards in a bid to break the impasse. Narayanan and Menon held talks with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon on Monday and also met experts at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a US think tank that helped Washington craft the nuclear deal. Last year, the US Congress approved the nuclear deal in principle and Bush signed into law a bill allowing Washington to transfer nuclear fuel and technology to India. It was subject to both sides crafting a comprehensive bilateral accord or "123 agreement" capturing all aspects of the deal that has to be passed again by Congress. India also needs to sign an additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and get the approval of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 40 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Nuke Plant Leak Worse Than Thought Wednesday July 18, 2007 11:01 PM By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press Writer KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) - An earthquake-wracked nuclear power plant was ordered closed indefinitely Wednesday amid growing anger over revelations that damage was much worse than initially announced and mounting international concern about Japan's nuclear stewardship. Toyota and other Japanese automakers, meanwhile, suspended production at factories across the country because a major parts supplier sustained damage from Monday's magnitude-6.8 quake, which killed 10 people and left tens of thousands without power or water. Tokyo Electric Power Co. warned that the nuclear plant shutdown could lead to power shortages in Japan. It has asked six other power companies to consider providing emergency electricity to prepare for rising demand from summer air conditioning, spokesman Hiroshi Itagaki said. The mayor of Kashiwazaki, a city of 93,500 on the northern coast, called in the head of the nation's biggest power company and ordered the damaged nuclear station closed until its safety could be confirmed, escalating a showdown over a long list of problems at the world's most powerful generating plant. ``I am worried,'' Mayor Hiroshi Aida said in ordering the closure. ``The safety of the plant must be assured before it is reopened.'' Officials at Tokyo Electric, operator of the plant, said damage caused by the quake posed no danger to people or the environment. But damage was widely visible on the site, from cracked roads and buckled sidewalks to the charred outside wall of an electrical transformer building that caught fire. ``To be honest, it's a mess,'' said company President Tsunehisa Katsumata, but he insisted fears of radioactive contamination were unfounded. That did little to calm anger over the company's slow revelations of damage at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which generates 8.2 million kilowatts of electricity. The plant, like much of the nuclear industry in Japan, has been plagued with mishaps, such as a radioactive leak in a turbine room in 2001. On Tuesday, the utility shocked the nation by releasing a list of dozens of problems triggered by the quake, after earlier reporting only the transformer fire and a small leak of radioactive water. The new list of problems included the transformer fire, broken pipes, water leaks and spills of radioactive waste. It also said the leak of radioactive water into the Sea of Japan was 50 percent bigger than announced Monday night. ``We made a mistake in calculating the amount that leaked into the ocean,'' the company said in a statement. Spokesman Jun Oshima said the amount was still ``one-billionth of Japan's legal limit.'' Even that list had to be revised. Tokyo Electric said later Wednesday that about 400 barrels containing low-level nuclear waste had tipped over at a storage facility at the plant during the quake, revising an earlier figure of 100. The lids were knocked off about 40 barrels, spilling their contents onto the floor, spokesman Tsutomu Uehara told reporters in Tokyo. Uehara said no radiation had been detected outside the facility. Concerns about nuclear safety echoed across Japan, which depends on 55 reactors for about 30 percent of its electricity needs. ``Japan has a dense population so the human damage would be major here. There would be many deaths,'' Hideyuki Ban, a director of the civil group Citizen's Nuclear Information Center, told reporters. ``I think that a quake-prone country should phase out its use of nuclear power.'' The International Atomic Energy Agency pressed Japan's government to undertake a thorough investigation of the damage to see if lessons could be applied to nuclear plants elsewhere. Speaking in Malaysia, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei offered help from his U.N. watchdog agency. ``I would hope, and I trust, that Japan would be fully transparent in its investigation of that accident,'' he said. ``The agency would be ready to join Japan through an international team in reviewing that accident and drawing the necessary lessons.'' Katsumata, Tokyo Electric's president, said the company would thoroughly study the impact of the earthquake. ``We will conduct an investigation from the ground up. But I think fundamentally we have confirmed that our safety measures worked,'' he said. ``It is hard to make everything go perfectly.'' Yet, while Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, executives at the plant admitted they had not foreseen such a powerful temblor hitting the facility. The plant's deputy superintendent, Masakazu Minamidate, said the strongest known quake in the region previously was a magnitude 6.5. ``This was stronger than we expected,'' he said. New data from aftershocks following Monday's offshore quake suggested a fault line may run underneath the power plant itself, which was only 12 miles from the epicenter. Minamidate said an onshore survey of fault lines had been completed, but not one offshore. While it was unclear how close the fault line involved in the quake is to the plant, Meteorological Agency official Osamu Kamigaichi said it might stretch under the site. Japan's Coast Guard said it would launch a study of the ocean floor off Kashiwazaki starting Friday to better map fault lines in the area. Repercussions from the quake also were felt in the business world. Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. fell in trading on Tuesday and Wednesday, and were at 5 percent below their closing price last week. They ended at $29.5 Wednesday - their lowest level since early December - on heavy trading of more than 13 million shares. The temporary closure of auto parts maker Riken Corp.'s plant at Kashiwazaki forced Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. to scale back production. Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker and challenging General Motors Corp. for world leadership, will stop production lines at a dozen factories centered in central Aichi prefecture Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said. Several thousand Kashiwazaki residents remained in gymnasiums and civic centers Wednesday night because their homes had either been destroyed or damaged or because water service remained off. Search teams pulled a 10th body from the rubble Wednesday night, and one man was listed as missing. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 41 Guardian Unlimited: Damaged Japanese nuclear plant 'may sit on fault line' Justin McCurry in Tokyo Wednesday July 18, 2007 Earthquake damage outside Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Photograph: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images The world's biggest nuclear power station faces an uncertain future after it emerged today that it may lie directly above the fault line that triggered this week's earthquake in which nine people died and more than 1,000 were injured. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant - the biggest in the world in terms of output capacity - has been shut down indefinitely after it shook violently when an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Niigata prefecture in northern Japan on Monday. The plant was not designed to resist shaking caused by earthquakes of greater than magnitude 6.5. On another day of embarrassment for Japan's nuclear power industry, the Tokyo Electric Power company [Tepco], which operates the plant, said the amount of radioactivity in water that leaked into the sea during the earthquake was 50% higher than it originally said. The firm blamed a calculation error and said the levels were still well within safety standards. It also said that 400 drums of low-level radioactive waste - not 100 originally reported - had toppled over during the quake. About 40 lost their lids, spilling their contents on to the ground. The spillage was one of more than 50 malfunctions the plant experienced in the immediate aftermath of the quake. International nuclear inspectors said they were concerned by Tepco's apparent lack of preparedness for such a powerful earthquake. "It is clear that this earthquake ... was stronger than the reactor was designed for," Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. "It doesn't mean that the reactor structure or system has been damaged. I would hope and I trust that Japan would be fully transparent in its investigation of that accident. The agency would be ready to join Japan through an international team in reviewing that accident and drawing the necessary lessons." The mayor of Kashiwazaki, Hiroshi Aida, ordered Tepco to close the plant indefinitely until its safety could be assured. "I am worried," he said. "It would be difficult to restart operations at this time. The safety of the plant must be assured before it is reopened." The closure has forced the firm to ask six other power utilities to supply it with additional electricity until end of September to avoid power cuts when demand peaks later this summer. Tepco is under pressure to explain why it took so long to inform the authorities of radioactive leaks and why only four employees were on hand to tackle a fire inside an electrical transformer that was only extinguished after firefighters arrived almost 90 minutes later. The mishaps have raised questions about the wisdom of building nuclear power stations in a country where earth tremors are recorded, on average, every few minutes. New safety regulations were brought in last year, but upgrading ageing reactors so that they can withstand tremors of a greater magnitude than 6.5 will require huge investment. Akira Fukushima, the deputy director general of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said no irregularities had been found in critical areas of the plant but added: "It is possible that the epicentre fault line does run beneath the power plant. Our decision on what to do in the future will depend on the report we get from Tepco." Inspectors reportedly identified four fault lines in the area while conducting a geological survey before work began on the Kashiwazaki plant in 1980 but concluded that they were inactive, according to the Asahi newspaper. The Citizen's Nuclear Information Centre said that the fault believed to have triggered the earthquake was not discovered during pre-construction surveys. "Clearly Japan's earthquake safety standards are inadequate," it said in a statement. Tepco's president, Tsunehisa Katsumata, defended the firm's response. "It is hard to make everything go perfectly," he told reporters during a visit to the site. "We will conduct an investigation from the ground up, but I think fundamentally we have confirmed that our safety measures work." Japan, which has very few indigenous energy sources, depends on 55 nuclear plants for 30% of its electricity. Despite several accidents and mounting public opposition to nuclear power, it plans to increase capacity to 40% by the end of the decade. Backstory: nuclear accidents in Japan Only France and the US have more nuclear power stations than Japan, where the first plant went into service in 1966. Japan's 55 plants have a total generating capacity of 49,470 megawatts, supplying just under a third of the country's electric power output. The industry has been plagued by accidents and cover-ups in recent years. September 30 1999: Two workers died after setting off an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, north of Tokyo. The workers had been mixing nuclear fuel in buckets. Thousands of residents were evacuated. September 2002: The Tokyo Electric Power company, Japan's biggest power utility, is ordered to shut down all 17 of its reactors after it admitted falsifying safety data. August 9 2004: Five workers are scalded to death when boiling water and steam leak from a badly decayed pipe at the Mihama No 3 nuclear power plant. July 16 2007: Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, on Japan's north-west coast, is closed indefinitely after a powerful earthquake causes a fire, minor radioactive leaks and dozens of other malfunctions. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 42 The Hindu: Is maligning plutonium metal justified? Thursday, Jul 19, 2007 Unsubstantiated fears must not impede technological progress towards energy security ====================================================================== Experts do not agree that plutonium is the most toxic material known to man There has not been a single death due to Pu among workers at U.S. nuclear weapon facilities ====================================================================== The Health Physics Society (HPS), a scientific association noted that the word ‘plutonium’ in a news story seems invariably preceded by the adjective ‘deadly.’ HPS argued that the statements such as plutonium is ‘the most deadly element known’ and that ‘a single speck of plutonium inhaled can kill a person’ are not facts but opinions; reporters apparently include them to dramatise the ir story. Not very soluble Some scientists perceive plutonium (Pu) as extremely toxic. “What will happen if a misguided fellow drops some Pu in a municipal water reservoir?” a senior scientist, who specialised in fuel reprocessing once asked me. Pu, in its most common chemical form, is not very soluble in water. Once dropped, the heavy metal will sink to the bottom of the reservoir. The damage will not be dramatic. Many ignorant but influential people contribute to the misinformation on Pu. On November 16, 1996, the Mars-96 satellite fell into the sea with 200 grammes of Pu-238 onboard. Hans Koning, a prolific writer believed that this amount was in principle enough to kill all life on earth! “Fortunately, it did not fall on a city, where it would have killed a million or more people” he wrote in the International Herald Tribune (IHT, November 27, 1996). According to the 1982 report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), between 1945 and 1980, nuclear explosions dispersed about 2.8 tons of Pu-239 globally. “Still life exists” Dr Zbigniew Jaworowski, a scientist who once chaired UNSCEAR, reminded the readers (IHT December, 24 1996). Specialists asserted that the risk from the well-encapsulated Pu is minimal. Public apparently believed Hans Koning, the fiction writer rather than Jaworowski, the scientist or the specialists. Historically, during the war years, someone stated that plutonium was the most toxic material, partly to scare workers into using respirators and following safety precautions scrupulously. At least 11 Hollywood movies and television shows refer to Pu, not honourably. Two of them depict characters suffering from ‘radiation sickness’ due to inhalation of plutonium. Biasing the public One of them was a terrorist. Such movies bias public against plutonium. Scientists find it difficult to undo the damage. What are the facts? “In the Handbook of Toxicology of Metals 1979, Pu does not rate a mention except in passing in the entry for uranium,” Dr. Colin Keay, former Professor of Physics, University of Newcastle wrote in the Skep tic Magazine (1997). Experts do not agree that Pu is the most toxic material known to man. Radium is more toxic. Plutonium is an angel compared to polonium-210! A few tenths of a microgramme of polonium-210 killed an Ex Russian spy (The Hindu, December 7) last year. Orally, Pu is less toxic than caffeine, some vitamins, many plants and fungi. Its chemical toxicity may rank with lead or other heavy metals (chemistrydaily.com, 2005). Ricin, tetrodotoxin, botulinum toxin, tetanus toxin are fatal in doses as low as a milligramme. A small amount of inhaled plutonium may cause cancer in the next few decades. Large amounts of inhaled or ingested plutonium will cause radiation sickness and death. So far, there has been not even a single death attributable to Pu among the thousands of workers at U.S. nuclear weapon facilities which handled tens of tons of Pu, 26 workers who became contaminated with Pu during the forties and 18 persons into whom researchers injected Pu to study its excretion rates. Notable record Despite this notable record of accomplishment, fear of nuclear proliferation made Pu, the most ‘toxic’ substance known to man. Condemning Pu is a single point agenda of anti-nuclear activists. We must handle Pu carefully to minimise its associated risks which are well recognised. Indian scientists have been handling substantial amounts of Pu safely since January 22, 1965 when they set up the first plant to extract Pu. Plutonium is vital to the country’s three-stage nuclear power programme. Unsubstantiated fears must not impede the technological progress, which ensures energy security to the nation. K.S. PARTHASARATHY Former Secretary, AERB ( ksparth@yahoo.co.uk ) Comments to : thehindu@vsnl.com Copyright © 2007, The Hindu ***************************************************************** 43 Spectrum: Downwinders concerned about Milford Flat Fire radiation www.thespectrum.com - The Spectrum, St. George, UT Customer Service: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 By RYANN RASMUSSEN rrasmussen@thespectrum.com CEDAR CITY - When it comes to data from the National Nuclear Security Administration concerning increased radiation levels in Southern Utah - presumably because of the massive Milford Flat Fire - Andrew Kishner isn't easily swayed. As a citizen concerned about harmful radiation levels, Kishner, who co-organized an anti-weapons test rally in Kanab, claims the NNSA hasn't been forthcoming with its information. For one, he said the radioactive material registering on the equipment near the area of the largest recorded fire in Utah history might not be naturally occurring, low-concentration radon gas like the NNSA originally suggested. It might, however, be nuclear fallout material left over from tests decades ago, which, because of the fire, has been re-released into the atmosphere. Also, Kishner said, the actual gamma radiation levels during the days when the fire was out of control may have been much higher than 140 microRem per hour, which was the maximum reading, according to the NNSA. "And the scary thing is we don't know how high these spikes go because the data isn't available," he said. Because the Community Environmental Monitoring Program site in Milford averages all the gamma radiation levels it records in a 10-minute interval, Kishner said 140 microRem per hour was an average and not the actual maximum reading. According to a graph on the CEMP Web site, microRems per hour, at times, reached 870. But because the graph only goes to 870 microRem per hour, Kishner said it could have been a lot higher. Ultimately, Kishner said if what's being emitted is more than natural radioactive radon, he worries about the firefighters who battled the record-breaking blaze day in and day out. He's also concerned about the local Downwinders and their families. "I have a deep empathy for what suffering Downwinders have gone through," he said. Richard Miller, who calls himself an environmental expert in fallout and has written books on the subject, said in an e-mail that it's unknown exactly what has been released by the fire because the CEMP sites only detect gamma radiation, not alpha or beta particles. Some of the fallout particles at the nuclear testing sites, he said, are alpha emitters. That means the CEMP detectors will not recognize dangerous and carcinogenic radioisotopes like americium-241 and plutonium. "Now, alpha particles do approximately 20 times the damage to a cell as an equivalent gamma ray," Miller wrote. On Friday, Kevin Rohrer, a spokesman for the NNSA, told The Spectrum & Daily News that if what officials are finding is natural radon, then folks shouldn't be worried because the concentration is so low and the phenomenon is a natural occurrence. However, Miller said radon itself is much more threatening in reality because the radioisotope radon-222 emits seven moderate-energy gamma rays for every 10,000 alpha particles. "So if the CEMP sites are reporting radon based on gamma ray output, then they are indeed, A, making wild guesses, and, B, likely underestimating the true hazard by at least a factor of 20," he continues in the e-mail. Miller said the biggest problem facing radioactive monitoring sites is inadequate equipment. To truly understand the radioactive particles in the environment, he said, alpha and beta particles also must be detected. Rohrer acknowledges that although unlikely, the fire could have reactivated dormant radioactive fallout material from nuclear testing. But, even if that is the cause of the increased radiation levels, there wasn't much that could be done to prevent it in the first place. "Simply the fire burning in the area, while it is possible, it's not probable that large amounts of cesium would be lifted up," he said. Cesium, he said, is a particle that would indicate fallout material. So far, however, Rohrer said tests haven't revealed cesium, but officials are still studying the findings, and the results will soon be available to the public. The numbers on the CEMP Web site that report higher gamma microRem per hour readings are also accurate, Rohrer said, but those figures are averaged to reflect a more practical rate of exposure. As for Utah's largest wildfire on record, Kathy Jo Pollock, a public information officer for the Eastern Great Basin management team, said as of Monday afternoon the fire was 95 percent contained and acreage burned was still 363,052. Pollock said crews already have started to leave or accept other assignments. Officials are still concerned about the unburned islands within the fire's boundaries, but a few remaining firefighters are keeping watch. "If anything flares up, they'll go ahead and suppress those interior islands if they do flare up," Pollock said. Monday's lightning storms caused at least one start-up blaze near the Milford Flat fire lines, but the incident management crews quickly made their way to the scene. More information should be available at a later time. Pollock said the fire is expected to be fully contained by the end of today. Copyright ©2007 The Spectrum. ***************************************************************** 44 APP.COM: Oyster Creek regulators can't ignore health risks | Asbury Park Press Online Wednesday, July 18, 2007 BY JOSEPH J. MANGANO AND EDITH GBUR Post Comment The clock is ticking until the license of the Oyster Creek nuclear reactor, the oldest in the United States, expires. Federal regulators face a decision on whether to accept or reject an application to extend the license for 20 years. Legal action to block approval has been taken by New Jersey and a coalition of citizens' groups. A large-scale release of radioactivity after a mechanical failure or terrorist attack would constitute the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history — especially if it occurred at Oyster Creek, just 60 miles from both New York City and Philadelphia. But is Oyster Creek just a potential health threat, or has it actually harmed humans in the 38 years it has operated? Companies that operate nuclear reactors, along with federal officials, claim that routine releases of radioactivity into the air and water are too small to cause any harm. But a growing body of evidence suggests that toxic releases from Oyster Creek are linked with high cancer rates in the local area. This information should be a critical aspect of whether the reactor license is extended, or whether Oyster Creek is closed permanently. The only national study of cancer near U.S. nuclear plants, by the National Cancer Institute, showed the local cancer death rate rose for most types of cancer during the 1970s and early 1980s, after Oyster Creek began operating. Although the report called for further investigation, neither the National Cancer Institute nor any other federal agency ever updated this report, now nearly two decades old. An examination of current health statistics raises troubling questions: Ocean County has the highest cancer incidence rate of any New Jersey county, followed by Monmouth County (located directly downwind, to the north). Death rates in Ocean and Monmouth counties are below the U.S. rate for all causes but cancer. Local breast cancer death rates are elevated for young, middle aged and elderly women. Local childhood cancer rates are elevated, partially due to a cluster in Toms River. There is no obvious explanation for these high cancer rates. The area's population has above-average levels of income and education, and below-average levels of poverty and non-English speakers. It also has access to world-class medical care in New York and Philadelphia. While many factors can contribute to cancer rates, Oyster Creek must be considered as one. Routine releases from reactors are actually a cocktail of more than 100 chemicals, similar to those in atomic bomb test fallout from a half century ago. These chemicals enter the body through breathing and the food chain, and each kills and injures healthy cells in various parts of the body. Iodine-131 seeks out the thyroid gland. Strontium-90 attaches to bone and penetrates into the bone marrow. Cesium-137 disperses throughout the soft tissues. These chemicals are especially harmful to the fetus, infant and child. Oyster Creek's emission levels during its lifetime are the highest of any U.S. reactor, with a total five times greater than at Three Mile Island during the 1979 accident. Even today, Oyster Creek's emission totals consistently rank in the highest 10 of the 104 U.S. reactors. Research recently published in five medical journal articles suggests strongly that these emissions are entering local bodies. The research was based on lab testing of more than 500 New Jersey baby teeth, most near Oyster Creek, and found that average levels of strontium-90 doubled from the late-1980s to the late-1990s. Other research has shown that when nuclear reactors close, local infant mortality and childhood cancer rates plunge immediately after shutdown. These studies offer further evidence that Oyster Creek poses an actual health threat to local citizens. Oyster Creek emissions are probably not the only reason for high local cancer rates. But with the population of Ocean and Monmouth counties now exceeding 1.2 million, and with 8,000 of them being diagnosed with cancer each year, the situation has reached crisis proportions. The possibility of Oyster Creek operating for another 20 years brings this crisis to a head and demands that precautionary policies be followed. There are some, including Dr. Letty Goodman Lutzker, who call the facts presented above a "medicine show." ("Scientific evidence doesn't support "Tooth Fairy Project' claims," commentary, July 10.) But this is anything but a show, and those who declare Oyster Creek safe have no evidence proving their claim. Too many are suffering from cancer, experts have no explanation, and a dangerous technology continues to add toxins to our bodies. We challenge Lutzker and others who dismiss these facts to publicly debate the matter, so the people can better understand this crucial issue. Joseph J. Mangano is executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project in New York. Edith Gbur is director of the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch, Toms River. Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 45 LA Daily News: House OKs $1 million for cleanup of rocket fuel, treated water study BY PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 07/18/2007 08:27:59 PM PDT The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved $1 million for two local projects - the continued cleanup of rocket-fuel residue from Santa Clarita's groundwater and a study to determine the feasibility of pumping treated water upstream to an arid stretch of riverbed in Canyon Country. The funding was added by Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, to the House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that now faces a vote in the Senate and conferences between both houses of Congress. Half the money would go to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate a plan to pump reclaimed water from the Valencia treatment plant to the Canyon Country area to reintroduce it into the dry riverbed. That project would involve wastewater treated at the county Sanitation District plant near Six Flags California's Magic Mountain, then piped back to the city's east side. Typically, the treated water flows west in the Santa Clara River, replenishing wells for farmland on its path to the Pacific. The other $500,000 will help fund the cleanup of chemical perchlorate, a rocket-fuel byproduct that leached into the soil and the groundwater over decades of military contract work at the former Whitaker-Bermite site in Saugus. Some municipal water wells in the heart of Santa Clarita have been shut down for several years because of the contamination. Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, said the federal funding, if approved, would help cover his agency's costs for years and augment a settlement with the former owners. Original owner Bermite and one-time owner Remediation Financial Inc., which filed for bankruptcy before being able to develop the land, will pay the CLWA, its Santa Clarita Water Division, the Newhall County Water District and the Valencia Water Co. a total of $100 million to rid the groundwater of perchlorate. The settlement was approved in part in May, and final approval came last week in federal court. "Friday the 13th, it was our lucky day," Masnada said. The money will allow the water agencies to recoup costs paid over years, costs for construction of facilities to clean the water, and operation and maintenance costs for those facilities over 30 years. "It will take a good long time to clean it all up, Masnada said. "It will take decades." pat.aidem@dailynews.com (661) 257-5251 Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 46 OH&S: Study: Leukemia Rates in Children Elevated Near Nuclear Facilities | Occupational Health & Safety July 18 2007 Leukemia rates in children and young people up to the age of 25 are elevated near nuclear facilities, but no clear explanation exists to explain the rise, according to a research review published in the July issue of European Journal of Cancer Care. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina carried out a sophisticated meta-analysis of 17 research papers covering 136 nuclear sites in the UK, Canada, France, the United States, Germany, Japan, and Spain and found that death rates for children up to the age of nine were elevated by between five and 24 percent, depending on their proximity to nuclear facilities, and by two to 18 percent for those through age 25. Incidence rates were increased by 14 to 21 percent in zero to nine year olds and seven to 10 percent in zero to 25 year olds. "Childhood leukaemia is a rare disease and nuclear sites are commonly found in rural areas, which means that sample sizes tend to be small," says lead author Dr. Peter J. Baker in the journal. "The advantage of carrying out a meta-analysis is that it enables us to draw together a number of studies that have employed common methods and draw wider conclusions." Eight separate analyses were performed--including unadjusted, random and fixed effect models--and the figures they produced showed considerable consistency. But the authors point out that dose-response studies they looked at--which describe how an organism is affected by different levels of exposure--did not show excess rates near nuclear facilities. "Several difficulties arise when conducting dose-response studies in an epidemiological setting as they rely on a wide range of factors that are often hard to quantify," explains Baker. "It is also possible that there are environmental issues involved that we don't yet understand. . . . Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the excess of childhood leukaemia in the vicinity of nuclear facilities, including environmental exposure and parental exposure. Professor Kinlen from Oxford University has also put forward a hypothesis that viral transmission, caused by mixing populations in a new rural location, could be responsible. It is clear that further research is needed into this important subject." Events * Southern Association of Workers' Compensation Administrators 59th Annual Convention * 2007 Offshore Crane Operations and Safety Conference * 30th Annual Tennessee Safety & Health Congress & Exposition * » View all Events Copyright 2007 1105 Media Inc. See our Privacy Policy. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without ***************************************************************** 47 NAS: Project: Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium Project Title: Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium PIN: PHPH-H-06-01-A Major Unit: Institute of Medicine Sub Unit: Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice RSO: Mitchell, Abigail Subject/Focus Area: Project Scope A committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will review, evaluate, and summarize scientific and medical literature regarding the association between exposure to depleted uranium and chronic human health effects. The study committee will focus on literature published since the IOM's 2000 report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 1: Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin, and Vaccines was written. The committee will make determinations on the strength of the evidence for associations between exposure to depleted uranium and human health effects. The report might include recommendations for additional scientific studies to resolve areas of continued scientific uncertainty. The findings will not be limited to veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. They also will be applicable to veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The start date for the project is September 18, 2006. A report will be issued at the end of the project in approximately 15 months. Project Duration: 15 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 Meeting 1 - 03/22/2007 Meeting 2 - 06/28/2007 Meeting 3 - 09/27/2007 Reports Reports having no URL can be seen at the Public Access Records Office Email: info@nas.edu ***************************************************************** 48 Pahrump Valley Times: Those darned headlines Nye County's Largest Newspaper Circulation Jul. 18, 2007 DENNIS MYERS Against the Grain In 1980 the governors of California and Nevada, Jerry Brown and Robert List, met at Incline Village to discuss the future of Lake Tahoe. During that conference, a journalists' organization held a meeting in the same hotel, and List's press secretary Bill Phillips was the speaker. One of Phillips' observations during that speech was that he seldom had objections to the stories written about the governor, but he often objected to their headlines. Those headlines often went beyond the information in the stories under them or just plain misrepresented the stories. After that meeting we went to a joint news conference of Brown and List at which Gov. List said he would call a special session of the Nevada Legislature to amend the bi state Tahoe Regional Planning Compact but only if several conditions were met. The next day the headline in a Reno newspaper was, "List to call special session." Reporters don't often write the headlines over their stories but are usually held responsible for them by the newsmakers who are misrepresented in this fashion. Sometimes it works in favor of the newsmakers, who seldom make complaints then. On June 20 U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley's office issued a press release about an amendment she filed to an energy and water measure to eliminate funding for the U.S. Department of Energy's children's website. That site features a cartoon of a character named "Yucca Mountain Johnny" that is used to market the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. Berkley's news release featured a lot of extravagant and colorful language ("Berkley to Yucca Mountain Johnny: You're fired!") and it didn't make it easy to understand exactly what had happened in Congress, but the correct information was there if reporters read it carefully enough. In the days after the release was issued, we saw headlines like these: "House Kills 'Yucca Mountain Johnny'" (Washington Post and USA Today) "Yucca Mountain Johnny is saying goodbye" MetaFilter.com) "House Kills 'Yucca Mountain Johnny'" (Newsvine.com) "The Death of Johnny ... a moment of silence" (tote.wordpress.com) "House Kills 'Yucca Mountain Johnny'" (KVBC, KLAS, and Fox News web sites) "Bye, bye Johnny" (Las Vegas Sun editorial) If you see a certain similarity among some of these sites, it's because they don't actually cover government. Rather, they posted the Associated Press story by Erica Werner that had the headline "House Kills 'Yucca Mountain Johnny'," so that headline appeared in dozens of publications and sites. As it happened, the House had done no such thing. It had adopted Berkley's amendment to the bill. Or rather, it had adopted the amendment on a voice vote, which probably means that the House chamber was mostly empty at the time of the "vote." But that didn't kill "Johnny." It merely attached one amendment to a bill that has never actually passed the House. Granted, Berkley's news release could have been more candid (it didn't even give the bill number - HR 2641). It never mentioned that on June 13 the White House had issued a statement on the bill: "H.R. 2641 exceeds the President's requests for programs funded in this bill by $1.1 billion, part of the $22 billion increase above the President's request for FY 2008 appropriations. ... [I]f H.R. 2641 were presented to the President, he would veto the bill." But it's not the job of politicians to do reporters' jobs for them. And there were some who got the story right. National Public Radio reported, "Congress is weighing the fate of Yucca Mountain Johnny." Here in the Valley Times, the headline was merely "House takes swipe at 'Yucca Johnny'." The Las Vegas Review Journal said only, "House pans Yucca Internet strategy." webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 49 ENS: Uranium Tailings Pile Near Colorado River to Be Moved Environment News Service (ENS) AmeriScan: July 17, 2007 Uranium Tailings Pile Near Colorado River to Be Moved SALT LAKE CITY, Utah The nuclear services company EnergySolutions has been awarded the U.S. Department of Energy contract to clean up the radioactive Atlas Mill Tailings pile that sits beside the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. The 16 million ton pile of uranium mill tailings is leaching into the river and into the groundwater of local communities, posing health and safety concerns for 25 million downstream users in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. "I'm delighted with this contract and the opportunity to clean up and remove these materials from the banks of the Colorado River," said Steve Creamer, CEO of EnergySolutions, based in Salt Lake City. "For many years, EnergySolutions has been engaged in environmental clean up projects throughout United States. It is particularly satisfying to be performing this work here at home in Utah," he said. The contract performance period is through September 2011. The 435 acre Moab site is located on the west bank of the Colorado River three miles northwest of the City of Moab in Grand County, Utah. About 130 acres contain the uranium mill tailings. EnergySolutions will perform design and installation of a tailings-removal waste handling system, and initial tailings movement and operations to relocate the Moab tailings and associated wastes to a disposal facility near Crescent Junction, Utah, 30 miles from the Colorado River. The $98.4 million contract was awarded through a competitive bid process with the Department of Energy's office of Environmental Management under the National Indefinite delivery/Indefinite quantity contract. ***************************************************************** 50 NRC: NRC, DOE to Hold Public Meeting in Washington on Non-high Level Waste Determinations News Release - 2007-085 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff will hold a public meeting July 20 with counterparts from the U.S. Department of Energy to discuss agency interactions under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA) with respect to non-high level waste determinations at DOE facilities. The meeting will be held at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza SW, in Washington, D.C., in the Renoir Meeting Room, from 10 a.m. to noon. Members of the public are invited to participate and will have an opportunity to speak at designated points during the meeting. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Wednesday, July 18, 2007 ***************************************************************** 51 Platts: Spot uranium price weakens again on limited near-term demand 2007-07-17 Washington (Platts)--17Jul2007 The spot price of uranium continued to weaken, with price publishing companies Ux Consulting and TradeTech reporting declines of $3 and $4/pound respectively. TradeTech dropped its spot price $4 a pound U3O8 to $129/pound, while Ux dropped its spot price $3/pound U308 to $130/pound. The Platts NuclearFuel U308 spot range for this week is $123-$133/pound U3O8, down from $125-$135 the prior week. TradeTech said there is limited near-term demand and several more sellers are making "discreet inquiries" to potential buyers in an effort to sell material. The auction last week of 150,000 kilograms uranium as UF6 by USEC apparently drew only "limited interest" from potential sellers, TradeTech reported late Friday. Ux Monday said the stock market adage of "Sell in May and go away" seems more applicable to the uranium market lately. Buyers have seemed to disappear since uranium prices peaked in late May/early June, as price has fallen for three consecutive weeks, it said. But some sellers have gone away as well, it said, possibly electing to hold their material until the price perhaps strengthens this year or next. Other sellers have lowered prices to induce sales, as was evident last week as offers fell to the $130 level, it said. But one analyst said the current weakness in the spot price should not be interpreted by buyers as indicating a long-term trend. In the longer-term market, there is still upward pressure because of uncertainty over the timing of new production, the analyst added. The current long-term price, according to both TradeTech and Ux Consulting, is $95/pound U3O8. --Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 52 ReviewJournal.com: Gibbons lets Yucca Mountain project use state's water for another month Jul. 18, 2007 By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL A decision by the state engineer, with the backing of Gov. Jim Gibbons, to let the U.S. Department of Energy use the state's water for another month to explore the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site amounts to surrendering in Nevada's decades-long fight against the project, Sen. Harry Reid said Tuesday. "They have capitulated to the people who want to put nuclear waste in Nevada," Reid, D-Nev., said by telephone from Washington, D.C. "This is capitulating to the Department of Energy and the proponents of nuclear waste in Nevada. I am terribly disappointed," Reid, the Senate majority leader, said. "This is a bad day for Nevada." A letter from State Engineer Tracy Taylor dated Monday gives the Department of Energy another 30 days to use Nevada's water for drilling bore holes near the mountain. That is enough time for DOE scientists to collect samples for data needed for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a repository and surface facilities for handling and cooling spent nuclear fuel assemblies before entombing them in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Yucca Mountain Project officials intend to submit a license application to the commission by June 2008, triggering a review process that will last a few years. Taylor had issued a cease-and-desist order to the Energy Department on June 1 and then lifted it June 12 while he reviewed information from the federal agency. Since then, he has allowed DOE to use water from two wells near Yucca Mountain to cool and lubricate drill bits and collect core samples from mud. Such use of the water is not allowed under a court-approved agreement that stipulates DOE is only supposed to use the state's water for flushing toilets, fire suppression and dust control. Taylor was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment. In a statement, Reid said Taylor's decision "is the biggest gift the DOE has received since I've been in Washington, and I am shocked that it was delivered by the administration of a former Nevada congressman," who is the state's Republican governor. "The letter ... lays out every reason the DOE should cease and desist. Yet, at the same time, the state gave the DOE the green light to move forward on this project, while the entire Nevada congressional delegation continues to fight to prevent Nevada from becoming the nation's nuclear dumping ground," Reid said in the statement. Gibbons was surprised by Reid's comments and told the Review-Journal, "No one has a stronger record of opposing Yucca Mountain than I do as a congressman and now as governor. We all have worked to stop this project." Asked why he backs Taylor's decision to offer DOE a chance to continue using Nevada's water for 30 more days, Gibbons said, "If the state engineer felt he should legally turn it off today, I would support that 100 percent." The sternly worded letter from Taylor to Scott Wade, acting director of the Yucca Mountain Site Operations Office, says, "DOE's actions in proceeding with its bore hole drilling project without a permit or agreement appear to have been deliberate. ... Because site characterization ended in 2002, the DOE has no authority to continue with site investigation. "For these reasons .... I find that the DOE's use of water for the bore hole drilling project is not in the public interest," Taylor wrote. Nevertheless, Taylor agreed to let DOE continue using the state's water for that purpose for 30 days, citing DOE's potential "waste of significant financial resources" for completing the first two phases of the drilling program. He noted that Gibbons has signed into law a bill that in January 2009 will allow for a $10,000-per-day penalty for each violation of the state's water law. The letter gives Wade until Friday to respond. Allen Benson, a Department of Energy spokesman for the Yucca Mountain Project in Las Vegas, wouldn't comment on the state engineer's letter, citing potential litigation. Late Tuesday, Gibbons released a statement saying DOE's "unauthorized use of water for drilling" is more evidence that the agency is rushing to complete the project. "This is yet another red flag that raises concerns about the ongoing efforts at Yucca Mountain and the DOE's desire to expedite a project that has been deemed 'broken' by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman himself," Gibbons said. Gibbons acknowledged that he is considering replacements for members of the Nuclear Projects Commission, whose terms are expiring. He has replaced long-time Yucca Mountain opponent Michon Mackedon with Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, who represents an area where there has been some support for the project. "We've got a number of people we're reviewing," Gibbons said, declining to name his candidates. "We plan to fill those positions with people who feel the way the state of Nevada feels, that Yucca Mountain is bad for the state and bad for the country," he said. The state's water rights have been a key weapon in legal battles to prevent the federal effort to license and build a repository at Yucca Mountain. In 2000, then-State Engineer Michael Turnipseed denied the department permanent rights to 140 million gallons per year of groundwater, saying it was not in the state's interest to allow the government to build and operate a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. In December 2002, the state and DOE entered into an agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt that allowed DOE to use a limited amount of water for showers, restroom facilities, dust suppression and emergencies such as fires. In 2003, DOE again sought permits for 140 million gallons per year. Turnipseed's successor, Hugh Ricci, denied that request on the same grounds. In the meantime, DOE had stockpiled more than 1 million gallons of nonpotable water. Hunt later put a stay on the permanent water use case pending resolution of the federal EPA radiation safety standard and other potential litigation and legislative matters. In April 2005, Hunt wrote in court papers that "it is not necessarily a foregone conclusion" that the project would ultimately be approved and licensed. "If it is not, the (basis) for the water permits would no longer exist." That same year, with Hunt's approval, state and federal attorneys agreed the Department of Energy could continue using the state's water for safety and sanitary purposes but not for scientific investigations of the site or to build a repository. Leave Your Comment 8 Reader Comments Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once. apdp wrote on July 18, 2007 07:58 PM: What state in union does not have an interstate connecting the state capitol with their largest city? Nevada of course. Your hero Reid has done such a crappy job getting federal highway funds that now LV is in trouble with traffic. Reid got his though, land deals, pats on the back, favoritism, Reid's family is set for generations to come as we poor saps pay $200 plus a month to keep our residences cool. Wake up people, make Nevada the nuclear capitol of the world and reap the benefits. Look what Alaskans get for the pipeline. Reid has been acting like he is against Yucca Mtn, but in reality it is cheap political fodder for him. He does nothing but gripe, keeps him in the headlines and masks his impotence as a senator. Approval rating for the senate is 24% right now. Good job dingy harry. Keep your head in the sand. Push away high tech jobs and we will all work for the casinos eventually. Nevada should embrace Yucca Mtn and reap the award of a high tech nuclear industry. And by the way, you are on a power grid in Las Vegas that has Nuclear power as one of its components, so you too are using Nuclear power. Roger wrote on July 18, 2007 11:45 AM: Gibbons has no doubt been bought by the DOE. The fact that he would appoint that criminal, Joni Eastly, is proof enough that Gibbons would poison his own state. Eastly threatened the life of a Pahrump resident who wanted her recalled. Gibbons is also a sex offender and should be in prison, NOT in the Governor's seat.., Roger wrote on July 18, 2007 11:45 AM: Gibbons has no doubt been bought by the DOE. The fact that he would appoint that criminal, Joni Eastly, is proof enough that Gibbons would poison his own state. Eastly threatened the life of a Pahrump resident who wanted her recalled. Gibbons is also a sex offender and should be in prison, NOT in the Governor's seat.., Fred D. wrote on July 18, 2007 11:10 AM: Read the letter from the State to the DOE, posted on the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects website. How that could be interpreted as Gibbons "letting" DOE do anything is beyond me. Seems like Reid is twisting this for political purposes. RANDY wrote on July 18, 2007 10:57 AM: I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE WHOLE DUST UP IS ALL ABOUT. THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN IN THE PLANNING STAGES FOR 25 YEARS. THE DOE HAS SPENT 100'S OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THAT HOLE IN THE GROUND. DOES ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS? THEY HAVE BEEN DRILLING AND SAMPLING SINCE THE MID 1980'S. ALL OF THE LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN JOHNNY COME LATELY. SENATOR REID HAS BEEN THE ACCEPT ION. HE HAS BEEN AROUND AS LONG AS THIS PROJECT.LET'S NOT GET CRAZY OVER A LITTLE WATER. now wrote on July 18, 2007 10:20 AM: well,bush is for yucca and so is gibbons,let's have a recall Melissa wrote on July 18, 2007 09:44 AM: I vote for a recall on Gibbons! Of all the issues in Nevada he gets this one wrong! So he welcomes the nuclear waste AND works with the Coal producing states to bring us more dirty coal plants? Gibbons is obviously backwards when it comes to Nevada and Nevada's energy future! Recall! Peter wrote on July 18, 2007 03:58 AM: What is he thinking? If the project is doing poorly, why is Gibbons helping them out by allowing them to use our precious water resources? This shows a lack of leadership and a willingness to allow the Feds to build a nuclear storage site in Nevada rather than opposing the site at every turn. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 53 Las Vegas SUN: Questions surface over appointee to Nevada's nuclear dump panel Today: July 18, 2007 at 11:45:6 PDT By BRENDAN RILEY Associated Press Writer CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's Nuclear Projects Commission chairman said Wednesday he's "anxious" to talk with Gov. Jim Gibbons' new appointee to the panel - whose statements on a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain clash with the commission's strong opposition to the proposal. Richard Bryan, a former Nevada governor and U.S. senator, added that he hopes the appointee, Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, will join in the state's long-standing effort to block the federal Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain costly dump project. "I've been concerned for a number of years, dating back to my Senate years, about the position of Nye County, which at best can be characterized as ambivalent" toward the high-level radioactive waste dump, Bryan said. Eastley said in a brief phone conversation Wednesday that she shares the county's position on the multi-billion-dollar project dump. That stance has been that the project likely will go forward and the county must plan accordingly. Eastley also rejected the term "dump," calling the project a "repository." Gibbons on Tuesday confirmed that he is appointing Eastley to replace the commission's vice-chairwoman, Michon Mackedon, who has been a strong dump opponent for many years. Gibbons also said he has been assured that Eastley isn't a Yucca Mountain supporter. He added that if he finds out otherwise "I will rescind the appointment - period." Bryan said he hopes Eastley will join with other commission members "in strong opposition to this site. We've made enormous progress and I think we're on the threshold of success." "I certainly reject the notion that this is inevitable, and events in recent years offer strong contradictory evidence to that position," he added. Eastley's previous statements on the proposed dump include published remarks that the dump is "absolutely going to happen," that Nye County has successfully negotiated for millions of federal dollars as part of the project, and that residents of her county "are proud of the fact that they had something to do with developing the storage facility for this waste." Eastley also reportedly suggested that radioactive waste be called "a potential resource" rather than waste. Originally scheduled to open in 1998, the dump has been set back repeatedly by lawsuits, money shortfalls and scientific controversies. The DOE's current best-case opening date for the dump, which would hold 77,000 tons of waste, is 2017. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 54 Daily News Journal: Many residents still suspicious about radioactive dumping at landfill www.dnj.com - By TURNER HUTCHENS trhutchens@dnj.com About 150 people turned out for a public meeting Tuesday night involving the dumping of low-level radioactive materials at Middle Point Landfill in Rutherford County. The Tennessee Solid Waste Advisory Committee took comments from the public on the state’s Bulk Survey For Release (BSFR) program, which allows for the dumping of low-level radioactive waste by private companies in five state landfills, including Middle Point on Jefferson Pike. Under the BSFR program, millions of pounds of low-level radioactive materials have been dumped in the Murfreesboro landfill. The meeting, held at Fleming Training Center in Murfreesboro, drew both supporters and opponents. The committee has been charged by the state Legislature with reviewing the BSFR program and making a recommendation on it by Sept. 3. The committee didn’t respond to comments at the meeting. In the crowd many wore “ENDIT” signs pinned to their shirts. The acronym stands for Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee, the Rutherford County grass-roots organization opposing any radioactive dumping. For about an hour prior to the public comments, displays were set up and manned by representatives of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and its Division of Radiological Health. The displays had information on the levels of radiation which is determined to be involved in the BSFR program. State and industry representatives have maintained that the level of radioactive material being disposed of under the BSFR program are safe — much lower than the levels people are exposed to from background levels and other sources. “This is a program that operates under very conservative controls. It is surveyed and resurveyed. Once the material gets to the landfill, it would be no more radioactive than any other construction debris,” said TDEC spokeswoman Tisha Calabrese-Benton. However, Denis Walsh, a Murfreesboro resident and MTSU professor, said he was suspicious of the program because the public wasn’t told about. “Why was it so hush hush?” he asked. Walsh said he was still worried about the safety of his drinking water and wasn’t convinced by any of the displays or explanations given by the state. “They’re just putting on a show,” he said. A moratorium on the dumping of radioactive waste in the county under the BSFR program is in effect until Sept. 3. For more information on this story, see tomorrow’s edition of The Daily News Journal. Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 55 Salt Lake Tribune: Goshute nuclear storage allies sue Interior Department The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 07/18/2007 12:22:15 AM MDT Politics, not good policy, drove the U.S. Interior Department to derail a planned high-level nuclear waste storage site on the Skull Valley Goshutes reservation, charges a new lawsuit. The Goshutes, joined by a consortium of eight electric-power companies with nuclear reactors, asked the U.S. District Court for Utah Tuesday to throw out the Interior Department rulings. Tribal Chairman Lawrence Bear said the suit would benefit all American Indians, who look to the federal government to support tribal ventures in accordance with established law and policies. "It's a precedent," he said. The case is the latest chapter in the decade-long battle between the project proponents and Utah politicians, who have fought the project from the start and appeared to win it last fall by pressing their case directly with Interior Department officials in Washington. Although the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs had given preliminary approval to the Goshute-Private Fuel Storage lease years earlier, James Cason, associate deputy secretary, acted on behalf of the secretary of the Interior to disapprove the lease Sept. 7. The same day, Chad Calvert, principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, denied a right-of-way application for land to house a building where containers of spent fuel could be transferred from rail cars to heavy trucks that would travel 26 miles to the storage site. The proposed storage site, about 45 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, would have been nearly big enough to hold 4,400 tons of used reactor fuel- nearly all of the spent fuel amassed nationwide in the 50 years of commercial nuclear power - stored in steel and concrete containers. Currently, that highly radioactive waste is being stored on-site at many reactor locations nationwide. The suit called the decisions "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with law, without observance of procedures required by law, and otherwise fatally flawed." It also claims that pressure by Utah politicians drove the Interior Department's actions. Shane Wolfe, spokesman for the Interior Department, said his agency had not seen the lawsuit. "It's a policy not to comment on pending litigation," he added. John Parkyn, chairman and chief executive officer of Private Fuel Storage (PFS), said it was significant that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had approved the storage-site license after eight years of review. "We will overcome all challenges to the license as we prepare to build and operate a safe, temporary storage facility," he said in a press release. Ever since the Sept. 7 rulings, the tribe has been losing money. Its agreement with the consortium brought $200,000 a year to the 153-member tribe until waste started coming to the yet-to-be-constructed storage facility. Once the site started being used, the payment was to increase to at least $1 million a year, according to the lawsuit. In the court filing, the tribe noted that Sen. Orrin Hatch heard about the decisions from the Interior Department and publicized them in a press release that said: "PFS is dead. Skull Valley is stone cold dead." Meanwhile, tribal leaders and their attorneys say they have never received a formal copy of the Interior Department rulings, let alone the thoughtful consideration their project deserves. The last time the Goshutes and PFS sued to keep their project going, they won in a decision that was made final when the U.S. Supreme Court refused in 2006 to overturn the lower-court ruling against several state anti-nuclear waste laws. fahys@sltrib.com ***************************************************************** 56 deseretnews.com: Goshutes, PFS sue Interior Wednesday, July 18, 2007 By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Complaint filed against the Department of the Interior (827kb .pdf file) A new lawsuit accuses the Interior Department of bowing to political pressure in blocking a proposed nuclear waste repository in Utah's West Desert. The Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Indians and Private Fuel Storage filed the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Salt Lake City. They ask a judge to overturn the Interior Department's decision to block the nuclear waste dump, order information to be produced on the backroom politicking that led to the deal being killed and an award of potentially millions of dollars in damages. "Utah politicians and their representatives repeatedly contacted decisionmakers at the DOI regarding the Skull Valley Band's lease with PFS, in an effort to force agency officials to stop the SNF (spent nuclear fuel) project at Skull Valley," the lawsuit says. In court papers, the tribe revealed that it was to have been paid $200,000 a year until commercial deliveries of spent nuclear fuel rods started coming. Then, the money would increase to $1 million per year and the Skull Valley Band would have an opportunity for "profit sharing." Private Fuel Storage is a consortium of nuclear power utilities. Deseret Morning News graphic The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license for PFS at the the Skull Valley site after eight years of hearings. But on Sept. 7, 2006, associate deputy Interior secretary James Cason disapproved PFS's lease. "As a direct result of the Cason decision, PFS ceased making pre-operational lease payments to the Skull Valley Band," the lawsuit says. That same day, another Interior official denied PFS's request for a rail line that would have transported casks of nuclear waste to Skull Valley. "The Interior Department coordinated with Utah political leaders to orchestrate the rejection of the Skull Valley Band's lease with PFS," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit charges that decisions were taken out of the hands of field personnel and made by political appointees and were "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with law, and without observance of procedure required by law." "The Goshute people are tired of being treated unfairly," the tribe's current chairman, Lawrence Bear, said in a statement Tuesday. Attempts to reach Interior Department officials for comment Monday were unsuccessful. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com © 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 57 Hemscott: BNFL posts strong FY results as break-up gathers momentum LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Government-owned group British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) delivered a full year pretax profit of 2.304 bln stg, boosted by the 2.132 bln stg disposal of the Westinghouse businesses, and said its restructuring and disposal programme continued to gather momentum. The group, which last year announced it would pursue the sale of the British Nuclear Group businesses, said it made 'significant' progress in repositioning the BNFL Group of businesses into the private sector. 'Work will continue with other disposals during 2007/08, group chairman Gordon Campbell said. For the full year to March 31 2007, BNFL said 217 mln stg in pretax profit was from continued operations and 2.087 bln stg was from discontinued operations following the completion of the sales of the Westinghouse businesses and its 50 pct stake in Urencos Enrichment Technology Company Limited for 112 mln stg. This compares to 100 mln stg in pretax profit from continued operations and 4.42 bln stg from discontinued operations last year. The latter figure was boosted by a restructuring gain under the Energy Act 2004 of around 4.28 bln stg. Pre-exceptional operating profits from continuing businesses were 164 mln stg, up from 148 mln stg last time, reflecting improved profitability at Sellafield, Project Services, Urenco and AWE Management Limited (AWE). Just this week, the BNFL confirmed it will sell its one-third stake in the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), a politically sensitive weapons site near Reading run in consortium with Serco Group PLC and US Lockheed Martin Corp. The group also said it initiated sales processes for the Reactor Sites business and the Project Services business, while at the same time the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) started the process to find a new Parent Body Organisation for Sellafield, the UK's biggest nuclear reprocessing plant. BNFL said that it closed the British Nuclear Group Centre on March 31, which resulted in significant restructuring provisions, and will continue to work with stakeholders on creating a National Nuclear Laboratory. marc.roca@thomson.com mr/tc Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, Hemscott PLC - Serious Investment Research ***************************************************************** 58 Murfreesboro Post: Landfill: A question of trust By MICHELLE WILLARD – July 18, 2007 – 4:10 PM State official Glen Pugh answers a question posed by Anita Tittsworth. Rutherford County residents finally got information from the state and a chance to comment about the state sponsored program that permits dumping of low-level radioactive waste in Middle Point landfill. “I think it was a good meeting, a very constructive meeting. It was good to have interaction with all parties involved. It’s healthy,” Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess said. “I think the presentations were very good. But I don’t know to what extent what was said will influence those who make the decisions,” said Kathleen Ferris, founder of Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee (ENDIT). The General Assembly passed legislation last month that placed a moratorium on the Bulk Survey for Release (BSFR) program, which allows dumping of low-level radioactive waste at Middle Point. They also requested a study of the program’s possible impact. The State Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee was charged with conducting the study and making recommendations. Tuesday night’s meeting was one in a series where the committee gathers scientific information and public concerns about low-level radioactive waste. No answers were offered to public questions and comments. Responses will be given Aug. 20 at another meeting in Nashville. The meeting also offered two screenings of the July 5 meeting in an attempt to clear up any misconceptions. The video featured Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials explaining the BSFR program and risks posed by radioactivity and can be found at www.state.tn.us/environment/rad/bsfr/. “There’s a bit of misunderstanding in the public and a bit of mistrust in what TDEC has told us in the past,” said John DiVincenzo, a chemistry professor at MTSU. Secrecy surrounding the program and the state’s belated efforts did little to regain the public’s trust. “One of the hallmarks of democracy is an informed citizenry,” John Wiseman said in his comments to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. “It’s a lack of being informed and lack of the ability of participating in any discussions,” Burgess said, explaining one point that came up throughout the meeting. Beginning in 1997, Tennessee developed the BSFR program as a framework for disposing of low-level radioactive waste, which had been disposed of on a case-by-case basis. However, the state did not inform anyone in the public about the program. Grant Kelley, a member of the Regional Solid Waste Advisory Committee for Rutherford and adjacent counties, said at the meeting last night it was asked many times if anything other than normal household waste was dumped in the landfill. And he was told nothing other than household waste was coming into the landfill. “The answers are untruths. If they continue to mislead us then their permits should be revoked,” Kelley said. The state and Middle Point had many opportunities to inform the public of the BSFR program, including in 2004 when BFI proposed expanding the landfill by 70 acres. Public meetings were held then and nothing was said. Several of the speakers last night pointed out the public was not informed at those meetings, because if they were, there would have been more resistance to the expansion. The committees findings may have little bearing on the future of the BSFR program, if State Sen. Jim Tracy has his way. Tracy is developing legislation that would ban dumping any nuclear or radioactive waste in the state. He plans on introducing the bill in the next legislative session. “Any extra (radioactivity) is too much,” said Clint Hall, an official in Tracy’s office. “It’s not so much about you and me, but about our kids and our grandkids.” Printer-friendly format ====================================================================== Member Opinions: By: cmac on 7/18/07 What a sham. I attended and participated in the BFI and State "public hearings" on the Walterhill landfill in the 1980s when BFI first proposed being a "good neighbor" to Rutherford County. We were assured that our garbage would be taken care of in a clean and environmentally safe manner. The garbage was to be covered daily, there would be no odor, no pests, and the plastic linings would protect and preserve the river and our drinking water supply. I objected to the landfill then, as now, on the basis that it was located in a Karst region filled with sinkholes, that it was located directly on our major drinking water supply, and that no assurance could be given that the landfill would not leak into the groundwater and river. Little or nothing was said, as I recall, during those early hearings about bringing trash from Nashville and across the United States to be dumped on our river. Absolutely nothing was said about including radioactive waste (low level or other) beside Stone's River. BFI seems to have either forgotten, or never intended to follow through with, the "good neighbor" promise. Rutherford County has been deceived for over 20 years. Sorry, BFI, but building a ball field beneath garbage mountain does not a good neighbor make. It has now been reported that traces of radioactive elements have been detected in the river (drinking water?) below the landfill. Were these radioactive elements present in the river before the BFI era? Are these same elements found in the river above the landfill? If not, then the landfill is leaking. The citizens of Rutherford were promised early on that because of the "cutting edge" technology of landfill liners the leachate from the landfill would never enter the river. If the landfill is leaking, it stands to reason that more than radioactive material may be entering the drinking water of Rutherford County. The question is what else may be entering our water supply? If the landfill is leaking, what will be done about it? Many questions remain to be answered. It is no longer acceptable for Rutherford County to merely accept the "word" of BFI and state officials that all is well with our river and our drinking water. Cold, hard, and honest scientific facts need to be forthcoming very soon. Obviously, we cannot trust those entrusted with out health. BFI has proven to be a not so "good neighbor". The state has proven to be very secretive in matters of public health and trust. My final question is would BFI have been granted its 70 acre expansion and 30 year lifespan had the public known of its secret burial of tons of radioactive waste long before the public hearing at Walterhill was held? Your quess is a good as mine. The outcome of this latest "hearing" and the states next environmental decision should be interesting. Don't expect a garbage miracle Rutherford. By: k on 7/18/07 Anyone read last week's local paper - a 32 year old woman just diagnosed with breast cancer. Lives across from Middle Point. Who was the one person who authorized the 'yes' to move California radioactive wastes to our landfill? Why did it take months for this to unfold? By: ellie on 7/18/07 Money, politics and cronyism will likely be the evil in this situation. By: rollingereyes on 7/19/07 The most frustrating and frightening thing to me is the way our officials (both city and county) APPEAR to listen to the populace, then do what they intended to do in the first place. This is happening over and over in every controversial issue that comes up. I have completely lost any faith in our local government to be responsive to the voters. They really don't seem to understand (or care about) the idea of service. 615-869-0800 | online@murfreesboropost.com | 630 Broadmore Blvd. Suite 120, P.O. 10008, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ***************************************************************** 59 Murfreesboro Post: 'We were lied to' rallying cry 'We were lied to' rallying cry By Michelle Willard, Post staff writer - July 17, 2007. 9:15 PM “We were lied to,” was the rallying cry at Tuesday night’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting in Murfreesboro. More than 200 concerned Rutherford County citizens attended the meeting, where public comment was taken concerning the low-level radioactive waste dumped at Middle Point landfill. “The public has lost trust with 20 years of dumping and not being told about it,” State Sen. Jim Tracy said. The General Assembly passed legislation last month that placed a moratorium on the program at Middle Point and requested a study of its possible impact. The State Solid Waste Advisory Committee was charged with conducting the study and making recommendations. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation finally provided information regarding the Bulk Survey for Release (BSFR) program and risks of exposure to low-level radioactive waste to the gathered public. The public was not assured by the belated effort. The secrecy surrounding BSFR and Middle Point were foremost in comments presented at the meeting. Grant Kelley, a member of the Regional Solid Waste Advisory Committee overseeing Rutherford and adjacent counties, summed it up best. “We have had numerous meetings in every county where we’ve asked about hazardous and nuclear waste. Never did anyone say that it was coming in. Somebody lied to us,” Kelley said. “They obviously lied to our questions.” With the secrecy surrounding the program, those who spoke at the meeting were mistrustful of any information given by TDEC. “This is something that is affecting all of Rutherford County,” said Gwen Hallquist, environmental chemist and member of Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee (ENDIT). “I don’t know and neither do they. No one knows what level (of radiation exposure) is safe,” Hallquist said. Other comments concerned what exactly is Middle Point accepting under this program and where is it coming from? If it’s so safe why don’t other states keep it, instead of sending it to Tennessee? Anita Tittsworth, who described herself as a concerned grandmother, was concerned with the growth of Rutherford County and the effect of radiation on MTSU’s student population. “Most of us are here because we don’t trust government regulation or big business,” she explained. Her observation proved true in a majority of the comments with very few in support of the program. Most pleaded with the committee to use “common sense” and end the program. Others stated more practical concerns, like what happens when a truck carrying low-level radioactive waste crashes in Rutherford County and how safe is the Stones River, which runs next to the landfill and supplies most of Rutherford County’s water. The committee didn't respond to any questions posed. However, they will consider the public's grievances while making recommendations on the program. Member Opinions: By: GrumpaEd on 7/18/07 I did not attend the "dog and pony" show. Other than opening and closing statements, were any actual questions answered? By: k on 7/18/07 Who was the one person who authorized the radioactive materials to be transmitted from California to Middle Point? This was kept "undercover" for very long. By: Boo on 7/18/07 "The committee didn't respond to any questions posed?" Then what was the purpose of this meeting? By: spanky on 7/18/07 We are talking about career liars here. That is what politicians do for a living. Tell the public what you want and worry about the results later. Then blame it on someone else. Login and voice your opinion! ====================================================================== Do you know someone else who would like to see this? Your Email: Their Email: Comment: (Will be included with e-mail) 615-869-0800 | online@murfreesboropost.com | 630 Broadmore Blvd. Suite 120, P.O. 10008, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ***************************************************************** 60 NAS: Project: Internationalization of the Civilian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Project Title: Internationalization of the Civilian Nuclear Fuel Cycle PIN: ISAC-N-06-02-A Major Unit: Policy and Global Affairs Division Division on Earth and Life Studies Sub Unit: Committee on International Security and Arms Control Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board RSO: Lowenthal, Micah Subject/Focus Area: Project Scope This joint study by the U.S. National Academies and the Russian Academy of Sciences (NAS and RAS) will provide an assessment of the technical, economic, legal/regulatory, and non-proliferation criteria necessary for the implementation of an international civilian nuclear fuel cycle. The study is not intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the topics listed, but rather a high-level, first cut at these complex issues. Specifically, the proposed NAS-RAS joint study will address the primary issues and questions listed below under headings A and B. The secondary issues and questions will be addressed to the extent that budget and time permit:: A. Providing fuel services to countries that already have Light Water Reactors or would be interested in constructing Light Water Reactors (LWRs) if they did not have to develop the entire fuel cycle. Primary Issues: 1. Is it feasible and effective to establish international fuel supply centers as an incentive for countries not to develop indigenous enrichment facilities? 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages (if any) of establishing international centers for Sending and receiving back fuel? Training personnel? Manufacturing fuel? 3. Who should own the nuclear material and the fuel in such arrangements? 4. Should the international facilities be owned by governments or could private companies own some or all of the facilities? Secondary Issues: 5. What regulatory requirements should be in place in the receiving country to provide assurance of safety and safeguards? 6. What level of technical personnel are needed, in terms of training and in terms of numbers, to provide adequate confidence that the countries receiving fuel can safely and securely operate their reactor(s)? 7. What should be the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in overseeing the transfer, use, and/or return of fuel? 8. What changes in laws and regulations in the countries sending, consuming, and receiving spent fuel would be required to implement this concept? B. Fuel Regeneration Options to Support an International Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Primary Issues: 1. Compare the uranium recovery by extraction plus (UREX+), the plutonium and uranium recovery by extraction (PUREX) process, and other processes being considered by the Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy for separation of fissile and other materials from spent or irradiated nuclear fuel. Consider the resulting waste streams and what can and should be done with these waste streams. 2. Compare the burn up and the number of cycles needed to reach an acceptable level of destruction of actinides in the conceptual advanced burner reactor proposed in the U.S. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) and in the Russian BN-600 and BN-800 reactors. 3. What impact could new technologies have on these proposals? Secondary Issues: 4. Compare the fuel to be produced from the processes examined in (1) for use in appropriate reactors (LWRs, High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors, and fast reactors). What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of fuel? 5. Compare the repository requirements for the waste produced by the processes proposed in the GNEP concept with that from a system based on PUREX and one based on Russian plans. 6. Are new laws and/or regulations required for either the U.S. or the Russian approach to the internationalization of the fuel cycle? Will either approach require any existing laws or regulations to be repealed or changed? Because the scale of the full study task is large and the details of proposed fuel cycle strategies are in flux, the study will be carried out in two phases. In Phase I, the committees will identify distinct strategies that represent the range of fuel cycle options and gather the key technical and legal/regulatory and other information needed to analyze those options. This information-gathering stage will culminate with an international workshop. In Phase II, the committees will carry out the analysis and offer consensus findings and recommendations in a final report on the criteria necessary to achieve an international fuel cycle beneficial for suppliers and consumers alike and supportive of international non-proliferation efforts. The project is sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The start date for the project is May 9, 2006 A report will be issued in the spring of 2008. Project Duration: 24 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 Meeting 1 - 10/16/2006 Meeting 2 - 04/22/2007 Reports Reports having no URL can be seen at the Public Access Records Office Email: info@nas.edu ***************************************************************** 61 Reid: Reid "Incredibly Disappointed" At State's Decision To Lift Cease And Desist Order On Yucca: 07/17/2007 Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Washington, DC U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada released the following statement on the news that the State of Nevada placed a stay on the cease and desist order on the Department of Energy (DOE). This decision allows the DOE to continue stealing water from Nevada’s limited supplies in order to develop the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. “I’m incredibly disappointed. This is the biggest gift the DOE has received since I’ve been in Washington and I am shocked that it was delivered by the administration of a former Nevada Congressman. The letter from the State’s Division of Water Resources to the DOE lays out every reason the DOE should cease and desist. Yet, at the same time, the State gave the DOE the green light to move forward on this project, while the entire Nevada congressional delegation continues to fight to prevent Nevada from becoming the nation’s nuclear dumping ground. I assure the people of Nevada that I will continue to leverage my position as the Senate Majority Leader to prevent this dump from ever becoming a reality.” Reno Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse & Federal Bldg 400 S. Virginia St, Suite 902 Reno, NV 89501 Phone: 775-686-5750 Fax: 775-686-5757 Las Vegas Lloyd D. George Building 333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016 Las Vegas, NV 89101 Phone: 702-388-5020 Fax: 702-388-5030 Carson City 600 East William St, #302 Carson City, NV 89701 Phone: 775-882-REID (7343) Fax: 775-883-1980 Washington, DC 528 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327 Toll Free for Nevadans: 1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343) ***************************************************************** 62 barrow in furness: Historic nuke waste finally leaves village Published on 18/07/2007 A VAST store of radio-active waste, including leftovers from Britain’s atomic bomb programme, has finally been removed from a West Cumbrian village. Nuclear bosses have overseen the transfer of 11,000 drums and 550 containers of plutonium contaminated material from the Low Level Waste Depository at Drigg back to the nuclear site at Sellafield. Politicians and Drigg residents have long campaigned for the material to be shifted. The last load went by train on a special rail link between the dump and Sellafield. Copeland Borough Council leader Elaine Woodburn and David Moore, chairman of the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group, along with local parish councillors, were there to witness the event. A Sellafield spokesman said: “This marks the conclusion of a long-standing commitment to the local community.” Drigg repository managing director Chris Halliwell said: “It’s been a long road but we have fulfilled our promise to the community. “There has been a sustained effort by a dedicated team and a substantial financial investment. “We have retrieved more than 11,000 drums and 550 containers from historic magazine storage, safely and without incident. “Given the unknown nature of the waste associated with these magazines, this is an incredible achievement for the team.” All of the PCM removed will be held in long-term safe storage at Sellafield. West Cumbria holds the bulk of the UK’s PCM waste, along with small deposits at Harwell, in Oxfordshire, and Dounreay in Caithness, Scotland. Investigations are currently under way into how to best process the waste to convert it into a “passively safe” form, though some of it is already treated at Sellafield. View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.nwemail.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 63 SF New Mexican: Udall backs bill slashing lab funds News: Energy, Santa Fe / NM By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican July 17, 2007 Congressman says LANL, Sandia must switch focus to energy The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that essentially cuts money for Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, and U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., voted for it, saying the labs need to focus more on energy research. The House Energy and Water Appropriations Act would cut about $400 million from Los Alamos and Sandia compared to the 2007 fiscal year, Udall’s office has reported. But that’s not the final budget for Los Alamos since a Senate committee has moved to restore the proposed cuts. Udall “strongly believes that it is necessary to direct increased funding toward energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, as this bill does,” his spokeswoman said in a statement. “Congressman Udall voted for this bill because all of our national laboratories should be conducting critical energy research and science programs to address national security challenges.” U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Steve Pearce, R-N.M., voted against the measure. It passed by a vote of 312-112. Wilson, whose district includes Sandia, called the vote a “radical shift in U.S. nuclear policy.” “The decisions embedded in this legislation will lead us either to return to nuclear testing, or to abandon nuclear deterrence because we will stop maintaining the stockpile,” Wilson said in a news release. “This bill devastates the capability to certify that our nuclear weapons are safe, secure and reliable without testing.” Last month, Udall offered an amendment to the $31 billion bill that would have restored about $192 million to Los Alamos. It was defeated 121-312. Several House members have criticized the lab’s management. Udall also said this year’s appropriations process should “serve as a strong signal” to the National Nuclear Security Administration and lab managers “that the work at the lab must be diversified to meet current and emerging national security threats.” Udall was praised by Jay Coghlan, who heads Nuclear Watch New Mexico. “We congratulate Udall for voting the right way and hope that we all can get really serious about changing missions at Los Alamos,” Coghlan said. U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said he disagrees with the House approach. “I am disappointed in the House-passed bill,” Domenici said in a statement. “It represents a serious challenge to our laboratories’ efforts to keep Americans safe without going back to underground nuclear testing, and reverses so many scientific gains of the past 20 years.” The differences in the House and Senate versions of the spending bill must be hammered out before the measure is sent to the president. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. ***************************************************************** 64 Hanford News: Nuke planner submits CUP application This story was published Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 By Matt Christensen, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho BRUNEAU - The permitting process is underway for a proposed nuclear power plant in Owyhee County, as an Idaho watchdog group continues to blast the company and its plans. Alternate Energy Holdings, a company that plans to build Idaho's first commercial nuclear power plant, submitted a conditional-use permit application Monday to Owyhee County Planning and Zoning. The door is now open for the company to pursue federal licensing as the county reviews the permit, and a public comment period is also expected to begin soon. This latest development marks another success for the fledgling company - it announced last month it had received a $3.5 billion funding commitment from a New York investment firm - despite heavy opposition from environmental organizations such as nuclear watchdog Snake River Alliance. SRA says the company and its associates are shady at best. For example, AEH President and CEO Don Gillispie announced the plant was coming to Idaho before he'd contacted anyone at the county level. AEH's major financing firm has mostly funded smaller projects such as ice-cream parlors, as reported by The Associated Press. And the company's primary consultant, Mark Pecchenino, resigned in January from an Ada County position days after an investigation determined he'd violated the county's ethics policy. Pecchenino was doing business in Elmore County the same time he was an Ada County employee. His supervisors admitted they knew about his dealings but were unaware it violated the policy. "I had planned on resigning anyway," Pecchenino said Tuesday. Elmore County officials wrote Pecchenino a letter of recommendation shortly after his resignation, lauding his integrity. "I am credible and I do good work," Pecchenino said. SRA isn't so sure. "This guy was caught moonlighting," said Ester Ceja, outreach director at the watchdog group. "And he's supposed to have ethics?" AEH stands by Pecchenino, said Martin Johncox, a spokesman for the company. The public is yet to officially weigh in on controversial plans for the nuclear plant, but that will soon change. A public comment period expected to include 20 public meetings begins soon, though dates for the meetings are yet to be scheduled. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 65 Hanford News: Board hears comments on ill Hanford workers This story was published Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 the Herald staff About 50 people showed up at the public comment session of a Richland meeting of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health on Tuesday evening. Among the few who spoke was Barb Lisk, district director to Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who read his comments into the record. Hastings is aware of concerns about monitoring for radiation at Hanford, including a lack of information on photon exposure caused by a phenomenon known as "directional shine," she said. He also urges the board to consider whether carcinogenic chemicals used at Hanford should be considered along with radiation exposure as eligibility is determined for compensation for ill Hanford workers, she said. Among the issues the national board is considering is whether requirements should be eased for ill Hanford workers, making more of those with cancer eligible to receive $150,000 compensation. Another public hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at the Red Lion in Richland. On Thursday about 9:15 a.m. the board is expected to begin discussing easing requirements for Hanford workers who were exposed to radiation from 1943-46. House cuts Handford budget The U.S. House approved Tuesday the Hanford budget for 2008 as part of the Fiscal Year 2008 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill includes $1.8 billion for Hanford but a cut of $100 million from the $690 million the Department of Energy requested for building the vitrification plant. The cut was opposed by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who said a reduction now would require a substantial increase in the future. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a Hanford budget with full funding for the vitrification plant. It still must be approved by the full Senate. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 66 Hanford News: Animal habitat up in smoke This story was published Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Hopes to establish a colony of pygmy rabbits on the Hanford Reach National Monument went up in smoke as fire destroyed what would have been their future home. Also gone is the heron rookery in the tall trees near the White Bluffs Boat Launch, a nesting area popular for wildlife photography. They are two of the casualties tallied by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees as they started to assess damage Tuesday from the 20,000-acre Overlook Fire that burned much of the land on the east side of the monument. The fire, started by lightning strikes in three locations Friday, continued to burn Tuesday. It remained about 85 percent contained, with fire still smoldering in a swampy area of irrigation ponds. It could continue to smolder there for a month or more, said Greg Hughes, project leader for the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Firefighters were able to save the old blacksmith shop, a log building near the White Bluffs Boat Launch, by foaming around it. But habitat for wildlife did not fare as well. "Some of the species we are most concerned about are those dependent on sagebrush," said Heidi Newsome, a wildlife biologist for Fish and Wildlife. Sage takes about 30 years to mature enough to begin to provide habitat for certain species, she said. Among species that lived among the sage before it burned were sage sparrows, loggerhead shrike and burrowing owls. There also is concern that mule deer that feed on bitterbrush will be vulnerable, Newsome said. The brush also served as cover from predators for black-tailed jackrabbits that already are on the decline. A study of pygmy rabbit habitat by a former Fish and Wildlife employee at the monument had identified just one place on the monument with old-growth sage where they might have thrived. As the endangered one-pound rabbits are being reintroduced, first in arid sagebrush habitat near Ephrata, Fish and Wildlife had hoped the program could be expanded to the monument. But that area of old growth sage now is gone. "That hurt," Hughes said. In addition, the loss of sage diminishes chances that sage grouse will spread from the Yakima Firing Range to populate the monument. Small mammals such as mice also lost their home. They don't have the ability to move over large distances, so many will become prey because of the lack of cover or perish for lack of food. As their population dwindles "that means no prey for larger species," Newsome said. Those species include coyotes, great horned owls, short-eared owls, red-tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, ferruginous hawks and prairie falcon, Newsome said. Part of her concern is that the monument has had so many fires over the past seven fire seasons that the area has not had time to recover and provide good habitat for animals. It's already surrounded in many areas by agriculture, leaving an island of wildlands that serves as a sanctuary for wildlife. "There are not a lot of places for the wildlife to go," she said. The fire burned across the area that has the world's only White Bluffs bladderpods, a small plant with a yellow flower that grows about 6 inches tall in rocky areas. A survey by the Nature Conservancy identified the previously unknown species on the rocky edge of the White Bluffs. Because those rocky areas don't provide continuous fuel for fire, hope remains that the plant may have been spared. But even if it survived the fire, it could still be in trouble, Newsome said. It could be crowded out by nonnative plate species that invade after fires or lose habitat to erosion because of other plants that burned in the area. Fish and Wildlife staff also were sorry to see the loss of antelope bitterbrush, after the fire swept through an area where the brush is large and abundant. It's best known for its bright yellow flowers in the spring with a smell that Newsome compared to honey. Another shrub, the spiny hopsage, which has been declining in Washington, also burned. Staff will come up with a wish list for re-establishing the habitat that likely will rely on weed control, seeding native grasses and planting shrubs. After a fire two years ago destroyed 6,000 acres of shrub steppe on the monument, the federal government spent $2.5 million stabilizing and rehabilitating the area. But because habitat was just being re-established, the Outlook Fire slowed as it hit the area and only burned the southern portion. :It's another example of why we rehabilitate," Hughes said. Without the work, the area would have been covered with invasive cheatgrass that would have quickly spread the fire. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 67 Hanford News: PNNL to trim organization This story was published Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 John Trumbo, Herald staff writer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is cutting fat. The lab, which has approximately 4,200 employees and operates on about $750 million each year in mostly government contract work, is getting a makeover that is intended to slim down its organizational systems while beefing up its productivity through tighter accountability on all research projects. No layoffs are mentioned. Mike Kluse, interim director at the Battelle-run DOE lab, announced Tuesday that the changes are to "better position PNNL for the future," said Greg Koller, spokesman for the lab. Kluse informed all lab employees Tuesday in a "path forward" memo that the restructuring initially will consolidate the six research directorates into four, that 20 management systems will be reorganized into three, and several upper management positions will be added to sharpen the focus on lab strategies. Kluse also said the changes will help "identify resources needed to pay for" replacing lab facilities in the 300 Area at Hanford. Kluse called the reorganization "the next leap forward" for PNNL. He said full implementation of the labwide reorganization will be completed by Oct. 1, and employees can expect "adjustments as we go," Kluse added. Tuesday's announcement mentioned top-end positions, but the makeover will trickle down over the next few months and could include other personnel changes. "Associate laboratory directors will be refining their organizational structures (and) resolving position vacancies and redundancies," Kluse said in his memo. The reorganization will have four research directorates: * Fundamental and Computational Sciences, led by Doug Ray. * National Security, led by Barry Merrill. * Energy and Environment, led by Mike Davis. * Environmental Molecular Sciences, led by Allison Campbell. The Environmental Technology Directorate is combining with the Energy Science and Technology Directorate, and the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate is dissolving to serve better as a support and research for other lab organizations. The reorganization will bring new oversight management positions for each directorate: A director of delivery and capability who will be responsible for seeing projects done on time and within budget; and a chief for science and technology, who will monitor the science and technology mission outcome. Kluse named Marty Conger as head of business systems management; Mike Schlender to oversee management of operational systems at the lab that includes research and safety of staff, buildings and land; and Paula Linnen as lead for the people/organizational systems that includes human resources, communications, training and science education. Nothing is changing with the lab's four key "mission outcomes," Koller said. They include strengthening foundations of U.S. science; preventing and countering acts of terrorism and reducing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; increasing U.S. energy capacity and reducing dependence on imported oil; and environmental cleanup of nuclear waste. "The new organization structure is not to fix any significant problems," Koller said. "(It is to) better position the lab to 'play offense.' " The reorganization has nothing to do with DOE's plan to put PNNL out for a competitive bid, Koller noted. "(This) was done to position PNNL for the future, for both short-term and long-term success. Battelle or others bidding on the PNNL contract will first need to see the contents of DOE's request for proposals before deciding what organizational structure to propose," Koller said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 68 Hanford News: Hanford manager promises openness This story was published Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Dave Brockman has a personal stake in cleaning up the Hanford nuclear reservation. "I've got a lot of family in the state," said the Department of Energy's new manager of the Hanford Richland Operations Office. "I don't want to let them down from a personal standpoint." Brockman, who was born in Bremerton and grew up in Port Orchard, was named Friday to replace Keith Klein, who retired this spring after eight years as manager of the Richland Operations Office. The manager of the Richland Operations Office and the manager of DOE's Hanford Office of River Protection together oversee about $2 billion of environmental cleanup work annually on the nuclear reservation. Brockman started his new job with an all-staff meeting Monday, promising honesty, integrity and openness. He expects the same from workers, he said in an interview after the meeting. "Be blunt," he said. "Be straight-forward and tell me exactly what the issue is." Brockman, 54, already has retired from the federal government once. In 1996 he was working for the Department of Energy at the Rocky Flats, Colo., nuclear site when it offered employees early retirement. At the time he was 43 and had worked for the federal government for 26 years, counting eight years in the Navy straight out of South Kitsap High School. In the Navy he worked in the engineering department on a nuclear submarine. His work at Rocky Flats included project manager and lead negotiator for the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement, which resulted in a clear path to complete cleanup there in 2005. He earned his college degree at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He worked as a senior manager for private companies doing contracted DOE work before returning to federal service in January 2006 as the project director for the K Basins Closure Project at Hanford. The Hanford cleanup has a "well-laid out vision," he said. "The cleanup mission and priorities are well thought-out." The Richland Operations Office is concentrating on getting the land along the Columbia River cleaned up to shrink the footprint of the nuclear reservation to the center of the site. The area along the river includes nine reactors used for the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program and a research and reactor fuel fabrication area. Some progress also is being made in central Hanford, where the Richland Operations Office has responsibility for much of the cleanup other than radioactive waste held in underground tanks, Brockman said. In September, Brockman expects to begin shipping offsite weapons-grade plutonium now stored in central Hanford. The most difficult challenge technically for the Richland Operations Office will be better understanding and cleaning up the 80 square miles of contaminated ground water beneath the site's surface, he said. Different radioactive and hazardous chemical contaminants, some deep underground, will require different cleanup methods. Another challenge will be preparing to implement new contracts at the site, he said. With Fluor Hanford's contract expiring, DOE is splitting its work into two contracts under the Richland Operations Office. One contract will supply site services, such as utilities, security and information technology. The other will do cleanup work in central Hanford. Brockman told his staff that he wants to make cleanup discussions a true collaboration with the public, tribes and regulators. "I want openness, not ‘decide and defend,'" he said. By the time decisions are made there should be enough discussion that all parties understand each other, he said. He called the Tri-Party Agreement, which sets legal cleanup standards and deadlines, a "very useful document," and said his office will continue to implement it with whatever changes might be made during current negotiations on the agreement. The work force and contractors are getting a lot of work done and his goal will be to continue that and look for ways to get more work done. We're going to "continue to kick the cleanup mission down the road," he said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 69 YN: "Bullying of career scientists and policy experts cannot be tolerated." Senator Boxer YubaNet.com Boxer Opening Statement from EPW's Nominations Hearing By: Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Published: Jul 18, 2007 at 07:55 Email this article Statement of Chairman Barbara Boxer st the nominations hearing for Lyle Laverty Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife And Parks And Kristine Svinicki, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Remarks as prepared for delivery. Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works meets to consider the nominations of Lyle Laverty to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Kristine Svinicki to be a Commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Mr. Laverty, the position to which you are nominated is very important. I understand that you are a California native, and I welcome you today. As you know, California is a state rich in biodiversity and stunning natural beauty and I hope that if you are confirmed for this position, you will always remember what is at stake for California and all of America's natural treasures. Californians and all Americans live in a nation blessed with spectacular public lands and a rich array of wildlife. Yet despite this richness, we have seen an unprecedented assault on our nation's wildlife laws, conservation system and the science that underpins them. From silencing scientists, to gutting our successful conservation laws, to under funding our public lands, this Administration is breaching the public trust owed to America's natural heritage instead of honoring its duty to serve as effective stewards. Indeed, in April of this year, the then-Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Julie MacDonald, resigned following a damning investigative report of the Inspector General of the Interior Department. In that report, the Inspector General revealed, among other things, how that official leaked non-public information to special interests that had a financial stake in the outcome of the Fish and Wildlife Service's decisions. The I.G. report also describes how this senior official "got into the face" of Fish and Wildlife Service personnel over their 5-year Endangered Species Act species reviews. This kind of bullying of career scientists and policy experts cannot be tolerated. Additionally, recent news reports have documented how the Vice President personally intervened in an important Endangered Species matter. He reportedly rode roughshod over the process and the expert opinions of Department scientists, in order to influence the Department's decision on water flows to the Klamath River. As a result of this political intervention, the Department reportedly reversed course, and thousands of salmon died on the Klamath. This ecological disaster greatly affected our fragile rural economies that depend upon those species for commercial and recreational fishing businesses and related industries in the State of California and the Pacific Northwest. There are similar reports of White House officials editing EPA scientific documents about global warming. I feel very strongly that the government must honor the science and not let politics override the facts. We must recognize, as hundreds of the world's leading scientists in the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently found, that up to 40 percent of the planet's species are at risk of possible extinction from global warming. This is a staggering thought, and one of the most important issues you will have to face if you are confirmed, Mr. Laverty. In this position, you would be thrust into the middle of many crucial challenges and clashes between science and politics. If you are confirmed, I am counting on you to help us follow the science and to restore our commitment to America's natural heritage. Indeed, the position to which you are nominated, has considerable oversight over very important issues including the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Wildlife Refuge System. We must use the best science to protect our rich natural heritage. We owe our children and grandchildren a rich legacy of wildlife and great open spaces. Ms. Svinicki, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has many important issues that will have to be considered during your tenure if you are confirmed. I want to mention two of immediate concern to me. One key issue facing the NRC is nuclear waste disposal, and plans to transport nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Protecting public health and safety should be the primary test in assessing nuclear waste disposal options. Yucca Mountain continues to fail that test. My State of California is one of the most affected by the Yucca Mountain project, which is only 17 miles from the California border and Death Valley National Park. Studies have shown that the groundwater under Yucca Mountain flows into Death Valley, one of the hottest and driest places on the earth. If radiation contaminates this groundwater, it could be the demise of the national park and the surrounding communities. The threat posed by nuclear waste transport in California is also clear. Over 7.5 million people live within 1 mile of a possible nuclear transport route. Yucca's geology also remains a concern. Two active faults run through Yucca Mountain, though they do not cross the repository. A nuclear waste repository poses dangers that have no parallel in human history. We must not short-circuit the vital scientific and public processes needed to address these dangers. Strong science, good planning and public confidence must be part of any solution to the nuclear waste disposal problem. We have not achieved this at Yucca Mountain. In addition, I am deeply concerned that GAO recently completed a sting operation in which the NRC issued a materials license to a fake corporation in West Virginia. Once GAO received the license for their fake company, GAO altered it so that it appeared that the company was allowed to receive an unlimited quantity of radioactive sealed sources rather than the relatively small amount that had been approved by the NRC. After altering the license, GAO was able to receive commitments from suppliers of Category 3 sealed radioactive sources (Category 1 is the most dangerous) to provide more than ten times the materials the original license would have allowed. I have serious concerns about the NRC's ability to ensure materials licenses are not going to individuals who might try to amass quantities of radioactive materials and use them to inflict harm. I understand that there is a delicate balance between ensuring the legitimate users, like hospitals and construction companies, of tools that contain radioactive materials are able to receive equipment they need without lengthy delay, but GAO's investigation raises serious concerns that the NRC needs to address. In sum, both Mr. Laverty and Ms. Svinicki are nominated to be entrusted with protecting critical resources and the basic safety of the American public. The American public has a right to expect the best public servants in these positions. I look forward to hearing from both of you today. Copyright © 2007 YubaNet.com, all rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 70 CTFP: Y-12 facelift focuseson new Oak Ridge mission - Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga, TN. Wednesday, July 18, 2007, at 4:23 p.m. By Dave Flessner Staff Writer America's first atomic weapons facility is getting its biggest facelift in its 64-year history, the director of the Oak Ridge complex said today. George Dials, president and CEO of the BWXT Y-12 LLC, said the Y-12 National Security Complex continues to make and sustain the U.S. nuclear arsenal even with the Cold War ended. But the World War II-era facility also is taking on a new mission. The 4,700-employee facility is the nation's biggest nuclear weapon depository and is key to meeting the U.S. objective of dismantling and cutting its nuclear arsenal nearly in half by 2012, Mr. Dials said. The U.S. Department of Energy, which pays BWXT $1.2 billion a year to operate Y-12, last year designated the weapons plant as its Uranium Center of Excellence. The facility is helping convert weapons-grade nuclear materials into nuclear fuels used by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Mr. Dials said. "Y-12 continues to play a vital role in helping the United States maintain the peace," Mr. Dials told editors of the Times Free Press. To improve operations, BWXT will begin this weekend to move into a new headquarters facility. Next year, BXTI plans to finish a $550 million uranium enrichment facility and, pending DOE approval, by 2018 workers may also have a new $3.5 billion complex to replace many of the WWII-era buildings still on the highly secured site. Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press. E-mail Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com Chattanooga Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 71 Knoxville News Sentinel: Praise the Lord, build the nukes By Frank Munger (Contact) Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Church and state weren’t very far separated last week at the grand opening for two new facilities — the New Hope Center and the Jack Case Center — at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. In fact, I can’t remember attending an event at a government site in Oak Ridge with so many religious connotations. People commented on it, during and after the affair. Following a ribbon-cutting, the 300 or so attendees gathered in the auditorium of New Hope, where Dr. Bobby Mullins, senior pastor at Oak Ridge’s Central Baptist Church, gave a lengthy invocation. After that, Tom D’Agostino, a top official from the National Nuclear Security Administration in Washington, drew upon a Bible passage in the Book of Romans during his remarks to praise the work of Y-12 employees. “We rejoice in our suffering because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope,” D’Agostino said. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., the keynote speaker, got a chuckle from the audience when he said, “If the administrator designate of the NNSA can quote Scripture, then so can I.” Wamp then borrowed from the Gospel of Luke — “That whosoever much is given, much is also required ” — in praising the work of Rodney Lawler and Pat Wood, the founders of Lawler-Wood, the project’s successful developers, and other Tennessee business leaders involved in the work. “These guys give back,” the congressman said. It seemed apparent that some of the typical guidelines for federal events were loosened. That’s probably because the ceremonies actually took place in a privately owned facility — New Hope Center — even though it’s surrounded by property owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the NNSA in Oak Ridge, said he was unaware of any discussion about religious guidelines in advance of the dedication ceremony. Hmmm. --- Garry Whitley, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, said he’d received a letter from Lawler-Wood recognizing the ATLC as the bargaining agent for maintenance and support workers at the two new facilities. This had been an issue of contention because the privately financed facilities did not fall under the normal Y-12 labor umbrella. Whitley said there could be 35 to 45 workers who do maintenance and janitorial work at New Hope and Jack Case, which will provide office space for about a third of Y-12’s work force. He said he was pleased with the new arrangement, which should set the stage for negotiations between Lawler-Wood and the ATLC for a contract there. Meanwhile, Whitley said the ATLC had also received a new 4/10 proposal from BWXT Y-12, the main contractor at the Oak Ridge warhead plant. BWXT last year enacted four-day, 10-hour work weeks for salaried employees at Y-12, but the changeover reportedly won’t be totally effective until the hourly workers mirror those shifts. Whitley said the company’s latest proposal would be discussed at the Aug. 9 meeting of the labor council’s delegates and executive committee. How do Y-12’s blue-collar workers feel about a 4/10 work week? “I personally don’t know,” Whitley said. He said he would like to see the issue put to a vote among union members to find out. --- Medical screenings for current and retired workers at Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are going well, but another reminder will be mailed to retirees in the days ahead, Whitley said. The special lung scans can detect cancer at an early stage, when it’s most treatable. The medical unit is set up at ATLC offices on Viking Road in Oak Ridge. Screenings are offered to many Y-12 and ORNL workers, past and present, but there are certain qualifying conditions, Whitley said. For more information, call 865-483-8471. Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 72 Knoxville News Sentinel: Report: Feds sneak ammo to Oak Ridge By Frank Munger (Contact) Originally published 12:39 p.m., July 18, 2007 Related Document Inspector general's report on improper transport of ammunition by the Office of Secure Transportation based in Oak Ridge Federal agents took 3,400 rounds of ammunition from a December 2005 training exercise in Texas without proper authorization and transported it to Oak Ridge — aboard an airplane owned by the National Nuclear Security Administration — without declaring it, according to a report released today. The paramilitary agents were part of the government’s Office of Secure Transportation, which has its Eastern Command in Oak Ridge. The OST is responsible for safely transporting nuclear weapons, warhead components and special nuclear materials. An investigation by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General found that the ammunition taken from the training site at Kingsville, Texas, was later turned in to a federal armory. But an inventory determined some rounds didn’t match the original ammo taken and other rounds were missing. “We were told that, as of March 2007, a total of 119 rounds were still missing,” authors of the IG report said. The inspectors also found that some of the OST federal agents “apparently attempted to conceal the fact that armor-piercing rounds were lost, missing or stolen by turning in regular ammunition rounds that had their tips colored black to look like armor-piercing ammunition.” Overall, the Department of Energy inspectors found that the Office of Secure Transportation does not maintain adequate controls over its ammunition. The December 2005 training exercise at a private firing range in Texas was to provide agents with training on a new type of rifle, the report said. Upon completion of the training, 3,400 of the 15,000 rounds of .308-caliber ammo issued for the exercise were not expended, the report said. On Dec. 9, 2005, an officer from the Eastern Command in Oak Ridge was allowed to take possession of the rounds after signing a memo that indicated the ammunition was intended for “road use,” the report said. The proper forms were not used and proper approvals were not acquired, the report said. The officer and 16 other agents from Oak Ridge carried the ammo back to Tennessee with their personal gear and weapons, the report said, without declaring it. The DC-9 aircraft, which was owned by NNSA, a part of the Department of Energy, was flown from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Knoxville. According to the investigation, some of the ammunition was later stored at the agents’ private residences or in their lockers at the Oak Ridge command center. The report said there have been at least two occasions when the Office of Secure Transportation has had inventory shortages of armor-piercing ammunition. More details as they become available online and in Thursday’s News Sentinel. 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: *****************************************************************