***************************************************************** 07/27/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.175 ***************************************************************** 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 IPS-English US-INDIA: '123' Nuclear Agreement Completed 2 US: Reuters: Reid tells four companies no coal power in Nevada 3 BBC NEWS: Expelled Russia diplomats quit UK 4 RIA Novosti: IAEA to develop nuclear safety data system with Russia 5 AFP: Expelled Russian diplomats leave Britain - NUCLEAR REACTORS 6 [southnews] Sydney nuclear reactor to shut down 7 US: NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extende 8 AU ABC: Sydney nuclear reactor to shut down 9 AU ABC: Campaigners hit out after Lucas Heights shutdown 10 MDN: Niigata earthquake injured 9 workers at nuclear power plant - 11 Daily Yomiuri: Oh yes, there was a nuclear accident, too... 12 REGNUM: Nothing happened with nuclear reactor? at plant in Severodvi 13 IHT: IAEA to join, not oversee inspections at quake-hit Japanese nuc 14 DW: Concerns Mount Over Nuclear Energy After Series of Scares 15 UPI: Analysis: Vattenfall's nuclear disaster 16 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin to unhook second unit at weekend to se 17 US: Business Report & Journal: Georgia is One Step Closer to New Nuc 18 Opal nuclear reactor shut down | Herald Sun 19 Deccan Herald: US lawmakers warn Bush on nuclear deal 20 US: Spartanburg Herald-Journal: Ex-Reagan official backs nuclear pla 21 Scotsman.com: Power struggle ahead on nuclear energy 22 ANI: Thorium-based nuke reactors best suited to feed energy hungry 23 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: More damage at reactor - 24 asahi.com: Watchdog to review crane capabilities at quake-hit plant 25 WNN: Twenty more years for Loviisa plant 26 times and star: West Cumbria to be centre of nuclear industry 27 AU ABC: Councils urged to back anti-nuclear campaign NUCLEAR SECURITY 28 US: Guardian Unlimited: Senate Approves Security Bill NUCLEAR SAFETY 29 BBC NEWS: Russia downplays submarine blast 30 RIA Novosti: Russian Navy denies nuclear sub blast - 1 31 AFP: Russian polar expedition back on course after hitch - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 32 Las Vegas SUN: Appointee didn't seek Nevada nuclear dump panel seat 33 ReviewJournal.com: Nuclear panel appointment confusing 34 US: Daily News Journal: Dumping opponents object to chosen adviser 35 US: AFP: Australian FM rebuffs Pakistan over uranium - 36 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: DOE wants errant waste drum left at WIPP 37 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: Questions remain on errant drum 38 US: NRC: Request To Amend a License To Import Radioactive Waste 39 ajc.com: Yucca Mountain nuke project is needed | 40 US: Albuquerque Tribune: V.B. Price: What a waste 41 Channel 4 KRNV.com: Nye County Official Speaks Out About Nuclear Com 42 US: MarketWatch: Sumitomo joins uranium project in New Mexico - 43 times and star: N-waste site given go-ahead 44 times and star: BNFL's record profit 45 Nevada Appeal: Feds challenge Nevada order on nuke dump site water 46 Brisbane Times: What if? Nuclear waste's burning question - Opinion 47 US: AU ABC: Beattie rejects threat over uranium mine bans - PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 48 Seattle: PI: Progress made in cleaning Hanford's K West Basin 49 Tri-City Herald: DOE opens up 6 more days of Hanford tours ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 IPS-English US-INDIA: '123' Nuclear Agreement Completed Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:01:38 -0700 ROMAIPS NA AP IP SC NU NR US-INDIA: '123' Nuclear Agreement Completed Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Jul 27 (IPS) - India and the United States have announced a bilateral agreement permitting the export of U.S. civilian nuclear technology to India in exchange for a promise that the South Asian giant will allow International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) inspectors access to its nuclear facilities. India will build a civil nuclear enrichment facility under the condition that IAEA monitoring is in place. ‘'This marks another step in the continued progress that is deepening our strategic partnership with India, a vital world leader,'' said U.S. President George W. Bush in a prepared statement. ‘'The United States and India have reached a historic milestone in their strategic partnership by completing negotiations on the bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation, also known as the ‘123 agreement'. This agreement will govern civil nuclear trade between our two countries and open the door for American and Indian firms to participate in each other's civil nuclear energy sector,'' read a joint statement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indian Minister of External Affairs Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Critics of the accord have voiced concern that U.S. acceptance of India's nuclear programme marks a major concession and undermines non-proliferation pacts which India has refused to join. U.S. negotiators faced the challenge of circumventing U.S. law, which prohibits the export of reprocessing technology to countries that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while their Indian counterparts fought an uphill battle to convince parliament that the agreement did not undermine sovereignty. The treaty, which has not yet been released in its entirety, will contain U.S. promises to help India build a nuclear fuel repository and assist India in finding alternate sources of nuclear fuel - presumably an assurance to India that in the event of a nuclear weapons test, they will have alternative sources of nuclear fuel if the United States, in accordance with its national laws, cuts off fuel exports. ‘'This is unlikely to work on either side. I do not know how the Indian government seems to have accepted that the U.S. will convince third parties to supply them with nuclear fuel,'' Institute for Energy and Environmental Director Dr. Arjun Makhijani told IPS. ‘'There is no practical process by which India building a bunch of nuclear reactors will be able to be independent in its foreign policy.'' Indian negotiators have heralded this promise as a preservation of their sovereignty and a significant concession by the United States. But U.S. officials have downplayed the concession as a simple assurance that if there is an interruption in fuel supplies due to logistical problems, the U.S. will take steps to find alternative sources. ‘'In practical terms (the agreement) is not a (U.S.) concession,'' said Makhijani. ‘'India was already a nuclear weapons state. This is just an endorsement of its reprocessing capacity.'' In a news briefing early Friday, Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns mentioned multiple times India's regional and global influence as a motivating factor in the United States' willingness to enter into a nuclear agreement. The agreement sends a message that ‘'If you behave responsibly and play by the rules you will not be penalised. You will be invited to participate (in the international system),'' said Burns. ‘'India will be able to tap into clean nuclear power and make it more energy independent (from imports),'' he continued. The mention of energy dependency would presumably have been a reference to the proposed Iran-India-Pakistan natural gas pipeline which would be an obvious terrorist target while bringing India closer to Iran, both politically and economically. The 2,600-kilometre seven-billion-dollar pipeline, billed as a ”peace pipeline”, will carry around 60 million cubic metres of gas per day starting in 2011, to both India and Pakistan. The nuclear deal will require the unanimous approval of the IAEA member countries. But Burns said the United States and some of its European allies would work to build support for India within the international association. Both India and the U.S. have pointed to the agreement as strengthening and highlighting the strategic partnership between the two countries. However, the pact may face serious challenges when it is introduced and its full contents are disclosed. Makhijani warned that, ‘'Both sides have made the conclusion of this agreement such a cornerstone of their economic, political and security relationship that it could cause harm if it doesn't go through.'' ***** + INDIA/US: Nuke Deal - Breakthrough or Bad Bargain? (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38626) + INDIA/US: Protests, Hypocrisy at Nuclear Carrier's Port Call (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38403) + Nuclear Ambitions - More IPS Coverage (http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/nuclear/index.asp) = 07280157 ORP005 NNNN ***************************************************************** 2 Reuters: Reid tells four companies no coal power in Nevada Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:58PM EDT By Bernie Woodall LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sent a letter this week to four companies telling them not to build planned coal-burning power plants in his state. Reid's letter, dated Monday, was addressed to the corporate leaders of the Sierra Pacific Resources, private equity LS Power Group, Dynegy Inc. and Sithe Global Power LLC. A copy of the letter was obtained by Reuters on Thursday. "I am writing to each of you regarding your company's proposal to build new coal-fired power plants in eastern Nevada and to express my strong opposition to those plants," Reid wrote. The Democratic senator said he will use his influential post in Congress to keep coal plants out of Nevada. "Because I believe that developing renewable energy in Nevada is far preferable to coal for the sake of our economy, public health and the environment, I will use every means at my disposal to prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants in Nevada that do not capture and permanently store greenhouse gas emissions," Reid wrote. Reid said he'd rather have the state focus on renewable power and energy efficiency. He also opposes nuclear power for Nevada and the Yucca Mountain site in the state for storage of nuclear waste. Reid said "the state's demand for energy can be met largely through new renewable energy, energy efficiency and demand-side management." That's just unrealistic in a fast-growing state where power use is on the rise, particularly in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, said Frank Maisano of energy company advocate Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. "Given the massive growth in the region, (Reid's letter) is probably not reflective of reality to say we are not going to build any new coal plants," said Maisano, acting as spokesman for Sithe Global, which is owned by the Blackstone Group's Blackstone Capital Partners (80 percent) and Reservoir Capital Group (20 percent. Continued... ***************************************************************** 3 BBC NEWS: Expelled Russia diplomats quit UK Last Updated: Friday, 27 July 2007, 12:12 GMT 13:12 UK Andrei Lugovoi has denied involvement in the murder Four Russian diplomats expelled in the row over the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi to face murder charges have left the UK, the Russian embassy says. The UK announced the expulsion after Moscow refused to hand over Mr Lugovoi, who is suspected of poisoning ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London. Russia responded to the announcement by expelling four UK embassy staff. The British Embassy in Moscow has refused to confirm reports that Mr Levi is expected to leave the country on Sunday, saying it will not comment on the identities of those expelled. Deadlines expiring A 10-day deadline set by Britain on 16 July for the Russian diplomats to leave the country has expired. The Russian Embassy said the four had left the country but did not specify when this had happened. The names of the expelled Russian diplomats have not been made public The British diplomats were also given 10 days to leave Russia. This deadline expires on 29 July. The UK's director of public prosecutions has recommended Mr Lugovoi be tried for murder by "deliberate poisoning". Mr Litvinenko, who had taken UK citizenship, died of exposure to radioactive polonium-210 in London in November 2006. Traces of the radioactive isotope were found in several places visited by Mr Lugovoi, who denies any involvement in Mr Litvinenko's death. Under the European Convention on Extradition 1957, Russia has the right to refuse the extradition of a citizen while its constitution expressly forbids extraditions. The UK has the right to request Mr Lugovoi be tried in Russia, but the UK's director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, has already turned down the offer. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 4 RIA Novosti: IAEA to develop nuclear safety data system with Russia 14:05 | 27/ 07/ 2007 MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's industrial safety regulator said Friday it would establish this year a system for exchanging information with the UN nuclear watchdog to ensure radiation safety. The system will help Russia to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency's code of conduct on radiation safety and security, which was revised as part of counter-terrorism measures following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. "Rostekhnadzor and the IAEA are planning to set up in 2007 a system for radiation safety regulating bodies to exchange information in this sensitive field," said, Yevgeny Anoshin, an aide to the head of the regulator. The official said a pilot project had been launched by the service to set up the database and train experts from regulatory authorities in Russia and other former Soviet republics. At the request of the Russian watchdog, an IAEA mission will look into its operations in 2009. In 2006, representatives of the Russian regulator attended 28 consultations under the aegis of the IAEA, and events arranged under 11 regional and international projects. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: Expelled Russian diplomats leave Britain - by Lucie Godeau Fri Jul 27, 8:25 AM ET LONDON (AFP) - Four Russian diplomats expelled from Britain in a stand-off over Moscow's refusal to extradite the murder suspect in the Litvinenko affair have left the country, the Russian embassy said Friday. A spokesman for the embassy confirmed to AFP that the four had left their posts in London, adding that they were middle-ranking diplomats. Information on the date of their departure was confidential, he said. Prosecutors here want to charge Russian businessman and former Soviet KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi with the radiation poisoning murder of outspoken Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko. The former Russian agent turned dissident, a British citizen, met Lugovoi for tea in a central London hotel on November 1 last year. He died in agony in hospital on November 23. London announced on July 16 that it would expel four Russian diplomats in retaliation for Moscow's refusal to extradite private security firm boss Lugovoi -- who denies any wrongdoing. Moscow insists it is against the Russian constitution to extradite its nationals and has hit back by announcing four British diplomats will be expelled from Moscow, in a tit-for-tat move London has labelled "completely unjustified." On Thursday, the Russian embassy said Britain had given its diplomats 10 working days to leave the country. A Foreign Office spokesman said the ministry would not comment on whether they had gone. "We have a practice of not commenting on diplomatic expulsions because while they're already a difficult process, we don't want to further complicate that," he told AFP. In Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry also refused to comment. Litvinenko's killing and the wide-ranging fall-out from it has triggered a chill in Anglo-Russian relations, plunging them to a post-Cold War low. Both sides have sounded some conciliatory notes, but neither Moscow or London seem ready to back down. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday urged Russia to assume its "responsibility" and extradite Lugovoi. "You cannot have people assassinated on British soil, and then discover that we wish to arrest someone who is in another country, and not be in a position to do that," he said. "We cannot tolerate a situation where all the evidence is that not only was one person assassinated, but many other were put at risk. "We want the Russian authorities, even at this stage, to recognise that it is their responsibility to extradite for trial the Russian citizen who has been identified by prosecuting authorities." The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin hit back, blasting Britain's "colonial mindset." "They give us insulting advice on changing our constitution; it's their mindset that has to change, not our constitution," Putin said. "What they are proposing is a throwback to the colonial mindset. They forget that Britain is no longer a colonial power and that Russia was never their colony." The European Union presidency and the United States have thrown their weight behind London in the stand-off. The Crown Prosecution Service, which oversees criminal cases in England and Wales, alleges that Lugovoi poisoned Litvinenko. They say Lugovoi invited Litvinenko to drink tea poured from a teapot later found to have been contaminated with a lethal dose of the radioactive substance polonium-210. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 6 [southnews] Sydney nuclear reactor to shut down Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:42:13 -0500 (CDT) Australia's new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney is being shut down temporarily, three months after its official opening. Sydney nuclear reactor to shut down ABC news 1 hour 38 minutes ago Australia's new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney is being shut down temporarily, three months after its official opening. The reactor's operator, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says the plant is being closed to address the issues raised during its 11 months of operation. The major problem is reported to be several loose fuel plates, while a fault with heavy water dilution will also be fixed. The Chief Executive of ANSTO, Doctor Ian Smith, says the reactor will be shut down for two months, but says there is no guarantee the work will be finished during that time. "The solution of the fuel assembly problem depends really on the analysis which is still to be done completely," he said. "And it depends on regulatory response to that analysis." "There's absolutely no safety implications. The seepage of water in the reactor is into the reactor components, not out of them, and the fuel plate dislodgment is well within the safety case design for the reactor. "There's been no radiation produced and no contamination produced." http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/27/1990090.htm ***************************************************************** 7 NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extended Operation of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant News Release - 2007-092 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final environmental impact statement on the proposed renewal of the operating license for the Pilgrim nuclear plant. The report contains the NRC’s finding that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The Pilgrim plant is located four miles southeast of Plymouth, Mass. The current operating license expires June 8, 2012. The licensee, Entergy Nuclear, submitted an application for renewal of the license Jan. 27, 2006. As part of its environmental review of the application, the NRC held public meetings near the plant to discuss the scope of the review and the draft version of the environmental impact statement. Comments were received and considered from members of the public, local officials, and representatives of state and federal agencies. The Pilgrim Final Environmental Impact Statement is available on the NRC’s Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supp lement29/index.html. 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. Friday, July 27, 2007 ***************************************************************** 8 AU ABC: Sydney nuclear reactor to shut down ABC New South Wales Posted July 27, 2007 13:46:00 ANSTO says the Lucas Heights plant is being closed to address issues raised during its 11 months of operation. (File photo) (Getty Images: Ian Waldie) Australia's new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney is being shut down temporarily, three months after its official opening. The reactor's operator, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says the plant is being closed to address the issues raised during its 11 months of operation. The major problem is reported to be several loose fuel plates, while a fault with heavy water dilution will also be fixed. The Chief Executive of ANSTO, Doctor Ian Smith, says the reactor will be shut down for two months, but says there is no guarantee the work will be finished during that time. "The solution of the fuel assembly problem depends really on the analysis which is still to be done completely," he said. "And it depends on regulatory response to that analysis." "There's absolutely no safety implications. The seepage of water in the reactor is into the reactor components, not out of them, and the fuel plate dislodgment is well within the safety case design for the reactor. "There's been no radiation produced and no contamination produced." Tags: environment, nuclear-issues, science-and-technology, nsw, lucas-heights-2234, sydney-2000 ***************************************************************** 9 AU ABC: Campaigners hit out after Lucas Heights shutdown ABC New South Wales Posted July 28, 2007 07:12:00 Anti-nuclear campaigners say they hope the eight-week shutdown of Australia's new nuclear reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights is permanent. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANTSO) says the Opal reactor will be shut down for two months to address operational problems. Friends of the Earth says the shutdown suggests that the mixing of different technologies in the nuclear reactor has not been successful. Ant-nuclear campaigner Dr Jim Falk says the biggest concern is plates coming off the fuel assemblies which were inserted into the reactor's core last week. "It's a great concern because the nuclear fuel is by far the most hazardous aspect of the reactor, and by far the most hazardous aspect of everything that goes on at Lucas Heights nuclear facility," he said. "The radioactivity inside the nuclear fuel core is is extreme. "It's a big problem and a big worry that they are having problems with their nuclear fuel." Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation says he hopes the shutdown will reignite debate on the issue. "What needs to happen now is the reactor should not be re-opened," he said. "There should be instead the debate re-opened on what sort of nuclear future we want in this country." ANSTO says the fuel assembly problems are the first since the start-up almost 12 months ago. The organisation says a second fault with heavy water dilution will also be worked out while the plant is closed. Tags: environment, nuclear-issues, government-and-politics, activism-and-lobbying, australia, nsw, lucas-heights-2234, sydney-2000 ***************************************************************** 10 MDN: Niigata earthquake injured 9 workers at nuclear power plant - MSN-Mainichi Daily News KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata -- Nine people at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant were injured in the powerful earthquake that struck Niigata Prefecture on July 16, damaging the plant, company officials said. The injuries surfaced in a survey conducted by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the company that operates the plant. The nine were all workers of a company cooperating with TEPCO in maintenance checks and other tasks. They were reportedly injured by falling cabinets and broken glass. TEPCO officials said the injuries had come as a surprise. "We never expected that this many people would be injured by an earthquake," a company representative said. (Mainichi) July 27, 2007 Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Daily Yomiuri: Oh yes, there was a nuclear accident, too... "Well, it's sure not the fault lines' fault. They were here first." That was my first thought while watching Monta Mino's Morning Show on July 20. Mino was rhetorically asking who is going to take responsibility for the situation at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, where it now seemed likely the nuclear power plant had been built atop an active fault line. Good question. The probability of getting a quick, clear answer is not high in a land with probably more fault lines than pachinko parlors and, up until now, a reluctance to question nuclear power industry pronouncements on safety issues. How much responsibility any entity will take for the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa situation may depend a lot on just how many people in the media now start repeating Mino's question. As more reports of damage at the plant surfaced and the International Atomic Energy Agency and the world began to register their concern, some observable tremors of change in the networks' approach to the topic did become obvious last week and the media evolution was fascinating to watch. The story began on July 16 when a typical Monday morning of talk shows and TV shopping programs was interrupted by the first reports of the 6.8 magnitude Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake. Any quake measuring six or more immediately generates a switch to nationwide quake coverage on NHK and most of the private networks. Reports on the overall devastation were soon augmented with little squares at the top of the screen so viewers could also keep an eye on the fire at the nuclear power plant. Finally, those irksome little squares, which were employed so cruelly in the June 30 finale of TV Asahi's TV no Chikara SOS series to show us every muscle twitch on the faces of the parents of English teacher Lindsay Hawker as they sat through TV Asahi's reenactment of her murder, were being put to a useful purpose. Viewers were getting great pictures of the fire, but where were the firefighters? The networks were obviously concerned, but their reporting was initially hampered by TEPCO's lack of disclosure. Through the evening of July 17, it was instructive to watch how the networks still kept tiptoeing around the nuclear elephant in the room. On July 17, we were knee-deep in the usual intrusive evacuee interviews that have been played out so many times before in prefectures all over the country: "Aren't those gym floors hard, the rooms hot and the rice balls tasty?" NHK's 9 p.m. news made viewers sit through a full 25 minutes of this before they got to any detailed mention of the new development at the plant--toppled nuclear waste drums, some with the lids off. It even took TV Asahi's Hodo Station 10 minutes to get to this story. By 11 p.m., it was the top story on the TBS news and by midnight 22 problems at the plant were being vaguely reported. By the time I woke the next morning, the number of problems had risen to 50. Then 53, 57, 60, 63, 64. We've been given enough numbers to play the Lotto. By the time of the Sunday news shows, it did seem the topic of leaving nuclear power industry safety issues up to the companies was at last on the table. On Sunday Morning (TBS, 8-9:54 a.m.), host Hiroshi Sekiguchi lamented there was not enough sense of urgency ("kinchokan ga nai") about nuclear power issues and suggested simulations of worst-case scenarios so the citizens could see just what could happen while guest commentator Shoko Egawa suggested IAEA observers be invited to Kashiwazaki. By Sunday evening, it was being reported that even the Niigata prefectural governor wanted the IAEA to visit. In the weeks ahead, it will be fascinating to see whether the networks' continue to discuss the issue or if the whole unfortunate state of affairs will be conveniently forgotten in the rush to cover Sunday's House of Councillors elections and the fault lines in the national pension system. All the major networks will have begun their July 29 election result specials by 8 p.m. except Fuji TV, which will incorporate early results into the finale of their marathon FNS 27-Hour TV special and offer full coverage from 9:15 p.m. Comedian Shinsuke Shimada will participate in NTV's Zero x Senkyo 2007 special from 7:58 p.m. The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 12 REGNUM: Nothing happened with nuclear reactor? at plant in Severodvinsk - 09:41:55 ¤ July 28, 2007 ?Nothing happened with the nuclear reactor? at the atomic submarine in Severodvinsk, where a technological plop of gas occurred on July 26, a REGNUM correspondent reports citing a source at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk. Besides, the source insists that the atomic submarine being repaired ay the plant belongs to the White Sea Navy Base. Press office of the plant declines comments on the incident, saying ?there have been no contingencies; nothing happened.? On July 26, high pressure cylinders were blown out at one of the submarines at the Zvezdochka plant. A gas plop occurred during the operation. As a result, a piece of the cylinder’s facing was torn away, nobody was hurt according to official information. Under preliminary version, the crew committed an error. Officially, nobody was hurt and there is no threat to the people and the city of Severodvinsk. According to the Severodvinsk rescue service, no emergency reports contain information on the incident. Besides, the question was not discussed at today’s session of the city emergency commission. Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/862543.html 15:34 07/27/2007 REGNUM » News » Source: “Nothing happened… * info@regnum.ru © 1999-2007 REGNUM News Agency Registration certificate No. El 77-6430 of the 6th August, 2002 All materials reprinted from the site must link to REGNUM News Agency ***************************************************************** 13 IHT: IAEA to join, not oversee inspections at quake-hit Japanese nuclear plant: official - International Herald Tribune The Associated Press Published: July 26, 2007 TOKYO: Inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency will be coming to join Japanese authorities in collecting information at a quake-damaged nuclear plant, not to oversee their work, an official said Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday it will send a team of investigators in the next few weeks to examine the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, which was severely damaged last week by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in northwestern Japan. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in a statement that Tokyo's invitation to dispatch the team was "important for identifying lessons learned that might have implications for the international nuclear safety regime." Akira Fukushima, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official, said Friday the government's understanding is that team's mission will be "not to review or oversee our work, but rather to join us in gathering information." The quake killed 11 people, injured more than 1,000 and caused a range of malfunctions and leaks at the plant — the world's largest in terms of capacity — that have raised concerns for safety at the country's nuclear power stations. NISA announced on Thursday that nuclear plants across Japan will acquire chemical fire vehicles and set up a hot line to fire stations to improve preparedness. The nation's 11 power plant operators will install chemical fire vehicles and fire engines with built-in water tanks at their plants by March 2008, NISA said in a statement. The operators will set up hot lines between the plants and local fire stations and ensure more than 10 officials would be ready during off-hours to better respond to emergencies, the agency said. The agency had asked the operators to submit plans on how to improve preparedness. The move came as Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, came under criticism in the wake of the powerful quake. The quake triggered a small fire at the plant in Niigata prefecture (state). It took two hours to put out the fire because plant officials had trouble notifying fire officials, TEPCO said. In the following days, TEPCO announced a barrage of leaks and malfunctions. About 30 tons of rainwater leaked into four buildings at the plant, according to TEPCO spokesman Ryo Shimizu. The leaks were confirmed Thursday after heavy rains hit the region. The water was believed to have leaked inside through gaps made by the quake, he said. The water contained no radioactive materials, Shimizu said. Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 14 DW: Concerns Mount Over Nuclear Energy After Series of Scares Deutsche Welle | 27.07.2007 Sceptics say recent errors highlight the drawbacks of nuclear energy Irregularities at nuclear reactors in Germany and Japan in recent weeks have rekindled safety fears and raised tough questions about nuclear energy amid increasing environmental concerns. The nuclear plant at BrunsbĂĽttel in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein is now the world's safest. It's not surprising considering the reactor was shut down following a technical irregularity earlier this month. The problem at BrunsbĂĽttel, one of 17 nuclear reactors in Germany, is by no means the only mishap in recent months that has increasingly called the safety of atomic power into question. Earlier this month, an earthquake caused leaks at a reactor in northwestern Japan and led to low-level radiation, reviving fears about nuclear safety, and the closure of the BrunsbĂĽttel plant in Germany followed a fire at another reactor close to Hamburg. Around the world, there are 438 nuclear plants currently in operation. The majority are in industrialized nations -- 104 in the US, 59 in France and 31 in Russia. How dangerous were the incidents? Despite the recent slew of incidents at nuclear power stations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the errors in Germany, Sweden and Japan were exceptions and certainly did not pose a danger. That's a view echoed by Klaus Kotthoff of the GRS group, an independent nuclear assessment and research organization. While there is no technology that's free of errors, Kotthoff pointed out that nuclear power plants are subject to a range of registration procedures and measures aimed at managing irregularities -- as was the case at two nuclear plants in Germany earlier this month. Bildunterschrift: A fire broke out last month at the KrĂĽmmel nuclear plant near Hamburg in Germany "I believe these incidents were not noteworthy from a technical security point of view," Kotthoff said. Critics of nuclear energy, however, don't buy the argument. Henrik Paulitz of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) said the recent German incidents were dangerous. "The reactor protection system was activated. That only happens in serious cases," Paulitz said, adding that they weren't isolated cases. There are several nuclear incidents in Germany about which the public is not sufficiently informed, he said. The information that is released is mostly "incomprehensible" and the controversial backgrounds are often concealed. "Serious security deficits are usually glossed over," Paulitz said. Experts split over nuclear safety Experts remain divided about the safety of nuclear reactors. While Kotthoff said German plants are generally considered the safest, a 1997 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked the German nuclear power station Biblis B second to last in an international nuclear power plant comparison. Only the Maine Yankee plant in the US fared worse, and it's since been shut down. But Paulitz said other nuclear power stations too aren't much better. Bildunterschrift: Germany is again debating whether to stick to a nuclear energy phase out"An unfortunate mixture of technical problems and human error can at any time cause a major nuclear meltdown anywhere," he said. The recent string of incidents comes at a time when nuclear energy seems to be undergoing somewhat of a revival. Considered one of the most cost-effective forms of generating electricity as prices of oil and gas rise, nuclear energy is largely favored by rapidly expanding economies in eastern Europe and Asia to meet their spiraling energy needs. "The debates about climate change and reducing emissions also play a role here," said Alan McDonald of the IAEA. "And naturally, it's about securing production." Nuclear energy plagued by problems Nuclear energy production, however, remains problematic as most countries using nuclear energy need to import uranium. According to the IAEA, there are only 4.7 tons of economically viable uranium reserves worldwide. Given current levels of usage, experts believe stocks will only last for another 60 years. That would mean that uranium would be depleted faster than oil and gas reserves. Experts also pointed to the unsolved problem of disposing nuclear waste, which remains radioactive for decades. Bildunterschrift: Experts estimate that uranium stocks will only last another 60 years Paulitz said the environmental advantages of using nuclear energy are also limited since it only provides an estimated 1.2 percent of the world's energy needs. For nuclear energy to make a real difference in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, thousands of new reactors would have to be built, he said. That is hardly possible given the nuclear industry's low production capacity. "It's only about sustaining energy production on this low level and maintaining the technology -- also because of interest in nuclear weapons," Paulitz said, adding that the world could easily do without this marginal energy source. Security poses biggest hurdle IAEA's Mcdonald said that security issues increasingly pose the biggest hurdle when it comes to using nuclear energy. The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog has set up an entire department to explore ways of preventing the misuse of nuclear materials and terrorist attacks on reactors. "Terrorists who plant to blow up a nuclear reactor can do so with relatively easy means," Paulitz said. "Protecting against such attacks is just not possible." Energy Giant's Europe Chief Quits After Nuclear Scandal 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. (18.07.2007) * Critics Slam Energy Firm For Handling of Fire At Nuclear Plant Critics have slammed a German energy company for failing to reveal the full extent of a fire last week at a German atomic plant that came amid a fresh debate about nuclear energy and global warming. (05.07.2007) * "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) © 2007 Deutsche Welle ***************************************************************** 15 UPI: Analysis: Vattenfall's nuclear disaster United Press International - Energy - Analysis Published: July 27, 2007 at 4:40 PM By STEFAN NICOLA UPI Energy Correspondent BERLIN, July 27 (UPI) -- The reputations of nuclear energy and Vattenfall, one of Europe's largest energy companies, have taken a beating after incidents at two nuclear power plants in Germany. "A lot of trust has been lost in the last weeks," Lars Josefsson, chief executive officer of Vattenfall and the poster boy of the industry's green movement, said recently in Berlin. "If a company operates reactors, it must always maintain trust and dialogue with the public." Josefsson's appreciation of the situation may come too late: Already, the affair has turned into a media disaster for Vattenfall and the nuclear energy industry. Last month, Vattenfall had to shut down two of its nuclear reactors in Germany. On June 28, a fire in the Vattenfall reactor Kruemmel, near Hamburg, triggered a massive fire fighter deployment and an emergency shutdown. On the same day, a transformer in the reactor Brunsbuettel, also in northern Germany, short-circuited, causing an emergency shutdown. When the reactor was restarted, on July 1, more irregularities and malfunctions surfaced, which were not properly reported by Vattenfall -- despite timely inquiries by the state nuclear safety organization. Officials have argued the incident was not "noteworthy," causing an uproar in the German media and among left-wing politicians, who want to phase out nuclear energy in Germany by 2021. When a few days later, faulty construction was detected in Brunsbuettel; officials completely shut down the reactor on July 21. By that time, however, the damage was already done. "It was a big information mess," Dag Klackenberg, the board chairman of Vattenfall, said recently on Swedish television. He admitted that the incidents had damaged the company's image and blamed the European and German management of the company for reacting too slowly in giving out information to the public about the incident. "They believed we were hiding something, which we were not," he said. "This is self-inflicted, stupid and we have to start over." Since the affair surfaced, three key people have been fired or have had to resign: Bruno Thomauske, the head of its German nuclear power division, was dismissed over being too secretive about the Kruemmel fire. The head of Vattenfall Europe, Klaus Rauscher, and Johannes Altmeppen, the firm's communications director, resigned shortly afterward. To smooth out the rough edges of the media disaster, Vattenfall said it wants to spend nearly $7 million to clarify what exactly happened in Brunsbuettel and Kruemmel. The affair comes just as nuclear is undergoing somewhat of a revival: Emerging economies bank on nuclear as a relatively cheap and stable power generation source, and the Paris-based International Energy Agency praises nuclear's carbon-dioxide free power generation in connection with efforts to curb climate change. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, say nuclear should remain in the country's future energy mix. They argue that the incidents in Brunsbuettel and Kruemmel do not justify calls for an immediate nuclear energy phase out, which is scheduled for 2021. "Just because a transformer is burning through, the politicians' sense shouldn't," conservative lawmaker Peter Ramsauer recently told German news channel n-tv. "A transformer fire can happen at every hydro power or biomass plant. But imagine calling for the immediate exit from using hydro energy just if a transformer is burning in a plant." The opponents of nuclear energy, however, are not convinced: They argue that nuclear energy companies don't deserve credibility if security deficits are glossed over or even swept under the rug. The left wing of the German government is exploiting the incident to fortify its calls to hold on to the plan to phase out nuclear energy in Germany by 2021, a plan unique in Europe and one criticized by Merkel's conservatives. The debate over nuclear in Germany will also depend on the outcome of the next elections, and whether Merkel's conservatives can govern alone or will continue in the team up with the Social Democrats. But the overall phase-out will come eventually: According to the International Atomic Energy Association, there are some 4.7 tons of economically viable uranium reserves left. Given current levels of usage (and usage will increase in the coming years), nuclear energy only has 60 years left. -- © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin to unhook second unit at weekend to service turbine - By CTK / Published 27 July 2007 Temelin, July 26 (CTK) - The Temelin nuclear power station will unhook its second unit from the grid next weekend to service a modernised turbine, Temelin spokesman Marek Svitak told CTK today. The shutdown will begin late at night on Friday and will last almost all weekend. The unit will be connected to the grid on Sunday afternoon. This week, Temelin staff completed a key test on the turbine, monitoring its vibrations on a full reactor output. "Preliminary results have confirmed an expected improvement in the behaviour [minimal vibrations] of the modernised high-pressure part of the turbine," said Svitak. But technicians still want to improve the parameters and they plan to balance, adjust and check regulatory valves during the shutdown. "The goal is to ensure the best parameters of the entire turboset ahead of a planned guarantee measurement scheduled for autumn," said Svitak. Czech state-run power producer CEZ, running the power station, will also replace part of the turbine in the first unit this year, during a fuel-replacement shutdown in August. The modernised part will raise the output of each unit by at least 26 megawatts to 1,020 MW and prolong the life span of the turbine. The replacement of rotors and other parts in both units will cost almost Kc700 million. The concern hopes the investment will return in three years at the latest. The replacement is due to problems with a vibrating turbine. Temelin staff removed the problems last year, but CEZ has decided to replace and modernise part of the turbine which was produced 22 years ago. The high-pressure part is an integral part of the turbine, which also comprises three low-pressure parts. Inside the high-pressure part, steam expands to set turbine vanes in motion. This story is from the Czech News Agency (CTK). The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content. Copyright 2007 by the Czech News Agency (CTK). All rights reserved. Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the prior written consent of CTK is expressly forbidden. copyright 2007 monitor ce media services s.r.o. | all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 17 Business Report & Journal: Georgia is One Step Closer to New Nuclear Reactors July 28, 2007 PSC approves plan over objection of environmental groups By Stephen Sacco TBR Staff (Editor's note: This is the second of two articles examining nuclear issues with potential impact on the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry area. To review the article that appeared in the July 23 edition, visit our Web site at www.savannahbusiness.com.) Plant Vogtle in Burke County, two hours north of Savannah on the Savannah River, is one step closer to adding two additional nuclear reactors. On July 12, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously approved a long-term energy plan for the state - after negotiations with utility companies, environmental groups, PSC staff, the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs and other groups. The plan provides for approval of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, with the provision that Georgia Power, the majority owner of Vogtle, show that it cannot provide the same amount of energy (roughly 2,400 megawatts) with another source at less expense. Environmental groups were not pleased. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) refused to sign off on the plan. The group said that the plan failed to put enough emphasis on protecting the water supply and investing in energy conservation. "Failure of Georgia to invest aggressively in energy efficiency will translate into more high-cost power plants and transmission lines in the future," SACE stated after the vote. "This is a loss of savings consumers could otherwise enjoy from lower energy bills." Tal Wright, a spokesperson for Georgia Power, said that the company has not definitely committed to building the reactors but a number of factors are making nuclear energy more economically attractive. Construction Cost a Sticking Point The earliest the nuclear reactors could be licensed, built and operational is 2015 at roughly $2 billion a reactor, Georgia Power said last fall. The cost of construction, however, is uncertain, Wright said. Construction costs are going up as the cost of raw materials continues to rise. The cost of constructing the reactors has been a prickly subject between Georgia Power, environmental groups and the PSC. The deal passed earlier this month requires Georgia Power to hold a competitive bidding process. The company lobbied for permission to forego state-mandated bidding and further requested that it be given permission not to inform the PSC of the price of construction. "The bid exemption was a misguided attempt by Georgia Power to control a future energy market with utility-owned nuclear reactors," said Rita Kilpatrick with SACE. Her organization told the PSC that Georgia Power was intentionally under-estimating its construction costs and that its estimates were out of range with other industry and government estimates. The cost of the existing reactors at Plant Vogtle was a whopping $9 million, almost $8 million over the original estimate. Wright, however, said that things have changed since what he called the "Three Mile Island era," in reference to the accident at a nuclear power plant at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island in 1979. Construction of reactors these days is not an improvised process between the industry and regulators, as it was in the 1970s and '80s, Wright said. "Plans for (nuclear power reactors) have become standardized," he said. "The industry and regulators got together to achieve this." Natural gas, another possibility, is currently very expensive, Wright pointed out. That leaves coal. "When the (commission) says 'other sources, I think they are basically talking about coal," he said. Wright said that while coal plants are cheaper to build than nuclear, they are also more expensive to run and require the installation of EPA-required scrubbing technology that can sometimes cost more than the actual coal plant. "The other unknown in this is if there will be a carbon tax," Wright said. A carbon tax is an idea that has been tossed around in order to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emission, which are believed to play a role in global warming. Federal Cheerleaders The Bush Administration and the energy industry have touted nuclear energy has a way to reduce global warming. A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, however, determined that roughly 1,500 new reactors would have to be built worldwide by mid-century for nuclear power to have even a modest impact on greenhouse gasses. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides incentives for energy companies to build new reactors. There are tax incentives and a new licensing system, and the government is offering "risk insurance" for the first six reactors built to protect against licensing delays. If Georgia Power decides to go ahead with its plans, the construction of the reactors is still contingent upon obtaining federal licenses. The PSC will not make a final decision on its approval of the reactors until 2008. Software © 2007 The Business Report & Journal 340 Eisenhower Dr. . Suite 240 Savannah, GA 31406 912.351.9122 Software © 1998-2007 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 18 Herald Sun: Opal nuclear reactor shut down | Welcome to Herald Sun. Skip to: Search Box Section Navigation NEWS.com.au | July 27, 2007 11:54am THE new Opal reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear plant is to be shut down for eight weeks because of equipment faults, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) said today. There were no safety or radiation exposure issues, ANSTO said. The closure follows problems identified since the new reactor began operating 11 months ago. ANSTO chief executive Ian Smith said the shutdown would affect silicon customers and cause delays in neutron beam research. "During the shutdown, equipment which has faults will be thoroughly investigated and, where possible, repaired," he said. This included a dilution problem earlier this year where light water from a reactor pool seeped into the heavy water contained in the reflector vessel around the core. "To solve the dilution problem, further pressure testing is required," Dr Smith said. "Whilst the dilution issue does not affect safety or operation, if left unrepaired it would ultimately affect the performance of the reactor." Dr Smith said ANSTO also would examine fuel plates that were dislodged this week when fuel assemblies were inserted into the reactor's core during the last monthly fuel change. "ANSTO will be undertaking a series of tests to fully determine the cause of that event," he said. The supply of nuclear medicines would not be affected by the temporary shutdown as arrangements were in place to import these products, he said. © Herald and Weekly Times. All times AEST (GMT + 10). ***************************************************************** 19 Deccan Herald: US lawmakers warn Bush on nuclear deal Friday, July 27, 2007 Washington, PTI: In a letter to President Bush, as many as 23 Congressmen-led by Democratic lawmaker Edward Markey expressed their concern that perhaps Washington may have capitulated to Indias demands on the agreement. US lawmakers have warned Bush administration of “inconsistencies” in the 123 agreement after reports that Washington has agreed to allow India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel under civilian nuclear deal with New Delhi. The warning came after the agreement between the US and India was finalised in extended talks in Washington last week. In a letter to President Bush, as many as 23 Congressmen-led by Democratic lawmaker Edward Markey expressed their concern that perhaps Washington may have “capitulated” to India’s demands on the agreement. The Congress passed the Hyde Act less than a year ago, settling minimum conditions that must be met for nuclear cooperation with India, as well as the non-negotiable restrictions on such cooperation, Merky said. Stating that these conditions and restrictions were not optional or advisory, Mr Markey warned: “If the 123 agreement has been intentionally negotiated to side-step or bypass the law and the will of Congress, final approval for this deal will be jeopardised.” In the letter, the lawmakers stressed “the necessity of abiding by the legal boundaries set by Congress” for nuclear deal. “The Agreement is subject to the approval of Congress, and any inconsistencies between the Agreement and the relevant US laws will call congressional approval deeply into doubt,” lawmakers told the White House. They also picked upon India’s growing economic and military ties to Iran as a factor which could imperil congressional approval of the deal. “The President cannot re-write laws during a closed-door negotiation session with a foreign government. Though some of us disagreed during last year’s debate over nuclear cooperation with India, all of us are intent on defending the prerogatives of Congress and reinforcing that the law must be followed without exceptions,” Markey said. The Bush Administration has to get Congressional approval on the bilateral deal before any nuclear cooperation can commence. Concerns still unaddressed New Delhi, DHNS: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday tried to assure Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee that the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement reached in Washington last week would not adversely impact the strategic programmes of the country, but the BJP insisted that its apprehensions were not allayed and it was not privy to the daft agreement. The also PM sought to clarify “misgivings” on the Indo-US nuclear deal when a high powered delegation led by Mr Vajpayee with senior colleagues Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra met him here at his residence. The government has approved the draft Indo-US nuclear agreement, saying “all concerns” of India have been adequately addressed. The BJP fears that once the deal comes into effect, India loses forever its option of conducting a nuclear weapons test. , even if any other country tests. According to the party leaders, it not only makes Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation contingent upon India not testing but also envisages that the US would insist on the right of return of nuclear material and equipment provided to India. The top BJP leaders first assembled at Mr Vajpayee’s residence to discuss the issue before driving down to 7, Race Course Road, the prime minister’s official residence. The BJP has been demanding that the government take the opposition into confidence on the progress in the agreement. Soon after the two-hour meeting with the prime minister, Mr Sinha said his party’s apprehensions on the nuclear deal were “not allayed completely”. “We have no reason to distrust him, but we would like to first go through the text of the draft agreement”, he said. He added, “the text of the agreement is clearly frozen, neither India nor the US can now make any changes in it. But they (government) have not shared with us the text of the agreement, They tried to share only the main elements of the agreement”. Mr Sinha has recently been appointed as head of a BJP committee on foreign policy on the neighbouring countries. He said the party told the prime minister that in absence of the text “to which we are not privy at this stage, it will be difficult for us to respond in detail to the provisions of the bilateral agreement.” The prime minister, in response told the saffron delegation that the country’s concerns were adequately met in the 123 agreement signed in Washington last week. Former deputy prime minister L K Advani could not attend the meeting with the prime minister, as he is away on a visit to Singapore. Earlier on July 6, Vajpayee expressed “serious concern” over the constitution of a task force with the prime minister’s approval about a month ago to allegedly reverse “existing policy on disarmament and non-proliferation”. The confidence of the US Secretary of State that the Indo-US nuclear deal would be concluded before the end of this year “may also be linked to the review of India’s policies”, Vajpayee had said. “The establishment of this task force at this juncture is nothing more than a thinly veiled move towards reversing our nuclear related policies with a view to bringing them in conformity with many of the highly objectionable provisions of the Hyde Act; and then to pretend that the changes have been undertaken by us autonomously,” Mr Vajpayee said. According to the former prime minister, amongst the various measures included in the Hyde Act, “designed to stymie” the development of India’s nuclear weapons capability, the two which will have “the greatest adverse impact” on the country’s national security are those pertaining to the ban on nuclear tests by India and its “working actively with the United States for the early conclusion” of a “multilateral” Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty (FMCT). Copyright 2007, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G. Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001 Tel: +91 (80) 25880000 Fax No. +91 (80) 25880523 ***************************************************************** 20 Spartanburg Herald-Journal: Ex-Reagan official backs nuclear plant | GoUpstate.com | By JASON SPENCER, jason.spencer@shj.com Published July 27, 2007 America must increase its reliance on nuclear power to avoid being "held hostage" to only one or two energy sources, and the proposed nuclear plant in Cherokee County will, in part, help move this country toward that goal, former U.S. Secretary of Energy John Herrington said Thursday. Herrington, who served under President Ronald Reagan, is supporting former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. In a phone interview from his San Francisco office, he had nothing but good things to say about both Giuliani and nuclear power. In his mind, there won't be any three-eyed fish, as seen on "The Simpsons," swimming in the Broad River when Duke Energy's William States Lee plant goes online in 2016. "You have to see the possibilities that this can be good for us before you're willing to look for solutions," said Herrington, 68. "And a lot of these people have not gotten to that point yet." A question about nuclear power drew different responses from the three Democratic presidential frontrunners earlier this week during the CNN/YouTube debate in Charleston. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he was against nuclear power because of the time and cost required to develop a plant and this country's inability to properly dispose of nuclear waste. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said nuclear power should be explored as part of an "energy mix" that includes more reliance on solar power and drastically increasing the fuel efficiency of cars. And New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said she was "agnostic" about nuclear power. Herrington, on Thursday, countered that, "None of those answers are responsible," and that, "The waste argument is a sham." Yucca Mountain, a nuclear test site about 100 miles from Las Vegas, is a suitable place to dispose of nuclear waste, he said. It's scheduled to start accepting waste in March 2017, though House Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said, "It'll never happen." Herrington agreed that nuclear plants are expensive and take years to plan and develop. "But it shouldn't be. And we need to change that," he said. "And I think a president can change that. You can get the licensing requirements more simple. You can set a national policy that says we are going to have so much percentage nuclear power, and you can make a more favorable environment." A Giuliani administration would work to increase the amount of nuclear power in this country's energy pool from 20 percent to 25 percent - and then, perhaps, beyond that, Herrington said. While the Lee plant has the local government seeing only dollar signs - the $6 billion investment is expected to bring 800 high-paying jobs, and generate millions in annual tax revenue for the county government and local schools - it has drawn the ire of several environmental groups. Last year, two such groups flew in a Russian scientist who helped direct cleanup following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to drive home their point. It was the 20th anniversary of the disaster. On that day, German Lukashin said, "Nuclear energy is dangerous and must be controlled. It's a crime for the government to lie to the people and say that this energy is safe." A Duke Energy spokeswoman at the time said that the new reactors would be built with the safest technology available, though it would be the first time such reactors would be used. Soon after, the Radiation and Public Health Project's Joseph Mangano, in a guest editorial in the Herald-Journal, cited statistics that showed an increase in infant mortality rates and cancer-related deaths in York County since the Catawba Nuclear Station opened there about 20 years ago. Herrington dismissed those claims. Thousands died each year in coal-mining accidents, he said, and then called nuclear power the safest form of electricity available. "You have to be very cautious. You have to watch it. But it is technology we invented, and we can deal with," he said. ©2007 Spartanburg Herald-Journal | Staff directory . ***************************************************************** 21 Scotsman.com: Power struggle ahead on nuclear energy Sat 28 Jul 2007 COLIN BOYD COAL-BURNING, smoke-belching power stations have had their day. Acceptance of global warming as a genuine problem has heightened demands for cleaner power supplies, and the debate is never more heated than when nuclear energy is on the agenda. With the SNP firmly in the anti camp, north of the Border, it seems, new nuclear power stations are... The full article contains 822 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper. To read the full article now subscribe to "scotsman.com Premium" from as little as ÂŁ29.95 a year. ©2007 Scotsman.com | contact ***************************************************************** 22 ANI: Thorium-based nuke reactors best suited to feed energy hungry economy: Kalam From our ANI Correspondent Chennai, July 27: Former President A PJ Abdul Kalam has said that the country should go in for thorium-based nuclear reactors to feed the energy hungry economy. Addressing teachers and students of Anna University, Kalam said: "India has to go in for nuclear generation in a big way using thorium-based research reactors. Thorium, of course, is a non-fissile material for research available in abundance in our country." He further added that intensive research is essential for converting thorium for maximizing its utilization for electricity generation through thorium-based reactors. India's nuclear power capacity of 14 reactors is presently 3900 Megawatt (MW). It is expected to go to 7400 MW by 2010 with the completion of nine reactors, which are now in progress. Kalam, who demitted office on July 25, is expected to take up a teaching assignment with the premier technical institute, where he worked for some time after superannuating as the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister in 2001-2002. As an honorary professor, Kalam will teach aeronautical engineering, nano-technology, bio-technology and space applications, besides guiding research scholars. Kalam was teaching 'technology and social transformation' at the university between November 2001 and June 2002. Copyright Dailyindia.com/ANI Copyright © 2004-2007 DailyIndia.com ***************************************************************** 23 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: More damage at reactor - 07/27/2007 The damage at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, which was directly hit by the July 16 earthquake, was more serious than initially thought. A crane on the ceiling of the building that houses the No. 6 nuclear reactor at the plant was found broken. The No. 6 reactor was undergoing periodic inspections when the quake hit. Had it been running at the time, the damage could have occurred just above the reactor where a nuclear reaction takes place. According to Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, the damage was limited to a part that moves the crane. TEPCO said the breakage would not cause the crane, weighing more than 300 tons, to fall. Even so, the damage should not be taken lightly. The damage underscores the intensity of the quake near the ceiling of the reactor building. Cracks and distortions may not be detected in visual checks of the crane itself or the surrounding area. And there may be similar damage to cranes of other reactor buildings as well. In terms of earthquake-resistance design, structures in nuclear power plants are categorized into classes ranging from A to C according to their degree of importance. Ceiling cranes are class B. However, in huge facilities such as nuclear power plants, damage to peripheral equipment could eventually lead to problems at the heart of the system. Parts classified as relatively low in importance for quake-resistance also need to be thoroughly examined. Nuclear power plant operators should consider how damage to these parts could have led to further problems in a worst-case scenario. What was immediately clear after the earthquake was that a fire broke out in a transformer at the plant. Later, more than 60 cases of damage became known, including a leak of radioactive water into the Sea of Japan. Unlike thermal power plants and factories, nuclear power plants handle dangerous radioactive materials. Therefore, it takes much longer to inspect them. The damage to the crane was also noticed by experts after removing radioactive contamination from the site. TEPCO will open the lids of pressure containers, which can be likened to furnaces of nuclear reactors, to check for damage inside. Since inspections inside the containers involve a high risk of radiation exposure, the company will use remote-controlled cameras and other equipment for the checks. However, the cranes should first be properly checked and repaired as necessary. At least several months will likely be needed before all seven reactors at the plant are checked and confirmed safe. Local government approval is also needed before the plant resumes operations. Based on fire laws, Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida ordered an emergency shutdown of fuel tanks and other facilities handling hazardous materials at the plant. The earthquake showed that even seemingly minor damage that does not lead to a major accident in the reactors themselves can force nuclear power plants to be shut down for a long time. But spending time to check and repair minor damage can stop fatal disasters from occurring. We should view the suspension of operations as the cost for ensuring safety. --The Asahi Shimbun, July 26(IHT/Asahi: July 27,2007) * The Asahi Shimbun Company ***************************************************************** 24 asahi.com: Watchdog to review crane capabilities at quake-hit plant 07/27/2007 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Government safety experts are taking a fresh look at the strength capabilities of a crane used in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture because it broke in the July 16 earthquake. There could have been serious problems if the ceiling-mounted crane above the No. 6 reactor had been moving lids of up to 140 tons from the reactor container when the 6.8 magnitude temblor struck, a senior power plant official said. For example, it could have dropped onto the reactor. The investigation is being carried out by the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The quake started a fire at a transformer for the No. 3 reactor and caused a leak of radioactive water from the No. 6 reactor. As it happened, the 310-ton steel crane over the No. 6 reactor was idle at the time. As the temblor was so powerful, it broke the steel axles attached to both ends of the crane bar, which connect the wheels to motors. The crane is used to lift and replace the 40-ton lid of the reactor container, as well as the 97-ton lid of a smaller container within, called the pressure vessel, which contains the reactor. It is also used to lift the 700-ton outer lid in five parts. After the earthquake, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), checked the seven reactor buildings for "east-west," "north-south" and "up-down" shaking. TEPCO said that except for the up-down movement at the No. 5 reactor, the force of the earthquake was far greater than anything it had anticipated when the reactors were designed. In the case of the No. 6 reactor building, the up-down shaking reached 488 gals (a gal is a unit of acceleration equal to 1 centimeter per second squared)--more than double the 235 gals anticipated as the upper limit by TEPCO. TEPCO said a review of quake-resistance standards for cranes and other machinery was inevitable.(IHT/Asahi: July 27,2007) * The Asahi Shimbun Company ***************************************************************** 25 WNN: Twenty more years for Loviisa plant 27 July 2007 The two pressurized water reactors (PWRs) at Finland's Loviisa site could operate until 2027 and 2030 under new licenses granted on 26 July. Loviisa Owners Fortum Power and Heat aim for the units, which were built in 1977 and 1981, to have lifespans of 50 years. The company said the new licenses "give a solid foundation for further sustainable development of both safety and operability." The Loviisa units are unique in that the reactors are of the Russian VVER design, but have Western control and instrumentation systems and enhanced safety features such as strengthened containments. Past engineering work has increased their generating capacity by 9.7% and the both now output 488 MWe. According to Finnish nuclear regulations, safety experts Stuk would conduct two periodic safety reviews during the licence period: One by the end of 2015 and the second by the end of 2023. Fortum plan more improvements to the units, and Stuk have said it considers it important that the first periodic safety review occurs soon after those changes. A Stuk statement mentioned monitoring for potential embrittlement of the reactor vessels - an ageing issue that could necessitate remediation work. However, Stuk also said that it knows of no obstacles in principle to the extended operation of the plants. Stuk gave its approval for Loviia's new licenses on 6 July. It needed subsequent approval by the Council of State because Green members of parliament had requested license extensions of only ten years, and their linking to a long-term climate and energy strategy. Finland has another nuclear power plants: Olkiluoto, owned by Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). At Olkiluoto, two boiling water reactors operate and one new PWR is under construction. A third nuclear power company is emerging in the country, called Fennovoima Oy. It is a consotrium of energy companies and heavy industrial energy users which hopes to establish a third site with new reactors in coming years. ***************************************************************** 26 times and star: West Cumbria to be centre of nuclear industry Published on 27/07/2007 WEST Cumbria – once the industrial powerhouse of the county – is set to rise again as the centre of Britain’s 21st century energy industry. The area that produced the coal, the iron, the steel and the atomic power to underpin the economies of the last two centuries has been earmarked to provide some of the solutions to the looming power crises of this one. The coastline from Silloth to Barrow will become Britain’s Energy Coast under a plan submitted to the government by Workington and Copeland MPs Tony Cunningham and Jamie Reed. The blueprint – which envisages an initial ÂŁ500 million invested in the area – will see it become the brains and the brawn behind the country’s power production. That does not just mean the raw materials of power stations, furnaces, pylons and cables but also the classrooms and laboratories where new innovations are dreamed up, cutting-edge technologies perfected and future generations of scientists and technicians schooled. It could eventually see up to ÂŁ2.2billion invested in West Cumbria, with the area becoming the world leader in energy, environment and technology by 2027. It will spearhead the anticipated next generation of nuclear power stations as well as harnessing other energy sources like bio-fuel technology and renewables. The document also calls for better healthcare, road links, housing and education. About 16,000 jobs would be created, offsetting the predicted rundown in employment at Sellafield over the next 15 years. But more than that, the proposal represents an insurance policy for the country as a whole as the world turns away from traditional fossil fuel technology, energy supplies become less secure and markets become subject to wild price fluctuations. Bob Pointing, chief executive of urban regeneration firm West Lakes Renaissance, was part of the delegation that presented the plan to Whitehall. He said it will make West Cumbria “a world class centre for excellence in energy and environmental technology”. “We’ve now got as much endorsement as we could possibly get from government without them writing out a cheque at this stage,” he added. “Next step is to work our plan in with various government departments so they can fit in with their own programmes.” View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.timesandstar.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 27 AU ABC: Councils urged to back anti-nuclear campaign ABC New South Wales Posted July 27, 2007 12:18:00 A protest group says the New South Wales north coast's water resources would make it a likely site for a reactor if Australia's nuclear program were to be expanded. The Cycle Against Nuclear Cycle, a 4,500 kilometre, two-wheeled protest against a nuclear future, is resting up on the north coast. The riders are en route from Rockhampton in central Queensland to Port Augusta in South Australia. Spokeswoman Georgina Pike says the riders will be asking Lismore City Council to officially voice its opposition to nuclear power. "A big part of this campaign is local communities rallying together and acting against what is essentially a push from the Federal Government, and it's a push on communities that don't want this to happen," she said. "So a part of that will be getting local councils to re-declare their nuclear-free status." Tags: nuclear-issues, activism-and-lobbying, nuclear-energy, lismore-2480 ***************************************************************** 28 Guardian Unlimited: Senate Approves Security Bill Friday July 27, 2007 5:16 AM By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Thursday night approved a package of security measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission, shifting more federal money to high-risk states and cities and requiring more stringent screening of air and sea cargo. The measure passed by a 85-8 vote. The House was expected to pass the bill as early as Friday, sending it to the president and giving Democrats a much-needed legislative victory just a week before Congress adjourns for its August recess. Along with a boost in the minimum wage, which went into effect on Tuesday, the 9/11 Commission bill would be at the top of the Democratic majority's achievement list if President Bush signs it into law. The White House has expressed opposition to several provisions in the bill, particularly a requirement that within five years all ship containers be scanned for nuclear devices before they leave foreign ports for the United States, but it has not issued a veto threat. The administration has questioned the feasibility of installing radiation monitoring equipment in more than 600 foreign ports. To soften opposition, the bill's authors gave the Homeland Security secretary authority to delay implementation in two-year increments if needed. The bill also requires the screening of all cargo on passenger aircraft within three years. The independent 9/11 Commission in 2004 came out with 41 recommendations to prevent another terrorist attack, covering tighter domestic security, reform of intelligence gathering and new foreign policy directions. Congress and the White House followed through on several of those recommendations, including creating the new position of director of national intelligence and tightening screening procedures on land borders. But Democrats, in taking over Congress, charged that the GOP response to the recommendations had been insufficient. The House passed its version of the 9/11 bill on the first day of Democratic control last January, and the Senate approved its bill in March. Efforts to reach a House-Senate compromise on the issue gained momentum only after Democrats agreed to drop language, which had prompted a veto threat, that would have given airport screeners collective bargaining rights. Other Democratic priorities have met with less success: Immigration reform couldn't get through the Senate, the president vetoed stem cell research legislation, and the House and Senate were still trying to work out a deal on lobbying reform. The 9/11 bill would change the formula for distributing federal security grants to ensure that high-risk states and urban areas get a greater share. High-risk cities such as New York and Washington have complained that the current formula, which divides money more evenly around the country, does not reflect the realities of the terrorist threat. The bill also establishes a new interoperability grant program to assure that local, state and federal officials can communicate with each other and approves $4 billion over four years for rail, transit and bus security. It strengthens security measures for the Visa Waiver Program, which allows travelers from select countries to visit the United States without a visa and, in another provision opposed by the White House, requires that the total amount appropriated for the intelligence community be made public. Final House-Senate agreement this week came only after Democrats agreed to a Republican demand that gives protection from lawsuits to people who in good faith report what they believe is terrorist activity around airplanes, trains and buses. The issue grew out of an incident last fall when six Muslim scholars were removed from a Minneapolis flight after other passengers said they were acting strangely. The scholars have filed suit, saying their civil rights were violated. The bills are H.R.1 and S.4 On the Net: Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/ Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 29 BBC NEWS: Russia downplays submarine blast Last Updated: Friday, 27 July 2007, 18:00 GMT 19:00 UK Russia says one of its nuclear submarines has been damaged by a surge in air pressure, downplaying earlier reports of an explosion. A ballast tank aboard the submarine was damaged in what a navy official described as a minor incident, according to the Interfax news agency. No casualties were reported and radiation levels at the White Sea port of Severodvinsk are said to be normal. According to the Reuters news agency, the Russian navy usually shuts down reactors and removes nuclear fuel during repairs to its submarines. "The management of the [dockyard]... considers the accident as minor," Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo told the Itar-Tass news agency. An environmental official in Norway, near the port of Severodvinsk, told Reuters there was no sign of increased radioactivity as a result of the accident. Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio earlier reported that an explosion had damaged more than 20sq m (215sq ft) of the submarine's hull. Russia's ageing fleet of nuclear submarine has a history of deadly accidents. In one of the worst recent incidents, the Kursk submarine sank to the floor of the Barents Sea after two explosions on board, killing all 188 crew. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 30 RIA Novosti: Russian Navy denies nuclear sub blast - 1 17:13 | 27/ 07/ 2007 MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy denied Friday media reports of an explosion aboard a nuclear submarine under repair in Severodvinsk, on the White Sea, Thursday. Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Russian Navy commander, said one of the submarine's main ballast tanks at a dockyard was damaged due to "excessive air pressure," which "dockyard officials are treating as a routine occurrence." Dygalo said no one was injured in the incident, adding that the damaged tank would be repaired. The Russian Navy has been hit by several accidents involving submarines. The worst occurred August 12, 2000, when the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank, killing all 118 crewmembers, after a torpedo exploded onboard. In August 2005, the Priz AS-28 mini-sub with seven sailors onboard became entangled in a fishing net at a depth of about 190 meters (about 620 feet) in the Berezovaya Bay in the Bering Sea. It was rescued after three days with the help of an unmanned British deep-sea rescue vehicle, the Scorpio 45. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 31 AFP: Russian polar expedition back on course after hitch - Thu Jul 26, 6:48 PM ET MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian expedition aimed at staking a claim to what could be an oil-rich region beneath the Artic Ocean was back on course Friday after the crew fixed technical problems, an expedition spokeswoman said. Ship's engineers had sorted out a problem with the propeller engine of the expedition's flagship, the Akademik Fyodorov, a spokeswoman at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Saint Petersburg told AFP. The Akademik Fyodorov and the nuclear-powered ice-breaker Rossiya were "proceeding to the North Pole" and had reached the Franz Josef Archipelago, two thirds of the way from the Russian mainland to the pole, she said. Two parliamentarians, Artur Chilingarov and Vladimir Gruzdev, are to descend some 4,200 metres (14,000 feet) to the seabed under the pole in a Mir mini-submarine. A key goal of the mission is to advance Russia's claims to a vast swathe of territory beneath the Arctic Ocean, thought to be rich in oil, gas and other resources. Two members of parliament are part of the expedition. Together with scientist Anatoly Sagalevich, they will carry out probes of the seabed and leave a Russian tricolour flag and a capsule there containing a message for future generations. After that descent, the Akademik Fyodorov, which is equipped with two helicopters, will go on to set up a "drifting ice station" on a sheet of ice, the institute said. The station will be for scientific research purposes such as studying evidence of climate change. Meanwhile, the Vesti television channel reported sighting a US intelligence aircraft flying over the ship, publishing a photo of the airplane on its website overnight. "Earlier we have had information that the United States were watching the North Pole expedition, but there was no proof. And now we managed to take a picture of the airplane," the channel said in the report. Russia claims extra territorial waters based on the contention that a ridge of seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends into northern Canada, is actually an extension of continental Russia. The United States has opposed Russian attempts to claim control of large swathes of ocean off its northern coast, arguing that these waters should be fully open to international shipping. The descent to the polar seabed is to take place on Sunday or Monday, the spokeswoman said. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 32 Las Vegas SUN: Appointee didn't seek Nevada nuclear dump panel seat Today: July 27, 2007 at 10:5:7 PDT CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley says she had barely agreed to a request from Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons' office to apply for a seat on the state Nuclear Projects Commission before it was accepted and then abruptly rejected. Gibbons announced last week that the seat on the commission, which has been strongly opposed to federal plans for a nuclear waste dump in Nye County, should go to "a representative who shares the primary sentiment of Nevada's residents and my administration's views on the Yucca Mountain Project." Eastley resigned a day after Gibbons confirmed her appointment, saying he had been assured she wasn't a dump supporter. Her resignation came on the same day that news accounts detailed her longstanding support for the high-level waste dump project. Eastley told the Pahrump Valley Times this week that she had never tried to force her way onto the commission and had been asked repeatedly to apply by a staffer in Gibbons' office. The staffer, not identified by Eastley, called her about a month ago and then "contacted me several times" in pursuing the matter, Eastley said. Eastley said she submitted her resume, was notified that it had been approved, and then got a call July 18 from the Gibbons administration telling her the appointment would be canceled. "They said, 'We didn't know you supported Yucca Mountain,' and I said, 'You never asked me.' I was asked to apply. I didn't push my way in," Eastley said. "I was asked to apply several times." Melissa Subbotin, a spokeswoman for Gibbons, said the governor decided "it would be prudent to put somebody in that position who shared the views of a majority of the state regarding Yucca Mountain." Whatever the governor's point of view, Eastley said it is her opinion that a diversity of views on the commission might have been worthwhile. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 33 ReviewJournal.com: Nuclear panel appointment confusing Jul. 27, 2007 Yucca Mountain supporter says Gibbons aides recruited her By MOLLY BALL REVIEW-JOURNAL The Nevada Nuclear Projects Commission's whole mission is to shape state policy on Yucca Mountain. Gov. Jim Gibbons opposes the proposed nuclear waste repository about 100 miles outside Las Vegas. So why did he essentially recruit a pro-Yucca official to the commission? In her first comments on the appointment, Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley told the Pahrump Valley Times earlier this week that the governor's office urged her to seek the position and didn't ask her what she thought about Yucca. Eastley told the paper that, starting last month, someone from Gibbons' office whom she declined to name repeatedly suggested she apply for the appointment. Then, shortly after she was told she was getting the post, the appointment was being rescinded. Eastley resigned before that could occur. "They (the governor's office) said, 'We didn't know you supported Yucca Mountain,' and I said, 'You never asked me,' " Eastley told the newspaper. "I was asked to apply -- I didn't push my way in. I was asked to apply several times." The governor's office said Eastley was encouraged to apply because "she was recommended to our office," Gibbons spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said Thursday. "Staff followed up on the recommendation and contacted her. That's standard procedure." Subbotin said she didn't know who recommended Eastley, what staff member contacted the commissioner or whether any vetting was done before Eastley's application was sought. Once Eastley submitted her resume, "There was a cursory review of her views on Yucca Mountain, and based on the information we obtained, we felt that she remained objective in her views regarding Yucca Mountain," Subbotin said. Eastley's pro-Yucca views have been documented in several news articles, including a 2002 Review-Journal story in which she embraced the nuclear waste dump. "The people in this community are very patriotic and they're proud of the fact that they had something to do with developing the storage facility for this waste," Eastley was quoted as saying at the time. Eastley, who lives in Tonopah, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Once Eastley's position on Yucca came to light last week, Gibbons acted to remove her, saying he admired her service to the community in other matters but needed someone who agreed with him on the nuclear commission. The question remains, however, how and why Eastley was ever Gibbons' pick for the post. The state Democratic Party criticized the short-lived appointment Thursday based on Eastley's reported comments. "Either Gibbons is softening on our state's long tradition of united, bipartisan opposition to the nuclear waste dump, or he doesn't know what is going on in his own office with regard to one of the most important dangers facing Nevadans," Kirsten Searer, the party's deputy executive director, said in a prepared statement. "Gibbons needs to fess up on who in his office encouraged Eastley to apply for this key position. And he should explain why no one asked about her long-standing support for Yucca Mountain, even as they were courting her for this vital role," Searer added. The Nuclear Projects Commission is a seven-member board whose members are chosen by the governor, the Legislative Commission, the League of Cities and the Association of Counties. "Its job is to advise the governor and the Legislature about what the policies regarding Yucca Mountain should be for the state," said Bob Loux, the commission-appointed executive director of the Agency for Nuclear Projects. And the state's official position is anti-Yucca. Like the rest of Nevada's federal representatives, Gibbons opposed the waste dump as a five-term congressman representing northern and rural Nevada, including Nye County, where the repository would be located. Many Nye County residents see the project as inevitable and a potential economic opportunity. Subbotin said it doesn't matter what happened with Eastley, because the matter is closed. "The governor has a long track record of being opposed to the Yucca Mountain project, and he believes the membership of the commission should reflect his views," Subbotin said. "We're moving past that appointment. That's a moot issue. ... This issue is no longer relevant." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 34 Daily News Journal: Dumping opponents object to chosen adviser www.dnj.com - By TURNER HUTCHENS trhutchens@dnj.com — Turner Hutchens, (615) 278-5161 Opponents of the low-level radioactive dumping at Middle Point Landfill are criticizing the state's choice of independent adviser on the program that allows the dumping. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Municipal Solid Waste Committee is hiring Elisabeth Stetar for $5,000 to advise on the Bulk Survey for Release program, which allows the disposal of low-level radioactive waste by private companies in five Tennessee landfills, including Middle Point Landfill on Jefferson Pike in the Walter Hill community. Kathy Ferris, a member of the Rutherford County grass-roots organization Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee, said Stetar's former employment with TDEC should disqualify her as an independent adviser. "She's got a vested interest, Ferris said. "Even if the woman is perfectly honest, I don't see how she can be objective. I think independent should be independent." Stetar was employed by TDEC's Division of Radiological Health from 1984 to 1988 and also did some work for the department regarding the Oak Ridge facility from 1998 to 2000, according to her resume. TDEC spokeswoman Tisha Calabrese-Benton said the committee was working with a very short time frame. The committee has been charged with evaluating the BSFR program and making a recommendation on it to the state Legislature by Sept. 3. Stetar is well qualified and her employment with TDEC was a long time ago, Calabrese-Benton said. "I think her resume speaks for itself," she said. Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. Users ***************************************************************** 35 AFP: Australian FM rebuffs Pakistan over uranium - Fri Jul 27, 7:37 AM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer dismissed a plea from a Pakistani minister to supply uranium to his country, saying the South Asian nation did not have any nuclear power stations. Australia on Thursday said it was considering selling uranium to India after New Delhi finalises a landmark civilian nuclear deal with the United States. Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq said if Canberra agreed to sell uranium to India, it should also consider selling the resource to its South Asian nuclear rival. "Pakistan should be considered alongside India when countries who are working in this region, they have to keep the balance of power in this region," ul-Haq told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The minister said Islamabad would use the uranium for energy purposes. "Pakistan's nuclear program is totally peaceful," he said. "If we are going to go further into nuclear it is going to be for energy, because we are suffering from power shortages." But Downer downplayed the request, saying the religion minister may not be the best person to comment on uranium sales. "Pakistan, I might be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge anyway, have never approached us on this issue before," Downer told Southern Cross Radio. "And I'm not sure the minister for religious affairs could really be termed an expert on this subject, he'd be an expert on religious affairs. "I'm not sure about power and energy generation in Pakistan being his area of profound expertise, but I might be being unfair to him, I simply don't know." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 36 Carlsbad Current-Argus: DOE wants errant waste drum left at WIPP site By Kyle Marksteiner Article Launched: 07/26/2007 09:41:03 PM MDT CARLSBAD ? Officials with the Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office have filed a notice with the New Mexico Environment Department declaring that the errant drum placed in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant last month will have no impact on human health or the environment. While WIPP officials have asked that the drum remain in place, one WIPP critic still wants the drum removed. Last week, the Department of Energy announced that a contractor shipped a non-certified drum containing transuranic waste from the DOE's Idaho Falls site to the nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad. A mistake reading the label on the waste drum led to the error, officials said, and the drum contained liquids, which are prohibited at WIPP. All contact-handled waste shipments to WIPP from the Idaho National Laboratory facility have been temporarily suspended, pending corrective actions. The drum arrived in Carlsbad on June 25 and is currently 36 rows back in its underground room. The July 25 letter to the NMED, signed by Dick Raaz, general manager of WIPP contractor Washington TRU Solutions, and Dave Moody, manager of the DOE's Carlsbad Field Office, noted that, "There is sufficient certainty about the drum to assess its potential impact on human health and environment." The memo states that the only prohibited item in the drum is three-fourths of a cup of liquid that is not ignitable, reactive or corrosive ? all also forbidden at WIPP. Most of the summary to the NMED consists of detailed explanations and charts seeking to establish that the contents of the errant drum do not present any unique danger. According to the memo, the DOE has presently altered its process for disposing of waste while the NMED is determining if the errant drum needs to be retrieved. WIPP is currently receiving shipments from other sites, but Idaho accounted for the bulk of recent shipments. The plan involves putting some waste into Room 5 while waiting to find out if the errant drum in Room 6 needs removal. The report states that 20 rows of waste can be placed in Room 5 without impacting the retrieval plan, but the plan becomes extremely difficult once WIPP resumes placing waste in Room 6. The corrective action report, included in the DOE's notice to the state, said that the operators who retrieved the drum in Idaho did not make sure that the drum had the proper barcode label. The error was extended, the report noted, because the procedure steps for an overpack are not as clear as the procedure steps for non-overpacked containers. Drums that don't meet Department of Transportation requirements are "overpacked" into containers so they do. Moody and Raaz also included a detailed plan of action, noting immediate actions, such as the suspension of shipments to WIPP; investigative actions to see why the problem happened, and to make sure that no other problems existed; and proposed actions to keep the problem from happening again, such as roping off certified container rows, implementing controls to make sure only the proper waste drums are retrieved, additional training and more centralized oversight. Moody and Raaz concluded by again stressing that the errant drum poses no risk to human health and the environment. The NMED will now review the document before taking a position on any removal order, said Jon Goldstein, NMED Director of Waste and Water Management, in a prepared statement. "However, either way, DOE will face a stiff penalty for allowing improper, potentially dangerous waste into WIPP," Goldstein said. Goldstein's statements noted the presence of liquid in the drum. "We are troubled that DOE officials in Idaho made this grave error," he said. "There is a pattern emerging of lax oversight of waste in Idaho, and we expect DOE to act quickly to remedy this situation." "We believe the Environment Department's past enforcement actions have concerned mischaracterization, not actual emplacement of prohibited items at WIPP," he concluded. Don Hancock, head of the Nuclear Waste Safety Project at the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, said he was "surprised and dismayed" by the tone of the DOE's letter to the state. One concern, Hancock said, is that he feels the letter doesn't clarify the planned timetable for resuming shipments. "They are saying two weeks, but it's not clear when the clock starts ticking," he said. "That's important in terms of how I look at it." Another concern of Hancock's is that one chart provided noted that liquid was detected in a number of other drums at Idaho. He stressed that he still feels the errant drum needs to be removed from WIPP. "Now I think there are even more problems," he said. "To me, the situation is getting worse rather than better." Earlier this week, Hancock sent a letter to Moody highlighting some of his organization's concerns. "SRIC believes that concerns should be addressed in a comprehensive and systematic way before shipments resume, to ensure that a similar situation does not occur at any site in the future," he wrote. It was several weeks before the mistake was discovered, Hancock wrote, and the procedures for preventing such errors and for finding such errors were both insufficient. He also suggested a plan to do more to separate containers with liquids from containers without. He alleged that Moody referenced other errors related to Idaho National Laboratory shipments in recent months during a phone conversation last week. "The recurring pattern, including INL shipment problems in previous years, is of great concern," Hancock wrote. The misplaced drum: 10161094, is contained in Room 6, Panel 4 of WIPP's underground facility. According to the DOE, the drum that should have been shipped was 10106194. Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 37 Carlsbad Current-Argus: Questions remain on errant drum The Current-Argus Article Launched: 07/26/2007 09:40:58 PM MDT With the arrival of an "errant" drum of nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project near Carlsbad come many questions. While the actual danger of the materials brought to WIPP without authorization may be downplayed by some, its arrival indicates there are issues to be addressed. There must have been a reason this particular drum was not deemed ready for shipment from the facility at Idaho Falls, Idaho, just as there are reasons when other drums are considered ready. When dealing with the issue of nuclear waste, the difference between being ready and not ready for transport could be quite serious. Is it reasonable to say that the safeguards in place proved sufficient in this case? No. It was only after someone in Idaho spotted a label on another drum that should have been shipped that the snafu was brought to light. The shipping of the wrong drum probably should have been discovered much sooner than it actually was. In fact, because of the labeling, why wasn't the mix-up noticed before the errant drum was ever loaded in Idaho? It could be considered by some as inopportune timing for such an error to occur at a site designated as a repository for nuclear waste, with hopes for an expanded role in the industry. But could there ever be an opportune time for such an event when dealing with nuclear waste? If current safeguards aren't adequate or being enforced, letting "common sense" prevail and leav-ing the "errant" drum alone might be a very costly mistake. Or perhaps the drum in question should stay, especially if the small danger it theoretically could pose is more than offset by the enormous cost to remove it. But WIPP officials need to explain that fully to the public. Every entity and every individual involved in this process has the responsibility and obligation to make certain what's supposed to happen does, and what's not supposed to happen does not. Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 38 NRC: Request To Amend a License To Import Radioactive Waste FR Doc E7-14566 [Federal Register: July 27, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 144)] [Notices] [Page 41360] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jy07-87] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Pursuant to 10 CFR 110.70(c) ``Public notice of receipt of an application,'' please take notice that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received the following request to amend an import license. Copies of the request are available electronically through ADAMS and can be accessed through the Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html at the NRC Homepage. A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene may be filed within 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Any request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene shall be served by the requestor or petitioner upon the applicant, the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; and the Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520. The information concerning this import license amendment application follows. NRC Import License Amendment Application ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description of material Name of applicant, date of ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- application, date received, Total volume and application No., docket No. Material type activity level End use Country of origin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diversified Scientific Services, Class A Total Volume: Volume Reduction.. Canada. Inc. (DSSI/Perma-Fix) May 14, radioactive mixed 378,000 kg. Amend to: (1) 2007, June 18, 2007, IW012/03 waste consisting Total Activity increase the 11005322. of solids, semi- Level: 7,500 total activity solids, and curies. level to 7,500 liquids curies; (2) contaminated with extend the various materials expiration date including to March 31, tritium, C-14, 2010; and (3) mixed fission change the product licensee's point radionuclides and of contact. other contaminants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dated this 18th day of July 2007 at Rockville, Maryland. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Stephen Dembek, Acting Deputy Director, Office of International Programs. [FR Doc. E7-14566 Filed 7-26-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 39 ajc.com: Yucca Mountain nuke project is needed | ajc.com > Opinion By NOLAN E. HERTEL Published on: 07/27/07 There is a threat hanging over the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. It is not the rising cost of the facility, delays in the project's licensing and construction or even funding. It's something much more mundane: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Associated Press An employee of the Yucca Mountain Project walks through a tunnel inside the facility near Mercury, Nev. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid is trying to kill the project, considered vital for the rebirth of nuclear power production. Nolan E. Hertel is a professor of nuclear engineering at Georgia Tech. Nuclear waste, or rather the lack of a workable scheme for storing the waste at a central location, could delay the rebirth of nuclear power simply because Wall Street wants to see some signs of progress on resolving the waste problem before investing in a new generation of nuclear power plants. The fact that no new nuclear plants have been built in the United States in years is a threat to all of us. Nuclear power is needed to help meet the increasing demand for electricity, because it's the only energy source that can provide large amounts of power without emitting carbon dioxide or other global warming gases. Nuclear power can also reduce our dependence on Middle East oil. It is safe, reliable and affordable. But unless more nuclear plants are built to replace older units and meet growing demand for clean power generation, nuclear power's share of the nation's electricity capacity will fall below its current level of 20 percent. If that happens, the danger is that we will not have a balanced mix of clean energy sources to keep electricity costs down. For nuclear power, Yucca Mountain is the key. To make sure the waste does not reach Nevada, Reid is demanding a sharp cutback in spending on the repository project. The Bush Administration's budget for fiscal 2008 provides $494.5 million for the nuclear waste program, which is less than the Department of Energy needs to keep the project's construction timetable from stretching out beyond 2022. But the Democratic leadership is pushing for additional cuts in spending on the project. Money should not be the issue, since users of nuclear-generated electricity around the country have paid almost $29 billion into a federal trust fund established 25 years ago to pay for construction of the repository. But the level of funding has become a problem because most of the money going into the Nuclear Waste Fund has been diverted to pay for other federal programs in what has become an annual shell game. As majority leader, Reid is the project's nemesis. Recently, he prevented a critically important bill aimed at resolving the nuclear waste issue from reaching the Senate floor for a vote. The measure, introduced by U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, would require the government to ship nuclear waste to Nevada for interim storage above ground until the Yucca Mountain facility becomes available. A commonly held image of the Yucca Mountain repository is that once waste canisters are placed in the underground facility it will be sealed forever. This negative image is reinforced by those who refer to Yucca Mountain as a dump. In fact, the facility will remain open for at least 300 years so scientists and engineers can continue to monitor it and eventually retrieve the material for reprocessing. Because it contains valuable plutonium and uranium, the 57,000 metric tons of spent fuel that's being stored at nuclear power plants and awaiting shipment to Yucca Mountain is actually not waste. Most of this material can be recycled into new reactor fuel for electricity generation once an infrastructure is built and methods are developed to ensure that plutonium will not be diverted for weapons use. The remaining waste that cannot be recycled will need to be buried at Yucca Mountain, hence the repository will be needed regardless of whether reprocessing is pursued or not. Although reprocessing would not eliminate the need for the Yucca Mountain facility, it could reduce the amount of waste stored there. © 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ***************************************************************** 40 Albuquerque Tribune: V.B. Price: What a waste How can our state be a real attraction if it's a nuke dump? By V.B. Price Friday, July 27, 2007 Poor New Mexico. We spend less money on tourism than surrounding states and yet depend mightily on its revenues. Almost half of Santa Fe's economy depends on arts- and culture-related businesses. And yet, the state Department of Energy is once again pointing its bony finger at our fair state, looking to dump more nuclear waste. Is New Mexico being a cultural mecca compatible with it also being a nuclear junkyard? How many conventioneers and travelers would risk New Mexico's "glow factor"? The secrecy surrounding nuclear waste in New Mexico is like a hardened silo. Facts are scarce, rumors swirl, and any suspected health dangers are immediately pooh-poohed by the experts. Secrecy like that is bad for business. But it doesn't require secret intelligence to put 2 and 2 together. The state's two economic hot spots, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, are cheek by jowl with the bastions of Cold War nuclear research and development, Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque and Los Alamos National Laboratory. It's public knowledge there's probably large but undisclosed amounts of nuclear waste buried in both sites. We know that plutonium from Los Alamos is appearing in wells near Santa Fe and that the Mix Waste Landfill at Sandia Labs, up hill from the South Valley, is considered so dangerous that its 100,000 cubic feet of contents can't be moved. We've heard suspicions that Sandia Labs and environs have perhaps hundreds of waste dumps, and that the Los Alamos area is home to many more. But even if we don't know all the details about the nuclear waste problem in New Mexico, we do know about waste at other Cold War nuclear development and production sites and can make reasonable analogies to our own. We know the desperation of World War II and the Cold War made the national labs careless, if not to say cavalier, with nuclear waste. Take Hanford, Wash., for instance. Although on a very different cale and with a different mission from the Los Alamos and Sandia labs, Hanford today is a radioactive nightmare with l,700 waste sites and as many as 500 contaminated buildings. There's also 53 million gallons of radioactive nitric acid used in reprocessing spent uranium fuel rods, much of which is contained in single-shell underground tanks that are leaking in a plume headed for the Columbia River. Nuclear watchdogs in New Mexico worry that the DOE will try to reclassify the radioactive acid so it could be transported and stored at WIPP near Carlsbad. While much is known about the Hanford site, very little is known about nuclear waste at the Los Alamos and Sandia labs. But none of this speaks well for doing normal business, or living normal lives, if New Mexico should become a target for even more nuclear waste than we have now. © 2007 The Albuquerque Tribune ***************************************************************** 41 Channel 4 KRNV.com: Nye County Official Speaks Out About Nuclear Commission Seat Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley says she had barely agreed to a request from Governor Gibbons' office to apply for a seat on the state Nuclear Projects Commission before it was accepted and then abruptly rejected. The has been strongly opposed to federal plans for a nuclear waste dump in Nye County. Gibbons said he wanted a representative who shares, "the primary sentiment of Nevada's residents and my administration's views on the Yucca Mountain Project." Eastley resigned a day after Gibbons confirmed her appointment, saying he had been assured she wasn't a dump supporter. Her resignation came on the same day that news accounts detailed her longstanding support for the project. Eastley says she didn't try to force her way onto the commission and had been asked repeatedly to apply by an unnamed staffer in Gibbons' office. She says she was never asked about her position on Yucca Mountain. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) All content © Copyright 2001 - 2007 WorldNow and KRNV. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 MarketWatch: Sumitomo joins uranium project in New Mexico - By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch Last Update: 1:03 AM ET Jul 27, 2007 HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corp. will team with Canada's Strathmore Minerals Corp. to develop a uranium deposit in New Mexico. The firms will form a joint venture to develop the Roca Honda deposit, an 1,841-acre site in the Grant's Mineral Belt, according to a statement by Strathmore (CA:STM: news, chart, profile) (STHJF : STHJF , , ) Thursday. Full-scale production, pending a successful feasibility study, is expected to begin in 2013, according to a report by the Nikkei News. Sumitomo (JP:8053: news, chart, profile) will pay $1 million for the right to participate in the joint venture and contribute up to 40% of the costs of the feasibility study. If the parties agree to proceed with development, Sumitomo will make an additional lump sum payment to Strathmore, the statement said. The Roca Honda deposit contains some 14,000 tons of uranium reserves and is expected to reach a peak annual output of 1,000 tons, or roughly 12% of Japan's annual needs. Sumitomo will fund more than $50 million in development costs toward the mine, and have rights to enter into new projects that Strathmore undertakes in New Mexico, the statement said. Sumitomo plans to purchase the mine's entire annual output, which will be sold mainly to U.S. nuclear power plants, and may consider shipments to Japanese customers, the Nikkei reported. Shares of Sumitomo fell 1.1% in afternoon trading in Tokyo Friday. Chris Oliver is MarketWatch's Asia bureau chief, based in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2007 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). Sumitomo joins uranium project in New Mexico - MarketWatch ***************************************************************** 43 times and star: N-waste site given go-ahead Published on 27/07/2007 PLANS for a nuclear waste treatment plant at Lillyhall, Workington, have been given the go-ahead by Cumbria County councillors today. Studsvik UK now has permission to build the controversial plant, which will treat low-level radioactive metal, on Joseph Noble Road. The chairman of the meeting, Geoff Prest, had the deciding vote at the development control and regulation committee meeting in Kendal this morning. Mr Prest said the decision was finely balanced and the vote was very close. He added: “I know there was opposition to the plans but I could see no reason under our planning guidance to refuse the application. “The question of emissions is a matter for the environment agency and the nuclear authorities. If it isn’t safe it will not get a licence.” Local businessman Keith Thomas, of Motor Engineers Ltd in Workington, spoke out against the plans at the meeting, along with a representative from Iggesund Paperboard, Siddick. Mark Lyons, president of Studsvik, attended the meeting to answer questions from committee members. Local people have campaigned against the plan because, they say, it would have an adverse effect on the area, pose a health risk, damage the local tourist industry and create traffic problems. The plans have also caused the bosses of West Lakes Dairy Park, who wanted to build a cheese factory at Lillyhall, to pull out. The move means the loss of 100 potential jobs. The company was offered other sites in West Cumbria, but turned them down. Dean and Distington parish councils have also objected to the Studsvik UK plans. Despite this, a report from council officers asked the committee members to approve the plans. It said traffic would not be a problem and added: “The application points out that material would be transported in leakproof containers and that similar loads have been transported for many years without accidents.” It also pointed out that there have been two letters of support for the plan, one from the West Cumbria Development Agency. The agency supports Studsvik’s plans because, it says, the facility will help the economic regeneration of the area and will create jobs. It has worked with Studsvik with its plans and does not accept that the site would be harmful to local businesses. The agency said that “the [cheese factory] project has been either stalled or been withdrawn for one reason or another over the years and that in their view this project [Studsvik’s] provides a further excuse for not going ahead.” More than 60 people turned up at Lillyhall to protest against the plans in June when county councillors visited the site. ***************************************************************** 44 times and star: BNFL's record profit Published on 27/07/2007 IMPROVED profitability at Sellafield has helped parent company British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) record a ÂŁ2.3billion profit. The government-owned firm, which is currently selling its British Nuclear Group businesses, including Sellafield, was also boosted by the disposal of its Westinghouse businesses for ÂŁ2.1bn. For the full year to March 3, BNFL said ÂŁ217m in pretax profit was from continued operations and ÂŁ2bn was from discontinued operations following the completion of sales of Westinghouse and its 50 per cent stake in Urencos Enrichment Technology Company Limited for ÂŁ112m. This compares to ÂŁ100m in pretax profit from continued operations and ÂŁ4.4bn from discontinued operations last year. The latter figure was boosted by a restructuring gain under the Energy Act 2004 of ÂŁ4.2 bn. This week, BNFL confirmed it will sell its one-third stake in the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), a politically sensitive weapons site near Reading run with Serco Group PLC and US Lockheed Martin Corp. The group 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. BNFL said that it closed the British Nuclear Group Centre on March 31, which resulted in restructuring provisions, and it will continue to work with stakeholders on creating a National Nuclear Laboratory at Sellafield. ***************************************************************** 45 Nevada Appeal: Feds challenge Nevada order on nuke dump site water Associated Press July 27, 2007 LAS VEGAS - Justice Department lawyers have filed an emergency motion in U.S. District Court, challenging a Nevada order against using state water for drill rigs at the federal government's planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. The lawyers, representing the Department of Energy, moved Wednesday to block state Engineer Tracy Taylor's June 1 cease-and-desist order, which was reinstated Friday. The 45-page document says the federal government isn't trying to undermine Nevada's water permit process and believes Taylor's order is illegal. Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, said nothing in the complaint was unexpected. He said state attorneys probably will file an answer to the motion early next week that will be followed by a court hearing. "We believe that DOE under federal law, after the site recommendation, is not allowed to collect any more data," Loux said, noting that the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project officials understood "that collecting data is unreasonable." The state engineer's cease-and-desist order had been on hold since June 12 until Friday, when the federal government rejected his demand that the water not be used to drill bore holes to extract soil-and-rock samples because the data-collection project is not in the state's interest. The seismic or "geotechnical" information is needed for licensing surface facilities where the government plans to temporarily store the nation's spent nuclear fuel and radioactive defense waste to cool it and sort it before entombing it in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada officials have contended that the site characterization process ended in 2002, when it was recommended to President Bush. Five months later, on July 23, 2002, Bush signed legislation overriding then-Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the project. In December 2002, the state and the Department of Energy entered into an agreement approved by Hunt that allowed DOE officials to use a limited amount of water at the site for showers, restroom facilities, dust suppression and emergencies such as fires. Taylor issued the cease-and-desist order after state officials learned that DOE workers were using Nevada's water for purposes outside of the court-approved agreement. Visit our other news and portal sites. All contents © Copyright 2007 nevadaappeal.com Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701 ***************************************************************** 46 Brisbane Times: What if? Nuclear waste's burning question - Opinion brisbanetimes.com.au Jim Al-Khalili | July 28, 2007 With all things wizardly being topical, what better time to examine one of the practical skills that every self-respecting wizard should master: alchemy? But this near-magical ability to turn base metals into gold is not confined to fiction. The quest for the so-called philosopher's stone that has the power to transmute one substance into another has been the obsession of many great thinkers throughout history. The wealth and power that would come to anyone who mastered alchemy seduced many great scientists and philosophers, including Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and John Locke. All tried to change one element into another, and all failed. Then in 1919, the secret of alchemy was finally revealed in the physics department at Manchester University. The world's first successful alchemist was the New Zealand scientist and Nobel Prize winner Ernest Rutherford, and his discovery was almost accidental. It began when one of his students noticed that when radioactive materials such as radium were placed in a sealed box of air, small amounts of hydrogen, which doesn't exist in ordinary air, began to mysteriously appear. Rutherford realised that in the presence of the powerful radioactive rays, nitrogen, which makes up more than three-quarters of the air we breathe, turns into two other gases - hydrogen and oxygen. The alpha particles being produced by the radium were embedding themselves within the nuclei of nitrogen atoms while knocking out single protons. What remained was an oxygen nucleus, while the protons themselves were actually nuclei of hydrogen. All that is needed then is for these nuclei to accumulate the requisite number of electrons and they become atoms of the respective gases. Today, changing one element into another through such nuclear reactions is routine. What is exciting, and yet not widely known, is that such subatomic alchemy might end up playing a vital part in the way we produce clean energy in the future. A loose interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics is that "there is no such thing as a free lunch". And so it is with electrical energy production. If you burn fossil fuels, you generate carbon dioxide; if you build dams, you destroy the ecology of entire valleys. Nuclear power is no exception. If you carry out controlled fission in a nuclear power station, you get long-lived radioactive waste, and that poses a long-term hazard to the environment unless it is dealt with properly. This has justifiably caused concern among many who would otherwise welcome nuclear power as a source of clean, carbon-free energy. The favoured option is to store the treated and vitrified waste in deep geological repositories. Understandably, people don't want this in their backyard, not least because material such as plutonium remains radioactive for tens of thousands of years. In a democracy in the throes of deciding its future energy policy, such concerns are a serious issue. I find this a very strange concern: here we are trying to figure out how to avert the disaster of climate change now, and yet the long-term problem of nuclear waste still worries us. Human civilisation started less than 10,000 years ago, so to worry whether we'll be technologically advanced enough to deal with this buried waste thousands of years in the future, assuming we survive climate change, is utterly irrational. And, what if there was a way to incinerate the nuclear waste, destroying nearly all that plutonium and dramatically reducing the need for long-term storage? One such strategy is known as accelerator-driven transmutation. The basic idea is to place the radioactive material in a machine and smash it up into much more stable products, with shorter half-lives using a beam of high-energy subatomic particles. The waste would still need to be stored, but would be much less hazardous. At the same time, the process of transmutation would eliminate other biologically toxic products that exist in "normal" nuclear waste. The real beauty of the process is that it could generate more energy than is pumped in. The heat generated by splitting the waste nuclei can be used to generate electricity, part of which is used to run the accelerator and the rest fed into the national grid. The failsafe mechanism is that when the beam is turned off, the reaction stops. This type of plant is known as an "energy amplifier" and the idea has been around since the 1990s. So how feasible is this ability to transmute our nuclear waste? More important, why is no one talking about it? After all, the nuclear waste problem is seen as the major obstacle stopping many people from embracing nuclear power as one of the key ingredients in carbon-free energy generation. It is a source of deep concern that so many people still believe we can slash our reliance on coal and gas solely through renewable sources, such as wind and solar, along with energy conservation in buildings. These are all vital, but if we are going to avert the disasters of climate change while enjoying the standard of living that most in the West would be unwilling to give up, we are going to have to continue our reliance on nuclear energy. If transmutation could be made to work, it would go a long way towards helping the world come to terms with it. Beyond this timescale, we are now finally and genuinely optimistic that the ultimate energy source will come online: nuclear fusion. But that's another story. France has a well-funded program of research looking into transmutation. There are also initiatives in the US, Russia, Switzerland, Italy and Japan, which the British government continues to "monitor". The reason no one has perfected the technology yet is that while in theory it should work, we still do not know exactly what the final transmutation products will be, and in what proportions. The scientific community has to understand the science involved and the technology needed, its practicalities and potential effects. This takes years. The US and Europe have produced roadmaps of timescales of 20 to 35 years. Unfortunately, the nuclear industry does not see transmutation as economically viable and the onus is therefore on us to urge governments to act. Many experts argue that while transmutation is a feasible future technology, there are several other options available, too. The most widely touted is to use what is a called a fast-breeder reactor that would re-use the nuclear fuel over and over again until all the plutonium is burned up. Another option many nations are looking into is to use thorium as the basic nuclear fuel. It is more abundant in nature than uranium, and much less radioactive material is produced compared with uranium fuel cycles. With all these possible options for coping with nuclear waste, it is disappointing that what little public debate there has been seems to have been aimed at answering the question of "should we" rather than the technological question of "could we". The answer to the latter question is only likely to be found in a multidisciplinary effort involving scientists from a wide range of fields. Then the philosopher's stone will be within our grasp once more. Guardian News & Media Jim Al-Khalili is professor of physics and professor of the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. Agreement Copyright © 2007. Brisbane Times. ***************************************************************** 47 AU ABC: Beattie rejects threat over uranium mine bans - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted July 27, 2007 13:10:00 Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has dismissed a threat from the Federal Government to seize control of uranium mines as a political stunt. Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane says he is seeking legal advice on overruling state bans on uranium mining. Mr Beattie has told ABC NewsRadio he will call a referendum on the issue if the Federal Government takes any action, but he says he does not think the threat is serious. "It's just an attack on Labor, it's just an attack on two Labor states, that's all," he said. "It's about trying to attack Labor administrations in the lead-up to the federal election. "Australians see through this - this is the old three-card trick. "Australians are not mugs. The Howard Government and Mr Macfarlane just think that Australians are silly. They're not." Tags: business-economics-and-finance, industry, environment, nuclear-issues, government-and-politics, federal-government, federal-state-issues, states-and-territories, uranium-mining, qld ***************************************************************** 48 Seattle: PI: Progress made in cleaning Hanford's K West Basin Last updated July 27, 2007 12:41 p.m. PT RICHLAND, Wash. -- Workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation are making big strides in cleaning up the highly radioactive K West Basin, filled with wastes from the production of atomic weapons. Hanford workers have finished vacuuming the bulk of radioactive sludge from the floor of the basin into underwater containers, leaving bare concrete. "This is another example of the momentum we continue to sustain in cleaning up the site and eliminating risk to the Columbia River," Dave Brockman, manager of the Department of Energy's Hanford office, said in a statement. Completion of the sludge removal task allows DOE to meet a revised legal deadline and a commitment to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to have the sludge in containers by the end of this month. "We're pleased," said Larry Gadbois, environmental scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates the project. "It's another step in risk reduction." Both of Hanford's K reactors had irradiated fuel stranded in their cooling basins after fuel processing stopped at the end of the Cold War. The fuel in the K East and K West basins corroded and mixed with dirt and concrete from the basin walls to form radioactive sludge. After the fuel was removed, Hanford workers struggled to vacuum the sludge into underwater containers to allow it to be treated. Hanford workers spent two years vacuuming the bulk of the sludge from the leak-prone K East Basin into containers. But it took just seven months to vacuum sludge in the K West Basin into underwater containers. That was due, in part, to K West being cleaner. It held about 10 cubic yards of sludge, compared to the 37 cubic yards of sludge that contaminated the K East Basin. At the K East Basin, contractor Fluor Hanford discovered that the tons of debris that littered the basin was too difficult to vacuum around and stopped work while it was retrieved. To vacuum the sludge, workers stand on grating over the indoor pools and reach to the bottom of the 20-foot pools with long-handled tools. The water shields them from radiation. Some of the sludge is hard-packed and has to be broken up and some is so light that it mushrooms up in fine clouds when disturbed. Underwater cameras guide the work in the sometimes murky water, and workers have to wear respirators to make sure they don't inhale any airborne contamination. The vacuuming took "time and patience and real perseverance," said Mark Peres, Fluor deputy vice president for the K Basins Closure Project. Work is continuing at the K West Basin. Preparations are under way to remove about 1,800 pounds of stray fuel scraps found hidden among the sludge in the basins. That's a small percentage of the 4.5 million pounds of fuel already removed from the basins before sludge vacuuming began. Some additional debris, including tools and more canister lids, also is being removed from the K West Basin. Because more sludge will settle out of the water to leave a fine coating over the basin, a final vacuuming must be done by the end of January to meet another legal deadline. Sludge from both the basins will be held in underwater containers at K West until a treatment system is ready to prepare the sludge for disposal. DOE faces a November 2009 deadline to have the sludge treated. --- Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors and 30 million page views each month. Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com ©1996-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer ***************************************************************** 49 Tri-City Herald: DOE opens up 6 more days of Hanford tours Published Friday, July 27th, 2007 HERALD STAFF Get ready to log on. The Department of Energy has scheduled six more days of public tours of Hanford this year. Registration, which is only available online, starts promptly at noon Aug. 1 for tours Sept. 5 and 6. Registration starts at noon Oct. 1 for tours Oct. 24 and 25 and at noon Oct. 2 for tours Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Seats on the popular tours fill quickly. Tours earlier this year filled within one minute of the start of registration. Those without home Internet access may use computers at public libraries to register. The four-hour, guided bus tours behind security gates include a look at the original Hanford town site; Hanford's 300 Area, where fuel was manufactured; the 100 Area, where nine production reactors operated along the Columbia River; central Hanford where the irradiated fuel was processed to recover plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program; and the $12.2 billion vitrification plant under construction to treat World War II and Cold War radioactive waste. But the highlight of the tour is a rare look inside B Reactor, the world's first production-scale reactor. Supporters of the reactor are working to save it as a museum. The tours start at the HAMMER training center, with life-size props for hazardous materials and emergency training. It's at 2890 Horn Rapids Road, Richland. The free tour will start at 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. each of the six days. To register, go to www5.hanford.gov/publictours. Just two tour seats may be registered for at one time. Tour participants must be United States citizens, at least 16 years old and carry valid photo identification on the tour. Registration names should exactly match the full name on the photo identification carried on the tour. Although tour slots fill quickly, registration will reopen without notice when cancellations are received, so people interested in the tours are advised to check back occasionally at the registration website. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************