***************************************************************** 08/05/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.182 ***************************************************************** 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 US: Hillary's Nuclear 'Tough-Gal-ism' 2 Daily Times: VIEW: Weak America = weakened Europe Christoph Bertram 3 US: New Scientist: Bush's push for new nuclear weapons - opinion - 4 US: TheDay.com: Funding For 2nd Sub Clears House 5 AFP: Russia plans new nuclear missile production 6 RIA Novosti: Russia to launch serial production of Bulava ballistic 7 RIA Novosti: Russia to launch serial production of Bulava ballistic 8 UPI: Analysis: China shows off new hardware 9 Telegraph: Cold war breaks out as Russia freezes out rivals in Arcti 10 Scotland on Sunday: Harper calls for nuclear weapons road risk probe NUCLEAR REACTORS 11 The Hindu: Left parties consult scientific community on nuke deal 12 The Hindu: UNPA to oppose nuclear deal in Parliament 13 Manila Times: OPINION > The nuclear option 14 BBC NEWS: Experts to visit Japanese plant 15 The Hindu News: Indo-US nuke deal to figure in Parliament session 16 AHN: Japanese Still Investigating Nuclear Leak After Earthquake; 17 US: Morning Call: Nuclear plans hinge on loans -- 18 energy bangla: Bangladesh Seeks Iran's Assistance in Nuclear Energy 19 US: Rutland Herald: Viability of Yankee part of energy puzzle 20 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Cracks in steam dryer 'normal,' says VY of 21 IHT: A bad deal with India - 22 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Team to Check Quake-Hit Nuke Plant 23 US: MSNBC.com: Global Warming Gives Nuclear Energy New Life - 24 US: Los Angeles Times: House OKs clean-energy legislation - 25 Japan Times: Tokyo seeks quick report from IAEA on quake-hit plant 26 Scoop: Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation Challenges 27 US: Times Union: Make nuclear plants public -- 28 petroleumworld: Nuclear plant adviser quits after calling quake "exp 29 US: NewsBlaze: NRC Sends Special Inspection Team to Brunswick Nuclea NUCLEAR SECURITY 30 Japan Times: Japanese helping U.S. on nuclear terrorism NUCLEAR SAFETY 31 Daily Yomiuri: Govt to review screening of A-bomb illness 32 US: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hematite residents fume over cleanup 33 US: ReviewJournal.com: Milk dumped after isotope found in wells 34 Earth Times: Japanese offer U.S. lab atomic bomb data 35 US: RGJ.com: Radioactive isotope found in 25 Fallon wells 36 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Rialto water study urged 37 US: Dayton Daily News: Mound Plant workers' cases can be judged with 38 US: LVNFES: Elevated levels of Poloniun-210 found in wells NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 39 Casper Start Trib: GAO: Prospects 'unclear' for quality of Yucca Mou 40 Las Vegas SUN: Growing partisanship frays key relationship 41 Platts: USEC to start operating lead cascade in "coming weeks" 42 ReviewJournal.com: Roberts joins state nuclear panel 43 ReviewJournal.com: Porter receives Yucca report 44 Times Online: Nuclear watchdogs raise doubts over Thorp's future - 45 US: Gallup Independent: Study probes link between uranium and kidney 46 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: State wants errant drum out of WIPP 47 US: DailyBulletin.com: Rialto ready for showdown on perchlorate 48 US: DailyBulletin.com: Perchlorate issues plague Rialto 49 US: Boston Globe: State land deal stalled over cleanup - 50 US: The Murfreesboro Post: ENDIT posts concerns 51 The Ely Times: Reid says he'll stop rural power projects 52 Ely Times: Ely councilmen react to Harry Reid's comments 53 US: AFP: French minister hails progress on Niger-Areva row - 54 IBR: Washington Group International to Construct Uranium-Enrichment PEACE 55 [NYTr] The Bombs of August, In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 56 MDN: Hibakusha: One step forwards, two steps back - 57 US: IndyStar: Lessons to be learned 62 years after bomb | 58 guelphmercury.com: Documentary includes 'uncomfortable footage' 59 IHT: Austria's chancellor calls for complete abolition of nuclear ar 60 Japan Times: Nuclear hell revisited | 61 Japan Times: Mr. Hiroshima-san 62 MSN-Mainichi Daily News: Photo Specials 63 antiwar.com: The Illegal and Immoral Option - 64 Los Angeles Times: Nuclear hypocrisy - 65 IHT: Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors speak out on US television doc 66 Guardian Unlimited: Abe Sorry for Minister's A-Bomb Remark 67 starbulletin.com: Hiroshima survivors remember 68 The Observer: How to survive a nuclear war: pop the kettle on for a US DEPT. OF ENERGY 69 Inside Bay Area: Hiroshima bombing to be remembered at Livermore Lab 70 TH: Blast from the past: Son of an atomic worker remembers Los Alamo 71 Knoxville News Sentinel: Annual Y-12 protest draws 200 72 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12 to restart rolling, forming 73 Knoxville News Sentinel: OR police arrest 5 protesters at Y-12 nucle 74 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL warning sirens sometimes silent 75 Guardian Unlimited: 5 Arrested While Protesting Nuke Plant ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Hillary's Nuclear 'Tough-Gal-ism' Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 11:02:09 -0500 (CDT) When Barack Obama rejected the option of using nuclear weapons against al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan or Afghanistan, Hillary Clinton saw an opening to bash her rival for his supposed lack of experience. Burnishing her "tough-gal" credentials, Sen. Clinton said no President should make "blanket statements" foreswearing use of nuclear weapons. However, in her slap at Obama, she also dissed her husband, who as President ruled out nuclear attacks on non-nuclear states. For the full story of how Sen. Clinton's nuclear position is closer to George W. Bush's than Bill Clinton's, go to http://www.consortiumnews.com. It's important that we sell at least 1,000 copies of our new book, "Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush," through the publisher's Web site, http://www.neckdeepbook.com. That way, we can earn $5,000 -- $5 for each book -- that will go to help pay the bills at Consortiumnews.com. Or you can help by making a tax-deductible donation either by credit card at the Web site or by sending a check to: Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ); 2200 Wilson Blvd.; Suite 102-231; Arlington, VA 22201. For donations of $100, we'll send you an autographed gift copy of Neck Deep in paperback; for donations of $150 or more, we'll send a gift copy of the hard-cover version. Thanks for your support. ***************************************************************** 2 Daily Times: VIEW: Weak America = weakened Europe Christoph Bertram Leading News Resource of Pakistan Monday, August 06, 2007 In todays interdependent world, however, it is no longer the number of nuclear warheads that bestows influence, but a countrys ability to get others to go along with policies that it regards as serving its major interests. Bushs America has forfeited that influence Americas power has been so overwhelming for so long that many think it has survived George W Bushs presidency unscathed. That this is untrue is demonstrated by those, from Russias Vladimir Putin and Venezuelas Hugo Chvez to Irans Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe, who are exploiting Americas loss of standing and influence. This is no cause for schadenfreude. On the contrary, it is high time for friends of the United States, particularly in Europe, to realise that Americas weakness undermines their international influence as well. The evidence of Americas weakness is clear enough. At the height of Americas power, Russia had resigned itself to the apparently unstoppable encroachment of NATO on the Soviet Unions former sphere of influence. President Putin tolerated a US presence in Central Asia to assist in the campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan and raised no serious objections when the US trashed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty prohibiting strategic missile defences. America, eager to bring both Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, felt scant need to consider Russian concerns, convinced that the Kremlin would have no choice but to bow to the inevitable. That was yesterday. Today, Putin seeks to regain the influence Russia lost in previous years. He is skilfully playing the anti-America card across Europe while putting pressure on the Baltic states, a clear warning not to extend NATO any further. In Ukraine, political forces resisting closer strategic links to the West have gained ground. And the Kremlin is aggressively portraying the planned establishment of a modest US missile defence installation in Poland and the Czech Republic as a threat to Russias vital security interests. Or consider Iran, another power exploiting American weakness. Only a few years ago, Irans government seemed sufficiently in awe of the US to inch toward an agreement on its nuclear programme that would have interrupted, and perhaps even halted, its enrichment activities. There was talk of possible bilateral contacts with the US, which, if successful, would have ended almost three decades of hostile relations. Today, Irans enrichment programme is going ahead despite the United Nations Security Councils warnings of new sanctions, while Iranian officials publicly ridicule threats of US military action. These examples reflect the same message: America is losing clout around the world. The Bush administration is internationally exposed in both the arrogance of its concepts and the limits of its power. It lacks support at home and respect abroad. Never since the US became the worlds predominant power during World War II has there been a similar decline in its international influence. Even during the Vietnam War and following its humiliating withdrawal from Southeast Asia, there was never any serious doubt about Americas authority and ability to deal with what was then the central strategic challenge, the Cold War. In todays interdependent world, however, it is no longer the number of nuclear warheads that bestows influence, but a countrys ability to get others to go along with policies that it regards as serving its major interests. Bushs America has forfeited that influence in the Middle East, in Asia and Africa, and in much of Europe. Many in the US like to think that this is a temporary state of affairs that will vanish with the election of a new president and Congress in 2008. But they are neither sufficiently aware of the damage done nor realistic enough about the chances of Bushs potential successors many of whom initially supported his adventurism to revive the trust and respect their country once enjoyed. To achieve that will take more than a new face in the White House. It will require years of hard work to reconcile Americas resources and requirements, and to ensure that its initiatives can once again be seen as designed not to serve narrow US ideologies, but to advance a fair international order. The result of protracted US weakness is also a weaker Europe. In the heyday of American dominance, European governments profited doubly: they were part of a powerful West and courted as a potential counterweight to US dominance by third countries. If they dissented from US positions, this did not seriously impair the Wests strategic efficacy because American power was more than sufficient to compensate. That arrangement no longer works. If European governments today distance themselves from America, as their citizens frequently demand, they will both antagonise and further weaken the US. At the same time, they will undermine their own international influence, allow others to play off Europe against America, destroying as well what chance remains for rebuilding the West with a reformed America. European leaders, even when they are unhappy over US positions, therefore need to combine forceful support for the transatlantic community of interests with discrete, if firm lobbying in Washington not to strain it to the breaking point. Whether they can successfully perform this difficult act, remains to be seen. Fortunately, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gordon Brown understand the challenge, and at least some parts of the Bush government seem aware of the problem. In the long period of American weakness, European leaders will have to demonstrate statesmanship for the West as a whole. It is a role for which decades of US supremacy have scarcely prepared them. DT-PS Christoph Bertram is the former head of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs Daily Times - All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 3 New Scientist: Bush's push for new nuclear weapons - opinion - 04 August 2007 - WHO wants a shiny new set of nuclear weapons? Hands up, the Bush administration. Who doesn't? Democrat-controlled Congress. A statement just submitted to Congress by the Secretaries of Energy, Defense, and State argues that if the "Reliable Replacement Warhead" plan isn't approved, the US might have to re-test cold war stocks, breaching its moratorium. Critics say the new nukes are not needed and will antagonise other countries. So far, Congress has sided with the critics, slashing the proposed budget and calling for detailed preliminary studies. Building new weapons and refusing to discuss treaties makes it "hard to convince the world we have peaceful intentions", says Phil Coyle of analyst group the Center for Defense Information. "We have to fulfil our obligations and commitments if we expect non-nuclear parties to cooperate," says Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association. President Bush has refused to seek ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban signed by former president Bill Clinton. * Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd. Vacancies ***************************************************************** 4 TheDay.com: Funding For 2nd Sub Clears House Monday, Aug 6, 2007 By David A. Brensilver , Published on 8/5/2007 Buy Photo By Tim Martin , The Day U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, left, speaks to the media at a press conference April 9 in Groton after touring the Electric Boat facility with Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., center, and Rep. John Larson, D-1st District. Courtney was instrumental in pushing through a defense spending bill that includes advanced procurement funding for a second Virginia-class submarine per year before 2012. The U.S. House of Representatives early today overwhelmingly passed a Department of Defense spending bill for fiscal-year 2008 that would increase the rate of production of Virginia-class nuclear submarines. Roll Call For House Vote On Defense Spending Bill The legislation, approved on a 395-13 vote, includes $588 million in advanced procurement funding for the construction of an additional submarine before 2012, an expenditure that freshman 2nd District Rep. Joe Courtney had fought for since winning the 2nd District seat. The Virginia-class program is really the star pupil ... of the Navy's shipbuilding across the country, Rep. Courtney said late Saturday prior to the vote. Submarines perform an essential task in our system of national defense, he said. The bill will next be considered by the U.S. Senate. Courtney, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the winning argument in securing funding for an additional submarine was not a parochial argument that getting an additional submarine funded was not just about Groton, adding, My job is to keep the economy as strong as possible. The $460 billion defense-spending plan includes $3.1 billion for the Virginia-class submarine program. That includes the advanced procurement spending. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2008, which was passed in May, proposed $3.9 billion for the Virginia-class submarine program, $850 million of which was applied in 2006 and 2007. Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia currently produce one submarine each year at a cost of $2.5 billion. The proposal had the support of Pennsylvania Rep. Jack Murtha, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee. Robert Hamilton, director of communications for Electric Boat, said doubling submarine production would stabilize the company's work force. Instead of layoffs and rehiring, Hamilton said, the additional work would allow Electric Boat to maintain steady employment throughout the year, meaning a more effective and efficient use of its work force. You will get some up-tick in employment, Hamilton said, first at the company's Quonset Point facility in Rhode Island, then in Groton. Hamilton said Electric Boat currently employees about 10,000 people. Rep. Courtney has been working very hard on this issue, and there's not a person at Electric Boat who doesn't appreciate that, Hamilton said. Despite the House's approval of modest changes to President Bush's record Pentagon budget proposal, Democrats signaled plans to resume a more contentious debate over the Iraq war after the August recess. The House's version of the defense budget would add money for equipment for the National Guard and Reserve, provide for 12,000 additional soldiers and Marines, and increase spending for defense health care and military housing. They adjourned until after Labor Day minutes after the vote a little over an hour past midnight. The White House criticized Democrats for cutting Bush's request and effectively transfering $3.5 billion of the money to domestic spending programs. It is likely the cuts will be restored this fall when Congress passes another wartime supplemental spending bill. The administration has not threatened to veto the measure. The measure does not include Bush's 2008 funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Democrats say they want to consider that money in separate legislation in September. This approach would set the stage for a major clash over the war; Democrats are likely to try to impose conditions on the money. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a point man on military matters for Democrats, told reporters this past week that he backs only short-term extensions of war spending. The massive military measure represents a nearly $40 billion increase over current levels. The Pentagon would get another several-billion-dollar budget increase through a companion measure covering military base construction and a recent round of base closures. The defense legislation largely endorses Bush's plans for major weapons systems such as the next generation Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, which has been beset by cost overruns. The Democratic military budget would provide $8.5 billion for missile defense, about 4 percent less than requested by Bush but $1 billion more than current spending. The Army's Future Combat System, a computerized system designed to transform the service's warfighting abilities, would absorb an 11 percent cut from Bush's request. It, too, has been plagued by cost overruns. Those huge procurement costs are driving the Pentagon budget ever upward. Once war costs are added in, the total defense budget will be significantly higher than during the typical Cold War year, even after adjusting for inflation. The measure would eliminate the $468 million requested to procure the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, whose per-unit cost has more than doubled. The helicopter recently crashed during tes flighs. The bill would provide $2.2 billion to cover a 3.5 percent pay raise for service members. The administration objects and says its recommended 3 percent pay increase is sufficient. The bill would boost substantially the money spent to oversee military contractors, including $24 million for the inspector general. The measure provides money to build five ships with a total cost of $3.7 billion in addition to the seven requested by the Pentagon. Murtha had prepared amendments to close the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and require troops be fully trained and equipped before going to fight in Iraq. But facing the prospects of losing votes and inflaming partisan tensions, he withdrew them. The bill contains a provision barring the establishment of permanent bases in Iraq. An Associated Press report was included in this article. | © 1998-2007 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: Russia plans new nuclear missile production Monday August 6, 08:21 AM MOSCOW (AFP) - The Russian Navy announced Sunday it will produce a series of intercontinental missiles for its next generation of nuclear submarines. "The last test trial of the Bulava-M at the end of June was very important ... After examining the results we decided to start work on these missiles for our new armament system," navy chief Admiral Vladimir Marossin told Russian news agencies. The Bulava-M missile, with a range of more than 8,000 kilometres (4,970 miles) can hold up to 10 nuclear warheads. "The success of the last test trial gave us the possibility to commission the production of a series of missiles," Marossin said. The two Bulava-M missile tests were made in 2007 and the others would be made next year. The Russian navy plans to finish all its tests of the new system in 2008. "We hope that during the testing we will decide to put the missile into service in 2008," said Marossin. The first Bulava missile test was made in September 2005. Three Bulava-M trials in 2006 failed, but at least 10 more missile trials are scheduled for 2008. Bulava-M, the sea version of the sophisticated surface-to-surface missile Topol-M, will be fitted for nuclear submarine launchers with engine type 955. Yuri Dolgorukii, the first example of this type of submarine was launched in April 2007. Russia wants to make eight fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) with Bulava technology between now and 2018. The two submarines of this generation, the Alexander Nevskii and the Vladimir Monomakh, which come after the Dolgorukii, should be up and running in 2009 and 20011, respectively. In addition to the Bulava-M missile tests, Russia announced at the end of May that they successfully tested the RS-24, a new interncontinential missile with multiple warheads adopted by Topol-M, which was presented up to now as the first response to the American anti-missile shield project. The Russians have condemned a US anti-missile shield planned for eastern Europe despite US assurances it is only intended to counter "rogue states" such as Iran. ***************************************************************** 6 RIA Novosti: Russia to launch serial production of Bulava ballistic missile 16:15 | 05/ 08/ 2007 SEVASTOPOL, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has made a decision to start serial production of its new Bulava-M sea-launched ballistic missile, following a successful test launch in late June, the Russian Navy commander said Sunday. The scheduled launch was conducted June 28 from the submerged Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, in the northern Russia's White Sea, and the missile reached its target at the Kura testing grounds on the Kamchatka Peninsula, about 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) east of Moscow. Admiral Vladimir Masorin said the latest test launch was important to make a decision on the ballistic missile production, adding that the concluding test launches would be made from the Yuri Dolgoruky fourth-generation strategic nuclear submarine. The national defense program envisions the deployment of the Bulava on nuclear submarines beginning in 2007. The missiles are expected to become the mainstay of the Russian Navy's strategic nuclear forces in decades to come. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 7 RIA Novosti: Russia to launch serial production of Bulava ballistic missile -1 16:26 | 05/ 08/ 2007 SEVASTOPOL, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has made a decision to start serial production of its new Bulava-M sea-launched ballistic missile, following a successful test launch in late June, the Russian Navy commander said Sunday. The scheduled launch was conducted June 28 from the submerged Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, in the northern Russia's White Sea, and the missile reached its target at the Kura testing grounds on the Kamchatka Peninsula, about 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) east of Moscow. Admiral Vladimir Masorin said the latest test launch was important to make a decision on the ballistic missile production, adding that the concluding test launches would be made from the Yuri Dolgoruky fourth-generation strategic nuclear submarine. The national defense program envisions the deployment of the Bulava on nuclear submarines. The missiles are expected to become the mainstay of the Russian Navy's strategic nuclear forces in decades to come. Masorin said Russia would hold two more test launches of the Bulava missile in 2007 and would complete tests in 2008. "We have no doubts that the Bulava-M missile system will be tested successfully. Huge intellectual labor and financial resources have been invested in the creation of this system," Masorin said. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 8 UPI: Analysis: China shows off new hardware United Press International - International Security - Emerging Published: Aug. 3, 2007 at 6:30 PM By ANDREI CHANG HONG KONG, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- China is flexing its military muscle by exhibiting a model and photos of its new DF31A intercontinental ballistic missile and type 093 nuclear attack submarine, or SSN, at the People's Liberation Army's 80th Anniversary exhibition held in Beijing. Also on exhibit are the DF21 intermediate-range ballistic missile and DF11 short-range ballistic missile. The DF31A ICBM photo has been released for the first time along with the new TEL truck. The range of the DF31A is said to be more than 10,000 kilometers, covering not only major U.S. and Canadian cities but also the capitals of the main NATO countries. Two Type 093 SSNs have also entered service and are on display publicly for the first time as well. Beijing is using the Aug. 1 anniversary of the army's founding as an opportunity to send a strong warning to Taiwan against any new move toward independence. It is showing off its strategic nuclear missiles as a hint to the United States and Japan that it is serious about its threat to use force, and they would do well to keep out of the conflict should a crisis occur in the Taiwan Strait. Since the beginning of this year, China has been sending signals to Taiwan by showing off the PLA's new weapons, including the J10A fighter that finally appeared in public this January. Other weapons on display in Beijing are the J11B multifunction fighter, new generation 99G main battle tank (MBT), type 97 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), HQ9 long range surface-to-air missile (SAM), and new 155mm self-propelled gun (SPG), similar to the Russian 2S19 SPG. The exhibition shows the results of China's heavy investment in its military, including not only nuclear weapons but space satellite positioning and EW technology. The simultaneous appearance of the new ICBM, SSBN and massive new conventional weapons suggest that the PLA's budget is in fact much higher than reported. In fact, it may be two to three times larger than Japan's budget and equivalent to the military budgets of Germany and France combined. China stepped up its criticism of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian last week following his proposal that a referendum be held on applying for U.N. membership under the name "Taiwan." Chen has suggested that the referendum be held alongside the presidential election next March. The United Nations rejected Taiwan's application for membership last month. The island has applied every year since 1993, but this was the first time the application was submitted under the name "Taiwan," rather than "Republic of China," the island's formal name. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rejected the application without even submitting it to the General Assembly for a vote. Responding to Chen's call for a referendum, Beijing's Office of Taiwan Affairs issued a strong statement, calling Chen a "saboteur" of peace and stability and reminding the island that China will not compromise on any move toward independence. China used similar threatening terminology on the eve of its artillery attack on Taiwan's Jinmen Island's in 1958. The current storm clouds building up over the Taiwan Strait are unlikely to dissipate until Taiwan's presidential election is held next March. Close to that time, the PLA is likely to publicize additional new weapons. If Chen goes ahead with the referendum on applying to the United Nations, a showdown in the Taiwan Strait cannot be avoided. Meanwhile, the United States, Japan and Australia are taking steps to send their own warnings regarding any military moves in the region. The U.S. Air Force has sent F22 fighters to Okinawa, Japan, for the first time this summer. Japan's Aviation Self Defense Force participated in a joint air force maneuver in Alaska this week, sending F15J fighters outside of the country for the first time. Japan and Australia also signed a mutual military cooperation guideline this year. The U.S.-Japan alliance is the strongest deterrent to military action and the best guarantor of peace and stability in the region, especially if the Taiwan Strait situation is further complicated. Canada could also be called into the alliance with Japan, the United States and Australia. Canada, a traditional refuge for Chinese, could face serious refugee problems if the situation intensifies in the Taiwan Strait. Also its national interests are involved, as Canada has massive investment in Taiwan and many Canadians work there. An Asian version of NATO makes sense, as these four nations have mutual interests and can best protect them by operating together. The Cold War may be over in Europe, but not in East Asia. -- (The author is the editor in chief of Kanwa Asian Defense Monthly.) Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Telegraph: Cold war breaks out as Russia freezes out rivals in Arctic - Monday 6 August 2007 By Liam Halligan, Economics Editor, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 10:58pm BST 04/08/2007 Almost precisely seven years ago, a Russian nuclear submarine - K-141 Kursk - became stranded on the floor of the icy Barents Sea. One of the first vessels to be launched after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kursk was the largest attack submarine ever built. But, back then, Russia was so cash-strapped, and the post-Soviet Navy so dysfunctional, that the entire fleet was often denied routine maintenance. After two massive on-board explosions, Kursk sank beyond the reach of the British and Norwegian rescue teams who arrived with the TV cameras in tow. All 118 hands were lost. Barely three months into his job, President Putin was badly rattled. This bruising episode spoke volumes about Russia's decline as a world power. Spool forward to last week and another Russian submarine was in the news. The vessel was operating in far more dangerous waters than Kursk and went more than 40 times deeper. But this crew had no need of foreign assistance - in fact, they were setting a world record. On Thursday, Mir-1 made the first ever manned descent to the ocean floor at the North Pole. Once there, over two miles down, the crew planted a one-metre tall Russian flag in the sea-bed, made of rust-proof titanium alloy. The Kursk debacle had marked, perhaps, the final humiliation for Russia, the low point of the steep post-Soviet decline. Since then, of course, the country has boomed. Buoyed up by steadily rising oil and gas prices, Russia has become financially much stronger - and now boasts $420bn (206bn) of foreign exchange reserves, the third biggest haul in the world. Mir-1 is part and parcel of this new swagger - a voyage in search not only of national pride, but also economic leverage. Russia is already an energy superpower - it has by far the biggest gas reserves and, in oil export terms, is second only to the Saudis. Now it wants the Arctic too - home to around a quarter of the world's untapped oil and gas. The other nations with a claim to this treasure - at least by proximity - are Norway, Canada, the US (because of Alaska) and Denmark (via Greenland). But Russia's Arctic Sea coastline is by far the longest - which is why the Kremlin wants a 450,000 square mile chunk, which is an area around half the size of Western Europe. The Kursk contrast made Mir-1's voyage politically highly symbolic. That's certainly an angle stressed by the Russian press. But, to my mind, the mini-sub's journey is imbued with a deeper - and more enduring - economic symbolism. That's because the day before Mir-1 settled on the ocean floor, global oil prices hit an all-time nominal peak of $78.77 a barrel. Prices are now $8 higher than a month ago and more than 50pc up on January. How are these two events linked? Well, everyone knows that a big reason crude has been expensive in recent years is that the energy needs of China and India, as well as other highly-populous developing countries such as Indonesia, are growing exponentially. That's pushing up the demand for oil on global markets, keeping prices firm. But the other big price-driver is supply. Back in 1980, when oil hit its real terms (inflation-adjusted) peak in the wake of the Iranian revolution, supply concerns were centre-stage. Last summer, when oil reached $78.40, that spike was also linked to supply - given high-profile trouble in the Niger delta, Venezuela and, again, sabre-rattling in Iran. No such political event seems to have generated this latest oil-price high. But that doesn't mean it wasn't still caused by worries about supply. For one thing, daily shipments from Opec are expected to decline over the next few weeks. The oil-exporters' cartel has resisted calls to increase output coming from Western countries looking to replenish their stocks before winter hits the northern hemisphere. With no sign of movement before Opec meets in September, this continued refusal is pushing prices up. On top of that, refineries - a key link in the supply chain - are horribly stretched. Last week, American refineries worked at 93pc of their capacity. With so little slack, any refinery break-down could cause panic-buying of crucial goods such as gasoline and heating-oil. No wonder US energy secretary Sam Bodman said America's economy is now "in a danger zone". But the underlying reason for last week's record oil price - and this is where Mir-1 comes in - is that Opec, having engaged in a desperate search for new oil fields, is for the most part drawing a blank. The cartel controls around two-fifths of global oil production and three-quarters of all reserves. Last week it revealed its members operated 336 rigs last year, up 11pc on 2005 and the highest number since 1980. As more rigs went into service, Saudi alone drilled 382 separate wells - again, the highest figure for almost three decades. All this shows just how frantic the search for new oil has become. During the 10 years from 1985, global oil reserves grew by 3pc per year, as new fields were discovered. Last year, in contrast, reserves fell 0.55pc - despite the impetus of sky-high prices and all that extra drilling. Opec's admission of how hard it had been trying to find new crude spooked the markets. It reminded traders that no one has found a really decent field for the best part of 30 years. How timely then, that in the week these realities combined to push oil to a record high, non-Opec Russia had Mir-1 laying claim to the last oil frontier on Earth. And how timely, too, that in the same week, the Kremlin threatened to cut off gas supplies to Belarus, a key transit state to Western Europe, so reminding us of Russia's might when it comes to gas stocks too. Ploughing on with Doha - optimistically What are the prospects of a new trade round? Will the 151 member states of the World Trade Organisation ever agree? By slashing protectionist barriers and encouraging investment, a WTO agreement could - says the World Bank - add 300bn to global income by 2015. But after six year of wrangling, the talks have reached stalemate. Last week marked a depressing milestone. With the end of July came the end of President George Bush's "fast-track" trade-negotiating authority. So any WTO deal can now be unpicked by Congress, making it unworkable. The US and China are also becoming ever more entangled in rows over "non-tariff barriers" - that is, using product standards to stifle trade. American law-makers now regularly raise fears that food from the Peoples' Republic could poison US citizens. And some observers believe that last week's recall of Chinese-sourced goods by US toy company Mattel was also a protectionist ploy. Why, then, are negotiators from some of the most important WTO members now making hopeful noises? Kamal Nath, the Indian trade minister, has just said Doha's "chances of success have never been brighter". One reason is that Charlie Rangel, chairman of Washington's crucial Ways and Means Committee, remains a staunch WTO supporter. He is searching for a way to push a deal through Congress. But the main reason is that the US and the European Union are now finally signalling that they will make genuine concessions in terms of cutting agricultural subsidies - which, by distorting world prices, impoverish peasant farmers in developing countries. "US cotton farmers are in for some pain," a WTO source tells me. "And Europe is shifting too, because Sarkozy is the first French President for a long time who isn't scared of the agricultural lobby". How close to home is sub-prime? Britain's banks are booming! The big five reported their results last week and top of the shop was HSBC, posting a chunky 6.9bn profit during the six months to June. Royal Bank of Scotland made 5.1bn and then came Barclays with 4.1bn. In fact, all our leading high street banks registered double-digit percentage profit growth. But still, UK banking shares remain caught up in the slump affecting bank stocks across Europe and the US as a result of sub-prime loans. Concerns this crisis could hit the UK have so far focused on our banks' exposure to dodgy US mortgage lending via tradable Collaterialised Debt Obligations. HSBC, in particular, has lost money on CDOs. But to what extent are UK banks directly exposed to sub-prime woes - on their own books? That's a big unknown. Last week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that, in the wake of rising interest rates, 1.1pc of home loans have gone into arrears since January. That's quite a sharp rise, but still low by historic standards. The comparable figure in the States is a whopping 4.8pc. But still, the CML is now withdrawing its arrears forecasts so it can properly gauge "the impact of an increasing amount of sub-prime lending within the overall market". That's a significant step and the results will be closely studied. ***************************************************************** 10 Scotland on Sunday: Harper calls for nuclear weapons road risk probe Sunday, 5th August 2007 Change Date NICHOLAS CHRISTIAN GREEN party leader Robin Harper has demanded an inquiry into roads being used to transport nuclear weapons. The Lothians MSP has written to First Minister Alex Salmond claiming emergency planning exercises show that government agencies are ill-prepared for an accident. Harper, whose party has a co-operation agreement with the SNP government, wants the review to cover the potential effects in areas affected by any serious road traffic accidents. He also wants current safety planning by civilian organisations studied, as well as any suggested measures for coping with the effects of a major disaster. Harper said: "Weapons of mass destruction are a danger to the Scottish people and the environment and risks are taken almost daily with the transport of deadly cargo up and down our roads. "Although the political majority to block these transports is not yet readily available, at the very least the public should be aware of the dangers and the emergency planning system should be opened for clear inspection." In a letter to Salmond, Harper claims nuclear weapons are regularly transported between military bases in Faslane and Burghfield in the south of England. Last updated: 04-Aug-07 00:43 BST 2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms & conditions ***************************************************************** 11 The Hindu: Left parties consult scientific community on nuke deal Sunday, August 5, 2007 : 0330 Hrs New Delhi, Aug. 5 (PTI): Left parties have begun consultations with the scientific community for eliciting its views on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal to firm up their stand on the issue, which they feel would impact national security concerns, foreign policy and the economy. The CPI(M), whose Polit Bureau met Saturday to discuss the matter, also held day-long sessions with members of the scientific, academic and strategic community. The outside supporters of the ruling UPA coalition are likely to hold another round of discussions with the government on the matter next week. Since Friday, Left leaders have held discussions with a large number of scientists, many of whom have served in top positions in the government and its scientific and technological institutions. Senior Left leaders said their next round of talks with the government would take place next week after the parties meet here on Tuesday and firm up their joint view on the matter. They said the Left parties will have to analyse the minute details of the deal as it concerned India's security interests, foreign policy and economy. The four Left parties are likely to chalk out plans for nationwide protest actions against the joint naval exercise with US and its allies in Bay of Bengal next month and other issues to be taken up in Parliament. Copyright 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of ***************************************************************** 12 The Hindu: UNPA to oppose nuclear deal in Parliament Saturday, Aug 04, 2007 Floor strategy to be worked out on the eve of the session NEW DELHI: The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) has criticised the India-U.S. nuclear deal and said it would result in mortgaging Indias sovereignty. The UNPA would oppose the deal and would raise other burning issues in the coming session of Parliament. All leaders of the eight-party coalition and its Parliamentary Board would meet in New Delhi on the eve of the monsoon session of Parliament on August 9 and chalk out a floor strategy. The meeting would reiterate the UNPAs joint support to their vice-presidential candidate, Rasheed Masood. The BJP has failed to provide an effective opposition to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Both, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the UPA are pro-U.S. The UNPA will put up a united front against the anti-people policies of the government in Parliament, said Samajwadi Party general secretary and member of the UNPA, Amar Singh. Demanding the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy over police firing on innocent people at Khammam, he also called upon the Left parties to bring pressure on the UPA government at the Centre to dismiss the State Government. Mr. Singh criticised the Congress central leadership for not condemning the incident and giving a clean chit to the State Government. To a question about the police action in Nandigram in West Bengal, he said both the incidents could not be compared as in West Bengal arch political rivals Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Jyoti Basu and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee held discussions and Communist Party of India leader A.B. Bardhan criticised the police action. He said he was not justifying Nandigram and Singur incidents, but while in West Bengal senior CPI (M) leaders had described them as unfortunate, in Andhra Pradesh it was being defended as the right action by dubbing the innocent victims as Maoists. To another question he said the UNPA was united in voting for Mr. Masood, who is their own candidate, for the office of the Vice-President. Copyright 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 13 Manila Times: OPINION > The nuclear option Sunday, August 05, 2007 Six Asean countries are either considering or building nuclear power plants. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam will have operational nuclear power stations in 2016, 2021 and 2015, respectively. Myanmar had asked Russia to help it put up a nuclear research reactor to train technicians to manage nuclear power plants. Malaysia and the Philippines have still to make up their minds on when and how many nuclear power plants to build. None of these countries seem to have been deterred by the earthquake that shut down the worlds biggest nuclear complex in Kashiwasaki in Japan last month. The reasons are strategic. As Hans Holger Rogner, the head of the economics section of the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told The New York Times, Fuel prices, energy security concerns, environmental concernsnot just climate change but pollution as weif you add that up its really put the nuclear option back into the planning equation. The Philippines is skittish about nuclear power plants, having been burned by the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) that President Marcos contracted Westinghouse to build but which President Aquino refused to use for reasons of safety. Public sentiment against nuclear power is still strong. The recent meeting between the officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) did not go beyond an offer by the Japanese to train Filipino technicians in how to evaluate nuclear technology. It would be difficult to pass up the nuclear option. The country needs a reliable source of large scale, non-polluting power. Energy planners have no choice but to include nuclear power in the energy mix, if we are to make our growth targets. When the BNPP was constructed there was not much choice; it was either heavy water or light water reactors. Today, despite the hiatus due to the Three-Mile and Chernobyl accidents engineering research has produced safer nuclear reactors. Let me cite 3 examples. In the sixties, General Atomic, then a division of the General Dynamics Corp. in the US, put on the market a reactor called HTGR or High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor. It was more efficient than water-cooled rectors; much safer and less vulnerable to mishandling than light-water reactors. Independent tests in the US and in Germany established that a full-scale model of 1,000 megawatts was a thousand times as safe as light water reactor to quote the physicist Freeman Dyson who helped develop it. However, because of poor sales its no longer in the market. The other example is more recent. In fact its still undergoing development in Norway. Its fuel is thorium, not uranium. Unlike a conventional fission reactor that needs enough fissile material to bring about a nuclear chain reactions the energy amplifier, as it is called, doesnt need to sustain a chain reaction. Heat is produced by an accelerator that fires high-energy particles into the fuel, producing fission reactions. It can be designed so that it does not overheat, the cause of meltdown. Energy amplifiers however are not cheap and they still have to be proved commercially. My third example, unlike the two above, is available and proven. Its the advanced liquid-metal reactor or ALMR. This is a fast-neutron reactor that can squeeze more energy from nuclear fuel. In fact, it uses the spent fuel of light-water reactors. Therefore, it saves on uranium and it reduces the amount of radioactive wastes that need to be put away. A 1,000 megawatt-electric-thermal reactor produces more than 100 tons of spent fuel a year. A fast reactor with the same electrical capacity generates less than a ton of radioactive waste. To ensure safety, the ALMR has the following features: (a) if the pumps that circulate the sodium coolant fail, the coolant would still circulate by gravity; (b) if the coolant pumps malfunctioned, it has special devices that would lower the temperature; (c) in an emergency, 6 control rods would drop into the core to shut it down immediately; and finally (d) if the chain reactions continue, neutron-absorbing boron carbide balls would be released into the core shutting it down completely. Fast reactors are in service in France, Japan, Russia and the US. Argonne Laboratory in the US is still trying to make them even safer and more efficient. Readers who want more detailed information could read George Stanfords Integrated Fast Reactors: Source of Safe, Abundant, Non-Polluting Power, National Policy Analysis Paper #378, December 2001 at www.nationalcenter.org/NPA.378.html. Should the DOE decide to build a nuclear power plant, the ALMR should be its first choice. The HTGR and the energy amplifier should be considered for use later in the century, once they become available and affordable. The spent fuel of the HTGR can be used by the ALMR. In the meantime we should begin prospecting for thorium, a metal thats more widely distributed than uranium. My point: We should choose the technology and not let the vendor foist its technology on us. This is the expertise that DOE must acquire. The Manila Times Web Admin. The Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 BBC NEWS: Experts to visit Japanese plant Last Updated: Sunday, 5 August 2007, 03:58 GMT 04:58 UK The plant suffered more than 50 malfunctions because of the quake Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have arrived in Japan to examine the atomic power plant damaged in an earthquake last month. The operators of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power station have admitted there were leakages of radioactive material. But the Tokyo Electric Power Company says there is no danger to the public. Niigata officials said bringing in outside experts would help to damp down rumours that the radiation leaks had been more serious than admitted. Unease arose when the leaks were found to have been much bigger than first estimated. The power company has said getting the plant running again could take some time, because contaminated water needs to be cleaned up first and dozens of other problems need to be fixed. The magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck in mid-July and caused more than 50 malfunctions at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 15 The Hindu News: Indo-US nuke deal to figure in Parliament session Monday, August 6, 2007 : 0330 Hrs New Delhi, Aug. 6 (PTI): The monsoon session of Parliament beginning this week is expected to be a tumultuous affair with the opposition raising doubts over the Indo-US nuclear deal, being tom-tommed as the best possible pact by the government. The month-long session beginning August 10 will witness the vice presidential election on the opening day itself, and the victory of UPA-Left nominee Hamid Ansari appears to be a mere formality. The opposition BJP is training its guns on the government and has demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the text of the 123 agreement to implement the civil nuclear deal with the US. It also wants parliamentary approval to be secured before the deal is signed. The BJP has dubbed the pact as an "assault" on the country's nuclear sovereignty and its foreign policy options, and has made it clear that it is "unable to accept this agreement as finalised". The Left parties, key outside supporters of the ruling UPA, have not revealed their stand on this issue as they are still studying the document thoroughly, while the Third Front, formally known as the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), has upped its ante against the deal. The UNPA will meet here on August nine, a day before the session, to chalk out its strategy and has made its opposition to the deal known, alleging that it has "mortgaged" the country's sovereignty. The eight-party alliance, which pulled in different directions in the presidential poll, will raise in Parliament the police firing in Andhra Pradesh in an attempt to corner the Congress and put up a united front. Copyright 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 16 AHN: Japanese Still Investigating Nuclear Leak After Earthquake; IAEA Team To Help | August 6, 2007 Windsor Genova - AHN Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - Japanese authorities still don't know the state of radioactive fuel inside the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata, just south of Tokyo. Authorities from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) shut down the reactor after a strong earthquake in July, and are still investigating the source of radioactive water that leaked out. Officials of the told local newspaper the Asahi Shimbun that aftershocks are hampering repair work needed for a safe and thorough inspection of the facility. Equipment needed for the repair works also have to be thoroughly inspected and cleared for use. TEPCO officials believe rain, seawater and firefighting water has flowen into cracks in the reactor buildings, forcing inspectors to treat the water, which may have been contaminated, before removing it. The obstacles have also prevented workers from repairing seven exhaust stacks and a burned transformer. A team of inspectors from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will spend a week inspecting the plant when they arrive on Monday. The IAEA will then file a report to the U.N., which will make the findings public. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake on July 16 caused cracks in the buildings housing the reactors of the nuclear plant. The earthquake also caused a transformer to catch fire. Copyright AHN Media Corp - All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Morning Call: Nuclear plans hinge on loans -- themorningcall.com August 6, 2007 _PPL says government will have to provide funding guarantees.By Sam Kennedy | Of The Morning Call August 5, 2007 The fate of PPL Corp.'s tentative plan to build Pennsylvania's first new nuclear reactor in a quarter-century could rest on the fate of an un-debated provision in the recently passed Senate energy bill. The one-sentence provision promises billions of dollars in government loan guarantees for the expansion of nuclear energy. Without the guarantees, PPL will be unable to secure the financing necessary to pursue its nuclear ambitions, according to company officials. ''That is something we absolutely require,'' PPL Chief Executive Officer James Miller told financial analysts during a conference call last week. In June, PPL sent a letter informing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission it might apply for a license for a third reactor at its Susquehanna plant, about 75 miles northwest of the Lehigh Valley. Such an application would be the first from Pennsylvania since the state became, with the meltdown of a reactor at the Three Mile Island power plant in 1979, the place where the nation's rapid nuclear expansion came to a sudden halt. News of PPL's Susquehanna plan was immediately met by opposition from several watchdog groups, which voiced concern about the disposal of radioactive waste, the impact on the Susquehanna River watershed and other issues. The Senate provision for loan guarantees, first reported in The New York Times last week, creates yet another point of contention: Taxpayers could end up paying billions of dollars to cover the cost of bad loans. ''What I don't understand is why so many people who support free market principles espouse corporate socialism when it comes to nuclear power,'' said Eric Epstein, who heads Three Mile Island Alert, a Harrisburg watchdog group that monitors the three nuclear power plants on the Susquehanna River. ''If nuclear power is so profitable, then why do we need to insure it? ''It's time for nuclear power to stand on its own.'' Both Pennsylvania senators, Republican Arlen Specter and Democrat Bob Casey, voted for the energy bill. A spokeswoman for Specter said the senator supports ''nuclear energy as a part of a diverse supply of domestic energy, and he is interested in reviewing plans to expand nuclear energy in the U.S.'' A spokeswoman for Casey said he is reviewing the bill's potential impact. In recent years, as oil and natural gas prices have risen and the environmental costs of burning fossil fuel have become clear, nuclear power has been touted as an emissions-free, nearly-inexhaustible source of power. The message has found a receptive audience among members of both major political parties. Sensing an opportunity, the energy industry has been quick to take action. The letter that PPL sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June was the 20th such notification of nuclear plans the agency has received since 2005; like the Susquehanna proposal, most involve building reactors at existing nuclear plants. ''We believe that nuclear power will play a role in the effort to address global climate change while ensuring that the U.S. economy has the power it needs for continued prosperity,'' PPL Chief Operating Officer William Spence said in a press release last week. Each new reactor is expected to cost several billion dollars. Lobbyists have told lawmakers that the energy industry will need as much as $50 billion in government backing in the next two years, according to the Times. In a telephone interview, PPL Vice President of External Affairs Joanne Raphael said would-be lenders have made it clear to the company that they will not finance a third Susquehanna reactor without loan guarantees. Such guarantees -- also used to back student loans -- require the government to repay banks if borrowers default. TMI Alert's Epstein said PPL's record is cause for alarm. He noted that the first two Susquehanna reactors, which are located in Salem Township, Luzerne County, ended up costing roughly twice as much PPL had projected when it applied for regulatory approval to start construction. By the time they were done, in the mid-1980s, the final cost was about $4 billion. ''If the past is any indicator of the future, nuclear operators will default on their loans,'' he said. PPL blamed the cost over-run on a rise in interest rates and the expense of mid-course design changes necessitated by the Three Mile Island accident. Advocates of nuclear energy, meanwhile, have cast loan guarantees as a necessity, not a choice. he Edison Electric Institute, a trade association in Washington D.C., projects that U.S. energy demand will increase by more than 40 percent by 2030. ''It's just not feasible to think that we can take care of our energy demands going forward without nuclear energy,'' said Mark Singer, a spokesman for another Washington-based industry group, the Nuclear Energy Institute. He cited other private-sector projects, such as the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, that were launched with help of the government. ''[The government] has always acted as a venture capital firm -- or incentivizer -- for policies that are for the general welfare,'' he said. TMI Alert's Epstein argued that public resources would be better spent elsewhere. He suggested promoting renewable solar and wind energy, or even finding a solution to the problem of nuclear waste disposal. The Susquehanna facility alone produces 60 metric tons of radioactive waste annually. For its part, the federal government has agreed to bury all the nation's nuclear waste under a 13-million-year-old volcanic ridge, called Yucca Mountain, in Nevada. But the plan has been stymied by a host of logistic and environmental concerns, not to mention fierce opposition from people who live in the vicinity of the mountain. The impasse has left nuclear plants with no alternative to storing their radioactive waste on-site. The Susquehanna plant's used uranium awaits removal in either pools of water or huge steel containers, which are locked inside concrete bunkers. ''From and ethical and moral standpoint, we should cure the original problem before we exacerbate it,'' Epstein said. The House of Representatives was expected to begin its own energy debate this weekend. Whether the loan guarantee provision makes it into law will depend on how the House and Senate reconcile their bills. sam.kennedy@mcall.com 610-820-6517 The Morning Call's Washington D.C. reporter Josh Drobnyk contributed to this story. ***************************************************************** 18 energy bangla: Bangladesh Seeks Iran's Assistance in Nuclear Energy Sector Bangladesh Regional Cooperation in Energy Sector EB Report , published 5/8/2007 Bangladeshi Minister of Power, Energy and Natural Resources Tapan Chowdhury sought Iran's help in construction of a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. Report from IRNA. According to Iran's embassy in Dhaka, Chowdhury in a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to Dhaka Hasan Farazandeh said regarding the need for permissions from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Bangladesh is looking for cooperation from states possessing the technology for production of electricity from nuclear power plants. He said that Bangladesh's limited natural gas resources will run out by 2012, so it is necessary for the country to substitute a suitable fuel for gas. Chowdhury also pointed to Bangladesh's low refining capacity and stressed the need for construction of new refineries. On his part, Farazandeh pointing to Iran's capabilities in oil and petrochemical sectors expressed Iran's readiness for implementation of oil and energy projects including establishment of refinery in Bangladesh. Copy right Energy Bangla 2006. ***************************************************************** 19 Rutland Herald: Viability of Yankee part of energy puzzle August 05, 2007 The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant moved a step closer this week to winning approval for a license extension allowing it to operate an additional 20 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission found there were no environmental reasons why the plant should not continue to operate beyond the expiration of its present license in 2012. The commission had some extra safety questions about the plant that the owner, Entergy Vermont, expected to address this fall. In the last five years Entergy has faced a series of regulatory hurdles to carry out its plans for the plant it purchased in 2002. It had to win approval from the Legislature to store radioactive waste in dry casks on Entergy property in Vernon. Dry cask storage became necessary because the plant was running out of storage capacity. The next step for Entergy was to win approval for a 20 percent increase in output at the plant. The power boost drew the opposition of nuclear opponents and also raised safety concerns on the part of the state Department of Public Service. Review of the power boost focused on the plant's capability for handling increased stress; eventually the state of Vermont and the NRC were satisfied about the safety of Entergy's plans. The final step is for Entergy to win approval for a license extension that would allow the plant to operate until 2032. Nuclear opponents who view the operation of nuclear power plants with horror see a license extension as an invitation to disaster. They point to the unresolved question of long-term waste storage and the danger of breakdown or terrorist attack, with the possibility of a widespread catastrophe. These dangers require the utmost vigilance on the part of regulators, and the state Public Service Department has done well to seek answers to important safety questions during the process. Making life easy for Entergy or the NRC must not be the aim of the state's nuclear regulators. State regulatory officials, as well as nuclear critics, do a service in forcing strict scrutiny of Entergy's proposals, even if the critics view the eventual approval of Entergy's proposals as a defeat. The importance of Vermont Yankee as a source of power ought not to determine the outcome of safety or environmental reviews. A dangerous or damaging plant ought not to be approved, no matter how much the state needs it. But the continuing operation of the plant, should it be deemed safe, would ensure that Vermont's utilities had a ready source of relatively inexpensive power long into the future. In the next eight years contracts for power from Vermont Yankee and from Hydro-Quebec must be renegotiated by Vermont's utilities, and Vermont would be in dire circumstances were power from Yankee unavailable. The plant provides the state with about a third of its load; Hydro-Quebec provides another third. The development of wind and solar power and increased conservation will help meet the needs of the state above and beyond the state's base load needs. But without Vermont Yankee as a source, Vermont ratepayers would likely face much higher rates for power purchased from fossil fuel sources on the open market. It was the state's reliance on Vermont Yankee that formed the backdrop to the controversy in the Legislature this year over a plan to pay for energy conservation with a new tax on Yankee. One of the reasons legislators upheld a veto by Gov. James Douglas of the Legislature's energy program was concern about future contracts with Yankee. Controversy over Vermont Yankee is bound to continue, even if the NRC moves toward final approval of the license extension. The Legislature passed a bill in 2006 requiring that a license extension must receive legislative approval. The Public Service Department is working on studies to help the Legislature weigh the challenges, bringing the issue of nuclear power and Vermont's energy future into the political arena. It is growing increasingly likely that Yankee will be around for awhile. At the same time, it is essential that the state pursue alternative power sources wind power and conservation which can absorb a sizable chunk of the additional power needed by Vermont ratepayers. The governor and the Legislature have been focused on different pieces of this puzzle. All the pieces are important. 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 20 Brattleboro Reformer: Cracks in steam dryer 'normal,' says VY official By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Saturday, August 4 BRATTLEBORO -- Cracks found in Vermont Yankee nuclear power plants steam dryer are normal, said the plant's director of nuclear safety assurance. "We did a detailed, high quality inspection during the refueling outage," said John Dreyfuss. "We found no issues of concern." During the inspection, 29 cracks were found, in addition to the 46 cracks found during a previous inspection. The cracks found in Yankee's steam dryer are typical of cracks found at other boiling water reactors. "There are some small cracks that are normal," said Dreyfuss, which he called intergranular stress corrosion cracking. "They do not effect the structural integrity." He said these types of cracks are "very slow moving and predictable (which) can be managed." The steam dryer extracts moisture from steam generated by the plant's boiling water reactor before it is used to produce electricity. It is a steel drum 17 feet in diameter and 16 feet high and was installed during construction of the plant, which went on line in 1972. The inspections that found the cracks were part of the process required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that allowed Yankee to boost its power production by 20 percent. "Two and a half years of work, research analysis and modifications went into (the steam dryer)," said Dreyfuss, adding "we did some preemptive strengthening modifications." Those modifications included reinforcing "key areas" and adding thicker plating material to the steam dryer. After the modifications, the steam dryer was operated for more than a year at full power uprate conditions, said Dreyfuss, and technicians "found no problems, nothing that challenged the structural integrity of the dryer. It held up well." "The proactive approach we have taken to strengthen it has really paid dividends," said Dreyfuss. Entergy Nuclear, which owns and operates Vermont Yankee, is seeking a 20-year license extension for the plant. It was originally scheduled to close in 2012, but Entergy would like to keep it operating until 2032. The NRC has said it has found no issues that would prevent the plant from receiving its license extension, but its official report is not due out until next year. Even if the NRC grants the license extension, Vermont's Public Service Board and the state Legislature both have to OK the extension prior to final approval. Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273. ***************************************************************** 21 IHT: A bad deal with India - International Herald Tribune Published: August 5, 2007 President George W. Bush is understandably desperate for some kind of foreign policy success. But that cannot justify sacrificing his principled stand against weapons proliferation to seal a nuclear cooperation deal with India. The accord could end up benefiting New Delhi's weapons program as much as its pursuit of nuclear power. The deal was deeply flawed from the start. And it has been made even worse by a newly negotiated companion agreement that lays out the technical details for nuclear commerce. Congress should reject the agreement and demand that the administration, or its successor, negotiate a new one that does not undermine efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons. Any agreement needs to honor the principle Bush set forth in 2004: that countries do not need to make their own nuclear fuel, or reprocess their spent fuel, to operate effective nuclear energy programs. The technology can be all too easily diverted to make fuel for a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, Bush's accord with India jettisoned that essential principle. Washington capitulated to India's nuclear establishment and endorsed continued reprocessing. And while U.S. law calls for nuclear cooperation to end if India detonates another weapon, the agreement makes no explicit mention of that requirement - while it promises that Washington will acquiesce, if not assist, in India's efforts to find other fuel suppliers. And no promise not to resume nuclear testing. The message of all this is unmistakable: When it comes to nuclear proliferation, Washington's only real policy is to reward its friends and punish its enemies. Suspicion of America's motives around the world are high enough. America cannot afford another such blow to its credibility, especially when it is trying to rally international pressure against nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. The administration will argue that altering this agreement now would be a slap at India. But there is no good in compounding a bad deal. And there are better ways to deepen political and economic ties. Copyright 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 22 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Team to Check Quake-Hit Nuke Plant Sunday August 5, 2007 4:31 AM By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) - A team of U.N. nuclear watchdog agency inspectors was in Japan Sunday to assess the condition of a nuclear power plant severely damaged in an earthquake last month. The July 11 magnitude-6.8 quake in Niigata province killed 11 people and injured more than 1,000. It also caused numerous malfunctions and leaks at the plant - the world's largest in terms of capacity - that raised safety concerns at the country's nuclear power stations. The International Atomic Energy Agency team plans to examine the plant for four days. It will then return to Tokyo on Friday for talks with Japanese nuclear safety officials, according to a statement by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Japanese officials, already at the plant for investigations, will cooperate with the six-member IAEA team, but the IAEA's probe would be independent, agency officials said. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, has been under fire in the wake of the powerful quake, which triggered a small fire at the plant. It took two hours to put out the fire because plant officials had trouble notifying fire officials. The company also revealed hundreds of incidents and damages in the aftermath, including radioactive water leak out of a tank into open sea, though the amount of radioactivity was minimal. Though Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, plant officials said they had not foreseen such a powerful quake hitting the facility and repeatedly underreported its impact afterward. The inspectors plan to compile a report after the inspection. Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 23 MSNBC.com: Global Warming Gives Nuclear Energy New Life - Newsweek Technology - Radioactive Debate Nuclear energy, once the scourge of environmentalists, is gaining popularity as a carbon-free alternative. Carolyn Kaster / AP Beautiful Sight? Nuclear power, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, is winning over some former opponents By By Karen Breslau Aug. 5, 2007 - Climate change hardly qualifies as good news for anyone. But for advocates of nuclear energy, these are practically glory days. As the urgency of combating global warming has risen, even environmentalists and politicians who may have once chained themselves to the reactor gates are taking another look at the industry that has languished in regulatory and PR hell since the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. The reason? Nuclear energy, which now generates 20 percent of the nation’s electricity, does not produce greenhouse gases. “If you believe that climate change is the issue of our generation, then it’s disingenuous to say that nuclear energy is off the table,” says Bill Chameides, chief scientist for Environmental Defense, who admits his own position on the issue has evolved from skeptical to agnostic. He's not alone. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, includes generous subsidies and tax credits for nuclear and other non-fossil fuels. President George W. Bush has consistently called for a revival of nuclear plant construction as a way of boosting domestic energy production-and curbing greenhouse gases. Even Al Gore recently told a House committee, “I am not an absolutist in being opposed to nuclear.” Approval—or at least acceptance—also runs through the presidential field. Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are both strong proponents of nuclear power. Democratic contender John Edwards said at a recent CNN/YouTube debate that he is opposed to nuclear energy because of concerns over cost and waste disposal, but his competitors have been noticeably less critical. At the same debate, Hillary Clinton also described herself as a nuclear energy “agnostic,” while Barack Obama went further, with a call to “explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix.” Obama and Clinton have joined McCain as co-sponsors of the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007, which includes an additional $3 billion in funding and loan guarantees for the construction of nuclear plants using next-generation designs that improve efficiency. A2006poll sponsored by the nuclear industry (and conducted by the same firm that works for Clinton) found that public approval for nuclear energy rose significantly when those surveyed were told that the plants emit zero greenhouse gases. For the nuclear industry, all this means that the political climate has not been more favorable in years.To bolster its powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, the industry recently launched a new public relations offensive, hiring former Bush EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman and former Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore as spokespeople. Moore, who quit Greenpeace years ago after a dispute, has since rebuked his former allies in the green movement for spreading “misinformation and hysteria” about nuclear energy during the 1970s and 80s. “I was caught up in the anti-nuclear fervor of the time in which we failed to distinguish between peaceful and military uses of nuclear technology,” Moore told Newsweek. “I’m sorry I did that.” Moore , an ecologist, says all other non-fossil energy sources “pale in comparison” to nuclear, which he expects will eventually provide half of the nation’s electricity. (Solar generated less than 0.01 percent last year.) But for all the talk of a nuclear “renaissance”, the United States lags far behind other countries, generating only 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, a proportion that has been stagnant for years. (Coal, the single largest source of U.S. electricity, provides about50 per cent.) In France, by contrast, nearly 80 percent of the country’s electricity is nuclear-generated; in China that figure is 50 per cent. Japan and South Korea also generate significantly more nuclear power proportionately than the United States. In each of those countries, governments assume a huge role in financing nuclear plants, which are far more expensive than coal-based facilities. There are still significant concerns about the cost and safety of nuclear power remain. In a recent sting operation by the Government Accountability Office, investigators easily obtained and altered a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allowing a bogus company to acquire radioactive materials, underlining concerns that terrorists could assemble a “dirty bomb” by a similar ruse. The planned nuclear-waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is decades behind schedule and billions over budget, due to regulatory and legal battles that have stalled construction.. And in Japan public support for nuclear energy plunged last month when a reactor leaked low-level radioactive waste after a powerful earthquake. A report in The Wall Street Journal last week found that safety-related incidents at commercial nuclear plants around the world are insufficiently documented, or in some cases not reported at all to the International Atomic Energy Agency , because regulators are wary of making it appear as though their countries have poor safety records.But the cost of nuclear energy remains perhaps its biggest hurdle. Many environmentalists question the ability of the nuclear industry to compete against other carbon-free technologies such as hydro-, wind and solar without subsidies or loan guarantees by the federal government. Prohibitive costs, says Sierra Club president Carl Pope, make the revived nuclear energy debate “nothing but a distraction.” It now costs $4 billion to $5 billion to build a nuclear plant; the last new U.S. plant, which went online in the Tennessee in 1996, cost $7 billion and took 22 years to build. “You don’t want to rule out nuclear,” says Thomas Cochran, director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “But you don’t want to subsidize it at the expense of more attractive options.” 2007 Newsweek, Inc. | Subscribe to Newsweek ***************************************************************** 24 Los Angeles Times: House OKs clean-energy legislation - 11:01 PM PDT, August 5, 2007 Jobs Cars Real Estate The Democratic measure would mark a dramatic shift in policy, requiring national standards for renewable sources for the first time. By Noam N. Levey and Richard Simon, Times Staff Writers August 5, 2007 WASHINGTON Pushing to chart a new national energy policy, House Democrats on Saturday passed legislation that would require the nation's utilities to generate more electricity from clean-energy sources, such as the wind and the sun. And in another indicator of the changed political landscape on Capitol Hill, they stripped the oil and gas industries of $16 billion in tax incentives and voted to apply those tax breaks to efforts to spur production of cleaner forms of energy. The energy measures passed in a final burst of activity before lawmakers were to adjourn for their summer recess this weekend. Late Saturday, the House also modified the Foreign Intelligence Services Act. The changes, a concession to the White House that was strongly opposed by liberal Democrats, would expand the authority of U.S. spy agencies to monitor overseas phone calls and e-mails. The measure passed 227 to 183 with Republicans providing 186 of the "yes" votes. The House also approved as much as $255 million in emergency aid for repairs of the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed Wednesday in Minneapolis. The energy legislation, part of a broad energy package that congressional Democrats hope to send to the president later this year, would mark the first time the federal government had set a national standard for so-called renewables. If enacted, the measure would mandate that utilities generate about 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Power plants account for about a third of the carbon dioxide emissions the leading contributor to global warming in the United States. "We are turning toward the future," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who has made legislation to combat global warming a priority. "This beautiful planet is God's gift to us. We have a moral responsibility to preserve it." The renewable-energy bill passed 241-172, with 26 Republicans joining Democrats on Saturday to back the new standard. The tax package passed 221-189, with nine Republicans joining Democrats. The California delegation split along party lines, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans opposed. Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) and Tom Lantos (D-Burlingame) did not vote. The House energy legislation must still be reconciled with an energy bill that passed the Senate in June a version without a renewable requirement or the removal of oil industry tax breaks. And the White House had threatened a veto, criticizing the bill Friday as failing to address high energy costs or promote domestic energy production. But the measure marks a dramatic turn for U.S. energy policy and is a sharp contrast to the energy bill passed in 2005 by the Republican-controlled Congress. That legislation emphasized greater production of traditional energy sources, such as coal, oil and nuclear power. The House bill is the counterpart to the Senate's energy legislation, which passed in June and contains provisions to increase the average-fuel-efficiency requirements for cars for the first time in nearly two decades. It also includes a wide range of other environmental initiatives, such as promoting the development of more-efficient light bulbs and plug-in hybrid vehicles. "This is a dramatic first step," said Marchant Wentworth, a legislative representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The energy bill saves consumers money, creates jobs and makes a down payment on reducing the threat of global warming." With the public increasingly concerned about global warming and U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the Democrats have made energy a priority since they assumed the majority on Capitol Hill in January. The package passed Saturday is less ambitious than Pelosi initially promised a reflection of the difficulty of forging consensus on energy policy, an issue that often divides lawmakers by region as much as party. House Democratic leaders put off decisions until fall on two of the most controversial proposals: capping emissions on power plants and raising vehicle mileage standards. They still faced a steady barrage of criticism from House Republicans and some Democrats who complained that the legislation did not support the domestic coal, oil and nuclear industries. ***************************************************************** 25 Japan Times: Tokyo seeks quick report from IAEA on quake-hit plant japantimes.co.jp Web Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 Kyodo News Japan will ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to announce as quickly as possible the results of its inspection next week of a Niigata Prefecture nuclear power plant damaged by a major earthquake last month, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari said Friday. "We will ask (the IAEA) to do it as quickly as possible," Amari told a news conference when asked about a planned visit by a six-member IAEA inspection team to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station from Monday through Thursday. "I think a visit by a third party like the IAEA and comments from such a party on the current situation will make international assessment of the impact of the quake more accurate," said Amari, who is in charge of overseeing the energy industry. The plant, the world's largest nuclear power station in terms of output capacity, remains closed since a leakage of water containing low-level radioactive material and other malfunctions were reported after the magnitude-6.8 quake on July 16. The incident rekindled public concern over nuclear plant safety. Amari said that in order to boost safety standards at nuclear facilities, it is important for all countries that have such facilities share information about accidents and other problems. "I would like nuclear facilities around the world to take this as their own case," he said, alluding to the incidents at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 26 Scoop: Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation Challenges Friday, 3 August 2007, 3:55 pm Press Release: US State Department Dr. Andrew Semmel Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy and Negotiations Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, DC Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation Challenges Introduction Senator Casey, Senator Lugar and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this hearing on "Safeguarding the Atom: Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation Challenges." In his speech at the National Defense University in February, 2004, President Bush highlighted the importance of nuclear nonproliferation for American security in the post- 9/11 world. He described how the subjects of this hearing - strengthened IAEA safeguards and assurance of reliable fuel supplies - support our nonproliferation policies. "We must," the President stated, "ensure that the IAEA has all the tools it needs to fulfill its essential mandate." At the same time he called for the creation of "a safe, orderly system to field civilian nuclear plants without adding to the danger of weapons proliferation." To this end, he proposed that "the world's leading nuclear exporters should ensure that states have reliable access at reasonable cost to fuel for civilian reactors, so long as those states renounce enrichment and reprocessing. Enrichment and reprocessing are not necessary for nations seeking to harness nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." Since the time of that speech, the promotion of these measures has been an important part of our nonproliferation policies. The bill that is the focus of this hearing, S.1138, the "Nuclear Safeguards and Supply Act of 2007," also seeks to advance these goals. In particular I would call attention to the "declaration of new policy" in Section 102(b) of the bill, which reads:– "It shall be the policy of the United States to discourage the development of enrichment and reprocessing capabilities in additional countries, encourage the creation of bilateral and multilateral assurances of nuclear fuel supply, and ensure that all supply mechanisms operate in strict accordance with the IAEA safeguards system and do not result in any additional unmet verification burdens for the system." We are actively pursuing these goals through diplomacy and under existing constitutional and statutory authority. We have already undertaken important measures to strengthen the IAEA safeguards and develop reliable fuel supply mechanisms. IAEA Safeguards As pointed out in S.1138, the array of challenges facing the IAEA safeguards system in recent years is likely to continue and require more safeguards resources in the future. First, the IAEA has been conducting prolonged and intensive investigations dealing with non-compliance which it must undertake with high priority; the circumstances in Iran and now, once again, with the DPRK are well known to you. Second, the number and size of declared nuclear activities under safeguards agreements continue to grow. The agency is required by legally-binding safeguards agreements to perform most of these activities. In the short term, the IAEA is being asked to safeguard large new fuel cycle facilities in Japan, and we also expect growth in safeguards activities in new areas, such as India. In the longer term, as pointed out in S.1138, there is renewed interest world-wide in nuclear energy as an important component of the world's energy supply, and the number and size of nuclear facilities around the world will continue to grow, and likely accelerate. Third, the recent efforts to strengthen safeguards require new safeguards activities. As more states bring safeguards agreements and Additional Protocols into force, or adhere to strengthened versions of safeguards agreements, the Agency's workload increases. Fourth, new safeguards activities require efficient, effective and state of the art technological, methodological, information and communication infrastructure in support of its verification regime. Some of this infrastructure is provided in the Agency's regular budget; however, the IAEA must rely on voluntary contributions from donor states to purchase other equipment and services to carry out its verification function. To address these challenges the IAEA relies on funding from its regular budget and voluntary contributions. The United States has consistently been a strong supporter of the IAEA, and its verification activities in particular. However, the distribution of regular budget funding between verification activities and other Agency activities is often a source of contention, with many developing member states relentlessly arguing that more resources should be allocated for technical cooperation. In 2003, a U.S. initiative resulted in an increase in the Agency's regular budget of approximately 20%, spread out over the last few years. Much of this increase was allocated toward safeguards. For 2008-2009, the Agency requested an 8.5% increase in its regular budget. About a quarter of this increase was for safeguards, and over half of the remaining amount was for expenses (such as computer systems) that support all IAEA activities. However, the Board of Governors agreed to a 4.2% increase for 2008-2009, but this amounts to just 1.4% of which is real growth in the Agency's budget. Given the constraints in the regular budget, a significant portion of the Agency's safeguards budget is derived from voluntary contributions. The United States is by far the largest contributor; this year we are providing $53 million in voluntary contributions, including about $21 million for safeguards. The safeguards contribution includes $14 million for the U.S. Program of Technical Assistance to IAEA Safeguards - POTAS - and funding for sample analysis and safeguards equipment. There is also about $3 million to be used, as needed, in the D.P.R.K. It is likely the Agency will face challenges with regard to finding adequate resources in the future. The IAEA Director General noted in a June statement that he believes that "...the Agency remains under-funded in many critical areas, a situation which, if it remains unaddressed, will lead to a steady erosion of our ability to perform key functions, including in the verification and safety fields. To this end and ... to remedy this unsustainable situation, I have initiated a study to examine the programmatic and budgetary requirements of the Agency over the next decade or so." A solution to the long-term funding question will necessarily involve technical, institutional and political elements. Reliable Fuel Supply Turning from support for IAEA safeguards to the promotion of reliable fuel supply, the Administration has also used existing authority to actively pursue the development of fuel supply mechanisms for countries that forego enrichment and reprocessing. The role of fuel supply mechanisms in nonproliferation policy was succinctly stated by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei as follows: "By providing reliable access to...fuel at competitive market prices, we remove the incentive for countries to develop indigenous fuel cycle capabilities...and [address] concerns about dissemination of sensitive fuel cycle technologies." U.S. Actions As noted in Section 203(2) of S.1138, in 2005 the United States announced plans to downblend 17.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium excess to our defense needs to establish a reserve in support of fuel supply assurances. This amount of HEU will produce about 290 metric tons of low enriched uranium, and at current market prices is valued at over $1 billion dollars. This was followed in 2006 by several major fuel supply initiatives. On May 31 of that year, the United States, France, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom submitted to the IAEA a concept for reliable access to nuclear fuel. Under this six-country proposal, the IAEA would have a key role in facilitating new commercial arrangements if a country should find its fuel supply interrupted for reasons other than failure to comply with its nonproliferation obligations. As a last resort, reserves of nuclear fuel, held nationally or by the IAEA, could act as a back-up mechanism. Eligibility to receive fuel supply would be based, among other things, on a country's record of compliance with IAEA safeguards, its acceptance of international nuclear safety standards, and its reliance on the international market rather than on indigenous sensitive fuel cycle activities. In the fall of 2006, the United States participated in an IAEA "Special Event" on fuel supply assurances in Vienna. At that event, as noted in Section 203(3) of S.1138, the Nuclear Threat Initiative announced plans to contribute $50 million to the IAEA to help create a low enriched uranium stockpile owned and managed by the IAEA, but made it contingent on matching funds of $100 million in funding or an equivalent value of LEU from other sources. The United States supports this proposal to create an LEU stockpile administered by the IAEA. To address fuel assurances over the longer term, in February 2006 the United States announced the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP. Under GNEP, the United States, with other partner nations, would develop advanced nuclear fuel technologies that will result in less waste, more energy without pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced risk of proliferation. When these technologies are fully deployed, states with advanced fuel cycle capabilities would join together to provide comprehensive, reliable fuel services to countries that choose not to pursue enrichment and reprocessing, to ensure the availability of fuel, and a commitment to take back spent fuel. Earlier this month, on July 3, President Bush and President Putin of Russia issued a Joint Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation. Under the Joint Initiative, the United States and Russia will work together with other nuclear supplier states to develop mutually beneficial approaches for states considering nuclear energy, including the provision of reliable nuclear fuel services. S.1138 I would like to focus the remainder of my comments more narrowly on the text of S.1138. Let me begin by noting once again that the overall objectives of this bill - to enhance nuclear safeguards and to provide assurances of nuclear fuel supply to countries that forgo certain fuel cycle activities - comport well with the policy objectives that the Administration is seeking to achieve. However, some individual provisions raise issues which we believe could make it more difficult to achieve these objectives. My comments are offered with the intention of further improving this legislation. We agree generally with the various assessments in Section 101 identifying challenges facing the IAEA's safeguards regime. The United States and the IAEA are working to strengthen safeguards by seeking universal adherence to the Additional Protocol and by upgrading the Small Quantities Protocols. We welcome the attention given to the IAEA's human capital problems, an area we have repeatedly raised with the Agency. This is a concern not only for the operation of the Safeguards Analytical Laboratory, or SAL, in Seibersdorf, Austria, but more generally for the IAEA Safeguards Department as a whole. Turning to Section 103 of the bill, we agree that there is a need for carefully considered upgrades to SAL. It is not clear, however, that expending the full $10 million solely on the refurbishment or replacement of SAL, as proposed by Section 103(a), would be the most effective way to strengthen the IAEA's analytical capabilities. In November 2006, the IAEA held a workshop at SAL, attended by laboratory experts from member states, to determine what should be done to ensure that SAL would be able to continue to perform its mission. These experts generally agreed that while some infrastructure upgrades were needed, and the possibility of expansion should be considered, there was no pressing need for an entirely new laboratory. U.S. experts believe that the biggest threat to SAL's analytical capabilities is not the age of the equipment, which, if properly maintained, can have a long service life. Rather, it is the availability of qualified staff to run the machines and interpret the results, a problem also identified in Section 101(13). We also understand that the Director General of the IAEA has set up a committee to further review the need for improvements at SAL. We therefore suggest the funds be targeted more flexibly, to address not just the refurbishment of SAL, but also to meet other IAEA safeguards equipment and personnel needs. I would note with regard to Section 104 of the bill, that the U.S. Program of Technical Assistance to IAEA Safeguards, or POTAS, is a well-established program, by far the strongest in the world, supporting the technical implementation of IAEA safeguards and safeguard-related R&D. The current level of sophistication of IAEA safeguards is due in no small part to the contributions made by the U.S. support program over approximately 30 years. We fully agree with the objectives indicated in that section and the need for a strong U.S. technology base. This is of fundamental importance to continuing U.S. leadership and the credibility of the IAEA safeguards system. S.1138: Title II As a general matter, we welcome the support for our efforts to establish reliable nuclear fuel supply mechanisms provided by Title II. We also welcome the support in Section 203 for the concept of an international fuel bank involving the IAEA. However, we believe that Title II should instead be drafted as a resolution expressing the Sense of Congress, or as Statements of Policy, because, as section 201(c) makes clear, this legislation is not intended to provide any authority additional to that under the Atomic Energy Act or other preexisting laws and regulations. The President already has the authority to work both bilaterally and multilaterally toward achieving such mechanisms, and such efforts are well underway. In our discussions at the IAEA and elsewhere, we have found that other countries are deeply sensitive to whether a fuel supply mechanism will impose actual or apparent limitations on their sovereignty. Avoiding the appearance of such limits will be important in determining whether or not a supply mechanism will be widely accepted. Section 201(a) of the bill acknowledges the importance of honoring national sovereignty by stating that fuel supply mechanisms should be open to states that "decide" to forego enrichment and reprocessing. However, Section 201(b) describes several factors that, if incorporated into legislation on fuel supply mechanisms, will almost certainly be perceived as an effort to erode the sovereignty of potential recipients. For example, it is unclear whether section 201(b)(7) contemplates that all the legal restrictions on retransfer of US-origin nuclear material should apply to transfers of foreign-origin nuclear material funded in whole or in part by United States contribution. If this is the intent of the provision, consideration of this factor may make it more difficult, as a practical matter, for the United States to financially support an IAEA fuel bank as proposed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative in 2006. Moreover, section 201(b)(9) provides that the supply mechanism should take into account whether potential recipients have export controls "comparable" to our own. Section 201(b)(10) provides the mechanism to should take into account the "conformity" of the recipient State's safety and regulatory regimes with similar U.S. laws and regulations. Legislation containing these or similar provisions would likely be seen by other States as an unacceptable attempt to impose our domestic standards, rather than internationally accepted standards, and may ultimately be counterproductive to our efforts. The required "Report on the Establishment on an International Fuel Authority" in Section 202(a) can make an important contribution to the discussion of nuclear fuel supply assurances. The issues identified as requiring evaluation in Section 202(b) are important ones. However, producing a solid and credible Report will require significant time and resources, both financial and personnel. We are frankly concerned about our ability to produce a quality report in the timeframe specified in Section 202(a). At the June meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, the Secretariat provided members of the Board with a draft report on fuel supply mechanisms and the potential role of the IAEA. This report will be discussed and debated at subsequent meetings of the Board. The 180 day deadline in Section 202(a) may not be long enough for the report to Congress to take account of the debate and decisions of the Board on fuel supply. We suggest that a deadline of 365 days, with a brief progress report after 180 days, might be a more realistic time frame. Conclusion Let me conclude by emphasizing once again the importance of nuclear nonproliferation policy for the security of the United States. Both strong IAEA safeguards and the creation of reliable fuel supply mechanisms can make an effective contribution to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The potential of the latter was highlighted by President Bush in 2004, and every U.S. administration since the founding of the IAEA has supported strong IAEA safeguards. We welcome the support for these policies reflected in S.1138. ENDS ***************************************************************** 27 Times Union: Make nuclear plants public -- Albany NY First published: Sunday, August 5, 2007 Although construction of nuclear plants has been in the doldrums since the near meltdown of the Three Mile Island facility in 1979 scared the nation out of its wits, electricity- generating corporations are proposing to build up to 20 additional plants to augment the existing 104. That effort acquires plausibility as the public puts Three Mile Island behind it by coming to appreciate that alternatives to conventional fossil fuels are essential to contain the powerful destructive effects on climate of global warming. Unlike oil, natural gas and coal, nuclear power does not produce damaging carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The evolving public support undergirds the effort of nuclear power advocates in industry and government, who had been thwarted by public opposition these past three decades. Now emboldened, the power industry is raring to go, seeing Oz just over the horizon. But the remaining span of the yellow brick road that still needs to be traversed is paved with onerous expenses. So otherwise staunch free marketers want that awful, meddling government residing in Washington, D.C., to take over the risks of the venture. Fine reporting last week in The New York Times by reporters Edmund L. Andrews and Matthew L. Wald, revealed that a one-sentence provision "inserted without debate in the Senate's energy bill, at the urging of the nuclear power industry, could make builders of new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars in government loan guarantees." The industry wants $50 billion over two years. There is no indication that government support would end there. Indeed, the provision is structured to "remove appropriate control," according to a cited official Office of Management and Budget Assessment. Why would intrepid entrepreneurs, who supposedly abhor governmental intervention, not build a good investment with their own resources? The answer is that the undertaking is extremely risky, and historically subject to mind-bending cost overruns, that no bank would lend them the huge sums required without government guarantees. These ventures are being pressed even though the basic objections to nuclear power have not been addressed. Hazardous nuclear waste disposal remains an unsolved problem. The waste's toxicity will last for something like 10,000 years, which is about as far off in the future as the Ice Age is in the past. The Yucca Mountain depository in Nevada is still not in operation. Another abiding impediment is the safety record of nuclear plants and the government secrecy that has screened their operations from the public. Only recently, the world's largest capacity nuclear power plant, located in Japan, sustained leakage problems during a heavy earthquake. Instructive was that both the Tokyo government and the operators initially minimized the damage done. While there have been no more Three Mile Islands, there have been many reactor shutdowns, indicating the potential for safety problems that likely would be exacerbated by the pressures of business competition to keep cost down, including skimping on staff. 1 | 2 NEXT PAGE >> ***************************************************************** 28 petroleumworld: Nuclear plant adviser quits after calling quake "experiment" 26 -29 August, in Stavanger, Norway AFP TOKYO Petroleumworld.com 08 06 07 The head of a board inspecting a Japanese nuclear plant that leaked radiation in an earthquake resigned Friday after calling the incident an "invaluable experiment." The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Tokyo, leaked a small amount of radioactive water after a 6.8 Richter-scale earthquake on July 16. The plant's operator said the amount of radiation from the nuclear plant, which is the largest in the world, was far too little to cause health concerns. But it came under criticism for initially under reporting the level. Kenzo Miya, an engineering professor at Tokyo's Hosei University and since 2003 the head of a prefectural commission on the plant's safety, inspected the site and found no risk. He said Thursday at a press conference that the earthquake was an "irreplaceable, invaluable experiment." "Mr. Miya has resigned citing unspecified personal reasons," a prefectural official, Shinichi Fujita, told AFP. Asked if his resignation was due to the faux pas, Fujita said: "You may imagine many things about the matter, but we cannot say." The earthquake destroyed hundreds of homes and killed 11 people. In a bid to assuage concern about the radiation, Japan has invited a team from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the plant next week. Miya's was the latest gaffe to make headlines in Japan. Earlier this year, the defence minister resigned after saying that the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki hastened the end of World War II. AFP 03 1232 GMT 08 07 Copyright 2007 AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 NewsBlaze: NRC Sends Special Inspection Team to Brunswick Nuclear Plant The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched a Special Inspection Team to the Brunswick nuclear power plant, operated by Progress Energy near Southport on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. The team will inspect and assess circumstances associated with a July 26th failure of a valve in the cooling water system for one of the redundant loops of the Unit 1 Residual Heat Removal, or RHR, system. The RHR system is used to remove decay heat, and in an accident, it can also be used to inject water into the reactor core. On July 26th, two RHR service water pumps tripped on low suction pressure, and Progress Energy declared that loop of the system inoperable. Plant employees determined that a water supply valve had failed, and after an analysis and repairs to the valve, that loop of the RHR system was declared operable again. NRC officials said that Progress Energy repaired the valve quickly and there was no threat to public health and safety at any time. The NRC's two-person Special Inspection Team is developing a sequence of events related to the valve failure; reviewing the company's response to earlier information the NRC issued on these valves; assessing the plant staff's analysis, maintenance and corrective actions on the valves; and identifying any generic issues for Brunswick or other nuclear plants. The special inspection is expected to take about a week, and the NRC will issue a report within 30 days of the completion of the inspection. Source: NRC judythpiazza@newsblaze.com Copyright 2007, NewsBlaze, Daily News ***************************************************************** 30 Japan Times: Japanese helping U.S. on nuclear terrorism japantimes.co.jp Web Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007 A-bomb data to aid medical response Kyodo News Kyodo News A U.S. antinuclear terrorism laboratory has received data from Japanese specialists who researched Japanese atomic bomb survivors and victims of U.S. nuclear testing in the 1950s. The main purpose of the Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory, established last year in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is to help determine the amount of radiation that potential victims would be exposed to from terrorists' nuclear weapons or radioactive "dirty bombs" so physicians can formulate treatment plans. "Although retired, Dr. Akio Awa, former chief of the Department of Genetics of Japan's Radiation Effects Research Foundation, has spent the past five months working directly with Dr. Gordon Livingston . . . in Oak Ridge to assist with the development of new radiation calibration curves," the U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency, a wing of the U.S. Energy Department, said. Livingston is the lab's director. Awa, who currently lives in Hiroshima, spent more than 28 years at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation and its predecessor, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, researching chromosome aberrations of atomic bomb survivors. Ratios of chromosome aberrations help determine levels of radiation exposure. Estimating radiation levels is important in facilitating triage and medical management of victims after nuclear or radiological explosions. Awa helped Livingston create a basic database, or radiation calibration curves, which could be used as an analytical standard for estimating radiation-level exposure. After a nuclear blast, the blood of injured people would be checked for chromosome aberrations. "Researching chromosome aberrations is a (way) to research radiation levels under various circumstances" that people are exposed to radiation, Awa said. He had researched one type of chromosome aberration, known as translocation, at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation until he retired in 1995. He said he researched more than 1 million cells of A-bomb survivors during his career. After retiring, he served as an adviser to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation for several years. Considered one of Japan's top specialists in the field, he is still active. The Oak Ridge lab researches a different type of chromosome aberration, known as dicentrics, which is more lethal than translocation, the stable type of aberration that can still be found in lymph cells of atomic bomb survivors. The Oak Ridge nuclear facility was a key site for the Manhattan Project, the massive U.S. effort to develop the atomic weapons that were eventually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency said the data on bomb survivors won't be used for future cytogenetic biodosimetry and diagnosis of potential victims of nuclear terrorism. However, it said, "Physicians will draw upon the knowledge gained from the study of A-bomb survivors to assist in the short-term and long-term treatment of those victims." The collaboration between U.S. and Japanese scientists reflects the new reality of the age of nuclear terrorism. But A-bomb survivors may have mixed feelings about the new scientific approach, which is based on past accomplishments of Japan's Radiation Effects Research Foundation and its predecessor, which have been criticized by many survivors for allegedly prioritizing research rather than treating them. "I have mixed feelings. The United States may think that they have to take such a measure in the context of the current world situation, but it's very difficult for me to accept," said 68-year-old Hiroshi Harada, a Hiroshima survivor and former director of the Peace Memorial Museum. According to the U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency, a scientific advisory board assembled for the Oak Ridge lab includes a current senior scientist of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, a British scientist from the Health Protection Agency and a specialist from the Swedish Defense Research Agency. Three U.S. scientists are also members. Another Japanese radiation research institute, the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, has become involved in a joint international study with the Oak Ridge lab. The study evaluates "the efficacy of the dicentric chromosome aberration assay for radiation biodosimetry in mass casualties," according to the U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency. Specialists from Germany and Canada are participating in the research. The National Institute of Radiological Sciences has studied the radiation effects caused by the U.S. hydrogen bombs tested at Bikini atoll in 1954, in which 23 Japanese fishermen were exposed to heavy radiation. Cytogenetic biodosimetry is a proven method for accurately estimating how much exposure a person has had to radiation. There was a cytogenetics laboratory in Oak Ridge until 1998, but after that the U.S. military had America's only cytogenetic capability. With the increased focus on nuclear terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency decided to re-establish civilian cytogenetic capabilities by constructing an improved laboratory. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 31 Daily Yomiuri: Govt to review screening of A-bomb illness Meeting with atomic bomb survivors here, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated Sunday that the government would relax the yardsticks applied in the screening of survivors for their status as suffers of radiation-related diseases. "I will make [the government] consider reviewing [the standards] on the basis of the judgment of experts," Abe said. Abe, however, stopped short of clarifying whether the government would withdraw its appeals over the district rulings that ordered the government to retract their decision not to recognize some survivors as suffering from atomic bomb-related diseases. "Aside from the lawsuits, I will make the state consider what it can do about the matter," he said. Abe was in Hiroshima to attend the memorial service to mark the 62nd anniversary Monday of the atomic bombing of the city. It was the first time in six years that a prime minister had met with representatives of atomic bomb survivors just before or after the service. Under the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law, those recognized as suffering from radiation-related diseases are entitled to receive special medical allowances. But dissatisfaction has been simmering over the tight government criteria for screening. Less than 1 percent of those exposed to radiation in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings have been recognized as suffering from radiation-related illnesses. Six district courts--Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Sendai and Tokyo--so far have faulted the government's screening yardsticks. The government has appealed all of the rulings, with the exception of that handed down at Kumamoto on July 30, which it is currently considering. The Liberal Democratic Party, meanwhile, has already started discussions as to whether the screening criteria should be relaxed. According to sources, Abe suggested relaxing the standards in consideration of the court rulings against the government and the aging of atomic bombing survivors. Abe apparently wants to buoy his administration after being hit hard by the LDP's humiliating defeat in the House of Councillors election on July 29. By making a "political decision" to relax the criteria--a task that has met with resistance from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry--Abe wants to demonstrate his leadership, observers said. Initially, officials at the Prime Minister's Office said Abe would not be able to meet the representatives of atomic bomb survivors due to his tight schedule. As of Wednesday, Abe had been scheduled to attend the peace memorial service Monday, but not a meeting to hear demands of survivors on the same day, a decision that triggered criticism from survivors' organizations. On Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office announced that an informal meeting had been scheduled for Sunday between Abe and representatives of survivors. By meeting with the representatives, Abe sought to repair the damage inflicted on his administration by the controversial remark made by then Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma on June 30, the sources said. Kyuma resigned last month over his comment that the atomic bombings were "something that couldn't be helped." During Sunday's meeting, Abe apologized for Kyuma's remark. "I apologize for [the remark] that resulted in hurting the feelings of hibakusha [victims of the atomic bombings]," Abe said. "The government will maintain the three nonnuclear principles [of not possessing, producing or allowing any nuclear arms onto Japan's territory] to establish a peaceful and safe world free of nuclear arms," he added. The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 32 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hematite residents fume over cleanup SUNDAY | AUGUST 5, 2007 By Josh Swartzlander ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH The Westinghouse Plant in Hematite, Mo. (Karen Elshout/P-D) HEMATITE From a distance, the old Westinghouse plant is a nondescript complex of buildings, the kind of place that might make light bulbs or ceiling fans. Drive a little closer and yellow signs come into view: "Caution: Nuclear Material." A few years ago, officials with Westinghouse Electric Co. had predicted that the plant, which has been idle since 2001, would be razed in 2005 or last year. Now it appears the buildings won't be torn down and the site completely cleaned up until next year at the earliest. To some who live nearby, demolition can't come soon enough. The plant has been linked to chemical contamination in nearby well water, prompting anxiety among residents and triggering lawsuits. Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. opened the plant in 1956 in an undeveloped area of Jefferson County about six miles west of Festus. For decades the plant churned out nuclear fuel rods, primarily for the Navy and was also used for research of such projects as atomic-powered aircraft and spacecraft. From 1974 to 2001, the plant made nuclear fuel rods for commercial power plants. Last year Toshiba Corp., Japan's largest maker of nuclear power plant equipment, became the plant's latest owner when it bought Westinghouse. But years before that, some residents knew something was wrong. "When I would shower, my eyes would burn," said Marcus Shepherd. In 2002, Shepherd, his wife and four children moved into a home a few thousand feet from the plant. "We figured, it's a new house, it's on a well, we'll get it checked," he said. Tests found chemical contaminants, used as cleaning agents at the plant in the 1950s and 1960s, in the Shepherds' well and in the wells of several nearby homes. The chemicals, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, have been linked to cancer and other health problems. Most of the residents with contaminated well water have reached settlements one for $20,000, others for $12,000 with current and former plant owners. But new legal issues surfaced this year. In March, the family whose well had the highest level of contaminants sued Westinghouse. The company has already bought that family's home. And in May, another family, which had argued that Westinghouse should buy its house, advanced its legal battle in the Missouri Supreme Court. The company is now working with the federal government and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to clean up the site and tear down the plant's buildings, which have been cleaned of uranium and locked down, said Kevin Hayes, community relations manager with Westinghouse. Also at issue is what to do about the chemical contaminants and radiological material that was dumped into unlined pits on the site decades ago. In July, the Department of Natural Resources approved a report by Westinghouse detailing the conditions of soil and water quality near the plant. A public meeting will be scheduled to discuss the results of that report, Hayes said. Viktoria Mitlyng, spokeswoman for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said it was impossible to estimate how long a cleanup would take. "There are no dates at this point," she said. "There are such major differences between every facility in terms of the materials used, whether there are burial pits with waste, the size of the facility." Missouri has sued Westinghouse, seeking damages for the costs of monitoring the plant and for the contamination of state resources, and that suit hinges at least in part on the details of the plan to clean up and tear down the plant. Meanwhile, Westinghouse has filed its own suit against previous owners and the U.S. government for the cost of tearing down and cleaning up the plant. Dennis Diehl, director of the Jefferson County Health Department, said it was important to be patient with the process. "My understanding is there's been a lot of debate about how to determine what contamination could be there (in the pits). They're trying to do the right thing. If that's the case, maybe a little bit of a delay is not a bad thing." But some residents have lost their patience with the process. "Nothing has been resolved," said Clarissa Eaton, 38, who argued and won a decision for her family in front of the Missouri Supreme Court this year in a related case. In 1998, Eaton and her husband, Jerry, bought a ranch-style home with a two-car garage on three acres in Hematite. They did not know they were moving into a house within 3,000 feet of a nuclear fuel plant. When Clarissa Eaton saw an "ABB" sign on the property owned by the plant, she thought it stood for Anheuser-Busch brewery. In fact, it stood for ABB Combustion Engineering, which owned the plant then. In 2002, the Eatons, who have three children, found out their well was contaminated. They hired an attorney, who negotiated a $26,000 settlement with companies that owned the plant. But the Eatons argued that they never approved such a settlement and that their attorney didn't have authority to accept it. In circuit court, Judge Gary P. Kramer ruled to enforce the settlement. The Eatons appealed, arguing they should have been able to present their own evidence, including e-mails between family members and their attorney. The appeal reached the Missouri Supreme Court, where Clarissa Eaton argued her case without a lawyer. She won a unanimous decision, and the case was sent back to circuit court. While the Eatons remain in their house in Hematite, Bob and Gina McWilliams reached a settlement with Westinghouse and moved to Festus. The McWilliamses, who used to live with their four children a few lots down the road from the Eatons, had the highest level of contamination in their well. "I just wanted to get away and be done with worrying about my kids and what I'd brought them into," said Gina McWilliams, 44. Now, all six family members are listed as plaintiffs in a personal injury suit against Westinghouse. Marcus Shepherd and his family reached a settlement years ago and decided to stay in Hematite. He said the family considered a personal injury suit, but any health concerns appeared to go away after they stopped using well water. "I have quite a few acres. It's a good piece of property," he said. "I'm not going to find anywhere to go for a comparable price." But the Eatons want out. Said Clarissa Eaton: "The plant is just too close for comfort." ***************************************************************** 33 ReviewJournal.com: Milk dumped after isotope found in wells Aug. 05, 2007 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FALLON -- Two dairy farmers have dumped milk after the discovery of radioactive polonium-210 in 25 drinking water wells around Fallon, 60 miles east of Reno. Officials from Sorensen's Dairy and Oasis Dairy said they will cease selling milk until their supplies are tested by the Food and Drug Administration. The move comes after Friday's release of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey that found the naturally occurring radioactive isotope in 24 private wells and one public well. Polonium-210 is known to cause cancer in humans. Fallon farmer Bret Sorensen said he began dumping 6,000 gallons of milk Friday morning at the request of the Dairy Farmers of America, the cooperative to whom he sells milk. "A milk quality-control person from the DFA ... said one of the wells on the dairy was compromised and it would be best to quit taking our milk," Sorensen told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I agree with (the) decision. It is better to be safe than sorry." Dr. Anette Rink, a supervisor at the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said she sent milk samples to an FDA laboratory in Massachusetts to be tested and she expects results back by Monday. Rink said milk is not normally sampled for polonium-210, and she doesn't expect the Fallon samples to test positive for the isotope. All 23 dairies around Fallon sell their milk to the DFA cooperative, which in turn markets the milk to Model Dairy in Reno and to plants in Northern California. No other dairies were part of the random testing of wells around Fallon. Concentrations of polonium-210 found in the 25 wells ranged from less than 0.1 to 67.7 picocuries per liter. Thirteen of the wells had amounts greater than 15 pCi-L, which is the federal EPA's maximum contaminant level for gross alpha radioactivity in public wells. The EPA has no individual standard for polonium-210 levels in public water supplies and does not regulate private wells. Officials said they think the elevated levels stem from natural causes, and there's no known health risk at this time. Research to determine whether there's a risk is being conducted by state and federal agencies. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 34 Earth Times: Japanese offer U.S. lab atomic bomb data Posted : Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:02:34 GMT OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Aug. 5 Several Japanese researchers have given vital information regarding atomic bomb survivors to a U.S. laboratory in an attempt to prepare for nuclear terrorism. The Kyodo News Sunday said the information given to the Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory in Tennessee included cellular research on several atom bomb survivors that could offer clues to treating future victims of radiation poisoning. The data could prove vital in the preparation of emergency services should terrorists use nuclear or radioactive weapons. The research was offered by Dr. Akio Awa, a former official from Japan's Radiation Effects Research Foundation. Also included in the findings were studies of several individuals who were affected by a series of nuclear tests the United States conducted in the 1950s. The U.S. lab is also involved in a similar research project with Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences. That project is being aided by German and Canadian specialists as well, the Japanese news agency said. Copyright 2007 by UPI (c) 2007 Earthtimes.org, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 35 RGJ.com: Radioactive isotope found in 25 Fallon wells August 5, 2007 RACHEL DAHL AND FRANK X. MULLEN JR. RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Posted: 8/3/2007 Modified: 8/3/2007 The discovery of radioactive polonium-210 in 25 Fallon-area drinking water wells forced two dairy farms to dump their milk Friday and the farms will cease selling milk until their supplies are tested by the Food and Drug Administration. Polonium-210 is a naturally-occurring radioactive isotope known to cause cancer in humans. The poison made international headlines last year when retired KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was assassinated in London after being given a lethal dose of the substance. But officials said the amount of polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko was hundreds of millions of times greater than the amount the public would be exposed to by drinking any well water in the Lahontan Valley. Fallons municipal water supply and the Fallon Naval Air Stations water supply were not part of the well study, but officials said those water sources are known to be safe. Scientists also doubt polonium-210 can put milk supplies at risk, but officials told the two dairies to discard their supplies to be safe. Dr. Anette Rink, supervisor for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said Friday she sent samples of milk to an FDA lab in Massachusetts to be tested and she expects results back within 48 hours. Rink said milk is not normally sampled for polonium-210, but said she doesnt expect the Fallon samples to test positive for the isotope. A cow works as a reverse-osmosis unit would, absorbing the heavy metals and the vast majority of those are excreted or metabolized, she said. Milk is contaminated at a significantly lower level than water because the cow filters the metals. Fallon dairy farmer Bret Sorensen began dumping 6,000 gallons of milk Friday morning at the request of the Dairy Farmers of America, the cooperative to whom he sells his milk. A milk quality control person from the DFA called (Friday) morning at 8:15 and said one of the wells on the dairy was compromised and it would be best to quit taking our milk, Sorensen said. I agree with (their) decision. It is better to be safe than sorry, it might cost us and the (cooperative) in the long run, but it is better than shipping to the public without knowing for sure. Sorensens Dairy and Oasis Dairy were part of a random sample of wells throughout the county. All 23 dairies in Churchill County sell their milk to the DFA cooperative which in turn markets the milk to Model Dairy in Reno and to plants in Northern California. The other dairies wells havent been tested for polonium-210. United States Geological Survey researchers doing well tests as part of a University of Nevada, Reno study related to the Fallons childhood leukemia cluster recently confirmed the isotope was present in 25 wells tested. The concentrations ranged from less than 0.1 to 67.7 picocuries per liter. Thirteen of the 25 wells had concentrations greater than 15 pCi/L, which is the Environmental Protection agencys Maximum Contaminant Level for gross alpha radioactivity in pubic supply wells. The EPA has no individual standard for polonium-210 concentrations in public water supplies and the agency does not regulate private water wells. Of the 25 wells tested, 24 were private wells and only one was a public water supply source. The public well tested low (0.2 pCi/L), the USGS said. The UNR study is investigating the possible link between groundwater contamination with the increased incidence of childhood leukemia in the Fallon area, where 17 children have been stricken with the disease since 1997 and three have died. Scientists estimate the chances of Fallons leukemia cluster being random are about 232 million-to-one. Recent research has centered on the high rates of the heavy metal tungsten in Fallons water, air and in biological samples taken from residents by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. UNR researchers are looking at heavy metals, including tungsten and arsenic, and radioactivity in groundwater to determine if those factors can be linked to the epidemic. Although its unusual for partial results of a scientific investigation to be released before a study is completed, USGS officials said the announcement of the polonium-210 findings is consistent with the agencys well-established policy of informing appropriate health officials and potentially affected individuals about findings that could impact public health as soon as USGS has full confidence in the quality of the data. UNR scientists working on the Fallon study could not be reached for comment late Friday. Churchill County Manager Brad Goetsch, who conducted a public meeting about the well tests Friday in Fallon, said that the states congressional delegation, the governor and some members of the Legislature had this week been made aware of the well-test findings before they were made public. I am impressed with the support that has been offered and we want to assure the community that we are consulting with the state and federal experts to release accurate information, Goetsch said. Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 36 San Bernardino County Sun: Rialto water study urged Article Launched: 08/05/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT RIALTO - Marene Deischer is convinced perchlorate in the city's drinking water is responsible for her son's health problems. Jerry Deischer's thyroid gland doesn't function. He has to be given testosterone, artificial growth hormones and drugs that boost his weak immune system. He uses a wheelchair, wears supportive gear, has mild mental retardation, hearing loss and, at 22, can't speak. Marene's two older children who were born in Los Angeles County have no major health problems. But she lived in Rialto while pregnant with Jerry and another baby who died after living only nine days. She can't think of anything that she did wrong. "All I did was drink water," said Deischer, a volunteer member of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. A great deal of energy has been spent trying to clean up perchlorate, but no one really knows exactly how the contamination has affected people's health in the area. City Councilman Ed Scott now wants a thorough study done of the area to figure that out. "It's just something that we clearly do not know right now," he said, noting that he has a 10-year-old whose health he worries about. As a rule, local agencies no longer serve water containing perchlorate. Rialto says it has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to perchlorate. The ingredient in rocket fuel and other explosives was not discovered in the water supply until 1997. The health effects of perchlorate are not well understood, but a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study said that even at low levels, perchlorate can interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland. Thyroid problems in women can affect the development of their unborn babies, though perchlorate's direct effect on fetal development has not been thoroughly studied. The perchlorate is flowing south into Colton and possibly west toward Fontana from industrial sites in the north end of Rialto. Federal lawsuits demanding cleanup are slowly moving forward in court, and later this month a state board will hear arguments and could order three companies to clean up the contamination. Scott said a university like Loma Linda University should study the entire area and compare health issues in local communities. He said he has talked about getting funding for a study with Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair, and representatives for Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto. If a study finds perchlorate has caused health problems to local residents, he said those residents would have an easier time suing the parties suspected of causing the contamination. But conducting such a study would not be easy. If someone can come up with a good proposal for a study, the federal government would be the likely source of funds, said Ken August, California Department of Public Health spokesman, via e-mail. The whole process can take up to 10 years, and it could cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, he wrote. Roger Detels, professor of epidemiology at UCLA, said a study on the health effects of perchlorate on the community A study would not be easy because researchers do not have a good handle on the individuals who drank the contaminated water. Also, a number of factors besides perchlorate could affect people's health in the area. Comparing rates of thyroid problems in different areas could provide some insight, said. But the complexity of comparing different communities facing a number of different variables could make it hard to draw any good conclusions. Davin Diaz, of the environmental justice group, said he thinks a study is a good idea, but the top priority should be making sure people aren't exposed to perchlorate. "I think it's extremely important that we don't make it the end-all be-all," he said of a study. McLeod said she doesn't recall speaking with Scott about a study but it doesn't sound like a bad idea. She questioned the specifics, like how it would be conducted and funded. In a statement, Baca said he hasn't talked to Scott about the issue but is "willing to explore all avenues to address this issue and ensure clean water for the Inland area." Deischer said she used to think she was the only person dealing with the effects of perchlorate. Over time, she said, she found more and more people with similar stories. Some even talked about their sick pets, she said. "I would love for them to do a complete study and survey the whole entire city and find out just how many people are sick," Deischer said. Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 37 Dayton Daily News: Mound Plant workers' cases can be judged without documents DaytonDailyNews.com Nuclear plant records were contaminated with radiation, buried in underground shafts. By Tom Beyerlein Staff Writer Sunday, August 05, 2007 Officials in charge of deciding whether cancer-stricken atomic workers qualify for federal compensation say they can accurately judge the cases of former Mound Plant workers without the unearthing of old Mound records buried in a radioactive waste landfill in New Mexico. But Mound worker health advocate Paige Gibson said nobody knows the contents of the records, so it's "ludicrous" to say they couldn't be useful in determining whether worker cancers were caused by on-the-job exposures to radiation. Staffers at the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2005 buried in underground shafts more than 400 shrink-wrapped cardboard boxes, six 55-gallon drums and 11 safes containing classified records from Miamisburg's Mound nuclear weapons plant. The records were contaminated with radioactivity at Mound. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said earlier this year that the records could be critical to conducting accurate "dose reconstructions," a paperwork method of estimating worker exposures to harmful radiation. If a reconstruction shows at least a 50 percent probability that a worker's cancer was caused by occupational exposures, the worker qualifies for cash and medical benefits. A federal contractor charged with quantifying past Mound hazards for the compensation program went to Los Alamos last year to view the records, only to learn they'd been buried. The records include logbooks, safety analysis reports, Mound studies of the properties of toxic metals used there, and descriptions of a 1989 release of radioactive tritium. "At this point, NIOSH believes that we have all the records that we need to accurately reconstruct doses for the workers who would be impacted by the Mound buried-records issue," NIOSH spokeswoman Amanda Harney of Cincinnati said last week. The Energy Department searched its archives for additional Mound records and interviewed two former workers familiar with the content of the buried records, said spokeswoman Megan Barnett in Washington. She said "there's a good deal of confidence" the buried records aren't critical to the compensation process. Of 1,287 claims filed by former Mound workers with the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, only 179 have been paid. NIOSH has ruled against Mound workers with dose reconstructions more than two-thirds of the time. Gibson, a retired Mound worker who heads a union-sponsored health-screening program, said she thinks the buried records could be important, but she hates to see the government spend the estimated $9 million and 18 months to exhume them and make decontaminated copies. "I'm advocating they use that money to help the sick workers instead of fighting the sick workers." She fears the buried records are ruined by exposure to the elements anyway. "They weren't meant to be protected," she said, "they were meant to be destroyed." Mound workers plan to apply for special status that would exempt them from the dose reconstruction process and automatically trigger benefits for workers with certain cancers. 'It's a hornet's nest' Russ Adams of Centerville was a Mound security analyst from 1985-96, and was approved for compensation in July 2006, five years after he applied. He has had 76 skin cancers surgically removed, including almost 30 in the last year. His duties included handling the contaminated records now buried at Los Alamos, and "in my opinion, I had as much chance of getting (cancer) from the documents as anywhere else. I was at the plant." Adams believes the government doesn't want to retrieve the buried records because they would bolster workers' cases, thus forcing the feds to pay more claims. "It's a hornet's nest," he said. "There's a world of information in those documents. They don't want them dug up." Copyright 2007 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All rights ***************************************************************** 38 LVNFES: Elevated levels of Poloniun-210 found in wells Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard - News Kim Lamb ? LVN photo Churchill County Manager Brad Goetsch, foreground, listens with others in the county commission chambers Friday afternoon as the U.S. Geological Survey released findings on elevated levels of polonium-210 in some rural wells. VIKTORIA PEARSON, vpearson@lahontanvalleynews.com August 4, 2007 Elevated levels of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 were found in 17 private wells in the Lahontan Valley, according to a study released by the U.S. Geological Survey to the public Friday afternoon at the county commission chambers. Although there is no known health risk at this time, officials said the need to get the information to the public as soon as possible was important. Research to determine whether there is a potential risk is already being conducted by federal and state agencies. Twenty-five wells were tested in a large area east of the city of Fallon. Seventeen contained elevated levels of polonium-210. Thirteen had concentrations greater than 15 picocuries per liter, which is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum containment level for gross alpha radioactivity in public-supply wells. Concentrations in the untreated, unfiltered water ranged from less than 0.1 picocuries per liter to 67.7 picocuries per liter. Most of the wells tested provide water for human and/or domestic animal consumption, and were more than 100 feet deep. The public water supply for Fallon and NAS Fallon are known to be safe and were not part of the study, according to the USGS. The study did not investigate any links between the occurrence of polonium-210 and Fallon's childhood leukemia cluster, which sickened 17 children and claimed the lives of three between 1997 and 2004. "All indications are that the elevated levels stem entirely from natural geological causes within the Lahontan Valley," according to a press release from USGS. "There is no indication of any kind that this problem stems from any human activity." Polonium-210, or Po-210, is a low-melting, volatile and rare natural element, according to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Web site. It is a carcinogen, and damage arises from the complete absorption of the energy of the alpha particle into tissue. Because of the potential for a hazard, Dairy Farmers of America required dairies with the elevated samples to discard their milk to ensure public safety until it is determined to be safe. "It is better to error on the side of caution," said Donna Rice, director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture. Milk samples were collected from the two Fallon dairies that had elevated levels of Po-210 on Friday and flown to the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved laboratory on East Coast to test for polonium. Local dairyman Brett Sorensen was required to dump milk Friday morning in response to polonium-210 levels found in his well sample. The Sorensens said they were unhappy with the way the incident was handled after Anette Rink, laboratory supervisor with the Animal Disease and Food Safety Laboratory in Reno, said there was no reason to believe the milk was contaminated. Rink said she anticipates the samples will come back with little or no Po-210 present. She said the majority of the element is not stored within the edible parts of animals. Ninety percent is excreted through through urine output and through fecal matter. "This was not optimal," she said, continuing that milk samples should have been studied prior to the release. "Samples are being sent right now and test results will be available within 48 hours." Teri Sorensen said the government entities could have been more sensitive with the handling of the issue. Receiving a letter and a phone call advising them that their milk could not be shipped and had to be dumped was very emotional. "You are supposed to be a government for the people." she said as tears welled in her eyes and with her voice cracked. "About the government - where were you? I was the one there when we had to dump 6,000 gallons of milk." She said as Americans they felt alienated and thought it could have been handled better. County officials said advising the public as soon as they were aware of the information was the right way to handle the situation. "We're telling you everything we know. Now all of us have to work together to counteract this," said Gwen Washburn, chair of the Churchill County Commission. The study was conducted in cooperation with the University of Nevada, Reno, after a similar study revealed the presence of Po-210 in local wells in 2001, said Ralph Seiler of the USGS Nevada Water Science Center. Funding for the study was obtained through U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, an announcement that led to some utterances from the crowd that packed the commission chambers. "We wanted to determine why it (Po-210) was there," he said. More information will be released on Monday by multiple agencies, according to officials. All contents Copyright 2007 lahontanvalleynews.com Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard - 562 North Maine Street - Fallon, NV 89406 ***************************************************************** 39 Casper Start Trib: GAO: Prospects 'unclear' for quality of Yucca Mountain license By ERICA WERNER Associated Press writer Saturday, August 04, 2007 WASHINGTON -- It's unclear whether the Energy Department will be able to submit a sufficiently high-quality Yucca Mountain license application by its self-imposed mid-2008 deadline, congressional investigators reported Friday. By law, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must render a decision on whether to authorize construction of the nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas within four years of receiving the Energy Department's application for an operating license. But in order to act within that time frame, NRC depends on receiving a "high quality" application containing all the necessary technical and scientific backup. In a report issued Friday, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, cast doubt on whether that would be possible. "Given the waste repository's history since its inception in 1983, including two prior failed attempts to file a license application, it is unclear whether DOE's license application will be of sufficient quality to enable NRC to conduct a timely review," GAO said in a report to Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. The report did praise the Energy Department for taking steps to strengthen management and improve quality control at Yucca Mountain, which is meant to be the first national repository for nuclear waste but has been repeatedly delayed by scientific and political controversies. But the report called it too early to determine the effectiveness of those efforts and said some problems, such as staff turnover, persist. In a statement, Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said administrators had strengthened review procedures on issues of science and hiring and were on track to submit the license application no later than June 30. "While the GAO cannot be expected to assess our license application until it is complete, we are pleased that the GAO recognizes the department's high-quality approach to developing a credible and defensible license application," Barnett said. Porter noted that GAO reported earlier in the year that the Energy Department had to spend $25 million to recover from a 2005 controversy involving the failure of government hydrologists to follow quality assurance procedures. "It is difficult for Nevadans to feel confident about DOE's push to move forward toward the June 2008 filing deadline when the GAO has reported continued concerns about this fatally flawed project," Porter said. Yucca Mountain is being planned to hold 77,000 tons or more of highly radioactive nuclear waste for 10,000 years and beyond. More than 50,000 tons of waste has already piled up at nuclear reactor sites around the country while waiting for the repository to open. Casperstartribune.net encourages readers to engage in civil Copyright 19952007 Lee Enterprises    a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises Incorporated CONTACT US Billings Gazette :: Casper Journal :: Made in Wyoming :: Jackson Hole Star-Tribune :: Rapid City Journal :: Prairie Star ***************************************************************** 40 Las Vegas SUN: Growing partisanship frays key relationship Today: August 05, 2007 at 1:56:13 PDT By J. Patrick Coolican <patrick.coolican@lasvegassun.com>, Las Vegas Sun ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS Nevada politics has long been known for bipartisan chumminess among its governors and congressional delegation, and a shoulder-to-shoulder togetherness on the idiosyncratic issues facing the state: gaming, Yucca Mountain, water and land use. But in the past few months Gov. Jim Gibbons, a Republican, and Harry Reid, the Democratic U.S. Senate majority leader, have exchanged verbal sallies over issues, people and even family. A Reid spokesman downplayed the conflict as healthy differences of opinion. Gibbons' spokeswoman didn't return repeated phone calls, but Jim Denton, a longtime Gibbons political consultant, said, "Over the years Sen. Reid and Gov. Gibbons have always had a good relationship, and I don't see that changing." Although the signs of division are still in their infancy, a wider rift is possible, if not certain. The tension indicates an important trend in Nevada politics, more than any personal animus between Gibbons and Reid. Nevada is becoming more partisan by the day. Gibbons served in Congress 10 years before becoming governor this year, and he and Reid had a friendly working relationship and coordinated closely on Nevada issues, according to the staffs of both. Reid refrained from attacking Gibbons with any real vigor in the latter's race against state Sen. Dina Titus. Since Gibbons' election, though, it's feeling chilly. To review: In the spring Gibbons wanted a homeland security "fusion hub" in Carson City to coordinate anit-terrorist efforts. Larry Martines, the governor's then-homeland security director, went to Washington to ask Reid and Sen. John Ensign to find federal money for the hub. Martines told Reid and Ensign the idea had the backing of law enforcement. It didn't. Reid said he'd been misled by Martines, who was presumably speaking on the governor's behalf. Martines resigned shortly thereafter. Last month Gibbons allowed the Energy Department to use state water for the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository. Reid condemned the move with a strongly worded statement. (Reid wasn't alone, as the rest of the delegation also opposed Gibbons' move.) More recently, Reid proposed a renewable energy plan that would allow Nevada to forego three polluting, coal-fired power plants. Gibbons said he supports building the plants and told the Sun, "I'm anxious to see the alternatives proposed by Sen. Reid for the coal plants. I've been proposing all along that we look at developing geothermal, solar and wind energy." The comment puzzled Reid's office, because Gibbons had been copied on Reid's letter laying out just such a proposal. Finally, in the spring, Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, faced scrutiny over a public relations consulting contract awarded to Dawn Gibbons by a defense contractor while Jim Gibbons was in Congress and helping the company win Pentagon contracts. The governor compared his wife to Key Reid, the senator's son, who'd been a Washington lobbyist. (Key Reid is general counsel of The Greenspun Corporation , which is owned by the same family that owns the Las Vegas Sun.) The analogy seemed inappropriate to Reid associates: Key Reid is an attorney; Dawn Gibbons had no public relations experience. Sen. Reid is mindful of the great lengths to which his children must go to escape his long shadow, and he resents people who question the legitimacy of their successes, according to Billy Vassiliadis, a Nevada lobbyist and political confidant of Reid's. "You just don't mess with Harry Reid's family," he said. There's not much precedence for this kind of conflict between governors and the congressional delegation in Nevada history, according to Michael Green, a historian at the College of Southern Nevada. Sen. Pat McCarran and Gov. Charles Russell feuded, as did the staffs and backers of Sen. Howard Cannon and Gov. Grant Sawyer. In the 1980s Gov. Richard Bryan and Sen. Chick Hecht battled once it was clear Bryan would run for Senate against Hecht. But for the most part, especially on key issues such as Yucca Mountain, the state's governors have remained tight with the congressional delegation, no matter the party. A Republican lobbyist and Gibbons ally, who didn't want to be named because he hadn't been authorized to speak about the matter, expressed concern: "There's definitely a problem, and it needs to be fixed. They need to sit down one on one and talk about the direction of the state." Although it might be tempting to think of the flare-ups in personal and prurient terms, it might actually be more fundamental and institutional: Nevada is becoming more partisan, which means the confrontations are inevitable and will become more intense. The evidence of growing partisanship has been everywhere recently: Not long after Gibbons took office, and shortly after a grand jury investigation into his relationship with a defense contractor was revealed, Democrats began talking recall. Gibbons dumped Rosemary Vassiliadis, the only representative of the airport, from the state's Homeland Security Commission. To some, it looked like political payback to her husband, the aforementioned Billy Vassiliadis, a prominent Democrat who supported Gibbons' opponent in the governor's race. Rather than act as ambassador to the Democratic presidential candidates so frequently in the state these days, Gibbons recently scoffed at the presidential caucus and said he'd prefer they stay away, even as most Democrats and Republicans agree having them here is good for the state in the long run. Sue Lowden, the new chairwoman of the Republican Party, has attacked Reid in regular news releases. The two were once close. Rep. Dean Heller, who was known as a moderate Republican and sometime maverick secretary of state, has moved to the right noticeably since his election to Congress last year. Conservative activist Chuck Muth attacked Republican Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey of Las Vegas almost daily during the legislative session for not being partisan enough. Why is this happening? One reason is the presidential caucus, which by definition is a partisan affair. Nevada is an early battleground to determine the next president, especially on the Democratic side. This new status as a presidential decider has brought money, seasoned political operatives and big-name presidential candidates who's first hurdle is winning the approval of their party: Every visit, they preach the party message, and attack the opposition. Then there's Reid's status as titular head of the Democratic Party. Party faithful have no interest in him mollifying his Republican friends in Nevada. He's called President Bush a loser and a liar and has attacked the White House and Republicans in Congress at every turn. Ensign, meanwhile, is chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which means he's responsible for getting more Republicans elected to the Senate. It's a partisan job, by definition. As the state has grown, it faces more issues, and more complex issues, than just gaming, Yucca Mountain and water and land use, which are the terrain of bipartisan agreement. With those issues off the table, and out-of-staters less likely to take their cues from in-state power brokers, the new voters are probably looking to parties for guidance. So what can we take from this scuffle between Reid and Gibbons ? Nevada is growing up. J. Patrick Coolican can be reached at 259-8814 or at patrick.coolican@lasvegassun.com. A member of the Greenspun Media Group, publishers of: Home & Design, In Business, Las Vegas Life, Las Vegas Magazine, Las Vegas Weekly, LasVegas.com, Ralston/Flash, Vegas Golfer, VEGAS Magazine, Vegas.com ***************************************************************** 41 Platts: USEC to start operating lead cascade in "coming weeks" Washington (Platts)--2Aug2007 USEC expects to begin operating its lead cascade "in the coming weeks" with "fewer than 20" prototype centrifuge machines, the company said August 1. The lead cascade will test the design of centrifuges that are to be used in the commercial American Centrifuge Plant, a uranium enrichment facility USEC is building at its Portsmouth site in Ohio. USEC said it plans to finalize the design of the AC100, the first series of plant production centrifuges, in 2008. Some observers August 2 questioned whether the limited number of centrifuges in the lead cascade and the relatively short testing time would give investors enough confidence to put money into the commercial plant. But USEC said in its press release that the initial cascade was "intentionally limited to fewer than 20 machines." That arrangement will demonstrate the design's reliability while reducing costs, USEC said. The press release was issued late August 1 in conjunction with USEC's second-quarter earnings release. Copyright 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 42 ReviewJournal.com: Roberts joins state nuclear panel Aug. 04, 2007 Nye County superintendent of schools: Transporting waste to Yucca too risky By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL Richard Bryan Chairman of state nuclear panel says appointment by the governor looks good at first glance For the second time this week, Gov. Jim Gibbons appointed a new member to the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, choosing Nye County schools Superintendent William "Rob" Roberts to fill Michon Mackedon's seat. His earlier appointment to replace Mackedon, whose term expired this year, was Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley. However, Eastley resigned before attending one meeting after an uproar among some of Nevada's delegation over her stance in favor of the planned nuclear waste repository, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. That's unlikely to happen with Roberts, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, who says that transporting highly radioactive waste across the United States to Yucca Mountain would be too risky because of the potential for a terrorist strike or an accident triggered by a bridge collapse or railroad failure. "I have a real concern that hazardous materials coming through our state could be targeted. Once a canister is open there could be serious degradation of life," Roberts said late Thursday. Roberts said the governor's staff discussed the appointment with him Monday, and Gibbons' spokeswoman, Melissa Subbotin, confirmed Thursday that he had accepted the position. Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, who chairs the state nuclear panel, said that at first glance, he's pleased with Roberts joining the Nuclear Projects Commission. "It sounds like he's given this some thought," Bryan said Friday in a telephone call from Canada, where he is joining others on an annual fishing trip. Bryan said he shares Roberts' view that the nuclear waste transportation issue "is one of the major considerations," especially in light of terrorism. Roberts referred to his military experience for insights on the transportation issue. From 1986 to 1989 he was an instructor and chief of the military science instruction branch at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He is a Vietnam War combat veteran, having served in 1969 and 1970 as a helicopter pilot with the 101st Airborne Division. "I know transporting hazardous materials is risky and would be underestimated," he said. "If there are any safe ways of storing it in the mountain, I don't have an edge in science, so I can't argue that science." Earlier this week, Gibbons had appointed Susan Brager, a Democrat who is also a Clark County commissioner, to replace former Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams. Williams' term on the state panel expired June 30, as did Steve Molasky's term. Molasky hasn't been formally reappointed but continues "to serve at the pleasure of the governor," Gibbons' communications director Brent Boynton has said. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 43 ReviewJournal.com: Porter receives Yucca report Aug. 04, 2007 DOE has made progress, but some questions remain, GAO says By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy is repairing chronic management and quality assurance problems at Yucca Mountain, but given the project's troubled history, it is unclear whether the fixes will stick, according to a report to Congress released Friday. Since new project director Ward Sproat was named last year, the department has reorganized the Nevada nuclear waste program and is "invigorating" segments that had failing grades, the General Accounting Office said in the report. But, auditors said, "it has yet to be seen" whether the changes will work fully or will prevent backsliding. The 29-page review appeared relatively favorable to the Energy Department following a series of critical GAO assessments over the years that detailed how Yucca managers were falling short in identifying numerous problems and taking corrective actions. Auditors also have criticized Yucca Mountain "quality assurance," a key process of scientific record keeping that is supposed to enable reviewers to retrace highly technical research. GAO officials in the new assessment said the Energy Department "has made progress" in fixing quality assurance problems, "but it is unclear whether its actions will prevent similar problems from recurring." For one, the report said, the Yucca project turned over nine of 17 high-level management jobs since 2001 and continues to lose key personnel such as Deputy Director Paul Golan who departed last month. Also Sproat, who is a political appointee, is expected to leave in January 2009, when a new president takes office, it said. Additionally, some of DOE's efforts are still in the planning stages, while some will require changes in deep-rooted organization cultures at DOE and its contractors. "DOE has a long history of quality assurance problems and has experienced repeated difficulties in resolving these problems," auditors said. The project missed a January 1998 deadline to have a repository open and accepting nuclear waste, and did not meet licensing deadlines in 2002 and 2004. In 2005, DOE assembled a draft license application that it determined "was not ready," the report said. The Energy Department says it plans to complete a license application by June that is expected to lay out a case that an underground repository at the Yucca Mountain site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas can safely store highly radioactive nuclear waste. State officials from Nevada contend the Yucca project has been fatally flawed by bad management and questionable science, and are trying to stop it. The GAO report was requested by Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. He said in a statement that the Energy Department has a ways to go before Nevadans could ever be convinced the project is safe. "It is difficult for Nevadans to feel confident about DOE's push to move forward when the GAO has reported continued concerns about this fatally flawed project," he said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Energy Department "has tried to patch up its quality assurance failures, but the changes have not been significant enough to really be considered effective." "If the Department of Energy does submit an application to build the dump by the agency's arbitrary deadline of June 2008, the application will probably be poor quality and insufficient," Reid said. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said the GAO study "underscores DOE's mismanagement of the Yucca Mountain Project from the beginning. Billions of dollars have been devoted to this project, and DOE still cannot ensure Nevadans' or the general public's safety." And Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., noted, "While a few changes have been made, this report clearly states that there is no guarantee that any short-term improvements will last or that new policies will actually remain in place. Experience has shown us that the likely outcome will be more of the same. Like a broken record." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 44 Times Online: Nuclear watchdogs raise doubts over Thorp's future - August 6, 2007 Christine Buckley, Industrial Editor Nuclear watchdogs are raising doubts about the future of Sellafield’s Thorp plant, Britain’s main nuclear fuel reprocessor, which remains dogged by technical problems. The plant, which reprocesses fuel from British Energy and overseas customers, has been shut for two years. Although it began limited small-scale reprocessing last month, there is no target date for full-scale production. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), the main safety regulator, has asked Sellafield Ltd to outline a strategy for cleaning up fuel should Thorp remain out of action for the long term. At the same time the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which owns and manages all state-owned nuclear assets, is considering changing the way that spent fuel is sent to and stored at Sellafield. An NII spokesman said: “There is no immediate safety concern about Thorp, but there have been problems and we are discussing with Sellafield what happens if there are significant delays at returning Thorp to service.” Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 45 Gallup Independent: Study probes link between uranium and kidney illness August 4-5, 2007: By Zsombor Peter Staff Writer CHURCHROCK ? Roger Lewis and his family have watered their animals at the same well since the 1950s. An old uranium mine still pulsing with radiation, 25 years after shutting down, sits a few miles off. When two of his relatives started getting sick, he didn?t give the mine much thought. But when Lewis saw the yellow triangle next to it on a list of local wells at the chapter house Wednesday evening, a sign that its waters had potentially dangerous levels of heavy metals for livestock, he began to wonder. ?It makes you think,? he said. ?Is this related to that?? The list was part of a presentation by a group of researchers studying the potential links between uranium in a community?s drinking water supply and its rates of kidney disease. Although the group ? a collaboration of the University of New Mexico, the Eastern Navajo Health Board, the Southwest Research and Information Center, and the Indian Health Service ? has been collecting data for the past three years, Wednesday was its first public presentation of any results. According to the University of New Mexico?s Dr. Johnnye Lewis, the study?s principal investigator, and no relation to Roger Lewis, they were finding a link. She quickly advised the audience not to make too much of the news. The findings are preliminary. Four more years of studies still lay ahead. But the news was telling nonetheless. ?The fact that we?re seeing a relationship at all at this stage ... means that it?s unlikely to go away,? she said. With epidemic rates of diabetes, the Navajo Nation already suffers from abnormally high levels of kidney disease. A pair of bean-shaped organs near the lower back, the kidneys have the crucial job of cleaning the blood of the metabolic waste it picks up during its journey through the body before going on its way again. ?You can?t get by very long without kidneys,? Lewis said. If the kidneys fail completely, the patient either has to put up with a lifetime of constant visits with a dialysis machine, which cleans the blood mechanically, or score a kidney transplant, which comes with its own complications. Although others have studied the links between uranium exposure and kidney disease, this project breaks new ground. Lewis said the medical literature is filled with some 150 studies on the subject from across the world, with findings that run the gamut. But all of them, she added, deliberately exclude people with diabetes. It makes sense. The researchers wanted an unencumbered look at what uranium, and uranium alone, can do to the kidneys. But Lewis and her group are interested in what uranium-contaminated drinking water can do to a population ? like the Navajo ? that already suffers from a high rate of kidney disease. Other studies have looked into the effects of various heavy metals on the kidneys of diabetics, but never uranium. Lewis and her group believe the wells are key. Although it?s the Navajo Nation?s policy that the wells be used for watering stock only, she said, the group?s surveys indicate that residents drink from them anyway. And there?s not one well in the area, they found, that at least someone isn?t drinking from. But because the wells aren?t intended for drinking, no one?s been keeping a close eye on what?s in them. ?They?re not considered to be public water supplies ... so they?re not regularly monitored and they?re not maintained on a regular basis,? Lewis said . They were surprised to find that most of the 350 people they?ve surveyed so far are hooked up to regulated water supplies. But most of them also chose to drink from the wells anyway. According to the survey, most people have more faith in the quality of the well water than in the water coming out of their taps. But as the researchers are finding, that may not always be the case. Of the wells they?ve tested so far, they?ve found levels of uranium and arsenic above or near the federal government?s maximum contamination levels for drinking water in four wells, and of lead, mercury and radium in two. ?As with everything else, it?s their choice to use them or not,? said Bess Seschillie, project coordinator for the Dine Network for Environmental Health, a creation of the Eastern Navajo Health Board. Without the authority to shut the wells down, she said, ?all we can do is educate the people.? Eventually, the group hopes to survey 1,300 people in the Church Rock and Baca-Prewitt Chapters, and take blood and urine samples from 450. By then, it hopes to have a model it can use to predict the areas around old uranium mines where people face the highest risk of kidney disease, across the Eastern Agency, the Navajo Nation, and even other tribes. ?So we really see this as important for understanding uranium contamination and environmental risk ... on a much wider scale,? said Lewis. ?There is some evidence that if you detect (kidney) disease early enough and you limit the exposure,? she said, ?then you can reverse it.? If communities know the risks they face, they may have that chance. ?It?s not just about us,? Seschillie said. ?It?s about our future and our kids, and we want them to continue to live out here.? Roger Lewis herds more than 50 head of cattle, horses and sheep across this land. He hopes his children and grandchildren will be able to do the same. All contents property of the Gallup Independent. ***************************************************************** 46 Carlsbad Current-Argus: State wants errant drum out of WIPP By Kyle Marksteiner Article Launched: 08/03/2007 09:19:23 PM MDT CARLSBAD ? An errant drum of radioactive waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant will have to come out, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry announced Friday. The drum, which contains liquid, was sent from the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at Idaho National Laboratory and placed in the underground repository at WIPP last month. Virtually all liquids are prohibited by state permit. "I hope this decision sends a message to DOE that the State of New Mexico is serious about compliance with our regulations and permit," Curry said in a news release. "WIPP's permit is specifically designed to protect the health and environment of New Mexicans for generations. We have a zero tolerance policy for mistakes like these and we expect DOE officials, including those in Idaho, to quickly correct this pattern of error." A mistake in reading a label resulted in a contractor shipping a non-certified drum that was not approved for delivery to WIPP. The drum arrived in Carlsbad on June 25 and is currently 36 rows back in its underground room. Last week, WIPP officials sent a letter to the NMED providing evidence that the contents of the drum would have no impact on human health or the environment. While the drum contained three-fourths of a cup of liquid, the DOE noted, it did not contain materials that were ignitable, reactive or corrosive. The letter provided a list of corrective measures; it also stated that there are more safety risks associated with retrieving the errant drum from WIPP's underground salt beds than with leaving it. The letter also provided evidence that there was no danger that the liquid would spread outside of the specific drum. "I think we made a credible case that it was protective of human health and the environment to leave it in place," said Dave Moody, manager of the DOE's Carlsbad Field Office. "The reason cited in the letter for removing the drum is that it is a violation of the permit. We will proceed deliberately with all the precautions to perform this." Curry pointed out Friday that while NMED has cited DOE in the past for issues related to improperly characterized waste, this is the first time NMED has documented the actual disposal of waste containing prohibited items in the repository. "WIPP has a strong worker safety record and we are confident they can remove this prohibited drum safely and quickly," Curry said. "WIPP's permit is a promise to New Mexicans that its mission will remain narrowly focused on certain well-defined wastes that can be safely disposed of. We need to ensure that DOE's promises are kept now and in the future." NMED may issue monetary penalties, according to the press release. Environmentalist Don Hancock, with the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, issued a statement Friday supporting the order to remove the errant drum. Moody said Friday that the NMED had not made any commitments prior to Curry's decision. "Other than (being promised) a prompt decision," he said. "And I believe we have gotten a prompt decision." The DOE's letter to the state noted that the difficulty of retrieving the drum would increase dramatically if the decision were delayed. In response to the state's decision this week, all shipments to WIPP, aside from ones currently en route, have been postponed until the errant drum is removed. Shipments from Idaho had been postponed since the error was discovered. Preparations for removing the drum are already being made, Moody said. The entire process should take several weeks. "We have room in the adjacent room to stage the material," he said. "We can configure the ventilation to be protective of the worker." Staff that typically does emplacement will handle the retrieval, Moody said, and the cost for the removal will come out of WIPP's already-existing budget. The errant drum will be shipped back to Idaho. Paperwork for the return trip is being handled. It won't be the first time a shipment has been made from WIPP. "When we're opening a TRUPACT and we detect contamination, we button it up and send it back," Moody said. It will be, however, the first time that a drum has been retrieved from underground placement, though mockups have been done in the past. Shipments will resume once the drum has been retrieved and shipped back to Idaho. Additionally, shipments from Idaho will resume once all possible corrective actions are in place. "We believe that internally we have already verified corrective actions," Moody said. "From our standpoint, we are ready to assemble payloads and resume shipments using our personnel that are already stationed at Idaho." Moody said he didn't feel there was any sort of punitive element to the state's decision. "I think it's the simple fact that it's a violation," he said. "I believe we have developed a very good relationship with the NMED and I don't see this as punishment. It's a regulatory position they've taken, and I don't see this as having any impact on our relationship." Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 47 DailyBulletin.com: Rialto ready for showdown on perchlorate Article Launched: 08/05/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT Rialto, site of some of the worst perchlorate contamination in the country, faces a critical battle later this month in its years-long fight to get rid of the pollutant, and to have the polluters pay for the aggravation. At a state water board hearing in Rialto, to begin Aug. 21 and take six days, the city hopes to achieve results and win cleanup and abatement orders that have eluded it for years. After finding little relief at either the federal or regional level, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held back and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control board faltered, the city now has its sights set on the state hearing, where the state Water Resource Control Board is prosecuting three of the alleged corporate polluters. They are accused of indiscriminately dumping perchlorate, the main ingredient in rocket fuel and other explosives, where it would seep into the groundwater and then not doing anything about it. Hence, a six-mile-long plume of perchlorate is steadily advancing across the city, toward Colton and beyond, from the site of a World War II ordnance depot later used as a manufacturing site by large defense contractors and fireworks companies. On the west end, it is coming from the Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill, which San Bernardino County bought and supervisors have belatedly accepted responsibility for - albeit, largely because Rialto won a cleanup and abatement order from the regional water board in November 2005 that forced the issue. On the east end, perchlorate flows from a site used over the years by B.F. Goodrich Corp., Emhart (now Black & Decker Inc.), Pryo Spectaculars and other manufacturers. And Rialto is determined that it will have the same luck proving its point against those companies that it had with the county. Goodrich, Black & Decker and Pryo Spectaculars will be on the stand at the hearing in two weeks - along with 15 expert witnesses. The well-heeled companies have delayed that hearing four times so far. But Rialto is confident that the facts will win out, when it finally has its say in court. Barring that, the city always can fall back on its federal lawsuit, filed in 2004 against 42 defendants - including those being prosecuted by the state board. But it shouldn't have to come to that. The city, and ratepayers, have waited long enough for resolution. The city's strategy is simple: to present enough evidence, accumulated through intensive - and expensive - investigation, to show that the suspected corporate polluters are the ones responsible for fouling the groundwater. And that they should not only clean up the perchlorate, but pay for it as well. The total cost could reach $300 million. Local agencies already have shut down contaminated wells or established wellhead treatment, so it's not as if residents are drinking contaminated water. But the cleanup is costly. And it could be never-ending. That is, unless the perchlorate is stopped in its tracks. That's where Rialto's strategy differs from other water purveyors. Rather than stop at cleanup of the water, which is an ongoing process, city leaders are determined to stop the pollution at its source. Otherwise, the perchlorate will keep on coming, and the need for cleanup will persist, year after year. But despite its painstaking approach, the city has run into many a brick wall. Which is not to say that Rialto isn't justified in trying to get those who dumped the perchlorate to pay for the cleanup - rather than having residents and ratepayers continue to foot the bill. And, indeed, the companies responsible need to step up to the plate and accept that charge. They need to become good corporate citizens and do what's right - not only for the sake of their communities, but the sake of their own integrity. The health and well-being of thousands is in their hands. Perchlorate is a threat to functioning of the thyroid and possibly mental and nervous-system development. Councilman Ed Scott's call for a study to determine just how much of a risk perchlorate poses to residents' health is fully warranted. For Rialto, it's become something of a crusade. Because the city has found some of the greatest concentrations of perchlorate in the nation, at 5,000 to 10,000 parts per billion - the highest level found in a domestic water supply - city leaders hold a longer-range view of why it is so important to get to the bottom of the problem, and why it is imperative to flush out the perchlorate, once and for all. Because if they don't hold true to their mission, many more communities down the line will become the next victims of a menace that continues to spread - with the perchlorate plume steadily creeping forward, inch by inch, foot by foot, year by year. ***************************************************************** 48 DailyBulletin.com: Perchlorate issues plague Rialto By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Article Launched: 08/05/2007 12:53:03 AM PDT RIALTO - Marene Deischer is convinced perchlorate in the city's drinking water is responsible for her son's health problems. Jerry Deischer's thyroid gland doesn't function. He has to be given testosterone, artificial growth hormones and drugs that boost his weak immune system. He uses a wheelchair, wears supportive gear, has mild mental retardation, hearing loss and at 22, can't speak. Marene's two older children who were born in Los Angeles County have no major health problems. But she lived in Rialto while pregnant with Jerry and another baby who died after living only 9 days. She can't think of anything that she did wrong. "All I did was drink water," said Deischer, a volunteer member of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. A great deal of energy has been spent trying to clean up perchlorate, but no one really knows exactly how the contamination has affected people's health in the area. City Councilman Ed Scott now wants a thorough study done of the area to figure that out. "It's just something that we clearly do not know right now," he said, noting that he has a 10-year-old whose health he worries about. As a rule, local agencies no longer serve water containing perchlorate. Rialto says it has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to perchlorate. The ingredient in rocket fuel and other explosives was not discovered in the water supply until 1997. The health effects of perchlorate are not well understood, but a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study said that even at low levels, perchlorate can interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland. Thyroid problems in women can affect the development of their unborn babies, though perchlorate's direct effect on fetal development has not been thoroughly studied. The perchlorate is flowing south into Colton and possibly west toward Fontana from industrial sites in the north end of Rialto. Federal lawsuits demanding cleanup are slowly moving forward in court. Later this month, a state board will hear arguments and could order three companies to clean up the contamination. Scott said a university like Loma Linda University should study the entire area and compare health issues in local communities. He said he has talked about getting funding for a study with Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto; state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair; and representatives for Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto. If a study finds perchlorate has caused health problems to local residents, he said those residents would have an easier time suing the parties suspected of causing the contamination. But conducting such a study would not be easy. If someone can come up with a good proposal for a study, the federal government would be the likely source of funds, said Ken August, California Department of Public Health spokesman, via e-mail. The whole process can take up to 10 years, and it could cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, he wrote. Roger Detels, professor of epidemiology at UCLA, said a study on the health effects of perchlorate on the community A study would not be easy because researchers do not have a good handle on the individuals who drank the contaminated water. Also, a number of factors besides perchlorate could affect people's health in the area. Comparing rates of thyroid problems in different areas could provide some insight, said. But the complexity of comparing different communities facing a number of different variables could make it hard to draw any good conclusions. Davin Diaz, of the environmental justice group, said he thinks a study is a good idea, but the top priority should be making sure people aren't exposed to perchlorate. "I think it's extremely important that we don't make it the end-all, be-all," he said of a study. Negrete McLeod said she doesn't recall speaking with Scott about a study but it doesn't sound like a bad idea. She questioned the specifics, like how it would be conducted and funded. In a statement, Baca said he hasn't talked to Scott about the issue but is "willing to explore all avenues to address this issue and ensure clean water for the Inland area." "would be very difficult to do." Detels Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 49 Boston Globe: State land deal stalled over cleanup - watertown By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correpsondent | August 5, 2007 For years, the nearly 12 acres of Watertown land lay fallow and off-limits to the public. The Army Corps of Engineers was on the verge of turning over control of the land to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, when those plans were abruptly halted late last month by local state legislators, after environmental activists argued the soil had not been thoroughly cleaned of toxic waste. Activist Susan Falkoff, who heads a citizen advisory board on the matter, said she was initially alarmed to hear that the department appeared ready to move ahead with the ownership transfer without seeing the results of a $100,000 study. The study was funded by a state grant acquired by Representative Rachel Kaprielian, a Watertown Democrat. A July 25 deadline for beginning the transfer process, set by the state Department of Environmental Protection, prompted the latest flurry of activity, she said. The land, on the corner of Arsenal Street and Greenough Boulevard, was once used by the Army to burn depleted uranium from a nuclear reactor at the former Watertown Arsenal. The property has since been cleaned of radioactive material, but other contaminants, including high quantities of lead, have been the target of recent Corps of Engineers cleanup efforts, said Mark Anderson, project manager for the Corps. The Corps maintains it has done what the law mandates, and is ready to unload the property after several years of cleanup. "This is the finish line for us. We've fulfilled all of our requirements," said Anderson. "We don't want it to stagnate and just sit there." Wendy Fox, spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the land is now suitable only for passive recreational use such as walking, but not for athletic fields or a playground where young children would congregate. It's a status unacceptable to the agency, she said, adding that three crumbling old buildings still on the land also must be taken down before the department will agree to a transfer. "The DCR is not going to take the property until the buildings are gone and it's cleaned up for active recreational use," Fox said. Lawyers for the department are now reviewing the matter and will wait to see the results of the study before taking further action. The department already owns a nearly 1-acre parcel adjacent to the land, said Fox, who noted the property was originally controlled by the Metropolitan District Commission until the early 1900s, when the federal government took the land for use by the Army. Christina Pazzanese can be reached at cpazzanese@globe.com. Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company. The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 50 The Murfreesboro Post: ENDIT posts concerns Welcome Visitor (login), Mon, Aug 6, 2007, 01:01 CST, 137 Readers By MICHELLE WILLARD, Post staff writer Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee (ENDIT) voiced its concerns and questions about dumping low-level radioactive waste in Middle Point Landfill in a letter to the Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee Aug. 1. ENDIT formed earlier this year after a report from the watchdog group Nuclear Information and Resource Service announced low-level radioactive waste is being dumped in Tennessee landfills. It"s the health of the people that I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about Rutherford County, the people of Tennessee and the rest of the nation,” ENDIT spokesperson Kathleen Ferris said. “Most of our members are parents, many of us mothers with young children; some of us are old parents with grandchildren,” wrote Ferris and Pat Sanders, co-founders of the group in the letter to the Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee. The group of parents and grandparents is concerned about the potentially harmful health effects of low-level radioactive waste, Ferris and Sanders wrote in the letter. The state’s Bulk Survey for Release (BSFR) program sanctions low-level radioactive waste disposal, which has been in existence since 1997. The General Assembly passed legislation June 12 that placed a 60-day moratorium on the BSFR program at Middle Point and requested the Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee (MSWAC) study the practice. Part of the study is to take public comment on the issue. The Solid Waste Advisory Committee held three public meetings and took written public comment until Aug. 1. ENDIT’s letter was for the written comment portion of the study and to express the public’s concerns to the committee. The letter was compiled from the group’s research into radioactive waste disposal, Ferris explained. “I think that we’ve got something that’s building into major problem over there,” Ferris said. ENDIT’s primary concerns are the safety of low-level radioactive waste and the landfill itself, as well as air and water quality, Ferris explained. Middle Point is next to the West Fork of the Stones River, which provides Murfreesboro’s drinking water. Moreover, run-off from the landfill is treated at the city’s wastewater treatment plant before being released into the river and has shown increased levels of radioactivity. “My concern is that the landfill is leaking already. I think it’s only a matter of time that it gets into our water, if they keep putting this stuff in the landfill,” Ferris said. Due to the group’s concerns, it requested the moratorium be made permanent across the entire state, not just at Middle Point. The group also wants Middle Point’s expansion permit to be revoked because the public was not informed of the BSFR program during public hearings held last year, which violates the state Sunshine Law, the letter said. To aid the commitment to end the BSFR program across the state, the group is circulating a petition to inform the public about the hazards of radioactive waste. So far, it has collected more than 3,000 signatures. Solid Waste Advisory Committee) will take the time to read (the letter) carefully and to consider our side of this argument,” the letter stated. The committee’s recommendations on the program’s future are due Sept. 5. For more information on ENDIT, visit www.citizenstoendit.org. For more information on the BSFR program, visit www.tennessee.gov/environment/rad/bsfr. Michelle Willard can be contacted at 869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com. Member Opinions: By: k on 8/5/07 We have to also find resolution with what has transpired with current radioactive dumping. It is very discouraging that our politicians will NOT come forward and make a statement on finding solutions. Yesterday, Bart Gordon said 'we cannot wait to test all Tenn bridges.' Yet, he will not even discuss the landfill when called. Donna Rowland will not take a stand. Middle Point will not be closing in the next decade. The deal signed in 1995 sealed that fate. We have to learn how to deal with this current debacle and we need support from local elected officials. Thus far, none has been given. By: rt260a on 8/5/07 hang the ones responsibl to a sour apple trww dm By: k on 8/5/07 No, don't hang anyone...just get good answers to good questions. NOTHING has been resolved and needs a positive and workable approach for resolution. Middle Point is a sore that will not heal. 615-869-0800 | online@murfreesboropost.com | 630 Broadmore Blvd. Suite 120, P.O. 10008, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ***************************************************************** 51 The Ely Times: Reid says he'll stop rural power projects elynews.com :: August 03, 2007 An artist's conception of the Ely Energy Center, one of three rural Nevada coal-fired power plant proposals, that Sen. Harry Reid said last week he would block. It would make sense politically to support the proposed eastern Nevada projects but "I can't do it. My conscience wouldn't let me," Reid told The AP in a telephone interview. Two of the projects are near Ely and the third is near Mesquite. Reid said the Ely-area projects alone would require millions of tons of coal a year that in turn would generate millions of tons of pollution, adding, "I just can't do that. I'm going to do everything I can to stop it." "All these power moguls want to do is to steal our air and water," Reid said, adding that the power plants might be good for economic development in rural areas "but this isn't good for Nevada. I can't comprehend how much coal would be used." Reid commented after sending letters to the heads of Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources, Sithe Global Power LLC in New York, LS Power in New Jersey and Dynegy Inc. in Texas. Sierra Pacific and Sithe Global have separate projects while LS Power and Dynegy are developing the third project. His statement drew praise from environmental groups while representatives of the companies planning the projects defended them as necessary given the explosive growth in the Southwest, especially in Las Vegas, and scheduled shutdowns of older plants. In his letter, Reid said he's strongly opposed to the plants and the state's financial and ratepayer resources "should be heavily focused on rapid and significant investments in clean renewable energy and energy efficiency." Reid said he's concerned about global warming and it would be "prudent for Nevada, the United States and the entire world" to begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Rather than spend billions of dollars on the plants, Reid said the money could be used to install solar systems on several hundred thousand homes around Nevada. The majority leader wrote that because he believes renewable energy is preferable, "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 green house gas emissions." Tom Johns, vice president of Sithe Global which is planning a $1 billion, 750-megawatt plant near Mesquite in Lincoln County, said Reid "is entitled to his own opinion. The senator also is not in favor of nuclear power. So you wonder what the senator really views as a source of power." Johns added that Sithe Global is developing renewable energy sources but "there's clearly a need for base-load power that's available 24 hours a day." Coal-fired plants provide that but sources such as solar or wind power are variable, he added. Eric Crawford, project manager for the $3.7 billion, 1,500-megawatt power plant near Ely, in White Pine County, that LS Power and Dynegy want to build would be "a very clean, very efficient facility that certainly would comply with all federal, state and local standards." "We think you need diversity and not one fuel is the solution," Crawford added. "You have to use them all." He added that LS Power and Dynegy plan to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" into renewable energy. Michael Yakira, president and chief operating officer of Sierra Pacific Resources, said his company "respectfully disagrees" with Reid's position on the coal plants, adding that the plants shouldn't "be measured with the same yardstick because they are not by any means alike." Yakira said Sierra's $3.7 billion Ely Energy Center, which would generate 1,500 megawatts of electricity, "would definitely be in the best interests of our state since it will provide technological advantages that will allow us to shut down older, existing coal facilities." Yakira also said the state Public Utilities Commission has "given us a mandate to proceed with initial development plans for the Ely Center." Support for Reid's move came from the Sierra Club, Interwest Energy Alliance, Nevada Conservation League, Western Resource Advocates, Nevada Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association and others. "Sen. Reid is right. Nevada has enough wind and enough sun to power its way into the future," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. Kyle Davis of the Nevada Conservation League said it's encouraging "to see an elected official in our state actually do what's right in terms of pollution and promoting renewable resources." Kevin Cabble of the Nevada Wildlife Federation and Don Duff of Trout Unlimited praised Reid for his strong support of renewable energy sources, saying pollutants from coal-fired power plants would contaminate lakes and streams. Marty Hayden of Earthjustice said, "A real leader practices what he preaches, and that is what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did today when he spoke out against the planned construction of three new coal-fired power plants in Nevada." Copyright 2007, The Ely Times Stephens Media, LLC ***************************************************************** 52 Ely Times: Ely councilmen react to Harry Reid's comments elynews.com August 03, 2007 By RUDY HERNDON Ely Times Reporter Ely's community leaders expressed dismay with Reid's announcement, but members of a local non-profit group opposed to the projects hailed the Senate's top-ranking Democrat. Some of the harshest criticism directed toward Reid came from members of the Ely City Council, two of whom suggested that the Clark County native had long ignored the needs of White Pine County. “It's the first time that I've really seen him pay attention to an issue in Nevada in a long time, Councilman Shane Bybee said. “I think Harry Reid is showing his allegiance to Clark County and their pro-growth agenda, Councilman Jim Northness said Friday. “He has never cared about White Pine County ... The minute that there is economic growth away from Las Vegas, he's against it. But Bristlecone Alliance President Oskar Atkinson said his group of about 50 members will support Reid for the exact opposite reason. “We think Harry Reid is going in the right direction, Atkinson said. “We are going to support him because we do not want a power plant that supports growth in Las Vegas. In his announcement opposing the coal-fired power plants, Reid zoned in on two projects slated for development in White Pine County: Sierra Pacific Resources' Ely Energy Center and LS Power's White Pine Energy Station. He also singled out Sithe Global Power's Toquop Energy Project near Mesquite. Following the release of Reid's statement, representatives from the two White Pine County project developers reiterated their plans to build clean and efficient facilities. “We are going to continue our commitment to make this an environmentally responsible project, White Pine Energy Station Director of Project Development Eric Crawford said Friday. “Our Ely Energy Center project will be the cleanest, most efficient coal-fueled plant in the West, Sierra Pacific Resources Project Communications Director Mark Severts said. In addition, they stressed the importance of diversifying their energy sources. “The diversification of energy sources is very important for all citizens of Nevada since it will help reduce our reliance on the import of expensive energy from outside the state, as well as a reliance on highly expensive and volatile natural gas production, Sierra Pacific Resources President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Yackira said in a statement. Yackira said the development of the Ely Energy Center would enable the company to shut down its aging facilities. In addition, he said the completion of a related transmission line would foster the development of renewable energy projects throughout the state. However, Reid was unmoved by those arguments. In a Monday telephone interview with the Ely Times, Reid said he studied the issue at length and arrived at his decision following a U.S. Senate debate on a related matter. Reid said it would have been politically easy for him to support the three projects, but said his conscience wouldn't allow him to do so. If the projects moved forward, approximately seven million tons of coal would be shipped to White Pine County each year for incineration. Together, the two White Pine facilities would emit about 14 million tons of pollutants into the air annually, he said. “We know there's no way to stop all of the crap from getting into the air, he added. Reid was quick to dismiss Sierra Pacific's claims that the Ely Energy Center would be the cleanest coal-fired facility in the Western U.S. “So what? It's still filthy, he said. He also downplayed Sierra Pacific's contention that its project is needed to develop a transmission line between Northern and Southern Nevada. “They've been talking about that power line for years, Reid said. “This is just one of their games. Reid questioned why local residents should bear the brunt of the projects' impacts to provide Southern Nevadans with cheaper electricity. “Would the people of White Pine County rather have people in Southern Nevada pay a few more cents each year, or would they rather have dirty air? he asked. He said he envisioned a future where electricity was generated not by coal but by renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind. For instance, if the Nevada Test Site was covered with solar panels using current technologies, it could supply power for most of the country, he said. Reid did not elaborate on his vow to fight the projects. “I'm sure the owners of the power companies know I have a lot of ways of getting things done, he said. But supporters of the power plant projects should take the senator at his word, White Pine County Commission Chairman Brent Eldridge cautioned. “I believe him when he says he's going to fight them, Eldridge said. “I think that with his leadership position in the Senate, he could help spearhead legislation or policies in governmental agencies that could indeed stop (coal-fired power projects), Eldridge said. Copyright 2007, The Ely Times Stephens Media, LLC ***************************************************************** 53 AFP: French minister hails progress on Niger-Areva row - Sat Aug 4, 3:34 PM ET NIAMEY (AFP) - French Cooperation Minister Jean-Marie Bockel said Saturday that "very significant progress" has been made towards resolving the current dispute between Niger and French nuclear giant Areva. "I'm very satisfied with the exchange I had with (Niger) President (Mamadou) Tandja on a whole range of subjects including Areva, where very significant progress has been made towards overcoming a certain number of points of incomprehension," Bockel said. Niger last week expelled Areva's top executive in Niamey Dominique Pin before eventually renewing its mining contracts with the company. "The fact the contracts were renewed... shows that a first step has been made and that things are going in the right direction," the minister told journalists after his meeting with the president. Bockel, who arrived late Friday in Niamey, said he did not bring up the subject of Pin's expulsion in his talks with Tandja. But he said they discussed at some length the accusations that Areva was backing the Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country. "It's clear that Areva does not support and never has supported the rebellion. There may have been the odd gaffe committed on the ground. We must now do everything to ensure there is no more ambiguity between Areva and Niger. Already there is no ambiguity in the relations between Niger and France," Bockel said. The minister left Niamey Saturday for Gabon's capital Libreville. Following the meeting between Tandja and Bockel, Niger's Foreign Affairs Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou told journalists the revamped contract between Niger and Areva provides for Niger to sell its uranium at a higher price. The new price -- 40,000 African CFA francs, or 60.98 euros (84 dollars) a kilo -- represents a significant increase over the old price of 27,300 CFA but is still well below the current international rate. The increase is retroactive to January 1, Mindaoudou said. Prime Minister Seini Oumarou had on Wednesday criticised the sale price of uranium that Areva fixes, commenting on state television that a kilo currently sells for 122,000 CFA francs (186 euro) on the international market. Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 54 IBR: Washington Group International to Construct Uranium-Enrichment Facility Monday, August 6, 2007 00:05 MDT POSTED: 06:46 MDT Saturday, August 4, 2007 by Brad Carlson Washington Group International recently received a cost-reimbursable, task-order contract by Louisiana Energy Services (LES) to provide construction services in building a uranium-enrichment facility near Eunice, N.M. Providing construction services for the National Enrichment Facility is a major expansion of Washington Group’s role at the site, WGI said. The engineering, construction and environmental services firm has been providing related construction-management services there since mid-2006. The $1.5 billion facility will provide the U.S. with an alternative domestic source of enriched uranium required to operate the country’s nuclear power plants, Washington Group said. It is the first major nuclear facility to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the U.S. in three decades, the company said. Louisiana Energy in June 2006 became the first company ever to be awarded a combined construction and operating license. Lou Pardi, president of Washington Group’s power business unit headquartered in Princeton, N.J., said construction activities are under way, and that more than 600 people are expected to work on the project during peak construction. The National Enrichment Facility is scheduled to begin production in mid-2009. Construction is expected to conclude in 2013. Washington Group aims to merge into URS Corp., based in San Francisco. Our History | Our Staff | Idaho Business Review 855 W. Broad Street, Suite 103 Boise, ID 83702 | Phone 208.336.3768 | Fax 208.336.5534 ***************************************************************** 55 [NYTr] The Bombs of August, In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 16:30:23 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by Dave Muller - southnews George W. Bush is not ten. He has announced to the world that he, as the leader of this great nation, has the right to use nuclear weapons once again. This time, he says, he has the right to char men and women and children and animals if he suspects" their leaders of being a threat to us. He is not ten. He really isnt. Then why is he so very happy? And why, please tell me, is he still smiling? TvNewsLIES.org - Aug 5, 2007 http://tvnewslies.org/html/bombs_of_august.html The Bombs of August, In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki By Reggie, Contributing Editor When the bombs were dropped I was very happy. The war would be over now, they said, and I was very happy. The boys would be coming home very soon they said, and I was very happy. We showed em, they said, and I was very happy. They told us that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed, and I was very happy. But in August of 1945 I was only ten years old, and I was very, very happy. The crew of the B-29 was so young and heroic, and in the photo they also looked very happy. For some reason, I clearly remember the name of the pilot, Paul Tibbets. Of course I remember the name of the plane, the Enola Gay. And oh yes, I remember the name of the bomb. It was called Little Boy. That made me smile. I was so proud to be an American that day because we had done something so remarkable. They said we were the first. We were Americans. We were powerful. But they didnt say that Little Boy had killed 66,000 people with its huge fireball that fateful day in August. They didnt say that Hiroshima was not a military target, but a city filled with men and women and children and animals who had no idea they were about to die so horribly. When youre ten, they dont always tell you everything. I dont think anyone made as big a fuss over the second plane, or its crew. Are they even in the Smithsonian? Second best doesnt count, I suppose, but I remember wondering why they had done it again. Wouldnt the war be over anyway, like they said? Werent the boys coming home very soon? Hadnt they already showed em how strong we were in Hiroshima? So they told me that the second bomb was called Fat Man, and that made me smile. So I was even prouder to be an American that second day. They said this would be the end for sure, and after all, these people were the enemy and you kill the enemy when you can. But they didnt tell me that Fat Boy had killed 39,000 human beings with another fireball on another day in August. They didnt tell me that Nagasaki was not a military target, but a city filled withwell, you know. They didnt even tell me that there were horses trapped in the flames of Nagasaki, because I loved horses and that would have made me sad. But when youre ten, they dont tell you everything. Today Im no longer ten, and I am no longer happy when bombs fall. And the names Fat Man and Little Boy no longer make me smile because I now know the devastation and horror of burned bodies and twisted metal that result from the mushroom clouds. And I am ashamed that on this day Americans dont stop to remember what was done. And I am horrified that my government has just killed thousands of defenseless men and women and children and animals who were not the enemy, and that the silence of America is deafening. Today, I am so very sad that many young people dont even know about the Enola Gay and the mission of its crew. And I am so terribly ashamed that the war we have just waged has been so devoid of the reality of death and pain. They havent told us about the thousands of civilians they have killed. They havent shown us the devastation they have caused. They withhold the true numbers of our own military who die each day. They never mention the hundreds who have been terribly wounded. War is surgical and sanitized, they tell us, and a very effective way to liberate people. They speak to us as if we all were ten. George W. Bush is not ten. He has announced to the world that he, as the leader of this great nation, has the right to use nuclear weapons once again. This time, he says, he has the right to char men and women and children and animals if he suspects" their leaders of being a threat to us. He is not ten. He really isnt. Then why is he so very happy? And why, please tell me, is he still smiling? *** Declaration of the International Meeting, 2007 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Draft) This declaration was read out and approved by the plenary this morning The International Meeting of the 2007 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs was held on August 3-5 in Hiroshima, with the participation of 250 delegates from over 20 countries. We, the participants, hereby call on all the people of the world to take action together to build a peaceful and just world free of nuclear weapons. The abolition of nuclear weapons has developed into a world opinion. The overwhelming majority of the governments are also calling for it. Nevertheless, there are still close to 27,000 nuclear warheads stockpiled or deployed, with many of them placed on hair-trigger alert. As evidenced by the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the use of nuclear weapons is a crime against humanity. Humans cannot coexist with nuclear weapons. The elimination of nuclear weapons is a vital task with consequences on the survival of the human race. Having pursued a policy of preemptive attack on the ground to counter terrorism and the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the US Government is facing criticism and isolation at home and internationally. But the US and its allies are still engaging in war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and causing a huge number of casualties. The withdrawal of the foreign troops is an urgent need. Pursuing the threat and the actual use of gfull range of military capabilities, including both nuclear and non-nuclear strikesh, it is continuing the development of new nuclear warheads and the improvement of existing weapons. The ongoing deployment of gMissile Defenseh networks to supplement the first strike operation and the global realignment and reinforcement of military bases are posing serious threats to world peace. The policy to pursue security or peace by nuclear weapons is both deceptive and disastrous. We do not accept that any country should develop nuclear weapons for any reason whatsoever. However, as warned by people who were in the center of diplomacy and military policy of nuclear powers, the superpowersf postures of clinging to their nuclear arsenals are serving as an incentive for nuclear proliferation. The nuclear superpowers must take steps to reduce nuclear armaments. The fundamental solution to the nuclear proliferation can be found in a total ban on nuclear weapons. The implementation of the gunequivocal undertakingh to eliminate nuclear weapons, accepted by the nuclear weapons states at the 2000 NPT Review Conference is urgently required.@The civil society must join forces beyond all differences of opinion, culture and political status, to achieve this goal, working together with the governments committed to nuclear disarmament. Looking to the next NPT Review Conference in 2010, we urge all governments in the world to commit themselves to actions for the swift abolition of nuclear weapons, and make a decision at the U.N. General Assembly to start consultations for a treaty totally banning nuclear weapons. In particular, we urge the nuclear weapons states to make a bold decision to commence this process. We demand that the nuclear weapons states, declared and undeclared, renounce the policy to use or threat to use nuclear weapons; de-alert their nuclear warheads; provide non-nuclear states with security assurances; cancel the plans to develop new warheads or to replace old systems with new ones, and stop the deployment of gMissile Defenseh networks. We call on all parties concerned to implement the agreements reached so far in good faith, including the peaceful resolution of North Koreafs nuclear development and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and turning the Middle East to a nuclear weapon-free zone as agreed on at the 1995 NPT Review Conference. World military spending exceeds 1.2 trillion dollars. This is making it difficult to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development goals, and resolve the poverty, destitution and other global problems. A drastic cut in armament is an important obligation for all governments, and for the nuclear superpowers in particular, who account for more than half of the world military expenditures. @As the only country to have suffered the calamity of nuclear war and to have renounced war by its Constitution, Japan should take the lead in abolishing nuclear weapons in international politics, while strictly implementing the three Non-Nuclear Principles at the same time. We are deeply concerned of the ongoing developments, including a deepening dependency on the gnuclear umbrellah, positive arguments on the possession of nuclear weapons, the acceptance of the past atomic bombings, the attempted justification of past aggression, the reorganization and the consolidation of the US bases in Japan, and moving on the path to the revision of the Constitution. @Noting the growing opposition of the Japanese people to these developments, we support their campaign for the Declaration of a Nuclear Weapon-Free Japan, and extend solidarity with the movement to defend Article 9 and establish a nuclear weapon-free and peaceful Japan. The desire of the Hibakusha for gNever again Hiroshima or Nagasakih is heard throughout the world. We must spread their message even wider. In cooperation between the popular movements, civil society and committed governments, we must bring change to international politics. Let us increase our action, using the 62nd session of the U.N. General Assembly, the 2nd NPT PrepCom meeting next spring, and the G8 Summit Conference in July 2008 in Hokkaido, and many other opportunities. Let us promote diverse campaigns, including the signature campaign for the gSwift Abolition of Nuclear Weaponsh; photo and other exhibitions around the world on A-bomb damage and other nuclear sufferings; learning, inheriting and carrying forward the stories of Hibakusha, and peace marches. Let us develop our solidarity with other movements against war, for peace, sovereignty, the dismantling of bases, and for a just society. A nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world is possible. Let us rise to action now, together with the young generation who bears our future. No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis! No More Hibakusha! August 5, 2007 International Meeting, 2007 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 56 MDN: Hibakusha: One step forwards, two steps back - MSN-Mainichi Daily News August 6, 2007 Sakue Shimohira The tears wouldn't stop. Her whole body quivered with anger. Her knees gave way under her. It happened on July 1, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Sakue Shimohira, 72, was on her way home from Guernica, Spain, scene in 1937 of the worst mass bombing in history up to that time. There, on June 27, Shimohira had spoken at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to Japan's atomic bomb survivors. A Japanese man near her in the waiting room at de Gaulle Airport was reading a Japanese newspaper, and Shimohira saw the page 1 headline: "Atomic bombing 'couldn't be helped': Kyuma." The article reported a remark then Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma had made in a speech. It took Shimohira's breath away. She was 10 on Aug. 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb blast struck Nagasaki not far from her home, killing three of her relatives, including her mother and elder sister. Her experience at Guernica had filled her with hope. An 83-year-old Spanish man, in tears after her talk, said, "Bush justifies the atomic bombing -- let's make him see reason." Right there and then he started writing a letter to the American president. A young man in his 30s said, "It's the younger generation's responsibility to abolish nukes." There were about 100 people in the audience, and Shimohira knew that she had moved them. In more than 30 years of addressing audiences about her life as a hibakusha, she had never seen such enthusiasm for the cause of eliminating nuclear weapons. "If only we can get this across in Japan and spread the word," she thought, "we can eliminate them." The newspaper headline dashed her high spirits. "Kyuma is from Nagasaki, and yet he puts his stamp of approval on the American atomic bombing," she says. "With one word he brushes aside the death of 70,000 people and the suffering of the survivors, who have been living with the after-effects and calling for nuclear disarmament for 62 years." Back in Nagasaki, her step heavy, she faced "the July hell." In August, students on school trips come from all over the country -- there are audiences to address, experiences to relate. But in July there is little of that, and not much to do but languish at home, prey to unbearable memories that begin to surge around this time of year -- the streets reduced to mountains of rubble, the heaps of blackened corpses. Every year she relives all this. Kyuma's remark, of course, doesn't make it easier. "After Guernica, I thought I could carry on. Now... I want to die." A wave of despair hits her suddenly as we say goodbye. She sees my agitation and says, "I'm joking." But her expression remains hard. I wonder if Kyuma understands what his remark means to someone like Shimohira. (By Kazuki Kuraoka, Mainichi Shimbun) Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 57 IndyStar: Lessons to be learned 62 years after bomb | IndyStar.com August 4, 2007 HBO documentary uses words of those who were at Hiroshima and Nagasaki Fear of a nuclear strike is a powerful weapon, as the public-relations campaign to launch the Iraq invasion -- "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud" -- reminds us. Devastation: A month after a nuclear bomb fell on Hiroshima, a movie theater that today is the Atomic Dome stood sentry over the rubble. It now is part of Peace Memorial Park. - 1945 Associated Press file photo A new HBO documentary, "White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," graphically illuminates what that fear is all about. Though viewers have undoubtedly seen many shows about the bombings, this one, which airs at 7:30 p.m. Monday, will make a deep and disturbing impression. This is not a political tract. Filmmaker Steven Okazaki presents interviews with survivors of the Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, blasts as well as Americans involved in the bombing runs. He also makes devastating use of contemporary footage. Be warned: This material is ghastly and will not quickly be forgotten. In a flash, modern science turned humans into primordial-looking monsters. Footage of victims being treated in makeshift hospitals -- their faces burned to the bone, arms and legs blown or burned off and eyeballs melted in their sockets -- is in fact unforgettable. It is augmented by survivors' recollections of what they and family members were doing at the moment of detonation: reading the newspaper, hanging clothes on the line, playing with toy boats. Two women, then orphans at a Catholic compound, were in church. Then came an "enormous flash," recalls one survivor. "The light streamed in and filled the room." One man recalls flying 150 feet through the air, while another, some distance from ground zero, said the resulting cloud did not look like a mushroom to him but "a huge pillar of fire" -- literally a holocaust. After which came a profound stillness. "The only things that moved in Hiroshima were the flies circling over the dead," another survivor recalls. The show, which runs 90 minutes, supplies context for the attacks that sounds eerily familiar. In another wartime film clip, Joseph C. Grew, who had served as ambassador to Japan, warns that while "their weapons are modern, their thinking is 2,000 years out of date." Harry Truman makes a few appearances, as do members of the flight teams that delivered the bombs, including Enola Gay navigator Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, who says the mission -- to end the war as quickly as possible -- was accomplished. The Aug. 15 announcement of Japan's surrender sent 2 million celebrants into Times Square. Yet there was a sense of horror among the Americans. The survivors are inspiring and surprisingly good-natured, as they cope with physical and mental pain. "Even now, I can't say my sister's name aloud," says one woman. Another, the only survivor in a school with 620 students, says she has "come to realize the reason I'm alive is to tell people what happened." Many have already forgotten, if they ever knew. Okazaki sent his crew around asking young Japanese what important event occurred on Aug. 6, 1945. None had any idea. We are left with a chilling statistic. The world's current storehouse of nukes is 400,000 times more powerful than the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima, underscoring the opening quotation from Albert Einstein: "I know not with what World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Copyright 2007 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 58 guelphmercury.com: Documentary includes 'uncomfortable footage' ASSOCIATED PRESS This image from video, provided by HBO, shows Atomic bomb survivor Etsuko Nagano holding a picture of herself as a child, in Nagasaki, Japan, during the making in 2005 of the HBO documentary film 'White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' NEW YORK It's hard to imagine HBO's disturbing documentary on survivors of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan appearing on an American TV network 10 or 20 years after the event. Filmmaker Steve Okazaki tried -- and failed -- to make it for the 50th anniversary. There's apparently enough emotional scar tissue built up to allow HBO's premiere of "White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" on Monday (airing on The Movie Network, Movie Central in Canada), exactly 62 years after the United States detonated the first nuclear bomb over Hiroshima. The second, and so far last, atomic bomb was dropped three days later. It ended the Second World War. Why is the time finally right? "History is always worth recording and if there is a moment in history that hasn't been recorded and you're in a place where you have the resources, you should do it," said Sheila Nevins, head of HBO's documentary unit. She hopes it becomes a document of record shown in schools. The uncomfortable footage of cities reduced to rubble and grotesquely deformed survivors has received relatively little circulation because -- unlike the well-recorded Holocaust -- this was something done by Americans, Nevins said. HBO and Okazaki also felt the same urgency experienced by "The Greatest Generation" author Tom Brokaw and Ken Burns, maker of PBS's epic series on the Second World War coming this fall. People who fought and survived the Second World War are dying quickly now, and soon there will be no more witnesses. The film is built on stories told by 14 survivors, with children's pictures depicting the bombing and footage of the injured that was banned from the public for 25 years. The American-born Okazaki interviews crew members who dropped the bombs and wondered whether they would escape before their planes were engulfed in the mushroom cloud. The project dated back to the early 1980s, when Okazaki agreed to accompany his sister to a San Francisco area meeting of bomb survivors for a school project she was doing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Okazaki wanted to make a comprehensive documentary about the experience of living through the bombings and began doing it for PBS in the mid-1990s. But the project fell through, with the filmmaker believing PBS didn't want to risk angering Second World War veterans. He instead made a more personal film, "The Mushroom Club," and figured his dream was dead. 8-14 Macdonell St. Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1H 6P7 519-822-4310 ***************************************************************** 59 IHT: Austria's chancellor calls for complete abolition of nuclear arms worldwide - International Herald Tribune The Associated Press Published: August 5, 2007 VIENNA, Austria: Austria's chancellor on Sunday called for the world's nations to rid themselves of nuclear weapons, speaking on the eve of the 62nd anniversary of the bombing that devastated Hiroshima. In a statement, Alfred Gusenbauer said total global disarmament was the only way to respond to the threat posed by nuclear proliferation. "The central question can't be who should be allowed to possess the atomic bomb," said Gusenbauer, a Social Democrat. "The only genuine protection from nuclear disaster is the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons." Neutral, nonaligned Austria is not among the world's nuclear powers. Its release coincided with preparations to mark the anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the United States, killing 140,000 people. A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. The Austrian leader also urged nations with such arms to take greater steps to ensure they do not fall into the hands of terrorists and produce what he called "a horror scenario." Copyright 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 60 Japan Times: Nuclear hell revisited | japantimes.co.jp Web Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007 COMMEMORATION IN TOKYO By CHRISTINE CIBERT Special to The Japan Times Two years ago, Michel Pomarede, a French journalist working for France Culture, a French national radio station, visited Japan for the first time. He came with the aim of making a mammoth, 17-hour program about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, to accompany the 60th-anniversary commem- orations scheduled to be broadcast during the first week of August 2005. Click to see more photos of Yosuke Yamahata's photo-documentary in a pop-up window. Never before had such a lengthy radio program been aired on the subject. This radio program is currently being made available online at franceculture.com and coincides with "Hiroshima, le souffle de l'explosion," a series of events taking place at l'Institut Francais in Tokyo's Iidabashi district. These events include the screening of 14 movies and documentaries, round-table discussions and also the showing of two significant collections of photographs. "Hiroshima Collection" features black-and-white images of objects from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum taken by Hiromi Tsuchida. As placid as death itself, and as mute and clinical as evidence from the scene of a crime, these are simple acknowledgments of how things were after the catastrophe. They leave the viewer dumbfounded and mesmerized. As Tsuchida puts it: "We are a part of Hiroshima and Hiroshima is a part of us." Also on view is "Nagasaki Journey," a photo-documentary by Yosuke Yamahata (1917-66). On Aug. 9, 1945, age 28, Yamahata, who was then affiliated with the Imperial Japanese Army's press department and stationed in Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, was ordered to go to Nagasaki to photograph the aftermath of the atomic bombing that morning. Yamahata arrived there at daybreak on Aug. 10, together with the artist Eiji Yamada and the writer Jun Higashi. They walked around the devastated city and by about 3 p.m., Yamahata had taken about 119 photos. He developed and printed the photos the same day. "Nagasaki Journey" is the most extensive photographic record of the bomb's immediate aftermath. It was published in all of Japan's major newspapers on Aug. 21 and 25, 1945, before being censored for several years. Christine Cibert is a journalist and art curator who has lived in Japan for more than 10 years and has met around 50 hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors), historians, movie directors, photographers and writers connected to the atomic bombings. She was the translator and coordinator for "Hiroshima, le souffle de l'explosion," which runs through Aug. 31 at l'Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo, 15 Ichigaya-Funagawara-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. To get there, go to Iidabashi Station on the Namboku Line. For the full program, and further details, visit www.institut.jp The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 61 Japan Times: Mr. Hiroshima-san japantimes.co.jp Web Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007 STEVEN L. LEEPER Mr. Hiroshima-san By ERIC PRIDEAUX Staff writer In a sense, it is the ultimate irony: The man appointed to oversee the memorial to victims of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945 by an American B-29 aircraft is . . . an American. Steven L. Leeper, chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVEN L. LEEPER But antiwar activist Steven L. Leeper says that since his April appointment as the first foreigner to be chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation which operates the museums and memorials residents of the world's first city to experience nuclear warfare have welcomed him. That is apart from some rightists who protested a May 31 article in the local newspaper that, Leeper says, inaccurately quoted some of his views. However, when it comes to the question of whether the United States was justified in dropping the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima and "Fat Man" on Nagasaki three days later together instantaneously claiming 210,000 lives Leeper agrees with Japanese at both ends of the political spectrum that those attacks were inexcusable. "Nuclear bombs are inhumane, inflicting vast destruction and indiscriminate slaughter in the span of an instant. Their use cannot be justified, regardless of the reasoning applied," he is on record as declaring (in fluent Japanese). Leeper, 59, was born in Illinois to a missionary father; his mother was an antiwar activist during the Vietnam War. He has lived in Japan both as a child and adult, working here for years as a translator and consultant to the automobile industry. In 2002, Leeper became the U.S. representative to the U.N. nongovernmental organization Mayors for Peace, representing 1,698 cities in 122 countries seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons. In 2003, he became a special adviser to the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. The timing of our interview drove home just how raw the atomic bombings remain in the hearts of Japanese: On the same day, Fumio Kyuma resigned as defense minister after saying the bombings "could not be helped" a statement widely deemed unacceptable in Japan. How do you regard an American being appointed to this very symbolic role? I think the main symbolic meaning is that the hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors) have all along been saying that they are not interested in revenge or retaliation. What they are doing is sublimating all of the urge for revenge and anger into this pursuit of a world without war and nuclear weapons. Ever since he became Hiroshima mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba has been talking about the need to reject the path of revenge and animosity and walk the path of reconciliation. And he is speaking for the hibakusha when he talks like that. So I think my presence here as an American is evidence that this is in fact their attitude, and I have been warmly welcomed by everyone especially the hibakusha, who have come to my office and welcomed me and wished me well. Have you been criticized for occupying this role? There has been a small outbreak. I need to be really, really careful about this and I need to ask you to be careful about this because I don't want to be attacked for this again. I made some comments that were reported wrongly in a local newspaper, which made it sound as if I was already deciding to put Koreans and Chinese onto a committee to redo the museum here. In response to that, there were a number of protests, but much of it seemed to be orchestrated by a certain very small group of radical rightwing people. However, the whole thing died away very quickly. From almost everywhere, I was getting support during that. People were saying, "No, don't worry about this. We're behind you all the way." Do you personally feel there is a necessity to pool the opinions of Chinese and Koreans on how the new exhibit will look? Yes. I think it's important to get ideas from Koreans and Chinese, but not just Koreans and Chinese, also from leftwing and rightwing Japanese and Europeans and all kinds of people, because we're really trying to create a museum that will have universal appeal. One thing I have to point out, of course, is that we are not interested in the opinions of people who think the atomic bombing was a good idea or that nuclear weapons are necessary. That is part of the misunderstanding that happened. Some people were thinking that, as an American, I am going to be changing the message of this museum to somehow justifying the atomic bombings. That is not happening. This museum takes the position that these nuclear weapons should never have been used and they should never be used again. That is a non-negotiable message. Will there be any kind of increased awareness-building of Japan's aggression in Korea or China? I really don't know about that. That's part of what I want to get everybody's ideas on, about how we address this issue. If it were completely up to me this is not the Peace Culture Foundation speaking, or the museum, or the Hiroshima city government; this is just Steve's personal idea if it was up to me, we would start at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945 [when the bomb was dropped]. I would not talk about previous history at all, because any talk about history opens a door to endless argument and that's not my interest. My focus is: How do we keep it from happening again? How do we get from here to a world in which nuclear weapons are obviously not necessary? What would you say is the status of Japan's peace movement today? As with a lot of peace movements around the world, we are under heavy attack. There's a big backlash. Let me go into a little depth on this one. Around here, a lot of us tend to think that we are by "we" I mean human beings we human beings are trying to graduate from a war culture to a peace culture. What that means, really, is that we are trying to make a big shift from a highly competitive approach to life to a highly cooperative approach. This is not to say that we are totally against any kind of competition. But just that the balance right now is so heavily weighted on the competition side that it is impossible to cooperate at the level we need to cooperate to solve our problems. So what we're trying to do is graduate from there. A survivor of the Hiroshima bomb named Ichiro Moritaki was in a hospital after the attack, and he was thinking about the meaning of this new weapon. He came to the conclusion that it marked the end of what he called "the civilization of power" and the beginning of the "civilization of love." What he meant by that was that we can no longer resolve our conflicts and decide whose side god is on by contests of all-out destructive power. So we now have to incorporate other methods of conflict resolution, like talking, negotiation, treaties, laws. But right now there's this big disconnect between the vast majority of people who really do see that the world is one, that we are all members of the human family, and those who see the world as a competition for survival. We are being forced into the former recognition by environmental issues. We have global warming to deal with: Our oceans are dying, the air is dirty, the land is dirty. We've got some serious environmental problems that we cannot solve through just free-market competition. This has to be addressed through international cooperation. From Hiroshima's point of view, the most important (issue) right now is the control of nuclear weapons and the prevention of any use of nuclear weapons in the next few years. Wherever I go, I am constantly encountering people of all stripes who really understand that we just cannot continue to have wars and we certainly can't start throwing nuclear weapons around if we intend to solve these other problems that we're facing. And yet our leaders, the leaders of most countries right now, are people who grew up through the war culture. Many of them derive directly from the military-industrial complex, many of them are weapons dealers or weapons manufacturers or get their money from manufacturers and dealers, so there's this highly competitive, highly aggressive bunch of warriors who are leading the world when most of the people want peace. So we're in a transition phase from a world that is highly competitive and wants to see enemies here and there, compared to a world in which we are all Spaceship Earth and we're trying to save our environment. We're trying to make a world in which half of humanity is not living with less that $2 a day, and 24,000 people are not dying every day from hunger. In the postwar period and up to maybe the 1970s and '80s, there was a vibrant antiwar and anti-atomic bomb culture here. Do you think that it has subsided with the aging of the hibakusha? Yes, definitely I do. The generation that really knew the war and, in Hiroshima, the generation that really knows what happened here at the time of the bombing, has moved out of power and is moving out of the world altogether. Therefore, that generation just does not have the influence that it used to have. That's for sure. And the young people seem to me to be kind of divided. . . . There are young people who have an extremely advanced consciousness when it comes to the environment and peace and making a better world and trying to live more like indigenous people to lighten their burden on the planet. Then there's the other kind that is just trying to succeed in the system as it has been. They're really not thinking much about the world; they're thinking about how they're going to win in the competitive environment they've been placed in. I think that one of the issues is that this highly competitive fervor has been fanned by terrorism, the threat of terrorism, the events of 9/11 and the general coming to power of the highly competitive and warlike people who are now running the United States and elsewhere. One thing about a military-industrial complex is that it really must have an enemy, and now they've got terrorists as an enemy. Over here there's been a lot of media given to the whole abduction program of the North Koreans, and the fear of rising Chinese economic dominance and power, and the fear of North Korean nuclear weapons and that sort of thing. And so there are a lot of people here, even a lot who tend to be peace people against nuclear weapons, who are afraid of the North Koreans or the Chinese, or somehow they have this fear that they have to have some sort of military defense to protect them. So do you think that Japan has the right to "normalize" war-renouncing Article 9 of its Constitution to counter perceived threats from abroad with its own missiles? It certainly has the right to do that. It's their country and they can do what they want to do with it. But to me, from the point of view of peace culture and from the point of view of the safety and stability of Japan, it seems that what they need to be investing in is a peaceful and stable world. Not a world with enemies and intense winner-take-all, cut-throat competition. They need a world that is highly cooperative. If the Japanese were suddenly in a world where it was impossible to do any trading with China and the United States, an awful lot of Japanese would starve to death. They can't even feed themselves without a lot of trading. So they need a stable, peaceful world. And that's what they should be investing in. Turning to the Article 9 situation, people around the world have generally had a very high regard for Japan because of this Article 9. The Japanese are widely seen as a force for peace and a kind of stabilizing force. A lot of countries see them as that, and it seems to me, from what I've heard directly from a lot of people around the world . . . that people are surprised by this new information that Japan has the third- or fourth-largest military budget in the world. A lot of Europeans were very shocked when Japan sent the Self-Defense Force people over to Iraq. It makes people stop and think about what Japan really stands for. What are they up to? There is the question of whether the atomic bombings were necessary. Recently we've had this interesting comment from then-Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma. How do you regard his remarks that nothing could be done about the bombings? I'm really not sure what he was meaning to say. It's hard for me to imagine that he was really saying that it was OK or somehow perfectly understandable. Shoganai (nothing to be done about it) could derive from a lot of different attitudes. But I can say for sure that it was definitely taken as a very offensive remark by people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And it seemed to be implying that somehow the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war, or that it was an acceptable event in history and not any particular tragedy or error. Do you, without qualification, denounce the view that there was any military purpose to the bombs? I completely reject that it was necessary. All of the top military people of the United States at the time, from (U.S. Fleet Admiral William Daniel) Leahy and [then Gen., and later Pres. Dwight D.] Eisenhower (1890-1969) on down, everyone was against the use of that bomb at that time. The top brass thought it was unnecessary and a heinous act. I'm talking about the American military. The ones pushing for it were some civilian leaders and some of the military people actually involved in making the bomb. They really wanted to use it. There are some who say it was not the last bombing of World War II; it was actually the first bombing of World War III, and that it was aimed at Russia and not at Japan. It was to warn Russia that we can do this to you if we want to it was a threat, an effort to establish dominance in the postwar world. I am not enough of a historian to judge. But as I imagine how people were thinking back then, the Japanese were the enemy. It's perfectly natural to kill the enemy; you want to kill as many as you can. We had already totally bombed out, firebombed, 66 other cities in Japan and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. So another bomb and another 100,000 civilians was not a big deal for us at that time. And I think we had gone to all the trouble to make this incredible new device, and the people who did that really wanted to use it and see what it would do. And they saved Hiroshima, they protected Hiroshima from any other bombing so they could really see what happened as a result of the bomb. They saved Hiroshima for an experiment. It was totally unnecessary to win the war. Japan was defeated, had no ability to fight back, was running out of everything. We had them totally embargoed. There was no need to invade. There was no need to lose a million people in an invasion of Japan. All of that is myth that grew up around the bombing because we didn't want to feel we had killed 100,000 people for no reason. But even after the Nagasaki bombing, Japan still waited several days to surrender, and in that interval there was no apparent intention to capitulate. Weren't the atomic bombings a cauterization of the war? A means of burning the war to an end? I think you can look at it that way. And I suspect that it did cause the war to end a little earlier. But before we even used the bomb we could have ended the war two or three months earlier if we had just agreed to let them keep their emperor. That's all we would have had to do, and they would have surrendered months earlier. And we could have just waited. There were six guys who were deciding whether to fight or whether to surrender. Three were on one side and three were on the other side and that had been going on for a long time. And then the emperor stepped in partly because of the bombing and partly because Russia came in on the Allied side on August 8. There is considerable documentary evidence that the Russians' coming in had a bigger effect than the bombings. Already Japan had lost 66 cities. Now they had lost 68. So what? It was not a big deal. I understand you are planning a tour of the United States each state, two locations to take the Hiroshima exhibit there before . . . We're going to do 101 exhibitions, but it's not that we're taking one exhibition, or even one of the major exhibitions to all these 101 locations. What we're doing is sending out our poster exhibitions plus some CDs and DVDs. And at least for 50 percent of them, we're hoping to send an A-bomb survivor to the opening ceremony or an associated event. It sounds like a pretty ambitious project. I did note that it seems to be planned ahead of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. That is accurate. We really want to get as much play as possible in the American media for nuclear weapons, and right now we are trying to figure out how we can, with very little money, be able to do a PR or media campaign using newspapers or community radio. But what we're trying to do is make nuclear weapons an issue for the American public as they look to the elections. We're very disturbed right now, very concerned, because all of the leading candidates for president . . . have said that they are going to keep the nuclear option on the table. In other words, they are considering using nuclear weapons against Iran. In order to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, they will use one. And that is something we want the United States to think again about. [In fact last week, subsequent to this interview, it was reported that U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, appeared to condemn the use of nuclear weapons.] In 2003, reports showed the Bush administration pushing ahead with a new generation of weapons called mini-nukes. The indications are that they are lowering the threshold. They're trying to make little nuclear weapons that can be used, and they are talking about them as if they could be used. They are making plans to use them to take out hardened bunkers in Iran and that sort of thing. The idea of using small nuclear weapons, or any kind of nuclear weapon, anywhere, is just anathema to Hiroshima and to the Peace Culture Foundation. Let me ask you about Japan's clear statement on reliance on nuclear power for its energy needs. Do you have a view on this? That is a really hard question because we are not allowed even . . . I really cannot have an opinion about nuclear power. We are against nuclear weapons and we officially do not have a position on nuclear power. Can you explain why there is no position on nuclear power? My belief is that it would probably be because there would be so much economic weight on that side that we cannot afford to fight that fight. Do you feel that Article 9 should be kept intact, in both its key clauses? The alternative most commonly stated is to keep the article forever rejecting war as a means of solving international disputes, while being more flexible in the matter of maintaining a military. I am working here for the Peace Culture Foundation, which is trying to promote a world that has no need for the military. I do believe that any kind of move in that direction would be a step backward a step backward for Japan and for the world. In general, people have been very open and positive to Japan. I'm not just talking about peace people; I'm talking about people in the economic community. People have had their arms open to Japan and one of the factors in that openness is that Japan is perceived as a peaceful nation and this peace constitution is part of it. So if they eliminate Article 9 and start sending their Self-Defense Forces around the world, they are going to be associated with one side in the war on terror. They are going to lose their position as conciliators and mediators working for peace. They will be seen as protagonists, allied with the United States. What is your top priority? The overall goal that we're all pursuing is, No. 1, to prevent any nuclear weapon from being used in Iran or Syria or Afghanistan in the next few years, and to get rid of all nuclear weapons by 2020. Human beings really are standing at a crossroads, deciding right now in the next two or three years whether we're going to eliminate nuclear weapons or let everyone have one. If we let everyone have one, one will be used. There will definitely be some idiot who will use one someday. And if everyone has one, it won't stop with one. Our economy will just plummet if any major city gets taken out because of all of the economic fallout from losing that city, plus the economic slowdown that will happen when all of the defense mechanisms are thrown into high gear and circulation of goods and people slows down. In any case, it doesn't take a genius to know that if we start throwing nuclear weapons around, we're all in a lot of trouble. That is what we're trying to prevent, and we're pushing hard to build an international movement to get rid of nuclear weapons. The real block to that is the United States. Everyone else will do it if the U.S. does. It's the U.S. that's keeping it from happening. Nuclear hell revisited The last vote [in the U.N., on the Renewed Determination toward the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons] was 169-3, last October, in the first committee. Then, 169 voted to get rid of nuclear weapons and three voted to keep them. Those were the U.S., India and North Korea. The North Koreans are already going to get rid of them and we could easily buy them off. The Indians long ago said they will get rid of their nuclear weapons any time America gets rid of theirs. America, which is being the big superpower, is trying to hang on to that position. Maybe somebody is thinking nuclear weapons are going to help with that. The rest of the world is thinking, "No, we have to keep the war on terror from becoming nuclear." That's the kind of thing we're working on at the U.N. level. What I really want is for Japan to say very clearly to the United States, maybe openly or maybe in a back room somewhere, that you may not use nuclear weapons. If Japan, China and Germany were to say that to America, America could not ignore that message. Those are the three countries that own most of America these days. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 62 MSN-Mainichi Daily News: Photo Specials August 6, 2007 60 Years On Hiroshima Photo Special At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, a U.S. B-29 bomber, released a bomb the crew had called the Little Boy. The bomb exploded about 600 meters above the city of Hiroshima, a city that had been the spiritual home of Japanese Protestantism and also a major military center. Humanity had entered the nuclear age. About 80,000 people died instantly in the worldfs first nuclear attack. By the end of 1945, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and its after effects had claimed the lives of more than 140,000. The official death toll now exceeds more than 200,000 and many of the remaining hibakusha, the name given to atomic bomb survivors, continue to be traumatized by their memories of that day. (Text by Ryann Connell. Photos collated by Brian Dentry, Mika Orino and Fumi Hirabayashi. All photos from the Mainichi.) August 6, 2005 ***************************************************************** 63 antiwar.com: The Illegal and Immoral Option - by Gordon Prather August 4, 2007 When Bill Clinton became President, there were five acknowledged nuke-armed states the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia. Back in in the late 1960s those five states had persuaded about 150 other states that didnt have nukes to become signatories to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The NPT was viewed then and now by those other states as having three "pillars" * a promise by the NPT nuke-states to eventually dispose of nukes * an affirmation of the inalienable right of all other NPT states to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy "without discrimination" * a mechanism for verifying that nuclear energy was not being diverted from peaceful to military purposes. The NPT required those signatories not yet having nukes to negotiate a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency an existing United Nations agency already charged with facilitating the widest possible international transfer of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes for the "exclusive purpose" of "verifying" that certain proscribed materials were not "diverted" to a military purpose. With the Cold War over, Clinton accelerated the nuke dismantlement process begun by his predecessor. Clinton also attempted to get the Indians and Pakistanis to become signatories to the NPT and to get every NPT signatory to agree to its indefinite extension. How? Well, Clinton told them that if everyone signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty then without testing there could be no new nuke states and that eventually without testing the five acknowledged nuke states would effectively be disarmed. Furthermore, in 1995 Clinton got the Security Council to pass UNSC Resolution 984 which, inter alia, formally expressed the "intention" of the nuke states to "provide or support immediate assistance" to any non-nuke NPT signatory that is "a victim" of an act or a threat of an act of aggression "in which nuclear weapons are used." Clinton was, thereby, able to get NPT signatories to agree in 1995 on the indefinite extension of the NPT. But, Clinton did not get the Senate to ratify the CTBT, nor get the Indians and Pakistanis to become NPT signatories. In fact, in the spring of 1998 both India and Pakistan conducted multiple tests of nuclear weapons, thereby increasing the number of acknowledged nuke states to seven. Upon becoming president, under our Constitution, George Bush was bound by those commitments ratified by the Senate to "facilitate" the widest possible transfer of nuclear materials, equipment and technology to no-nuke NPT signatories and to come to their "immediate assistance" in the event someone threatened them with nukes. Hence, if the Bush-Cheney regime-change coalition wanted to renege on our commitments to help Iran establish a complete nuclear fuel cycle, or wanted to provide Russia some excuse for not coming to Irans assistance in the event the Bush-Cheney regime-change coalition nuked or threatened to nuke Iran, it would be necessary to somehow get Iran to withdraw from the NPT. Well, Bush-Cheney-Bolton-Rice did their best, but failed, miserably. In fact, Iran is now generally acknowledged by the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, the Non-Aligned Movements Ministers, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to be a principal defender of the NPT, at the 2005 NPT Review Conference, and in pleadings made before the UN Security Council and at quarterly meetings of the IAEA Board of Governors. Who is generally acknowledged to be the principal enemy of the NPT and the associated IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group nuke proliferation-prevention regime? We are, especially since Bush became president. Well, as of this writing, Bush has not actually "taken out" Irans IAEA Safeguarded programs. In any case, the Russians and/or Chinese would not be required to come to Irans immediate assistance unless Bush nukes or threatens to nuke Iran. But what about Bushs potential successors? At a recent "debate," moderator Wolf Blitzer asked the GOP candidates "If it came down to a preemptive U.S. strike against Irans nuclear facility, if necessary would you authorize as president the use of tactical nuclear weapons?" Notice that Blitzer asked about a preemptive strike against Irans [Safeguarded] "nuclear facility." Representative Duncan Hunter replied "I would authorize the use of tactical nuclear weapons if there was no other way to preempt those particular centrifuges." Notice Hunter threatened to nuke an IAEA Safeguarded facility. So, if Hunter succeeds Bush, the Russians and Chinese had better put their ICBMs on "red alert." Blitzer phrased the question somewhat differently to other GOP candidates. In particular he asked Governor Mitt Romney "I want to get you on the record. Do you agree with the mayor, the governor, others here, that the use of tactical nuclear weapons, potentially, would be possible if that were the only way to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb?" Notice that is a doubly hypothetical question. There is no evidence whatsoever that Iran is developing a "nuclear bomb." Hence, there can be no way of determining that the only way to stop whatever it is theyre not doing is to nuke them. So, how did Romney answer the doubly hypothetical question? Quoth Romney, "You dont take options off the table." But the Constitution requires the "law of the land" requires that so long as the IAEA continues to 'verify" that no Iranian Safeguarded materials have been diverted to a military purpose, the option of nuking or threatening to nuke Iran must be taken off the table. Representative Ron Paul as you might have expected went even farther. When asked by Blitzer what the most pressing moral issue in America is right now, Paul replied; "I think it is the acceptance just recently that we now promote preemptive war. I do not believe thats part of the American tradition. "But now we have accepted the principle of preemptive war. We have rejected the "just war" theory of Christianity." "And now, tonight, we hear that were not even willing to remove from the table a preemptive nuclear strike against a country that has done no harm to us directly and is no threat to our national security!" On the basis of his recent comments, it appears Senator Barack Obama may have may have reached a similar conclusion. Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. Copyright 2007 Antiwar.com ***************************************************************** 64 Los Angeles Times: Nuclear hypocrisy - August 5, 2007 Re "India, U.S. reach nuclear accord," July 28 Glaringly absent from the Bush administration's account of the nuclear deal with India is any mention of North Korea or Iran. By legitimizing India's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the U.S. is sending one of two messages to the leadership of both nations: Either the United States is employing a double standard, or it is willing to accept a nation's nuclear capability 10 years after the fact. Surely the administration did not intend to send either message. Zaahira Suhail Wyne Fredericksburg, Va. Re "The mirage of nuclear power," Opinion, July 30 Paul Josephson should first check with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to see how farfetched his arguments are about the "mirage" of nuclear power. The lowest cost clean power (10%) delivered to the customers of the city of L.A. is from the Palo Verde Nuclear Power facility in Arizona. He speaks of the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents that occurred almost 30 years ago but does not mention the 103 nuclear reactor plants that have been operating safely and economically throughout the U.S. for 40-plus years, providing up to 20% of the power in some East Coast states. He writes about the French experience but fails to mention that it has the cheapest energy costs and the cleanest air in Europe -- 85% of its power is from nuclear facilities, and it also exports electricity to its neighbors. He comments about nuclear aircraft but fails to mention the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered ships and submarines that have operated without problems throughout the world for decades. It is unfortunate that a teacher of history would be so irresponsible in his assessment of the industry. Joe Vitti Granada Hills Josephson -- not a nuclear engineer or scientist but a historian -- warns us that the sky is falling and nuclear energy is the cause. France (what does it know that we don't?) now has nearly 90% of its electrical energy produced by controlled fission reactors -- not by oil or coal, which, unlike reactors, increase the greenhouse gases by huge amounts and cause pollution. Certainly our oil supplies from the Middle East are problematic. For nearly four decades, France has gotten more than two-thirds of its electrical energy from reactors -- with not one accident. If the French can do it, why can't we? It can be done here. Oui. Devon Showley Cypress ***************************************************************** 65 IHT: Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors speak out on US television documentary - International Herald Tribune Published: August 5, 2007 NEW YORK: It is hard to imagine HBO's disturbing documentary on survivors of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan appearing on an American TV network 10 or 20 years after the event. Filmmaker Steve Okazaki tried and failed to make it for the 50th anniversary. There is apparently enough emotional scar tissue built up to allow the HBO's premiere of "White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" on Monday, exactly 62 years after the United States detonated the first-ever nuclear bomb over Hiroshima. The second, and so far last, atomic bomb was dropped three days later over Nagasaki. It ended World War II. Why is the time finally right? "History is always worth recording and if there is a moment in history that hasn't been recorded and you're in a place where you have the resources, you should do it," said Sheila Nevins, head of HBO's documentary unit. She hopes it becomes a document of record that will be shown in schools. Home Box Office and Okazaki also felt the same urgency experienced by "The Greatest Generation" author Tom Brokaw and Ken Burns, maker of the Public Broadcasting Service's epic series on World War II coming this fall. People who fought and survived World War II are dying quickly now, and soon there will be no more eyewitnesses. The documentary being shown on the cable television station is built on stories told by 14 survivors, with childrens' pictures depicting the bombing and footage of the injured that was banned from the public for 25 years. The American-born Okazaki interviews American crew members who dropped the bombs and wondered whether they would escape before their planes were engulfed in the mushroom cloud. The project dated back to the early 1980s, when Okazaki agreed to accompany his sister to a San Francisco area meeting of bomb survivors for a school project she was doing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She dropped the class, but he went to the meeting anyway. At its end, one man stood up and said that everyone who agreed Okazaki should make a film about their stories should raise their hands. They all did and turned to him. He made a short film and others that showed his interest in the era, including the Oscar-winning "Days of Waiting," about one of the few white Americans held in custody with Japanese-Americans during World War II. Okazaki wanted to make a comprehensive documentary about the experience of living through the bombings and began doing it for PBS in the mid-1990s. But the project fell through, with the filmmaker believing PBS didn't want to risk angering World War II veterans. He instead made a more personal film, "The Mushroom Club," and figured his dream was dead. That is when he heard from Nevins. "I was shocked when they called and said they wanted to do this film and when they described it, I realized it was the film I had wanted to do for 25 years," he said. When he attended a festival of bombing-related films in the 1980s, Okazaki was struck by how little survivors were heard from. People had an aversion; it was much easier to debate whether dropping bombs that instantly killed more than 200,000 people was right or wrong. That debate continues today. Many believe that a potential U.S. invasion would have killed many more people if the Japanese had not been shocked by the bombs into surrender. Some think Japan's war effort was near an end anyway, and that the bombs were partly meant to intimidate Russia. Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, navigator of the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb, is among those who believe it was necessary to end the war. He saw Okazaki's film and did not seem overwhelmed. "The story about the survivors of this has been told many, many times," Van Kirk, 86, told The Associated Press. "It doesn't change. And this is just another story about survivors. I don't think there will be much reaction to it at all." There were no advance protests. Nevins is curious about how the documentary will be received after what she thought was a strangely dry-eyed reception at a Sundance Film Festival screening. "It was well-received intellectually but it wasn't well-received emotionally," she said. "I do have strong opinions and feelings about it," he said. "But I have a stronger motivation to get these stories out. There was this empty space on the shelves under 'H.'" That is not entirely true. The 1970s film "Hiroshima Mon Amour" contained post-detonation footage. The 1989 Japanese film "Kuroi ame (Black Rain)" was about the aftermath. Reporter John Hersey's book "Hiroshima" has received wide circulation. Something Okazaki found mystifying, and a barrier to his research, was the lingering stigma faced by bomb survivors in Japan. Perhaps it is because they remind Japanese of a time they would rather forget; it was never fully explained to him. When he sought to interview the "Hiroshima Maidens," girls who came to the United States in the 1950s for surgery on disfigurements, the only one who would talk was a woman who now lives in the U.S. Okazaki also found a plaque where the Nagasaki bomb detonated that said everyone within a one-kilometer area was killed instantly - except an 8-year-old girl who had fallen asleep in a bomb shelter. He tracked her down and she refused a meeting. "Her husband only knew that she was a survivor and she felt that (being in the film) would hurt her husband's business and her children's job opportunities," he said. "So the story will never be told." ___ HBO is owned by Time Warner Inc. ___ On the Net: http://www.hbo.com Copyright 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 66 Guardian Unlimited: Abe Sorry for Minister's A-Bomb Remark Sunday August 5, 2007 6:31 PM By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized Sunday for the first time over his former defense minister's suggestion that the U.S. nuclear attacks on Japan were justified. Abe also promised in a private meeting with survivors in Hiroshima to expanded medical support for those still suffering the effects of the 1945 blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, officials and media reports said. The government has been criticized for strict eligibility standards that have limited medical care to many survivors. Hiroshima marks the anniversary of the world's first-ever nuclear attack on Monday. Then-Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said in a June speech that although the attacks caused great suffering, Japan would have otherwise kept fighting and ended up losing a greater part of its northern territory to the Soviet Union, which invaded Manchuria on the day Nagasaki was bombed. ``I understand that the bombings ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped,'' he said. Kyuma's statement, similar to the widely held U.S. belief that the bombings hastened the war's end and thus saved lives, triggered fury in Japan, where many consider the attacks an unjustified slaughter of civilians. Survivors demanded an apology and a meeting with Abe. Abe, whose ruling party recently suffered a stinging parliamentary election loss after a string of scandals including Kyuma's remarks, said he felt sorry that Kyuma's remarks ``hurt the feelings of the A-bomb survivors,'' Kyodo News agency reported, citing an official who attended the closed meeting. ``Now that 62 years have passed since the atomic bombings, we must provide fuller medical and welfare measures,'' Abe said during the public portion of the event. Abe also proposed a plan to relax screening of radiation-induced illnesses for those seeking free medical support, said Sunao Tsuboi, a survivor group representative. The first atomic bombing killed more than 140,000 people in Hiroshima. The second bombing, on Nagasaki in southern Japan three days later, killed another 74,000. Some 260,000 people survived. Bombing survivors have developed illnesses from radiation exposure that include cancer and liver disease. Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 67 starbulletin.com: Hiroshima survivors remember Vol. 12, Issue 217 - Sunday, August 5, 2007 The atomic bomb's mushroom cloud rises over Hiroshima. CLICK FOR Hiroshima survivors' tale a painfully seared memory STORY SUMMARY More than 140,000 people were killed on Aug. 6, 1945, when at 8:15 a.m. the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Among the 200,000 atomic bomb survivors, or "Hibakusha," are Keiko Ogura, who was 8; and Sunao Tsuboi, a Hiroshima University engineering student at the time. Their mission today is to remind the world of the death and destruction caused by the first use of a nuclear weapon. "It is clear that if a nuclear war happened now, humans would be destroyed by a nuclear explosion equivalent to several thousand times the power of that used in Hiroshima," Tsuboi told the Star-Bulletin in an interview. "There will be no winner." By Gregg K. Kakesako / gkakesako@starbulletin.com HIROSHIMA Keiko Ogura was only 8 years old when her father kept her home from school on Aug. 6, 1945, because "he felt something was wrong." That same day, Sunao Tsuboi, at the time a 20-year-old engineering student at Hiroshima University, was studying when at 8:15 a.m. the city of Hiroshima became the victim of the world's first atomic bombing. Tsuboi, 82, and Ogura, 70, are atomic bomb survivors, or "Hibakusha," who lived through "a living hell on Earth" when the city of Hiroshima's 350,000 inhabitants died. Their mission today is to remind the world of the death and destruction caused by the first use of a nuclear weapon. Tsuboi has been featured as one of 14 Japanese survivors and four Americans interviewed in the documentary "White Light/Black Rain," which will premiere tomorrow on HBO. In the film by Steve Okazaki, Tsuboi says he was ready to go to war, to die for his country, "to fall like petals from a flower, that was our destiny." GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM Keiko Ogura views a model of Hiroshima and Mount Futabayama, which shielded her family from the atomic bomb blast 62 years ago. Students regularly visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which contains a model of the city after the bombing and other exhibits showing the damage caused by radiation, heat rays and the blast. Through an interpreter, Tsuboi told the Star-Bulletin recently, "The greatest fear a victim of an atomic bomb is that the destruction of their 'humanity' will continue throughout the world even if they survived. "Atomic bombs are absolute evil and are not morally tolerable," added Tsuboi, who has traveled the world advocating the abolition of nuclear weapons. "It is clear that if a nuclear war happened now, humans would be destroyed by a nuclear explosion equivalent to several thousand times the power of that used in Hiroshima. There will be no winner." Tsuboi, co-chairman of the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, said he was a half-mile from the hypocenter of the atomic explosion. The scars on his face and body are as vivid as his memory of that day in August. It was already hot, Tsuboi recalled. But the sky was clear. It was almost cloudless. Just before 8 o'clock an air raid siren had been sounded, but virtually ignored. Tsuboi was walking on Miyuki Bridge on his way to the university. In one of the rare photographs taken minutes after the blast, Tsuboi and other survivors can be seen looking back at the city. He said he scratched "Tsuboi died here" on a wall to tell his friends where his badly burnt body could be found. He said the crew of the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay had used the T-shaped Aioi Bridge in the center of the city as its aiming point. The bomb exploded nearly a half-mile over Shima Hospital -- 990 feet southeast of the bridge, crushing all buildings within a 1 1/2-mile radius. The Aioi Bridge now marks the north entrance to Peace Memorial Park. The perpendicular lines that make the T are made up of a bridge that spans the east and west banks of the Honkawa River and another that stretches south from its midsection to Nakajima-cho in Peace Memorial Park. The blast scooped up Tsuboi and tossed him 30 feet. He saw a huge flash of light, but no mushroom cloud. "I lost consciousness for 10 to 15 minutes," Tsuboi added. "When I awoke there was darkness surrounding me. Everything was a dim gray, charcoal color. "My shirt had caught on fire. Because of the heat. Both of my sleeves were burnt. I was almost naked ... I had burns all over my body." Ogura said days leading up to Aug. 6 had been marked by increased air raids, all using Aioi Bridge as a target. One of her older brothers had been sent to a temple. Another older brother, who was 12 or 13 years old, had been part of a group of intermediate schoolchildren tasked to work in a sweet potato field near the train station. GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM The Hiroshima Prefectural Industry Promotional Hall was one of the few buildings that were not leveled when the atomic bomb was dropped there in 1945. CLICK FOR LARGE More than 6,000 junior high students were sent to the fields that day to build firebreaks and were caught in the open when the bomb was dropped. Their bodies were never found. Some were identified only by their belongings found at the worksites. Ogura's home, 1 1/2 miles from the hypocenter, was shielded from the blast by a low gentle ridge known as Futabayama. She remembers a "bluish white flash followed by a torrent of dust and rubbish. I couldn't breathe or see." Her hair was burnt. Much of her skin was burnt. Only two of the students at Honkawa Elementary School -- where she would have been in class if it wasn't for her father's premonition -- survived the atomic blast. Ogura said her brother, who had been mobilized to work on a firebreak near the center of the city, instead decided to report to Hiroshima train station which lies in the shadow of Futabayama. He recalled later that the sound of the B-29 bomber made him look up. Tracing his way back home, Ogura said her brother had to climb Futabayama mountain and "saw the city burning." Ogura too would climb the gentle slopes of the mountain. "Everyday I climbed that hill. Everyday I would see the city burning. By the end of the third day the city was completely burnt. The Inland Sea seemed so near." Tsuboi said he wandered the streets of Hiroshima for about a week. He ended up on Ninoshima Island -- a small island off the coast of Hiroshima city where at an old quarantine station a field hospital had been established to treat the more than 10,000 injured. There among bodies, his mother miraculously found him. "She had a strong love for her son," Tsuboi said with a heavy sigh. "She, in a loud voice, shouted my name. 'Sunao.' It was miraculous. I heard her calling my name. "My mother later said I was lying beneath all those bodies. I had raised my hand, saying: 'I am here.' There must been some kind of relationship between mother and son. Thanks to such luck I am alive." Unconscious for the next 40 days, Tsuboi said his doctors told his mother every day that he would die. It wasn't until January when he could move. He didn't walk until a year later. Since then, Tsuboi has been hospitalized 10 times, escaping death on three occasions. Tsuboi estimates that the effects of radiation on the residents of Hiroshima and those who entered the city to offer aid were devastating. He believes there were as many as 200,000 people in Japan who can be considered survivors of the Hiroshima A-bomb. It has been estimated that 140,000 people died almost immediately from the single 9,700-pound bomb dropped by the Enola Gay on Aug. 6, 1945. An additional 74,000 were killed by a second A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. Memorial for bombing scheduled Star-Bulletin staff The Hiroshima Commemoration and Peace Ceremony tomorrow will mark the 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Izumo Taishakyo Mission at 215 N. Kukui St., the ceremony will be attended by Hiroshima-Nishi Little League Baseball players and also feature the Honolulu Theater for Youth's "The Sadako Project," about a little girl who dies from radiation poisoning after the bombing. Children from the Nuuanu YMCA will place 1,001 paper cranes that they made on the Peace Bell. The ceremony will conclude with the ringing of the Peace Bell by Bishop Thomas Okano of the Honpa Hongwanji Temples of Hawaii. Copyright 2007 starbulletin.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 68 The Observer: How to survive a nuclear war: pop the kettle on for a cuppa Guardian Unlimited Web Secret papers released In 1954 the PM was planning an immigration cap ... and in 1967 Whitehall planned for Armageddon Sunday August 5, 2007 One in three would die, industry would lie in ruins and government in Whitehall would cease to exist. Such was the apocalyptic vision of a nuclear conflict projected by government officials at the height of the Cold War, writes David Smith. The year was 1967, the summer of love, but a draft memorandum marked 'top secret' reveals Harold Wilson's government believed the threat of Armageddon was so severe that it prepared instructions to British officials overseas to ensure the nation's survival. Food and oil supplies, intelligence monitoring and military operations were all seen as critical in the 'sombre circumstances' of a nuclear holocaust, but the declassified 26-page document indicates that perhaps the first relief Britons could expect was a cup of tea shipped from India or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Two agencies would be set up to control the shipment of supplies. 'The principal commodities needed would be meat, grain, dairy products, oils and fats, sugar and tea, the main procurement areas being the Americas, Australia, Canada, Ceylon, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies.' The Ministry of Agriculture had not then filled the posts of overseas procurement agents, except in the crucial matter of tea - agents in India and Ceylon had been appointed. 'The Organisation of United Kingdom Overseas Authorities in Global War', released after 40 years by the National Archives in Kew, west London, was written for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It defines overseas authorities as including heads of missions, governors, high commissioners and military commanders, and gives instructions for the first month after a 'short, devastating and decisive' exchange of atom bombs. The introduction is resoundingly bleak: 'On the outbreak of general nuclear war involving the United Kingdom, it is expected that central government in London would cease to exist from the earliest stage, that a third of Britain's population and the bulk of her industrial capacity would be destroyed, that communications with overseas posts would be interrupted initially, perhaps for several days, and when restored would be minimal for some time, and that the prime national purpose after the nuclear exchange would be the bare survival of our people.' With cities thought likely to have been turned into radioactive rubble, the memo sets out aims for the immediate aftermath: 'The British people, dependent in war and peace on their overseas lifelines, would be faced with a destruction of their resources unknown in their history.' If a nuclear strike appeared imminent, Whitehall would be put on a war footing with two code words, a 'stand by' alert and an order to move to 24-hour working. Government would move outside London to a location which was 'among the most vital of Britain's state secrets'. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union it has emerged that a 34-acre underground superbunker, surrounded by reinforced concrete walls 30m below the surface, had been built in Corsham, Wiltshire, to give ministers and 6,000 civil servants refuge during a third world war. The government believed it would be able to resume contact with the overseas authorities within hours, using cable, radio or satellite links and systems operated by the BBC.'Survival of channels without interruption would have to be regarded as a bonus,' the memo notes. The financial cost is touched on: 'It is not yet possible to give overseas posts any clear guidance on how the operations described in the memorandum would be paid for, largely because it is impossible to say what any country's money would be worth after global nuclear conflagration.' Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 69 Inside Bay Area: Hiroshima bombing to be remembered at Livermore Lab Protesters plan to highlight war role By Betsy Mason, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 08/05/2007 02:53:14 AM PDT Activists and concerned residents will gather in front of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Monday morning on the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to commemorate the victims and protest lab involvement in nuclear weapons design. Participants will meet near the West Gate entrance to the lab on Vasco Road near Patterson Pass Road at 7:30 a.m. At 8:15 a.m. an air raid siren will mark the moment the bomb was dropped, followed by speakers and musical performers and an open-mic rally for anyone who wants to speak. This will be followed by a "nonviolent action," as described by Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, a Livermore-based nuclear watchdog group. The group organizes a peaceful protest every year. In the past, participants have been arrested for stepping onto lab property. Last year, about 30 protesters approached the fence announcing they were ready to be arrested, but a fewminutes later stepped away after Alameda County sheriff's deputies made no move to apprehend them. The keynote speaker at this year's rally will be Chizu Iiyama, co-author of a teacher's guide titled "Making Peace: The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" and former chair of the early childhood education department at Contra Costa College. Musician Robert Temple and singer Kaylah Marin will perform. For more information, call (925) 443-7148. Betsy Mason covers science and the national laboratories. Reach her at (925) 847-2158 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers | Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 70 TH: Blast from the past: Son of an atomic worker remembers Los Alamos Sunday, August 05, 2007 By Terri Jo Ryan Tribune-Herald staff writer Observers of the first atomic flash likened it to the brightness of 100 suns. The July 16, 1945, detonation of an experimental plutonium weapon in the New Mexico desert was the result of years of research, millions of dollars and hundreds of scientists. One of the unsung support staff, a man bringing light and power to the “secret city” of Los Alamos, was a humble electrician, an adopted Texan named Thomas Jefferson Davis, father of Waco’s Robert Davis. Thomas J. Davis was born in Vernon County near Nevada, Mo., on June 8, 1910. A young man when the Great Depression hit, he felt lucky to latch onto the Civilian Conservation Corps from May 1933 to June 1934. He had earned his GED and electrical apprenticeship by going to night school. He married Geneva Kathryn Denton on Jan. 25, 1937, in Houston. Davis was working at Brown Ship Building Co. in Houston during World War II when he heard in 1944 that the government was putting hiring skilled tradesmen to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Mexico. After checking out the job tip and finding a government installation called Los Alamos, Robert Davis said, his father came back to Houston in the spring of 1945 to get his wife and his sons, Robert, 5, and William, 2. The family’s ’36 Ford was stopped for gas somewhere between Houston and Brownfield when the radio crackled the news that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had died at his retreat in Warm Springs, Ga. “I remember us spending the night somewhere in New Mexico, and the next morning daddy hopped a fence to milk some rancher’s cow so that we might have some milk for breakfast,” Robert Davis said. They found a boomtown of sorts, where a cockamamie collection of hurriedly built green laboratory buildings, barracks, apartments, Quonset huts, government trailers and prefabricated units created an unsightly assortment of accommodations. Row upon row of nameless, unpaved streets were coated in dust or soot from the soft coal that fueled the town’s furnaces. Winter snows and summer rains left streets and yards mired in muck. Few memories, artifacts “I remember especially the coyotes howling at night,” said Robert Davis, who turned 6 at Los Alamos in July 1945. “I remember having to get an ID card made about my birthday. I also remember it being taken up at the guard shack at gate on the day we left, after the end of the war.” Most of the scientists and academics who populated Los Alamos drove fancy cars, he recalled, while the technicians like his father had ancient automobiles. Davis doesn’t recall the day the bomb was tested at the Trinity Site, which is more than 100 miles from Los Alamos. His main recollection of Aug. 6, 1945, the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, was that his dad had been gone for a week on assignment at the time and he was happy to get him home. After the war, with job stops in Brownfield and Lubbock along the way, Thomas J. Davis became a long-time member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before finally leaving the electrical trade in the early 1960s. He died Nov. 23, 1982, in Waco. Davis, a retired auto mechanics instructor who taught at Texas State Technical College from 1969 to 1996, says his artifacts of the era are precious and few. “Mother said film was very difficult to get and expensive too. Plus, there was not a lot of picture-taking allowed,” Davis said. “All I have left are the few pictures and a few foggy memories of the place.” He still keeps his little brother’s birth book — Thomas Jefferson Davis Jr. was born Feb. 26, 1946, in Los Alamos — which was signed by the doctor and the nurses, including their rank if they were military personnel. “I also have dad’s Certificate of Appreciation and a letter of recommendation. I only found those about 2002 after we put my mother in a nursing home. I didn’t know they existed before that. Dad never said a word about any of these papers,” he added. His father would never talk about what he had done at Los Alamos. He would just say that he was sworn to secrecy and his son didn’t need to know. The explosion of July 16, 1945, sucked sand into the nuclear fireball, which fell back in a rain of molten glass. A piece of it became a souvenir for Thomas Davis. “Dad used to have a piece of the fused sand from Trinity. They called it ‘trinitite.’ It looked like a melted Coke bottle to me,” Robert Davis said. tjryan@wacotrib.com 757-5746 Cox Newspapers, L.P. - The Waco Tribune-Herald - Our Partners ***************************************************************** 71 Knoxville News Sentinel: Annual Y-12 protest draws 200 Nuclear weapons are 'instruments of death,' says peace activist By Frank Munger (Contact) Sunday, August 5, 2007 OAK RIDGE — Peace activists from near and far gathered Saturday in Oak Ridge, one of the nation’s original atomic cities, to call for the abolition of nuclear arms and to spread a message of planetary peace. The daylong events attracted a couple of hundred demonstrators, who carried signs and walked a couple of miles to the entrance of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Five participants were arrested on charges of obstructing a roadway. Four of the protesters chained themselves to a barricade in front of the plant and may face additional charges, according to Oak Ridge Police Capt. Alan Massengill. Those arrested were: n Mary Dennis Lentsch, 70, of Oak Ridge n Elizabeth Velkey Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C. n Mary Ellen Gondeck, 66, of Detroit n William Hickey, 62, of Detroit n Billie Hickey, 58, of Detroit The events began earlier in the day in the city’s Bissell Park, where participants watched puppet shows, ate food, listened to music and discussed current events — particularly the continued production of nuclear warheads at the Oak Ridge plant. Y-12 enriched the uranium that was used in the “Little Boy” atomic bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. After World War II ended, the Oak Ridge facility was converted to a bomb production plant, and it has built parts for every weapon in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Y-12 is currently undergoing a major modernization effort, which could cost several billion dollars over the next decade. Judy Sullivan, 38, who lives in Oak Ridge, was among those who participated in Saturday’s protest, and she carried a sign that read, “Disarmament Begins at Home.” As she walked along the road en route to Y-12, she said, “We went to Iraq to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction. I think I’ve found them in my own back yard.” Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said this was the 19th consecutive year that OREPA has staged an August protest in Oak Ridge. He said he believes the campaign for peace is taking hold, nationally and internationally, and affecting weapons policies. “I think we’re making a difference,” Hutchison said. The Oak Ridge protest usually coincides with the anniversary of the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Asked why she traveled hundreds of miles to protest at Y-12, Billie Hickey said she remembered growing up in the 1950s and being scared when schoolchildren had to practice protecting themselves from atomic blasts. “I want a world for our children where they can live without fear,” Hickey said. “This nonviolent action is one thing I can do to help promote that kind of peace.” Lentsch, a Catholic nun, has participated in numerous protests in Oak Ridge and elsewhere. She declined to say how many times she has been arrested. “I believe nuclear weapons are evil. They are instruments of death and massive destruction,” she said. “In my Christian baptism, I promised to renounce and resist evil.” Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 72 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12 to restart rolling, forming By Frank Munger (Contact) Saturday, August 4, 2007 OAK RIDGE — “Rolling-and-forming” operations with enriched uranium will resume next week at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant for the first time since 2004, a spokesman confirmed. Bill Wilburn of BWXT Y-12, the contractor managing the warhead production facility for the federal government, said the operations are needed to evaluate the quality of the product from a new uranium-processing technology. Y-12 is the nation’s primary storehouse for weapons-grade uranium. The Oak Ridge plant manufactures nuclear warhead parts from uranium and other materials, specializing in so-called secondaries — the second stage of thermonuclear bombs. Wilburn would not provide details of Y-12 operations or discuss how the products are used, but in response to questions he offered this description of rolling and forming: “Rolling is a fabricating process in which metal is passed through a series of rollers until a desired thickness is obtained. Forming is the process of shaping material into a specific shape.” The rolling-and-forming operations were last conducted at Y-12 in March 2004, he said. Based on periodic reports by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, it appears that Y-12 has been preparing to restart for a couple of years. In a Feb. 2 memorandum, safety board site representatives said BWXT had previously planned to restart rolling and forming activities in early 2006. That was delayed, however, “due to equipment issues and other priorities,” the memo stated. The memo also indicated there were plans to resume the rolling-and-forming activities by the end of February, but that was put on hold for undisclosed reasons. “This particular activity is not one that is performed on a regular basis,” Wilburn said earlier this year when Y-12 was conducting a readiness assessment for the work. “However, there is currently a need for this activity to support production requirements.” Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 73 Knoxville News Sentinel: OR police arrest 5 protesters at Y-12 nuclear weapons plant Four demonstrators chain themselves to barricade By Frank Munger (Contact) Originally published 01:08 p.m., August 4, 2007 OAK RIDGE — Five protesters were arrested today on charges of obstructing a roadway at the entrance to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Four of the protesters chained themselves with a bicycle chain to a barricade in front of the plant and may face additional charges, according to Oak Ridge Police Capt. Alan Massengill. Those arrested were: --Mary Dennis Lentsch, 70, of Oak Ridge. --Elizabeth Velkey Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C. --Mary Ellen Gondeck, 66, of Detroit. --William Hickey, 62, of Detroit. --Billie Hickey, 58, of Detroit. They were taken into custody by Oak Ridge City Police and were to be processed this afternoon. The five were among a couple hundred peace activists gathered to protest the continued production of nuclear weapons in Oak Ridge, one of the nation’s original atomic cities. They began their day in the city’s Bissell Park, watching puppet shows, listening to music and hearing speeches about the evils of nuclear weapons. Shortly after 1 p.m. the demonstrators began walking toward the Y-12 complex a couple of miles away, where they staged a demonstration. Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, was upset with the arrangement at Y-12, where authorities had restricted the protest area to a small space near the plant’s entrance sign. Hutchison said a federal spokesman at Y-12 misled organizers about the arrangement. The acts of “civil disobedience” at the Y-12 entrance were expected. The Peace Alliance has organized protests at the Y-12 plant for nearly 20 years. The events today and early next week will commemorate the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Y-12 enriched the uranium used in the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. More details as they develop online and in Sunday’s News Sentinel. 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 74 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL warning sirens sometimes silent By Frank Munger (Contact) Saturday, August 4, 2007 OAK RIDGE — Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s warning sirens failed to sound during a monthly performance test in January, and officials replaced a part of the control system after a similar problem occurred in February. On average, about 88 percent of the Oak Ridge sirens sound as expected during the monthly performance tests, John Shewairy, public affairs chief in DOE’s Oak Ridge office, said Friday. That would mean about six of the 51 deployed units fail to work on average, and that was exactly the case during the August test that took place Wednesday, the DOE spokesman said. Shewairy said the lab used a backup plan to activate the sirens after a problem occurred during the February test of warning systems and then replaced a “faulty controller unit” to correct the problem. “That was our worst case,” he said. Shewairy responded to questions about the Oak Ridge sirens following reports this week that a majority of emergency sirens failed to operate Wednesday during a routine test at TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Chattanooga. DOE tests its Oak Ridge emergency systems on the same schedule as TVA. The sirens are near each of DOE’s three Oak Ridge plants — ORNL, the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and the East Tennessee Technology Park. There are 11 at ORNL, 18 at ETTP, and 22 at Y-12. On Wednesday, two sirens failed to sound properly at each of the sites, Shewairy said. The warning sirens are activated by radio signals, and there are various reasons why some of them don’t work, he said. Weather factors, including fog and rain, can affect the signals, he said, and sometimes there are equipment problems related to age. Shewairy said authorities thought they had the problem at ORNL fixed after the January test. A day or two after the sirens failed to sound, the lab was able to make the sirens work through direct-activation techniques, he said. “We believed that it was intact,” he said. However, when the system didn’t respond in February, ORNL had to ask emergency officials at East Tennessee Technology Park to activate the lab’s sirens, Shewairy said. When they were able to do that, it demonstrated that the control unit at ORNL wasn’t working, he said. The DOE spokesman said each of the plants has the ability to activate sirens at the other plants. In addition, the city of Oak Ridge and Roane County also have that capability, he said. If a site is unable to activate its warning sirens immediately, the shift supervisor contacts another site for help, Shewairy said. “It’s a fairly instantaneous transition,” he said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 75 Guardian Unlimited: 5 Arrested While Protesting Nuke Plant Sunday August 5, 2007 2:01 AM OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - Five protesters were arrested Saturday at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant during a demonstration marking the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. The five were arrested on charges of obstructing a roadway at the entrance of the plant in Oak Ridge, where much of the work was done for the World War II-era Manhattan Project. About 200 protesters were at the plant, and the Oak Ridge Peace Alliance has several other events planned throughout the week for Monday's 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and the Aug. 9 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. The group has organized annual protests at the Y-12 plant for nearly 20 years. Arrested were Mary Dennis Lentsch, 70, of Oak Ridge; Elizabeth Velkey Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C.; Mary Ellen Gondeck, 66, of Detroit; William Hickey, 62, of Detroit; and Billie Hickey, 58, of Detroit. Oak Ridge Police Capt. Alan Massengill said four of the protesters may face additional charges for chaining themselves with a bicycle chain to a barricade in front of the plant. Gondeck, a Catholic nun, was released on her own recognizance, but the other four were taken into custody, said Ralph Hutchison, a coordinator with the alliance. ``Things went smoothly. Our goal is to have a nonviolent event celebrating the spirit of peace,'' Hutchison said. Protesters walked to the plant from a city park, where they listened to speakers and watched a giant puppet performance. Along the way, activists scattered sunflower seeds as a symbol for nuclear abolition. Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************