***************************************************************** 08/06/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.183 ***************************************************************** 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: Presidential Politics and Nuclear Weapons 2 US: Grist: An interview with Bill Richardson about his presidential 3 Guardian Unlimited: Nicaragua defies US with Iran trade deal 4 US: ENS: House Passes Energy Bill, Battles Loom in Senate, White Hou NUCLEAR REACTORS 5 US: Nuclear Power Not Clean, Green, or Safe 6 US: NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Palo Verde Nuclear Gene 7 Daily Yomiuri: IAEA team starts checking quake-hit N-plant 8 Daily Yomiuri: N-plant inspection to offer lessons for world 9 Bangkok Post: A mushrooming need to go nuclear 10 BBC NEWS: IAEA experts visit Japanese plant 11 Daily Star: Set up N-power plants to meet electricity crisis 12 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA inspectors visit Japanese plant hit by eart 13 US: NRC: In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc; Indian Po 14 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin's first unit shut down over fuel repla 15 AFP: IAEA inspects Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant - 16 US: NRC: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery, ANS Utility Working Confe 17 Deccan Herald: US ticks off India on Iran 18 US: Sarasota Herald Tribune: Warning signs of a nuclear future NUCLEAR SECURITY 19 US: Charleston Post Courier: Latest Editorial News: Fill nuclear sec NUCLEAR SAFETY 20 New York Sun: Veterans' Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefiel NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 21 Las Vegas SUN: Reid has plan to leave coal in the dust 22 Clarion-Ledger: Full funding for Yucca Mountain nuclear storage faci PEACE 23 IPS-English JAPAN-US: Peace Activists Warn of Ongoing Nuclear 24 Marking Hiroshima Anniversary, Ban Ki-moon Calls For Elimination Of 25 [NYTr] Hiroshima Day: Demand No More Nukes, No More War 26 Daily Yomiuri: Peace declaration by Hiroshima mayor 27 Daily Yomiuri: Survivors remember loved ones 28 MDN: Hiroshima Peace Declaration 2007: Aim for a nuclear weapon-free 29 sacbee.com: Remembering Hiroshima: Solemn memories - 30 SFGate: 62 years after atomic bombings, the nuclear threat is bigger 31 Reuters: Japan remembers Hiroshima | U.S. 32 CNN.com: Atomic bomb survivors share stories in HBO film - 33 Japan Times: Abe pledges to review rules for A-bomb health support 34 AFP: Japan vows against nukes on Hiroshima anniversary - 35 MDN: 'Die-in' staged in front of A-Bomb Dome on anniversary of Hiros 36 MDN: Hibakusha: Struggling to protect peace - US DEPT. OF ENERGY 37 DOE: Statement from Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on the 38 Hanford News: Reach director says she'll make center more than just 39 Knoxville News Sentinel: Oak Ridge cleanup a work in progress 40 Oak Ridger: Hundreds protest Y-12 work - 41 LocalNews8.com: Step Two Of Reactor Removal Complete ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Presidential Politics and Nuclear Weapons Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 06:46:34 -0500 (CDT) Institute for Public Accuracy 915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 (202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org ___________________________________________________ Monday, August 6, 2007 * Presidential Politics and Nuclear Weapons * Hiroshima Anniversary The New York Times reports: "[Senator Barack Obama's] remarks about removing nuclear weapons as an option in the region [Afghanistan or Pakistan] drew fresh attacks from Democratic rivals who had already questioned his foreign policy experience. American officials have generally been deliberately ambiguous about their nuclear strike policies." [See http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/us/politics/03elect.html] JIM WALSH, j_walsh@mit.edu, http://web.mit.edu/SSP/people/walsh/faculty_walsh.html Walsh is a research associate with the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said today: "This incident follows a bizarre moment in a recent Republican presidential debate when virtually all the candidates affirmed that the U.S. should consider attacking Iran with nuclear weapons in order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. ... Presidential candidates who think they can go around threatening the potential use of nuclear weapons to look tough without serious international repercussions are living in a bubble. Clinging to the nuclear 'option' looks like a not-so-veiled nuclear threat to other countries. It increases their incentive to acquire nuclear weapons in order to defend themselves and makes the U.S. look like a nuclear rogue. It reduces our ability to work with other countries to improve the nonproliferation regime, making us look both hypocritical and dangerous. Loose nuclear talk makes us vulnerable, not strong, and calls into question the judgment of those who seek to be commander in chief." Walsh added: "Candidates are given a free pass when they intone, 'all options are on the table.' This sounds good but is often offered without content. ... But wait a minute. Everything is on the table? What about poison gas or biological weapons? Is a candidate weak if he or she refuses to endorse their possible use? The press has to take some responsibility for this ugly state of affairs. Where are the follow-up questions?" DOUGLAS B. SHAW, dshaw@psr.org, http://www.psr.org Shaw is the director of security programs at Physicians for Social Responsibility. He said today: "Today's debate over building a new generation of nuclear weapons and gung-ho assertions by presidential candidates that they would use nuclear weapons against Iran are best understood in the context of the human tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." JOHN BURROUGHS, johnburroughs@lcnp.org, http://www.lcnp.org Burroughs is executive director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy and co-editor of the recently released book "Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security?" He said today: "Use of nuclear weapons would violate well-established rules protecting civilians against the effects of attacks on military targets, rules that the U.S. military says it follows in regular military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. For that reason, the International Court of Justice concluded in a 1996 opinion that use of nuclear weapons is generally contrary to international humanitarian law governing the conduct of warfare." LEONOR TOMERO, ltomero@armscontrolcenter.org, http://www.armscontrolcenter.org JOHN ISAACS, [Via Travis Sharp, tsharp@armscontrolcenter.org] Tomero is the director for nuclear non-proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Isaacs is the executive director of the Center. Tomero said today: "As part of the indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), whereby 182 countries have given up the right to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, the United States -- along with France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia -- promised never to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states that are members of the NPT, except if attacked by a non-nuclear state that is allied with a state possessing nuclear weapons. Pledged in 1995, these so-called 'negative security assurances' were reiterated at the 2000 Non-Proliferation Review Conference." Isaacs said today: "For more than 60 years, there has been a bright line drawn against dropping atomic bombs that would kill untold tens or even hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians." MARYLIA KELLEY, marylia@trivalleycares.org, http://www.trivalleycares.org Kelley is executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) located in Livermore, California. She said today: "On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in war on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. ... As we approach the 62nd anniversary of that horrific event, instead of apologizing to the Japanese people or foreswearing a future 'nuclear option,' the United States government is busy developing a new nuclear weapon, vastly more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The Livermore Lab in California has been chosen to design the next hydrogen bomb, to be launched from U.S. submarines and dubbed the 'Reliable Replacement Warhead-1.' This RRW-1 is the first in a series of new H-bombs, part of the Bush administration's 'Complex 2030' plan to re-design and rebuild every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal. ... This month, people of peace will gather at Livermore Lab and locations across the country and around the globe to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and vow 'never again.'" For more information, contact the Institute for Public Accuracy at (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan at (541) 484-9167. _________________________________________________________________ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: public@lists.accuracy.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: public-unsubscribe@lists.accuracy.org For all list information and functions, including changing your subscription mode and options, visit the Web page: http://lists.accuracy.org/lists/info/public ***************************************************************** 2 Grist: An interview with Bill Richardson about his presidential platform on energy and the environment | By Amanda Griscom Little | Dish | 06 Aug 2007 Richardson on the Record An interview with Bill Richardson about his presidential platform on energy and the environment By Amanda Griscom Little 06 Aug 2007 Bill Richardson. Photo: Michael Millhollin via flickr Bill Richardson likes to play up his image as a horse-ridin', gun-totin' man of the Wild West, but don't be distracted by the cowboy swagger -- the Democratic governor of New Mexico also has a serious policy wonk side. That was on full display in May when he unveiled a broad and ambitious climate and energy plan. Billing himself as the "energy president," he's now calling for a 90 percent cut to greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, a renewable-energy target of 50 percent by 2040, and a 50-mile-per-gallon fuel-economy standard by 2020. Richardson is no newcomer to energy issues, of course -- he served as secretary of energy at the end of the Clinton administration, and has aggressively pushed clean energy as governor of New Mexico. But some greens might not care for his "clean coal" boosterism or his embrace of "all kinds of biofuel." I rang up the governor at his office in Santa Fe, N.M., to size up his energy and environmental vision. For more info on his platform and record, check out Grist's Richardson fact sheet. You've dubbed yourself the "energy president." Why did you choose that moniker? Right now, the most important domestic and national-security issues involve America becoming energy independent and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. I believe it's going to take an "energy president" who will lead this country toward these goals by asking all Americans to sacrifice for the common good and be more energy-efficient and promote a green style of living. Many of the candidates are trying to paint themselves as the green candidate. What makes your platform stronger than the others'? On energy, both the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters have stated that my plan is the most aggressive, with the strongest timetables. But what differentiates myself from other candidates is I've actually done it. I've done it as energy secretary in the Clinton administration by tightening air-conditioning energy-use standards by 30 percent, building a strong portfolio of renewable energy, and promoting 100-mile-per-gallon vehicles through a fuel-efficiency initiative with the auto companies. Then, as governor of New Mexico, I believe we have the most clean-energy initiatives of any state. We have a renewable portfolio standard going to 30 percent by 2020. We're the only state to observe the Kyoto treaty. We have no taxes on hybrid vehicles. We're the first in the country to export wind energy. We also have a number of incentives for solar, wind, biomass, biodiesel, and distributed-generation fuel cells. I was also probably one of the most active pro-environment congressmen. I pursued and made law a number of national parks, wilderness areas, river protections, and air-quality standards. When I was on the committee [overseeing the] Interior [Department], I worked on bills including the Jemez National Recreation Area and the South San Juan Wilderness. You've vowed as president to mandate a 90 percent greenhouse-gas emission reduction by 2050 -- I've also proposed a strong standard in the short term: 20 percent reductions by 2020. These goals are even stronger than some environmental groups are calling for. Why such dramatic targets? Because we can't wait. It's a matter of necessity. It's important because it involves our national security. Our energy dependence on foreign oil is so unhealthy -- we could be vulnerable to an oil price shock, to $5-per-gallon gasoline prices, to long lines at the pumps. What I'm also advocating is a dramatic shift in mass transit, like I've done here in New Mexico with the Rail Runner. But we'd have, nationally, transportation policies that promote sensible land use -- not just proposing highway funding bills, but bills to establish light rail and bullet trains and more energy-efficient transportation. Also, land-use policies that advocate open space. This is for a better quality of life for all our people. Are your climate goals as much informed by your concern about energy independence as they are about climate change? Yes. As president, would you subsidize the development of technologies, such as liquefied coal, that could worsen global warming, even if they would boost energy independence? I'm for clean coal, but I'm not a big fan of liquefied. I do not believe that coal-to-liquids technologies represent a viable solution for the future because of the associated carbon dioxide emissions. I will push for a well-to-wheels low-carbon fuel requirement that reduces the carbon impact of our liquid fuels by 30 percent by 2020, including alternative fuels that will substitute for about 10 percent of our gasoline demand. But coal does belong in a clean-energy future? I believe that carbon-clean coal will play a role in our energy future. There have gotta be some very strict clean-coal standards. I'm not an advocate for continuing to use old oil, coal, and nuclear. They all have to be part of a mix, but in the past, those three have received an inordinate amount of subsidies and tax incentives at the expense of renewable energy. It's important to emphasize that the future is in renewable energy, renewable fuel, conservation measures. It's in buildings that are 50 percent more energy-efficient, solar roofs in schools, 50-mile-per-gallon vehicles by 2030. What about nuclear -- can you expand on that? It sounds like you think coal and nuclear need to be part of the energy mix, but they shouldn't be subsidized? Yes. My dramatic preference would be for clean coal. I oppose the construction of those coal plants in Texas -- too many subsidies for the coal industry. And I opposed giving a tax incentive in New Mexico to just a regular coal plant that's proposed here, Desert Rock. I can't be the champion of global climate change and have a new coal plant that isn't clean. Do you think we'll have to expand nuclear capacity? Nuclear has to be part of the mix, but I would eliminate the subsidies that nuclear and coal and oil got from the last energy bill and shift those to renewable energy, to a more equal playing field. Nuclear will not be able to move forward unless we resolve the waste issue. The [Yucca Mountain] site in Nevada has significant water, environmental, and transportation problems with it. The other alternative of putting nuclear waste at existing regional sites around the country is not going to work. I favor a technological solution -- let's get our best scientists at the national labs to find a way to dispose of this nuclear waste safely. Until that is resolved, nuclear should not get any advantages. What role do you think ethanol and biofuels should play in a 21st-century energy system? A very important role, both of them -- all kinds of biofuel, biodiesel. We need to have more fuel-efficient fuels. We should provide incentives for distribution by, for example, helping gas stations convert at least one pump to handle E85 or other biofuels. The federal government also should use its purchasing power -- as we have done in New Mexico -- to transform the energy marketplace by, for example, purchasing more hybrid and flex-fuel cars for its own use. And I believe in cooperative ventures with other countries. I would expand our ties to Latin America with more collaboration in renewable energy and technology. That's the future for that region, what Brazil has done with ethanol, for instance -- they're totally energy self-sufficient. You are a strong supporter of both corn and cellulosic ethanol. How, specifically, will you structure policies that transition the U.S. away from corn ethanol and toward cellulosic? Our goal should be bold -- to replace 20 percent of liquid transportation fuels with biofuels by 2020. We should significantly ramp up federal investments in the research and development of biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol. You have a strong incentive for electric cars in your auto proposal. Do you think electric cars will win out over biofuel cars? They will all be part of the mix. We in New Mexico were very proud to get Tesla Motors to move here from California. It's the perfect combination for us: it's high-tech jobs plus clean energy. Do you think climate and energy will be front-burner concerns in the 2008 election? Absolutely. They are among the most important issues in the presidential campaign. The first is Iraq, the second is a close tie between universal health care and energy independence. You've said on the one hand that voters need to be willing to sacrifice some of their creature comforts for a new energy landscape, but also that Americans should be able to keep SUVs. Can you explain this contradiction? What I'm asking for is not sacrifice, like Americans wearing sweaters and turning the heat down. What I'm asking for is being more energy-efficient with appliances, with vehicles, with mass transit. Maybe, instead of driving to work, once a month go mass transit. I believe very strongly in what John F. Kennedy asked all Americans to do and that's sacrifice a little bit for the collective good. We need, as a moral imperative, to reduce our consumption of fossil fuel because it's in our national interest that we do so as a nation. It's going to take a president to lead this dramatic shift and not just little energy bills. We need to energize every American to become green. But Americans will be able to keep their SUVs because the technology is improving? Yes. You can have an SUV with a fuel-efficient engine. We do have the technology to achieve this. You say your energy programs are going to produce 10 times more value than they cost, right? How does this math add up? Our energy programs are going to be great for the economy mainly because they are going to create two sets of new jobs in this country -- one in renewable technology, which are high-wage, high-skill jobs, and the second in retrofitting homes for the construction industry, also higher-wage jobs. It will be not just a job boom, but a technological boom. So that boom in jobs will add up to 10 times more than the cost of jumpstarting that trend? Absolutely. Can Detroit achieve the sharp fuel-economy standards you're proposing -- an increase to 50 mpg by 2020? Detroit will benefit from this. We've got the technology. They need a little gentle prodding and they need incentives, but Detroit has always stepped up with ingenuity. They must realize that to keep jobs in America, to be part of this globalized world, they gotta compete. I'm not at all averse to giving Detroit tax incentives for these vehicles or having the government jointly invest in R&D with them, rather than clubbing them over the head. In 2005, you signed an environmental justice order [PDF] in New Mexico. How would you address environmental justice as president? I would issue an executive order that would respect neighborhoods, especially in minority areas; I would make it part of a "Quality of Life Initiative." It would have several components: promoting environmental justice, as well as a new open-space policy, a smart land-use policy, and a new transportation policy that would emphasize light rail and more energy-efficient transportation. After climate and energy, what do you think is the most important environmental issue facing the nation? Protecting our parks, not drilling in ecosystems and offshore areas, the need to create more open space and wilderness areas, and finding ways to conserve water more effectively are critically important. Who is your environmental hero? Mo Udall, because he gave me, when I first came into Congress, a very good environmental ethic. I remember him taking me to Alaska where we worked on the Alaska wilderness initiatives. He was a Western environmentalist -- I patterned myself after him. And Al Gore deserves enormous credit for pushing global climate change. You often talk about your love of the wilds of New Mexico and the outdoors in general. Can you describe your inner cowboy? I own a horse -- that's my main recreational activity. His name is Sundance. I love to go out into the mountains of Santa Fe and spend time with him. That's my main recreation. Unfortunately, I don't have much time for it. If you could spend a week in one park or natural area, where would it be? Yellowstone. What have you done personally to lighten your environmental footprint? We got a Ford Escape hybrid for the governor's fleet and an ethanol vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe FlexFuel that can run on E85. The governor's mansion has energy-efficient windows, and we've installed compact fluorescent bulbs wherever possible. We also are involved in a renewable-purchasing program that supplies 90 percent of the electricity from solar and wind. We've also made water-conservation improvements to the residence, like low-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads, xeriscaping, and a water-efficient irrigation system. If George Bush were a plant or animal, what kind of plant or animal would he be? Stubborn like an ox, immovable like an oak. Amanda Griscom Little writes about environmental politics and interviews green luminaries for Grist. She is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, and her articles on energy and the environment have also appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The New York Times Magazine. Grist: Environmental News and Commentary ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Nicaragua defies US with Iran trade deal Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent Monday August 6, 2007 Nicaragua has signed contracts with Iran worth hundreds of millions of pounds in defiance of warnings from the United States. President Daniel Ortega brushed aside Washington's concerns by agreeing to trade bananas, coffee and meat in exchange for Iranian help with infrastructure projects. Mr Ortega and Iran's energy minister, Hamid Chitchian, signed the accords in Nicaragua's capital, Managua, on Saturday, cementing Tehran's toehold in what the US considers its backyard. In return for Nicaraguan agricultural goods, Iran is to help fund a farm equipment factory, 4,000 tractors, five milk-processing plants, a health clinic, 10,000 houses and a deep-water port. In November Iran is also expected to choose a site for a 59m hydroelectric power station, with another three plants potentially to follow. As the head of a small, impoverished central American state lacking military might, and with his approval ratings slumping, Mr Ortega hardly poses a strategic threat to the US. However, the Sandinista leader has shown a willingness to defy and irritate the superpower. He has upgraded ties with Cuba and North Korea, and in June visited Iran, Algeria, Libya and Cuba in a jet lent by Libya's Muammar Gadafy. The Iranian deal was the boldest move yet. Just last week the US ambassador to Nicaragua, Paul Trivelli, made a typically blunt warning: "Iran can be a dangerous partner." The Bush administration has labelled Tehran part of an "axis of evil" and expressed alarm over its nuclear programme and alleged support for Shia militias in Iraq. Mr Ortega was also in Washington's bad books in the 1980s when he led a Marxist Sandinista government and fought a civil war against Contra rebels, who were sponsored by the US government under Ronald Reagan. A clandestine programme in which US administration officials sold weapons to Iran and illegally used the profits to fund the rebels became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Two decades later the Iranian link is boosting, not undermining, the Sandinistas. Mr Ortega badly needs the help. Ousted from power in 1990, he made an electoral comeback last year after ditching Marxism and embracing moderation. However, his electoral honeymoon has evaporated amid continuing poverty, joblessness and electricity blackouts, with 57% of Nicaraguans complaining that he has failed to keep campaign promises, according to a June opinion poll. The Iran projects address some of those concerns. Venezuela's radical left-wing president, Hugo Chvez, opened Latin America to Iran by signing multiple accords with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, including bilateral deals on oil, tractors and bicycles. "The Chvez-Ahmadinejad relationship is what drives Iran's role in Latin America, which is fundamentally geopolitical rather than economic," said Michael Shifter, of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue thinktank. Mr Chvez has billed the accords as an "axis of unity" against the US, which he terms the "empire", and has encouraged allies such as Mr Ortega to follow suit. Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 4 ENS: House Passes Energy Bill, Battles Loom in Senate, White House Environment News Service (ENS) By J.R. Pegg WASHINGTON, DC In a rare Saturday session, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a far-reaching energy bill that increases federal support for energy conservation and efficiency programs and requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources. The House also passed a companion tax package, which would divert $15.3 billion in new taxes on oil and natural gas producers toward increased investment in renewable energy and conservation. The approval of the two energy bills is a major victory for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has made energy policy a centerpiece of her legislative agenda, and was widely praised by U.S. environmental groups. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Photo courtesy Office of the Speaker) Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the legislation provides a "new direction for the nations energy policy" and promised future efforts to further revamp energy policy and address global warming. "This is just the ambitious first phase in what will be a series of revolutionary actions for energy independence," Pelosi said. "But it is a very serious first step." But the legislation has a long way to go before it is enacted into law and the Bush administration has already threatened to veto the measure. In a statement issued last week, the White House criticized the House energy package, saying the two bills are "not serious attempts to increase our energy security or address high energy costs." The statement said the House bills would reduce domestic oil and gas production, make the nation more dependent on foreign energy sources and unfairly target the oil and gas industries with higher taxes. The House also still must reconcile its legislation with the Senate energy bill. Although many of the provisions are similar, forging a compromise with could prove difficult. The Senate failed to approve a companion tax package and its energy bill has several key differences compared to the House bill - notably the inclusion of a mandated 40 percent increase in the fuel economy standards and a sevenfold increase in ethanol use. Neither provision is in the House bill. Roof-mounted solar system at Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta (Photo courtesy UCEP) Another potential roadblock is the House requirement for a national renewable electricity standard. The Senate rejected the provision, with Democrats from Southern states joining Republicans over concerns that their states lack the renewable resources needed to meet the standard. A similar regional battle erupted in the House over the plan, which was added Saturday as an amendment to the bill by a vote of 220-190. The House provision calls for a 15 percent standard to be met by 2020, with utilities required to get at least 11 percent from renewable sources and allowed to obtain four percent through energy efficiency measures. More than 20 states have similar standards in place or under development, but proponents say a federal standard is needed to rapidly drive increased use of renewable energy. Currently less than three percent of the nations energy comes from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. Critics said the standard would cause undue economic harm to states without capacity for wind or solar energy. The standard is "essentially an electricity tax" on utilities and their consumers, said Representative Dan Boren, a Democrat from Oklahoma, an oil producing state. Congressman Dan Boren of Oklahoma (Photo courtesy Office of the Congressman) "Congress needs to recognize there are significant regional differences in the availability, amounts and types of renewable energy resources in different regions of the country," Boren said. "This isn't a question of whether or not we should encourage states to produce more electricity from renewable sources - we should," added Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat. The question is whether a one-size-fits-all federal mandate is the best way to accomplish this goal." Proponents said the standard was in fact quite modest and argued that emerging renewable energy sources, particularly biomass, are available to every state in the nation. "There is no state that does not have opportunities for renewable energy," said Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat. Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, told colleagues the goal is one the nation can easily meet by 2020. Congressman Christopher Shays of Connecticut (Photo courtesy Office of the Congressman) "We need to set this goal and then strive every day to reach it," Shays said. "And it is not as hard as the opponents would have us believe." In addition to the renewable electricity standard, the massive bill approved Saturday includes new efficiency standards for appliances, lighting and buildings as well as tax breaks and subsidies for plug-in hybrid cars. The measure contains tax credits for installing ethanol pumps at gas stations, support for development of cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel, and funds to study carbon sequestration. It also calls on the federal government to be carbon neutral by 2050 and asks the White House to re-engage in international climate change talks and to accept binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The House approved the bill by a vote of 241-172, despite Republican objections that it does little to boost domestic production of oil, natural gas, coal or nuclear and will fail to reduce gasoline prices. "It doesn't do a thing about producing one drop of energy," said Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. "It does not get the price down at the pump." Oklahoma oil well (Photo courtesy Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) Republicans, along with a handful of Democrats from oil producing states, weighed in with similar criticism of the companion tax bill. "You don't increase America's energy independence by raising taxes on our domestic energy industry," said Representative Jim McCrery, a Louisiana Republican. The measure repeals tax breaks and subsidies granted to the oil and gas industry and earmarks those funds for renewable energy and conservation, including $6 billion in tax credit bonds for state and local "green energy projects." Representative Pete Stark, a California Democrat, said the tax bill ends "senseless tax breaks and subsidies for giant oil and gas companies and [makes] needed investments in clean energy and efficiency." At the end of the day, House lawmakers voted 221-189 to pass the companion tax package. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 Nuclear Power Not Clean, Green, or Safe Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 18:21:38 -0500 (CDT) http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Feb2007/ross0207.html Z Magazine Online February 2007 Volume 20 Number 2 Energy Nuclear Power Not Clean, Green, or Safe By Sherwood Ross In all the annals of spin, few statements are as misleading as Vice President Cheneys that the nuclear industry operates efficiently, safely, and with no discharge of greenhouse gases or emissions, or President Bushs claim Americas 103 nuclear plants operate without producing a single pound of air pollution or greenhouse gases. Even as the White House refuses to concede global warming is really happening, it touts nuclear power as the answer to it, as if the Administration was an arm of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) whose advertisements declare, Kids today are part of the most energy-intensive generation in history. They demand lots of electricity. And they deserve clean air. In reality, not only are vast amounts of fossil fuels burned to mine and refine the uranium for nuclear power reactors, polluting the atmosphere, but those plants are allowed to emit hundreds of curies of radioactive gases and other radioactive elements into the environment every year, Helen Caldicott points out in her authoritative book Nuclear Power Is Not The Answer. Whats more, the thousands of tons of solid radioactive waste accumulating in the cooling pools next to those plants contain extremely toxic elements that will inevitably pollute the environment and human food chains, a legacy that will lead to epidemics of cancer, leukemia, and genetic disease in populations living near nuclear power plants or radioactive waste facilities for many generations to come, Caldicott writes. Countless Americans are already dead or dying as a result of those nuclear plants. Over half of the nations uranium deposits lie under Navajo and Pueblo and and at least one in five tribal members recruited to mine the ore were exposed to radioactive gas radon 220 and have died and are continuing to die of lung cancer, Caldicott writes. As for uranium tailings discarded in the extraction process, 265 million tons of it have been left to pollute the Southwest, even though they contain radioactive thorium. At the same time, uranium 238, also known as depleted uranium,(DU) a nuclear plant biproduct, is lying around in thousands of leaking, disintegrating barrels at enrichment facilites in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky where ground water is too polluted to drink. Fuel rods at every nuclear plant leak radioactive gases or are routinely vented into the atmosphere by plant operators. Although the nuclear industry claims it is emission free, in fact it is collectively releasing millions of curies annually, Caldicott reports. Since the Three Mile Island (TMI) meltdown on March 28, 1979, some 2,000 Harrisburg area residents settled sickness claims with General Public Utilities Corp. and Metropolitan Edison Co., the owners of TMI. Area residents symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding from the nose, a metallic taste in the mouth, hair loss, and red skin rash, typical of acute radiation sickness when people are exposed to wholebody doses of radiation around 100 rads. David Lochbaum, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, believes nuclear plant safety standards are lacking and predicted another nuclear catastrophe in the near future, stating, Its not if but when. Not only are such plants unsafe but the spent fuel is often hauled long distances through cities to waste storage facilities where it will have to be guarded for an estimated 240,000 years. In the 2005 Energy Bill, Congress allocated $13 billion in subsidies to the nuclear power industry. Between 1948 and 1998, the U.S. government subsidized the industry with $70-billion of taxpayer monies for research and development corporate welfare pure and simple. About 17 million people live within a 50 mile radius of the two Indian Point reactors in Buchanan, New York, 35 miles from Manhattan. Suicidal terrorists, Caldicott noted, could disrupt the plants electricity supply by ramming explosives into their Hudson River intake pipes. Over time, the subsequent meltdown could claim an estimated 518,000 lives. Caldicott points out there are truly green and clean alternative sources to nuclear power. She refers to the American plains as the Saudi Arabia of wind, where readily available rural land in several Dakota counties alone could produce twice the amount of electricity that the United States currently consumes. Now that sounds clean, green, and safe. Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based reporter who has contributed to such magazines as the Nation and the Progressive and has worked as a speechwriter for progressive candidates. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station News Release - Region IV - 2007-028 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has named Michelle Catts as a resident inspector at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. The plant, operated by Arizona Public Service Co., is located 55 miles west of Phoenix, Ariz. “Michelle Catts’ experience and commitment to safety will help the NRC ensure that Palo Verde conducts operations with the highest safety standards to protect public health and safety,” said NRC Region IV Administrator Bruce S. Mallett. Catts holds a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University. Before joining the NRC in 2003, she worked in a fuel design group for Exelon Corp., which operates several nuclear power plants. She has worked in NRC’s Region I office in King of Prussia, Pa., as a reactor engineer in the Division of Reactor Projects and as a reactor inspector in the Division of Reactor Safety. She joins two other resident inspectors assigned at Palo Verde, who can be reached at (623) 386-3638. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer Monday, August 06, 2007 ***************************************************************** 7 Daily Yomiuri: IAEA team starts checking quake-hit N-plant A six-member delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday started inspecting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant that was damaged during an earthquake last month. This is the second time the U.N. nuclear watchdog has examined a nuclear facility in this country after an accident, following an inspection after the 1999 criticality accident at the uranium fuel-processing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had asked the Japanese government to allow its inspectors to examine the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, which is the world's first nuclear power plant to suffer substantial damage in an earthquake. Arriving at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. facility at 9:30 a.m., Philippe Jamet, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division who heads the team, expressed his appreciation for Japan's decision to accept the inspectors without delay. After questioning TEPCO officials about what had unfolded at the plant after the earthquake struck and what measures the officials took, the inspectors examined the exterior of the plant to grasp the extent of the damage, according to the IAEA. Among facilities outside the reactor buildings are the No. 3 reactor's electric transformer, which caught fire after the earthquake, and a damaged pipe in the fire-extinguishing system. In June 2005, the IAEA pointed out flaws in the plant's fire prevention system. This time, the inspection team is expected to ask TEPCO officials to explain in detail their fire prevention measures for facilities in the vicinity of the plant. From Tuesday, the delegation of the Vienna-based body plans to examine problems inside the reactor buildings, including damage to the storage pool for spent fuel, which resulted in the leak of a minute amount of water containing radioactive material, and the damaged ceiling crane. After the four-day assessment of the facility through Thursday, the team will discuss their findings with officials of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in Tokyo on Friday. Meanwhile, local residents and governments called for more thorough inspections. "I'm worried because a string of problems have come to light. I want the IAEA team to thoroughly examine [the plant] so that TEPCO won't be able to hide anything from us," said Hiroyoshi Kitajima, 72, of Kashiwazaki. Local governments also had expectations that the U.N. team's inspection would serve a wider purpose. Kariwamura Mayor Hiroo Shinada welcomed the inspection, and added that he wanted the IAEA team to examine the plant with a fine-toothed comb. Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida visited the central government Monday to request tighter safety controls on nuclear power stations. Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida expressed hope that the assessment would help debunk some misleading overseas media reports about the earthquake's impact on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. * The Daily Yomiuri Partners ***************************************************************** 8 Daily Yomiuri: N-plant inspection to offer lessons for world : Editorial A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday began poring over the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture that was severely damaged by the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake last month. Above all else, the inspection team should examine the safety of the nuclear reactors. We hope their findings will be released promptly. Less than one month has passed since the fatal magnitude-6.8 earthquake rocked the prefecture on July 16. Workers are still clearing up the mess caused by the temblor inside the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. The government and TEPCO were quick to accept the U.N. nuclear watchdog's offer to inspect the plant at an early date because they wanted an impartial assessment of the plant's condition. Communities near the facility have been hit hard by harmful rumors spawned by an over-the-top furor over the leak of a small amount of radioactive material. Local residents also are banking on a quick release of the delegation's findings so they can get back on their feet. Although the plant suffered damage, including a small fire at a power transformer, the safety of the plant's nuclear reactors was never jeopardized. The leak of radioactive substances was miniscule--less than one-10 millionth of the dose of radiation that an ordinary person is naturally exposed to per year. === Inspectors on tight schedule The IAEA is best-known as the nuclear watchdog tasked with preventing nuclear proliferation. Also on its resume are the vital roles of providing technical cooperation and information to ensure the safe and responsible use of nuclear energy. The U.N. body also should work to debunk harmful rumors stemming from nuclear incidents. Never before has a nuclear power plant anywhere in the world been struck by such a powerful earthquake. Some damage to equipment might not have been detected yet. It will take some time until the extent of the damage becomes absolutely clear. The IAEA team will examine the plant for most of this week. However, the inspectors probably will be strapped for time trying to detail all the damage caused by the earthquake. Rather, the inspectors should focus on the crisis management systems of the government and TEPCO and their attitude toward enhancing safety at nuclear power plants. There should be some lessons drawn from the IAEA assessment that can be shared with the international community. For example, the delay in extinguishing the fire and getting to the bottom of the actual extent of the damage caused great anxiety among the public. Information sharing among relevant authorities also came up short. Initially, the government and TEPCO had no public relations apparatus in place through which to provide information. Consequently, the safety status of the nuclear reactors was poorly explained, setting off speculation and misunderstanding that the plant was blighted by serious problems. === Prepare for all eventualities Problems do not occur the way they are expected. Indeed, that is why they become problems. Even an apparently robust system might have deficiencies that overlook some potential pitfalls. A finger likely will be pointed at the government and the nuclear power plant's operator over their tardiness in preparing for major risks--such as an earthquake. Nuclear power plants are designed based on the antiseismic guideline set up by the Nuclear Safety Commission. The guideline was revised last year based on the most up-to-date knowledge available. Checks of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant based on the revised guideline were scheduled to be completed by next year. The government deemed this procedure acceptable. Making efforts to enhance safety is common sense. But it is essential to decide what matters should be given priority. We hope the IAEA will accurately convey the true condition of the nuclear power plant--including how it will be operated from now on--to the world. (From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 7, 2007) The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 9 Bangkok Post: A mushrooming need to go nuclear General news >> Tuesday August 07, 2007 FOCUS / NUCLEAR ENERGY The following article is an attempt towards presenting the glory and brilliance of nuclear energy in a neutral, impartial way, with no influence whatsoever from the nuclear industry interests. By ISSARA NA NAKORN Just as flower bouquets, cheers and joy greeted the heaven-bestowed bloodless coup last September, the military government's shrewd policy to support nuclear energy development was greeted with exhilaration and celebration among the Thai citizenry. All praise should be given to Gen Surayud Chulanont, the prime minister, for his initiative to raise nuclear energy as a top priority national agenda, and to Dr Piyasvasti Amranand, the energy minister, for his infinite wisdom, moral and political courage to have both the main and back-up plans of the approved power sector investment master plan include four nuclear power plants with such decisiveness. The virtue and significance of atomic energy for peace, though well-evident among the highly-educated and noble echelons of Thai society, has yet to be realised by the less learned masses. It is thus of the utmost importance that the government, experts and good citizens take it upon themselves to provide and implant the right kind of knowledge, understanding and attitude towards nuclear matters in the public and their young. This article is an attempt towards that goal. The reasons why we should embrace nuclear energy with our hearts and souls are as follows: Sheer beauty of nuclear science A supreme science, the physics of nuclear fission is full of wonder and enchantment. A mere, small mass of uranium, through violent microscopic-particle collisions, can be transformed into such force that creates gigantic mushroom beauty that can wipe out the entire planet. The very same process can also generate serene energy for peace and reconciliation. Super-highly-advanced, super-safe technology Nuclear power technological advancement has come a long, long way since the Chernobyl fiasco. Reactors, now in their third or fourth generation, are getting hotter than ever and have more and more layers of protective shields. In fact, they are so totally fail-proof and utterly complex that it is impossible for non-experts to comprehend. No matter, the public can rest assured that nuclear energy facilities are the safest places on earth. The only area of technology that needs a bit of further work, preferably by our later generations, is finding a super-natural material that would safely encase and out-last 200,000-year-old radioactive nuclear waste. Source of honour and pride Without nuclear power, our ambition to join the ranks of civilised, developed nations, like the USA, France and Japan, simply cannot be realised. Even India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea have (peaceful or otherwise) nuclear power. Not to be left behind, we must follow in the footsteps of these advanced (albeit slightly roguish) nations. We have already proven our incorruptibility, efficiency and deep regard for discipline through world-renowned successes such as Suvarnabhumi Airport and the nuclear research reactor in Ongkarak, Nakhon Nayok province. So it is high time our beloved country charges forward into the nuclear future. The world will take notice of Thailand's rise to nuclear power as a manifestation of our further competence for complex, advanced technology and socio-cultural progress toward a militarily disciplined society, worthy of safe nuclear power operations. We will then be able to take great pride in Thailand as a truly civilised, developed nation. National security Thailand is surrounded by neighbours with clear nuclear energy development plans: China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Even Burma has already signed a contract to purchase a nuclear reactor from Russia. Being in the middle, Thailand is likely to enjoy their generosity through leaked radioactive fumes-sans-frontiers if a highly rare reactor accident were to occur in any of the surrounding countries. Thailand, therefore, must develop our own nuclear capability to ensure we won't be on the receiving end only. At least it will give us psychological comfort, which is beneficial to the security, peace and order of the nation. Clean and pure Nuclear energy, with no exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions, is so clean and pure. It is like a heroic knight on a white horse coming to rescue our civilisation from the gloom and doom of global warming, a sad legacy of our excessive, wasteful exploitation of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. The nuclear waste disposal is certainly a non-issue (at least for the "old ginger" generation and up). We will be proud to have created and left behind a new legacy of invaluable nuclear waste heaps to be passed on to later generations for safe-keeping, for hundred thousands of years to come. Cheap source of alternative energy It cannot be denied that nuclear is a definite "alternative energy" to be considered. This is because all proposed candidate "options" in the power sector investment master plan included four nuclear power plants. So nuclear energy is a mandatory "option" of alternative energy that we cannot refuse. Besides, nuclear power is unbelievably cheap (not including the costs of public relations campaigns, risk insurance, meeting per diems for hundreds of committee members and experts recruited for preparatory work and studies, and budgets for developing and training of human resources in and outside the country). Without nuclear energy, Thai people would be left in the dark, forced to use candles because we really have no other alternatives to choose from. A boon to the economy It is hardly an over-statement to say nuclear power development is a cure-all solution to our ills and woes. The Thai economy is no exception. When the economy is short of foreign currency and suffers a balance account deficit, nuclear energy can help by reducing the need for imported fossil fuels and thus foreign currency spending. And when the economy is so flooded with foreign currency that the baht is super-strong (as is currently the case), building nuclear power plants can also help; to build a nuclear facility requires an immense amount of investment capital to import everything from equipment, expertise to fuels, thus creating a significant outflow of foreign currency. Moreover, nuclear power is consistent with the self-sufficiency economy principle. It is thus unmistakable that, regardless of the state of the economy, nuclear is always the saviour of the economy. Given all these astounding merits of nuclear power, Thai people should undoubtedly be overjoyed to support the construction of nuclear power plants in our golden kingdom. And there is no other place more suitable for the plant site than Bangkok, the centre of the best of everything in Thailand. A nuclear power complex will become the icon of progress and modernity, feeding the electricity-hungry capital side by side with Suvarnabhumi Airport, our other great example of Thai ingenuity and success. On the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the jaw-dropping display of mushroom-shaped atomic force in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6 and 9, respectively, we, the Thai people, should pay tribute to the great service atomic energy has done for humanity. Issara Na Nakorn is the pseudonym of a Bangkok resident with interests in energy and environment. Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 BBC NEWS: IAEA experts visit Japanese plant Last Updated: Monday, 6 August 2007, 03:31 GMT 04:31 UK The IAEA wants to learn what happened at the power plant A team of UN nuclear experts has begun a four-day inspection of a Japanese atomic power plant damaged in a powerful 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 said there was no danger to the public. The team from the International Atomic Energy Agency will return to Tokyo on Friday for talks with Japanese nuclear safety officials. The team's leader, Philippe Jamet, said they would conduct an independent investigation and then file a report. "Our aim today is to draw lessons from the earthquake that happened here, to share with the international community," said Mr Jamet. Contaminated water 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 ***************************************************************** 11 Daily Star: Set up N-power plants to meet electricity crisis Vol. 5 Num 1134 Tue. August 07, 2007 Speakers say at discussion Staff Correspondent Participants at a discussion yesterday urged the caretaker government to establish nuclear power stations in order to ensure adequate power supply in the country. They also said that nuclear technology should be used only for civilian purposes, not for military purposes. Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) jointly organised the discussion on 'Impacts of nuclear weapons on health & environment: Hiroshima to Bangladesh' at the National Press Club in the city to mark Hiroshima Day. "The demand for electricity is increasing day by day. We should set up more power plants to meet the growing demand. We will benefit if we decide to set up nuclear power plants for this purpose," said Anwar Hossain, former chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC). He said research should be conducted on how to set up nuclear power plants, which generate more electricity than other types of power plants. Bapa President Prof Muzaffer Ahmad urged all South Asian countries to declare South Asia a nuclear weapon-free zone and launch a campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons by 2020. Former ambassador Waliur Rahman demanded that budgetary allocation for the health sector be increased to ensure 'Health for all' and include the topic of nuclear non-proliferation in the curriculum of preventive and social medicine. PSR President Dr Kamrul Hasan Khan, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad General Secretary Ayesha Khanam and Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Chief Editor Jaglul Ahmed Chowdhury also spoke. ***************************************************************** 12 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA inspectors visit Japanese plant hit by earthquake Justin McCurry in Tokyo Monday August 6, 2007 Earthquake damage outside Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Photograph: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images International nuclear inspectors today began assessing the damage caused to a power station by last month's earthquake on Japan's north-west coast in a move that local officials hope will quell fears over the safety of the country's nuclear power industry. Six inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] will conduct four days of checks and report their findings to the Japanese government and the IAEA director general, Mohamed ElBaradei. Philippe Jamet, who heads the agency's nuclear installation safety division, told reporters: "Our aim today is to draw lessons from the earthquake that happened here and share [them] with the international community. [We are] very satisfied that the Japanese government invited us so soon." Ten people died and more than a thousand others were injured when an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.8 hit Niigata prefecture, about 160 miles north-west of Tokyo, on July 16. The quake damaged the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant - the world's biggest in terms of capacity - and was followed by criticism of safety after its operator, Tokyo Electric Power, admitted more than 50 malfunctions had occurred during the quake. The problems included a small fire in an electrical transformer that took hours to extinguish, and leaks into the air and sea of low levels of radioactivity, although none of the plant's seven nuclear reactors was damaged. It also emerged that the plant may lie above a major fault and that it was not built to withstand shaking of the intensity caused by the quake. Despite assurances that the radioactive leaks posed no threat to human health or the environment, mistakes and delays in reporting the earthquake's impact on the plant prompted the local government to order that it be closed indefinitely. The central government had initially opposed an IAEA visit but reportedly relented in the face of local pressure. Japanese safety officials will assist the UN team, but the inspection itself will be conducted independently. The inspectors are expected to focus on whether the plant's reactors shut down properly during the violent quake. Japan's nuclear safety watchdog has said that the four reactors in operation at the time shut down automatically and were stabilised. The other three had already been shut down for regular inspections. Last week the Japanese government accused the foreign media of inaccurate and sensationalist reporting of the accident, and hopes the IAEA visit will calm public fears. The Italian football club Catania cancelled a planned tour to Japan, and locals also appear unconvinced by official safety assurances: thousands of people have cancelled peak-season bookings at hotels and inns in the area, with the majority citing anxiety about the nuclear plant. Useful links Japan Today Asahi.com Far Eastern Economic Review Fuji News Network Japan Times Kyodo News Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 13 NRC: In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc; Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3; Order Modifying License (Effective Immediately) FR Doc E7-15191 [Federal Register: August 6, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 150)] [Notices] [Page 43666-43669] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06au07-71] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286; License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64; EA-07- 189] I Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50. The licenses authorize the operation of Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, in accordance with the conditions specified therein. The facilities are located on the Licensee's site in Buchanan, New York. II On April 23, 2007, the NRC issued to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) a Notice of Violation (NOV) and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty for a violation involving the failure to meet the requirements of a Confirmatory Order (EA-05-190) that was issued to Entergy on January 31, 2006. On January 23, 2007, the NRC granted Entergy's request, provided in a letter dated January 11, 2007, to extend the full implementation date until April 15, 2007. The NRC issued the NOV and Proposed Civil Penalty after Entergy informed the NRC that the ``radio only activation'' feature of the emergency notification system (ENS) did not meet its test acceptance criteria, resulting in the ENS not being fully operable by April 15, 2007, the date it was required to be operable. Entergy responded to the NOV on May 23, 2007, and committed to declaring the new ENS operable by August 24, 2007. In its response, Entergy admitted to the violation of the Confirmatory Order, identified the apparent causes of the violation, and described corrective actions that were taken or planned to correct the violation. Subsequent to the Licensee's May 23, 2007, letter, the NRC held a public meeting with Entergy officials on July 9, 2007, to clarify Entergy's actions to comply with the Confirmatory Order, particularly with respect to ensuring that the new ENS met the applicable Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulations, as well as to ensure that any specific county needs were identified and addressed prior to Entergy declaring the new ENS operable. The NRC has evaluated Entergy's response to the NOV and the additional information gathered during the July 9, 2007, public meeting. The NRC has determined that additional actions are needed to ensure that the new ENS with backup power supply capability is operable by August 24, 2007, as committed to in Entergy's May 23, 2007 letter. These actions include: Completing the outstanding requirements delineated in the aforementioned Confirmatory Order issued January 31, 2006, as modified herein; implementing those measures necessary for FEMA to accept the new ENS as the primary ENS for alerting the public by August 24, 2007; and, completing the necessary software and procedure upgrades and training of county personnel responsible for actuation of the system. III Adequate backup power for the ENS, as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) (see 42 U.S.C. 2210 et seq.) Section 651(b), requires that: (a) The backup power supply for the Public Alerting System (PAS) must meet commonly-applicable standards, such as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Communications Systems (2002) and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 2017, Section 58.2; (b) each PAS and PAS Alerting Appliance (PASAA) must receive adequate power to perform their intended functions such that backup power is sufficient to allow operation in standby mode for a minimum of 24 hours and in alert mode for a minimum of 15 minutes; (c) [[Page 43667]] batteries used for backup power must recharge to at least 80 percent of their capacity in a period of not more than 24 hours; (d) except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise monitored on a continuous basis, immediate automatic indication of a loss of power must be provided to the Licensee and appropriate government agencies; and (e) except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise monitored on a continuous basis, an automatic notification of an unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee in sufficient time to take compensatory action before the backup power supply can not meet the requirements of Section IV, part II. A. 2 of the Confirmatory Order. The requirements needed to implement the foregoing are set forth in Section IV below. Based on the above, and in consideration of other communications involving the NRC, FEMA, New York State, the four counties within the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone, and Entergy officials, additional actions are needed to ensure Entergy is in compliance with the Commission's requirements and that the public interest will be protected. Therefore, License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 should be modified to require compliance with Section 651(b) of the Act. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, and in consideration of the ongoing violation of the Confirmatory Order, as well as the prior enforcement related to such, I find that the significance of compliance with the Act described above is such that the public interest requires that this Order be immediately effective. IV Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104b, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; Section 651(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat 594); and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, it is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that license nos. Dpr-26 and dpr-64 are modified as follows: I. The Licensee shall meet all the provisions contained in the January 31, 2006, Confirmatory Order (see Appendix A of this Order), except as specifically modified or supplemented herein. With respect to the requirement to provide and maintain an ENS with backup power supply capability for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 facilities, the new ENS intended to comply with that requirement shall meet applicable requirements of state and federal authorities such that it is declared operable and placed into service as the primary system by August 24, 2007. II. The Licensee shall provide to NRC within 7 days of this order a report describing the steps and the expected schedule for completing each of the steps that the licensee understands are necessary to meet applicable requirements of state and federal authorities to place the new ENS system into service as the Primary Notification system. The report should identify any uncertainties in identification of requirements or in schedules associated with requirements. III. Prior to declaring the new ENS operable and using it as the primary system, the Licensee shall: (a) Obtain FEMA approval that the system, as installed, meets the design criterion of the approved ENS Design Report and is in compliance with all applicable FEMA regulations and guidance; and, (b) complete all necessary software and procedure upgrades and training of all the four county response organizations, accounting for the specific training needs identified by the counties, in the proper use of the new ENS and response to associated alarming conditions. IV. The Licensee shall maintain the existing ENS fully available (including conducting routine maintenance and testing activities) and establish the necessary procedures and actions to enable its use as a backup to the new ENS when the new ENS is declared in use as the primary system, until such time that FEMA grants approval to remove the existing ENS from service. The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the Licensee of good cause. V In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, the Licensee must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this Order within 20 days of its issuance. In addition, the Licensee and any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this Order within 20 days of its issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the extension. Any answer or request for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Chief, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall also be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and to the Assistant General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, U.S. NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415; and to the Licensee, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 440 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601, if the answer or hearing request is by a person other than the Licensee. It is requested that answers and requests for hearing or for time extensions be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-1101, or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov, and also to the Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d). If the hearing is requested by the Licensee or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), the Licensee, may, in addition to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move the presiding officer to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the Order on the ground that the Order, including the need for immediate effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but on mere suspicion, unfounded allegations, or error. In the absence of any request for hearing or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this order. [[Page 43668]] Dated this 30th day of July 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Cynthia A. Carpenter, Director, Office of Enforcement. Appendix A--Section IV Excerpt From NRC Confirmatory Order, Dated January 31, 2006 IV I. The Licensee shall provide and maintain a backup power supply for the ENS for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, facilities. The ENS is the primary prompt notification system used to alert the public of an event at a nuclear power plant. II. The Licensee shall implement II.A, II.B, and II.C.1-3 by January 30, 2007. The backup power system for the ENS shall be declared operable by January 30, 2007. The backup power supply for the ENS shall include, as a minimum: A.1. A backup power supply for the PAS and each PASAA which shall provide adequate power for each component to perform their design function. These functions include the following as examples: sound output, rotation, speech intelligibility, or brightness as applicable. This criterion includes the associated activation, control, monitoring, and testing components for the backup power supply to the ENS including, but not limited to: radio transceivers, testing circuits, sensors to monitor critical operating parameters of the PAS and PASAA. The Licensee is required to meet all applicable standards, such as NFPA Standard 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Communications Systems (2002) and UL 2017, Section 58.2. 2. The backup power supply for each PAS and PASAA shall be designed for operation in standby mode, including, but not limited to: radio transceivers, testing circuits, sensors fully operational and providing polling data to the activation, control, monitoring, and test system for at least 24 hours without AC supply power from the local electric distribution grid. The backup power supply then shall be capable of performing its intended function, without recharge, by operating the PAS and PASAA in its alerting mode at its full design capability for a period of at least 15 minutes. This sequence shall be assumed to occur at the most unfavorable environmental conditions including, but not limited to, temperature, wind, and precipitation specified for PAS and PASAA operation and assume that the batteries are approaching the end of their design life (i.e., the ensuing recharge cycle will bring the batteries back to the minimum state that defines their design life). 3. In defining battery design life, automatic charging shall be sized such that batteries in the backup power are fully recharged to at least 80 percent of their maximum rated capacity from the fully discharged state in a period of not more than 24 hours. 4. Battery design life and replacement frequency shall comply with vendor(s) recommendations. 5. Except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise monitored on a continuous basis, there shall be a feedback system(s) that provides immediate automatic indication of a loss of power to the Licensee and the appropriate government agencies, and an automatic notification of an unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee in sufficient time to take compensatory action before the backup power supply can not meet the requirements of Section IV, part II.A.2. 6. The Licensee shall implement a preventative maintenance and testing program of the ENS including, but not limited to: the equipment that activates and monitors the system, equipment that provides backup power, and the alerting device to ensure the ENS system performs to its design specifications. B.1. The Licensee shall implement any new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidance pertaining to backup power for ENS that may affect the system requirements outlined in this Order that is issued prior to obtaining DHS approval of the alerting system design. The Licensee shall not implement any DHS guidance that reduces the effectiveness of the ENS as provided for in this Order without prior NRC approval. 2. The Licensee shall document the evaluation of lessons learned from any evaluation of the current alert and notification system (ANS) and address resolution of identified concerns when designing the backup power system and such consideration shall be included in the design report. 3. The final PAS design must be submitted to DHS for approval prior to May 1, 2006. C.1. Within 60 days of the issuance of this Order, the Licensee shall submit a response to this Order to the NRC Document Control Desk providing a schedule of planned activities associated with the implementation of the Order including interactions with the Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, and Orange Counties, the State of New York, and DHS. In addition, the Licensee shall provide a progress report on or shortly before June 30, 2006. 2. The Licensee shall submit a proposed revision to its emergency response plan to incorporate the implementation of items A.1-A.6, B.1- B.3, and C.4-C.5. This plan shall be submitted to the NRC for review and approval within 120 days from the issuance of the Order. 3. Prior to declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall, in accordance with a test plan submitted to and approved by the NRC in conjunction with the design submittal, demonstrate satisfactory performance of all (100%) of the ENS components including the ability of the backup power supply to meet its design requirements. 4. After declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall conduct periodic testing to demonstrate reliable ENS system performance. 5. The results from testing as discussed in paragraph C.4 shall be reported, in writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, documenting the results of each test, until there are 3 consecutive tests testing the operability of all ENS components used during an actual activation), conducted no sooner than 25 days and no more than 45 days from the previous test with a 97% overall entire emergency planning zone success rate with no individual county failure rate greater than 10%. A false negative report from a feedback system will constitute a siren failure for the purposes of this test. III. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, when the ENS is declared operable. IV. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document Control Desk and provide a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation when it has achieved full compliance with the requirements contained in this Order. V. The Licensee may use the criteria contained in 10 CFR 50.54(q) to make changes to the requirements contained in this Order without prior NRC approval provided that they do not reduce the effectiveness of the Order requirements or the approved emergency plan. The Licensee shall notify, in writing, the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to the Director, Division of Preparedness and Response, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, 30 days in advance of implementing such a change. For other changes, the Licensee may [[Page 43669]] submit a request, in writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to relax or rescind any of the above requirements upon a showing of good cause by the Licensee. [FR Doc. E7-15191 Filed 8-3-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 14 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin's first unit shut down over fuel replacement - By CTK / Published 6 August 2007 Temelin, Aug 4 (CTK) - The first unit of the nuclear power plant of Temelin, southern Bohemia, was unhooked from the grid on Friday evening because of the planned replacement of a quarter of fuel in the reactor, the power plant's spokesman Marek Svitak told CTK. The original fuel assemblies, which got deformed, will be replaced by new and better ones. At the same time, the staff will install a new high-pressure component in the rotor. The same component has already been replaced in the second unit this year. The modernised part will raise the output of each unit by at least 26 megawatts to 1,020 MW and prolong the life span of the turbine. The replacement of rotors and other parts in both units will cost almost Kc700 million. The replacement, which is take two months, is due to problems with a vibrating turbine. Temelin staff removed the problems last year, but the CEZ energy utility, Temelin's operator, has decided to replace and modernise part of the turbine which was produced 22 years ago. The high-pressure part is an integral part of the turbine, which also comprises three low-pressure parts. Inside the high-pressure part, steam expands to set turbine vanes in motion. This story is from the Czech News Agency (CTK). The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content. Copyright 2007 by the Czech News Agency (CTK). All rights reserved. Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the prior written consent of CTK is expressly forbidden. copyright 2007 monitor ce media services s.r.o. | all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: IAEA inspects Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant - by Harumi Ozawa Mon Aug 6, 2:11 AM ET KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AFP) - UN inspectors on Monday examined the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan, which leaked a small amount of radiation last month following a powerful earthquake. Tokyo invited the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a bid to dispel concerns at home and overseas about risks posed by the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The IAEA team started the visit just as Japan was mourning the dead on the 62nd anniversary of the world's first atomic attack in Hiroshima, which has made the nation especially sensitive to the use of nuclear technology. The six-member team will spend four days inside the giant, seven-reactor facility, located some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Tokyo, which is expected to be closed for at least a year for safety checks. "Today is the first day on the plant, so we'll have a general approach of the plant and what went on," team leader Philippe Jamet told reporters as they entered the facility. "Our aim today is to draw lessons from the earthquake that happened here, to share with the international community," said Jamet, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division. A powerful quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit central Japan on July 16, causing a fire in the section generating electricity for the plant. The nuclear reactors automatically shut down. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said radioactive water leaked into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and radioactive particles blew out of an exhaust pipe filter. Tokyo Electric, which is the world's largest private power company, said the radiation was far below amounts that would be dangerous but came under criticism for initially underreporting the severity of the incident. The local government had requested the IAEA visit in hopes of easing public concerns. On Monday, they toured the area where the fire took place. "The radiation leaks have no big impact on the environment, but it's important to send this information to the world. So it's important to confirm this through the IAEA investigation," Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida said. The Japanese government took the rare step of rebuking foreign media coverage of the nuclear leak as sensationalistic after Italian soccer team Catania cancelled a tour of the country, citing worries about radiation. "We are very satisfied at the agency that the Japanese government invited us so soon," the IAEA's Jamet said. "I think it's a good move from the Japanese government." With the local tourism industry seriously hit by the incident, Koichi Sato, 59, who manages a beach hotel near the plant, said he hoped the UN inspection would allay people's fears. "No matter how loud the power company says it's safe, it won't work," he said. "We have to have a third party verifying the safety and letting people know about it." Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone nations, experiencing about 20 percent of the world's powerful tremors. But despite the earthquakes and nuclear sensitivities, Japan has tried to step up its reliance on nuclear power as it has virtually no natural energy resources. Nuclear power now accounts for nearly one-third of Japan's electricity, higher than in any other of the Group of Eight industrial nations except France. Last month's earthquake destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed 11 people, although none of the deaths was linked to the nuclear plant. Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 16 NRC: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery, ANS Utility Working Conference, by NRC Chairman, Dale E. Klein Speech - 07-038 - OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: Public Affairs Web Site August 6, 2007 I am delighted to be here this morning to share a few thoughts with you. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Future Begins Now,” while the title of this particular session is “Staying Focused.” I hope that I will be able to confine my remarks within the tight boundaries of these very specific and concrete descriptions! Actually, I am always impressed by the ingenuity of conference organizers who are able to come up with these topics and themes… which are wonderfully general and rather vague, yet still manage to convey some important concept or message to provide a unifying thread for the conference. And I am pleased to say that the themes, “The Future Begins Now” and “Staying Focused” do capture very well the subjects I want to address this morning. A few weeks ago I spoke at the U.S. Women in Nuclear Meeting, which was held at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. And just to be impartial, independent and fair—which is what we strive for at the NRC—I decided to come to the other coast, and visit the other Disney resort, here in Florida. Now, I know that we are actually 200 miles from Orlando, but I ask you to indulge me so that I can make a point that I made in Anaheim, which is that, in my capacity as the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, I regard Disney as my competitor. That may seem like a somewhat cryptic remark, so let me explain it with a brief story. Bill Gates was once asked who Microsoft’s biggest competitor was. He responded, rather surprisingly, that his biggest competitor was Goldman Sachs. Gates explained that both companies were in what he called “the IQ business.” “Microsoft must win the IQ war,” he said, “or we won't have a future. I don't worry about Lotus or IBM, because the smartest guys would rather come to work for Microsoft. Our competitors for IQ are investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley." So what does that story have to do with nuclear energy and Disneyland? I think it comes down to similar commonality: safety. I don’t mean to discount IQ, of course. But since we have a lot of engineers present, I think we can take that as a given. And, as you know, the NRC is not a Mickey Mouse operation. But what Disney and the nuclear energy business have in common is that they both depend for their success, for their existence, on an absolute commitment to safety. That focus is key to a successful in-house engineering operation, with a comprehensive education, training and development program. I think you will find this kind of program in companies that understand, as Disney appears to, that without their customers’ trust, nothing else matters. So if the theme of this panel is “Staying Focused,” I would urge everyone in this room to remember that the object of our focus—and this includes industry and regulators alike—is safety. This focus must be paramount in the design, construction, operation and oversight of nuclear plants at every stage, of course. But let me elaborate on one area that is of particular concern to me: the ability of the global manufacturing sector to meet the growing demand for high quality nuclear components in a timely way. I should mention that the relatively small number of firms producing major components at least makes it relatively easier to oversee the quality and authenticity of these components. We face a different challenge in ensuring the quality of the thousands of smaller parts and materials that are manufactured in other parts of the world. The construction of a commercial nuclear plant today involves pumps, valves, motors, fans, pipes… and even screws… that may be produced by any number of companies—both private and state-owned—around the world. And the close scrutiny that regulatory agencies can bring to bear on major manufacturers to assure that quality components are produced does not always apply with the same intensity to the sub-vendors that supply parts and materials to the manufacturers. To address this, I have suggested in meetings with regulators from other nations that we establish more extensive channels of communication to share information about any components or equipment that may be substandard, counterfeit, inadequate or inappropriate to a nuclear power plant. Regulatory agencies and industry would benefit from sharing this data under normal circumstances, but it seems to me even more critical during the current worldwide push to build new plants. Now, it may be remotely possible that some of you have heard me mention this topic before. But I think it is important to reiterate the key point that the NRC depends on industry to be the first line of safety. It is a well-known adage around my office that if there is something amiss at a commercial nuclear plant, the plant owners and operators should find it first. If they don’t find it, INPO should. If INPO doesn’t find it—and it falls to the NRC resident inspectors to find it—well, then industry has, in a sense, failed. So what I am trying to do when I revisit these themes is to avert problems before they come to our attention as a regulator. In addition, there are two other reasons I keep coming back to this theme. First, according to data compiled by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the number of ASME Nuclear Certificates held by companies fell worldwide from nearly 600 in 1980, to under 200 this year. More strikingly, the decline was due almost entirely to the loss of nuclear certificates among American companies. The number of certificates held by other nations has remained fairly steady—around 100—since 1980, but the number of American certificate holders today is one-fifth of what it was 27 years ago. Clearly, this must be a consideration as we contemplate the anticipated growth in demand for parts. The second point is more anecdotal, but I am sure it is something you have been following in the news. I am referring to the problems with regard to quality control over both food products and manufactured items that are bought and sold on the global market. This is bad enough when it concerns contaminated consumer products—which is certainly very serious. But it is a matter of even greater concern when supposedly high quality machine components are substandard or counterfeit, particularly when such defective or fraudulent parts could find their way into a commercial nuclear reactor. That has not happened. And I am confident that it will not happen, as long as we remember that at the end of the day, nuclear power plants are really in the safety business. That covers what I would like to say on “Staying Focused.” Now let me say a word about “The Future Begins Now,” and then I would be happy to take some questions. If the much-discussed Nuclear Renaissance is in fact happening—as appears to the be the case—its success may well depend ultimately on public trust. On my visit to various nuclear facilities in Japan earlier this year, I was struck by how much effort the Japanese put into making their commercial nuclear reactors accessible to the public— through viewing areas and visitors centers. I would suggest that this is something plant designers might keep in mind for new reactors here in the U.S. It doesn’t take all that much ingenuity to allow people to view the turbines and other parts of plants without putting on slippers or dosimeters, and, in fact, without providing any access points into the reactor. Plant owners and operators can cite safety statistics until, as they say, the cows come home. But, in the end, people tend to trust what they have seen with their own eyes. After 9/11, access to nuclear facilities was significantly reduced. But now we need to plan for the future. Without compromising security considerations, I think industry needs to re-evaluate its public education policies—including tours. Another consideration is that the more an industry or business represents the public, and reflects the diversity of society at large, the more likely that it will be able to generate public trust. I think that is an important lesson to keep in mind, as you expand your efforts in workforce development. We all know that one of the challenges facing both industry and regulators is the need to prepare the next generation of engineers, as well as electricians, welders, and other skilled crafts people. I believe that NEI has just come out with an updated edition of its workforce survey, which contains a great deal of useful information. I look forward to seeing it, and I hope there may be some good news. But even if things do look brighter, that would hardly mean that the challenge is solved. So, to a greater or lesser degree, we still have the same task before us. I have said before that none of our interests is going to be well served if we spend our time and money chasing after a limited number of candidates. Instead of bidding against each other, all of us – industry and government alike – must focus on an intensive nationwide effort to expand the base of qualified people. And reaching out to people who have not been traditionally well-represented in this business is one of the best ways we can do that. There is also the simple fact of self-interest: ensuring full access for all potential employees vastly increases the talent pool. And both government and industry are going to need all the talent we can get. In fact, there are now more women in college than men—so if industry wants to build a future with the best and brightest young talent, it needs to attract and encourage people of both genders and all races. I think we can safely say that we no longer live in that time when the phrase “nuclear engineer” referred more or less exclusively to people who look like… well, me! That brings me to the final point I would like to make. At the NRC we have some very energetic programs for reaching out to small, minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses; and I think that some of these efforts may even be instructive for your own procurement policies. Now, I realize that the notion that government ever operates according to sound business practices strikes many people as a contradiction in terms; and the idea that there may be government initiatives worth imitating makes even less sense! But I do think that what we are doing is at least moving in the right direction: toward greater diversity, more active and inclusive engagement with all levels of society, and therefore greater public support for our activities. Now, these efforts, while ambitious, are still evolving—so there are some targets we have not yet been able to reach. One of them is an area many of you may not even be very familiar with, but it is a very important category, and one that the government is putting a lot of effort into. I am talking about combat-disabled veteran-owned businesses. I know from direct experience while I was the Pentagon that our men and women in uniform are highly dedicated and professional. And regardless of the differing opinions people may have on various political questions, I think we can all agree that America owes a great debt of gratitude to those who have been disabled while serving their nation. So I think that if the commercial nuclear power industry is really interested in seeking out the best and brightest, you cannot afford to overlook the nation’s disabled veterans. Let me be clear that in saying all this, I am speaking not as a regulator but simply as someone who cares about this issue and thinks that it is important. So, as “Dale” rather than as “Chairman Klein,” I would take this opportunity to remind you that just as the Nuclear Renaissance cannot afford to leave any stone unturned as we seek to expand the talent pool for hiring, in both industry and government, we should not overlook the possibilities for mentoring small businesses. This will not only increase goodwill with the public, it will also enhance the supplier base, and help the industry prepare for the future in an increasingly diverse society. If you are interested in finding out more information, there are many government resources available. The best place to begin is the Small Business Administration office in your local area; which is staffed by people who possess a great deal of knowledge and experience with these programs, and they can provide some very helpful guidance. Beyond that, please feel free to contact the NRC’s Office of Civil Rights and Small Business Office, which will be glad to steer you in the right direction. Winston Churchill once said that “The future is imminent, though obscure.” What that means in plain language is that we don’t know what tomorrow, let alone next year, will look like. What we do know, however, is that with great change comes great opportunity. So in this time of momentous change for the commercial nuclear power industry, I ask that you seize the opportunity to do great—and good—things. The future of the industry will be more engaged, fairer, and more representative of society at large, but only if you work to make it so. And the future—as the organizers of this conference wisely remind us—begins today. NRC speeches are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when speeches are posted to NRC's Web site. Monday, August 06, 2007 ***************************************************************** 17 Deccan Herald: US ticks off India on Iran Tuesday, August 7, 2007 New Delhi, PTI: We hope that India, as well as all other states China, Russia, France, Britain and Japan will diminish their economic relations with Iran, US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said... The US on Monday night asked India to “diminish” its economic relations with “nuclear outlaw” Iran and join the international community in dealing with “one of the most difficult security problems” facing the world. “We hope that India, as well as all other states — China, Russia, France, Britain and Japan — will diminish their economic relations with Iran,” US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said. Talking to TV channels over the phone from Washington, Mr Burns said the US expected India to be “part of the international mainstream in trying to deal with one of the most difficult security problems we face internationally.” Mr Burns, who was talking to the TV channels about the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, termed Iran a “nuclear outlaw” as it wanted to have nuclear weapons which was “not in the interest of the international community”. Copyright 2007, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G. Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001 Tel: +91 (80) 25880000 Fax No. +91 (80) 25880523 ***************************************************************** 18 Sarasota Herald Tribune: Warning signs of a nuclear future HeraldTribune.com In the scramble to do something about fossil fuels, global warming and accelerated sea level rise, some leaders are recommending a resurgence of nuclear power. So what are the early warning signs of people mistakenly switching to embrace a nuclear future? With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, here are a few: If you remember "The China Syndrome" and Three Mile Island as two great science fiction movies from 1979, you may favor a nuclear future. If you think Chernobyl was the drug that was replaced by Lipitor, you may favor a nuclear future. If you think 9/11 is what happens when there are cutbacks at a 7-11, you may favor a nuclear future. If you think the Price Anderson Act is that boring skit acknowledging envelope security at the Academy Awards, you may favor a nuclear future. If you can snicker at the dark humor that would be involved in having Homer Simpson working in a solar panel plant, you may favor a nuclear future. If you think Yucca Mountain is the anticipated sequel to "Brokeback Mountain," you may favor a nuclear future. If you think it is pretty plausible that someone could make a dirty bomb or weapon of mass destruction from the persistent noxious byproducts of a wind turbine, you may favor a nuclear future. If the words "radioactive Florida" only make you think of more community and low-power FM stations such as WMNF and WSLR, you may favor a nuclear future. Finally, if you think a wind turbine actually has persistent noxious byproducts, you may favor a nuclear future. Florida can reduce greenhouse gases without resorting to more nuclear power. Design, innovation, conservation and appropriate small-scale power are better long- and short-term investments -- financially, environmentally and ethically. Jono Miller Sarasota Last modified: August 06. 2007 12:00AM Serving the Herald-Tribune newspaper and SNN Channel 6 Sarasota Herald-Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Member ***************************************************************** 19 Charleston Post Courier: Latest Editorial News: Fill nuclear security gaps Charleston, SC Monday, August 6, 2007 The ease with which undercover agents were able to gain the regulatory approval necessary to purchase nuclear material is extremely troubling, even without considering the previous shortcomings of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The fact that they were able to obtain enough material to build a "dirty bomb" indicates a major security problem. A report from the Government Accounting Office highlights the latest in a series of mistakes by the NRC that should encourage a shake-up at the agency. But Congress also should consider claims by its director that the agency doesn't have the necessary resources to do its job. According to The Washington Post, federal investigators with the Government Accounting Office posed as businessmen from West Virginia, and were able to obtain a license from the NRC to buy radioactive equipment. They easily altered the license to acquire more material than allowed under its conditions — enough to build a dirty bomb. The license was obtained through telephone conversations with NRC officials, without an inspection of the supposed business location. The bogus businessmen listed a mail drop as their commercial address. Security lapses at the NRC were noted last year by the GAO, when undercover agents smuggled radioactive material across the Canadian and Mexican borders. The NRC's own inspector general has cited problems with its licensing procedures. Ultimately, the agency's security system may falter when faced with something more serious than a GAO test. The problems can't be allowed to persist. Copyright © 1997 - 2007 the Evening Post Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 20 New York Sun: Veterans' Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields - August 6, 2007 By R. B. STUART In the wake of an Iraqi official last month blaming America's use of depleted uranium munitions in its 2003 "Shock and Awe" campaign for a surge in cancer there, the Defense Department is facing an October deadline for providing a comprehensive report to Congress on the health effects of such weapons. The report is required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, which President Bush signed into law last year. The request for the study is an outgrowth of claims by Iraq war veterans that exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances there has negatively affected their health and that, therefore, their illnesses should be recognized as war-related and the treatment covered by the Veterans Administration. Currently, the State Department's Web site says fears about adverse health effects of depleted uranium, or DU, are "unwarranted," and it lists worries about DU under a section called "identifying misinformation." The site says the American military uses the material in ammunition "to take advantage of its unsurpassed ability to penetrate armored vehicles," and it cites four separate studies -- by NATO, the Rand Corporation, the European Commission, and the World Health Organization -- that found no evidence of adverse health effects from depleted uranium. Even so, worries persist. According to Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat of Washington who pushed for the report from the Pentagon, "There are countless stories of mysterious illnesses, higher rates of serious illnesses, and even birth defects. We do not know what role, if any, DU plays in the medical tragedies in Iraq, but we must find out." Modern wars have produced a number of specific medical complaints, ranging from "Gulf War Syndrome" -- a group of immune disorders and cancers whose connection to service in the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict is being studied -- to the long-term effects of a defoliant, Agent Orange, for which some Vietnam veterans obtained a settlement in 1984. While their causes can't be pinpointed definitively, some soldiers who have avoided being killed or wounded in the current Iraq conflict are returning to America to find they have debilitating illnesses or cancers that they suspect are related to battlefield conditions, whether it is the depleted uranium used in projectiles, the remains of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons, or the smoke from burning oil wells. An Army chaplain, Captain Fran Stuart of the 101st Airborne was based in Mosul, Iraq, where "Shock and Awe" bombings occurred, for a year beginning in March 2003. In March 2006, the 40-year-old chaplain A-- who is this reporter's sister A-- was diagnosed with a rare condition only seen in teenage girls: Stage IV dysgerminoma, an ovarian germ cell cancer. She was flown from Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where doctors removed a volleyball-sized tumor from her abdomen and she faced daily battles with the side effects of an aggressive chemotherapy regimen A-- 35 rounds to date. "My body isn't mine anymore. I can feel the other tumors inside of me. I look like a monster," Captain Stuart said last May as patches of her strawberry blond hair fell out. 2007 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. All rights reserved. A Bronze Star-winning Vietnam Veteran and reservist, Army Sergeant First Class James Lauderdale Jr. of Tuscon, Ariz., was activated to serve in Iraq in January 2005 and was deployed to Camps Doha and Arijhan in Kuwait, where oil refineries released clouds of brown smoke from their stacks. "I knew what the pollutants in the air meant, and what I would be exposed to A-- as well as the brown water I bathed and washed my clothes in," he told a reporter. In March 2005, Lauderdale developed a sore throat and began having difficulty sleeping on his right side because his jaw hurt. After seeing two medics, one prescribed a root canal, but rather than alleviating the pain, it only worsened, he said. At the end of the month, Lauderdale saw a dentist in Kuwait City, who lifted his tongue and found a lesion. Biopsy results came back as Stage II squamous cell cancer of the mouth floor and tongue. On April 1, 2005, Lauderdale was sent to Walter Reed, where a doctor said, "The sergeant is in a unique group. We don't know what would stimulate him to have this type of cancer since he isn't a smoker." Another doctor added, "I saw a 21-year-old here who just came back from Iraq with the same type of cancer." When his family asked if the cause could have been something Lauderdale was exposed to in Kuwait A-- the air pollutants, contaminated brown water, or depleted uranium, for which he was never tested A-- the doctors said they couldn't be certain of the cause, family members said. By June 2006, the cancer had spread to his neck and jaw, lungs, ribs, and spinal column, and Lauderdale had undergone five surgeries, including a tongue reconstruction, right and left radical neck resections and a tracheotomy, two rounds of chemo, and 39 rounds of radiation. Within a month, "hundreds and thousands of lesions appeared, canvassing the entire part of his upper body," his wife of 34 years, Dixie Lauderdale, said. The doctors were dumbfounded by how aggressive his cancer was, she added. After a valiant fight, Lauderdale, 59, died at Walter Reed on July 14, 2006. His final wish was to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In April 2005, Army Sergeant Charles Lewis, who saw combat in Iraq with the 101st Airborne, was diagnosed with Stage II testicular cancer. "There was no family history. We asked the doctors if being in Iraq had anything to do with it, but most weren't sure," he said. "We had been told to contact the VA to see if there were any other soldiers returning with cancer, but they would not give us any information. "Four different people we know and who have been in combat with me have either had tumors removed or have been tested for cancer," Sergeant Lewis continued. "So we have often questioned if Iraq or vaccinations could have played a part in this cancer." Army Sergeant First Class Charles Frenzel has served in the military for more than 30 years; during the last four years, he has been stationed at Forts Jackson and Lee in America and at Camp Caldwell in Iraq. While he was on assignment in Iraq in October 2005, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and evacuated to Walter Reed, where an 8.5-by-4.5-inch nonmalignant meningioma was removed. Asked what he thought had caused his tumor, Sergeant Frenzel offered several possibilities. "I think Saddam had a lot more advanced chemical programs than what was originally suspected," he said. "I was exposed to daily oil smog. Iraq burns straight nonprocessed crude oil, and the smog was horrific. The water was contaminated, and we were bathing and washing our clothes in it." In June 2006, while undergoing a chemo treatment on Ward 65 at Walter Reed, Captain Stuart met Army Staff Sergeant Frank Valentin of the Transportation Battalion, a 34-year-old Brooklyn native who had been based at Camp Spearhead in the port of Kuwait City on the Iraq- Kuwait border for two years. Situated amid two oil refineries, a cement factory, a chlorine factory, and a sulfuric acid factory, Sergeant Valentin and other soldiers who assisted at the camp knew immediately that their bouts of burning eyes, hot, red facial skin, and unrelentingly runny noses were caused by a cesspool of noxious fumes, he said. The soldiers tried complaining, Sergeant Valentin said, "but nobody wanted to hear it A-- we just stayed quiet. They just wanted us to do our job." Sergeant Valentin was diagnosed with hemorrhoids eight times and sent back to work, but when the pain and discomfort did not abate, he instinctively knew something was wrong, he said. Finally, a reservist who was an oncologist diagnosed Sergeant Valentin with colon cancer. The reservist oncologist told him that there were six other soldiers with newly found cancers in his unit, Sergeant Valentin said. The sergeant said he personally knew of two that had been diagnosed with cancer: one with leukemia and one with Hodgkin's lymphoma. And a third had had a nonmalignant brain tumor. "Between the chemicals in the air overseas, the shots they give you, and not eating well or sleeping more than four hours a day A... your body just isn't strong enough to fight anything off. "Right now, it's cancer, cancer, cancer. A lot of these kids, 21 years old, are coming back with cancer. How did they get it? How did it happen to me when I was healthy?" he asked. In 2005, Sergeant Valentin underwent surgery at Walter Reed. It was during that surgery that the doctors discovered the cancer had advanced. He woke to find himself with a colostomy bag and prognosis of incurable colon and lung cancer. In contrast to soldiers who have lost limbs to explosive devices in Iraq, who qualify for Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance injury benefits of up to $100,000, "people like us don't get benefits," Sergeant Valentin said. "Because cancer is a disease and not a war wound, we don't qualify. No one even knows we're on the oncology ward. The press, celebrities, and politicians go to the third floor when they want publicity shots with the amputee soldiers. But what about the seventh floor, Ward 71, with soldiers that are coming back with cancer?" he asked. On July 23, Iraq's environment minister blamed "at least 350 sites in Iraq being contaminated during bombing" with depleted uranium weapons for about 140,000 cases of cancer there and for between 7,000 and 8,000 new cases each year. A U.N. Environment Program report states that depleted uranium poses little threat if spent munitions are cleared from the ground. However, no major clean-up or public awareness campaigns have been reported in Iraq, the report added. ***************************************************************** 21 Las Vegas SUN: Reid has plan to leave coal in the dust August 05, 2007 Push for renewable energy in state seen as high risk, high reward By Phoebe Sweet and Lisa Mascaro Las Vegas Sun In the week since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would do everything he could to block three proposed coal-fired power plants in Nevada, this much can be said: He probably can carry off his threat, especially since they would be constructed on federal land. Just look at how he has stalled a waste repository at Yucca Mountain, where so much more is at stake for the nuclear power industry, which is clamoring for a place to bury radioactive fuel rods. Environmentalists are embracing Reid's bold pronouncement, welcoming the high-profile addition to their campaign to shift the country away from fossil fuels at a pivotal moment. But as the Democrat joins a growing chorus of politicians and environmentalists trying to distance the nation from coal, skeptics say he is putting his own state at risk because the nascent alternative-energy industry isn't ready to take on all of Nevada's energy needs. Doug Fischer, a utilities analyst with the investment firm A.G. Edwards, said coal opponents, including Reid, could "put us in a bind where we're not going to have the energy we need." "The Al Gores and Harry Reids of the world need to get real with how we're going to deal with our need for power," Fischer said, "because we're not going to get there solely with conservation." The utility industry simply scoffs at the notion that Nevada could be the first state powered mainly by renewable energy: wind, solar and geothermal. "To go cold turkey and say we're going to do it all with renewables right now? You could never bring the amount of resources on in the time necessary," said Tom Johns, senior vice president of development for Sithe Global, the power developer proposing a 750-megawatt coal-fired plant in Lincoln County. Power plant builders LS Power and Dynegy Inc. also proposed a 1,590-megawatt coal plant outside Ely in White Pine County, one valley over from a proposed 1,500-megawatt Sierra Pacific Resources plant. Through two subsidiaries, Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific, the company provides power to Southern Nevada and the Reno area, and is regulated by the state, unlike the other three developers, who would sell their power on the open market. The three plants would create enough power for almost 3 million homes. So an ideological joust is under way, the outcome of which could turn Nevada into the greenest state in the nation - or leave it energy-starved. On the one hand is Reid, the latest voice urging dramatic measures to battle global warming. On the other hand is the conventional power industry, emphatic that today's coal plants are not your father's pollution monsters and are needed to keep the lights on. Ray Lane, a former chief operating officer at Oracle Corp. who now represents clean energy companies at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said, "What's happening in this battle is going on in just about every state ... What do you do as a politician? Do you come out strongly in allowing the power needs to be met through coal or do you say renewables are ready?" In a letter to Nevada's three coal plant developers, Reid laid out a vision - one observer called it a manifesto - of an energy independence plan for the state. He calls for systematically abandoning coal in favor of conservation measures and enough renewable energy generation to power 4 million homes by 2024. The three power plants in Reid's cross hairs would produce 35 million tons of polluting carbon emissions, the key culprit in global warming, each year. As he has on other issues, Reid seemed to seize the stage for no clear reason other than he believed the time had come. Reid has long agitated for renewable energy development in Nevada, but the issue has taken on a sense of urgency as Americans awakened to the repercussions of global warming. The senator is also a great tactician. He timed his anti-coal message as Congress is deeply engaged in energy policy debates and lawmakers are preparing for what could be a showdown this fall on global warming. Reid essentially set down one of the boldest markers yet in the energy debate: If the Senate majority leader can kick coal, maybe other lawmakers could think about it, too. But that's not his objective, Reid told the Sun. His plan to eliminate dependence on coal, he said, "has nothing to do with the nation. My involvement in Nevada has everything to do with Nevada. I think that we have a worldwide problem, a nationwide problem, and I don't want a Nevada problem. As Congress tackles global warming, he said , getting rid of Nevada's dependence on coal "is only one part of it." Keith Martin, who co-heads the energy finance group at Chadbourne & Parke in Washington, sees the senator's position as part of the arc of coal's journey this past year. Coal, once the reliable workhorse of the energy industry by supplying half the nation's power, is now its bad actor. Utilities have abandoned plans for coal plants in Florida, Texas and other states. As they factor in the enormous costs of pollution-control technology, potential legislation limiting greenhouse gas emissions and public opposition, the bottom line no longer makes sense. "You'll look back on the year and Reid is just another voice that's consistent with what's coming out of Washington," Martin said. But what sets Reid apart from other pro-green voices is his ability to kill plans for Nevada's three coal power plants. Witness his efforts to derail a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Reid has staved off construction of the nuke dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas for decades using stall tactics and budget maneuvering. His strategy to fight the power companies could be similar - bleed the coal projects of the federal government support they need to plug in. For example, he could introduce legislation to block federal agencies from spending money to permit the plants. Or he could offer bills requiring that new utility development include a sizable amount of renewables. But unlike its stance on the nuclear dump, the state's political class is not united behind Reid's plan to kill coal. Gov. Jim Gibbons has said he supports coal as a component of a diverse energy portfolio and an economic development measure for rural Nevada, despite a petition by seven environmental groups last week asking him to suspend permitting of new coal-fired power until a cap is in place on the amount of carbon dioxide plants could emit. And Reid's Nevada colleague in Washington, Republican Sen. John Ensign, supports the proposed coal plants and vowed to fight Reid, doing "whatever we can do to try to make sure the process is fair. "It's kind of like the idea, 'Do cars pollute today?' Yes, but they pollute a lot less than cars of yesterday," Ensign said. "These are new power plants with new technology coming on line that will pollute a lot less." Utility executives remain confident. Last week Sierra Pacific Resources Chairman Walt Higgins, whose company is proposing a plant in White Pine County, told investors and Wall Street analysts that Reid is trying to influence state and national policy. Reid indicated no intention to participate directly in the Sierra Pacific plant's approval process, but simply to oppose plants that don't store the greenhouse gases emitted by coal-burning plants. Higgins said his plant will store greenhouse gas once technology is available. Coal plant developers say they support renewable energy development as one piece of the energy picture. LS Power's plans for a White Pine County plant include a 500-mile transmission line that would connect Northern and Southern Nevada's power grids for the first time, which the company believes would stimulate renewable energy development near their plants. "We understand that there is a need for a push for renewable resources. But at the same time we don't think that replaces the need for coal-fired power generation," said Eric Crawford, director of project development for LS Power. State regulators say they embrace alternative energy, but worry that Reid's plan goes too far. Jo Ann Kelly, chairwoman of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, said that with 1,000 megawatts of new electric demand under construction on the Strip, an increasing population in Southern Nevada and utility plans to retire older coal plants by 2013, the state needs to take advantage of every power generation method - including coal. "I don't want anyone to think we didn't look at the issues of greenhouse gas emissions," Kelly said. But she said she is sure the state needs at least one more coal power plant. Sierra Pacific generates 19 percent of its power from coal. Nine percent comes from renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency programs. "We know solar works. We know geothermal works. We know wind works. What's the risk?" Reid spokesman Jon Summers said. "We should be asking, 'What's the risk of building another dirty coal plant?' "We need to look beyond today and into the future," Summers said. "That's what his vision does - both from an environmental perspective and looking down the road to Nevada's economic future." Venture capitalists, who have more than tripled their renewable energy investments to $4 billion in recent years, are measuring the effect of Reid's alternative-energy challenge. Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, said that although "one statement is not going to change the way we invest," Democratic leadership in Congress has "made it very clear there needs to be a major change in energy policy." Sun reporter Mary Manning contributed to this story. Phoebe Sweet can be reached at 259-4127 or at ps@lasvegassun.com. Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com. All contents 1996 - 2007 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Clarion-Ledger: Full funding for Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility vital - C.T. Carley Special to The Clarion-Ledger The myth persists among some politicians and media pundits that the nuclear waste problem is unsolvable and growing and pushing the cost of electricity through the roof - all of which is served up as fodder for those in Congress who are dedicated to stopping the growth of nuclear power. In fact, the reality is that the overwhelming consensus among engineers and scientists is that nuclear waste can be stored indefinitely in an underground repository. As for safety, all of the nation's nuclear power plants together produce about 2,000 metric tons of spent fuel annually. This spent fuel is not waste; it contains valuable uranium and plutonium that one day will be recycled to provide new reactor fuel for electricity production. Those materials that cannot be recycled, including high-level waste from the military defense program, will need to be disposed of at the Yucca Mountain facility. Cumulatively, nuclear power plants - in more than 40 years of operation - have produced about 57,000 metric tons of spent fuel, which would cover a football field to a depth of six yards. This spent fuel is being stored safely at Grand Gulf and about 100 other nuclear plants around the country. Nuclear electricity is currently being produced in the United States at an average of about 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour, which is less than the cost for power plants that burn natural gas or coal. And nuclear plants don't pollute the air or emit global warming gases. Although it is hardly a new problem, government funding for licensing and construction of the Yucca Mountain repository remains an issue. Since passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, users of nuclear-generated electricity have committed more than $29 billion to the Nuclear Waste Fund. Mississippi alone has contributed over $180 million, and Tennessee, $400 million. But less than $10 billion has been spent on the Yucca Mountain project. The rest of the money has gone into the U.S. Treasury to pay for other federal programs, and a 1998 deadline for the government to take possession of the spent fuel has passed without the shipment of a single rod. Now that nuclear power has strong support from President Bush, the budget request for fiscal 2008 includes $494.5 million for the Yucca Mountain project. But the Senate Appropriations Committee has sliced nearly $50 million from the request, even though it is considered the bare minimum needed. The full Senate and House ought to insist on keeping funds for Yucca Mountain at the requested level and direct the Department of Energy to establish an interim facility for spent fuel storage in the Nevada desert until the underground repository opens. Experience shows that spent fuel can be shipped safely. Since the early 1960s, the nuclear industry has transported more than 10,000 spent fuel assemblies without incident to temporary storage sites. The notion that Yucca Mountain will be a "dump" for spent or nuclear waste is absurd. You don't throw away thousands of tons of spent fuel that will be recycled once non-proliferating technology for reprocessing is perfected. Nor do you simply seal the repository and walk away. Rather the repository will remain open for at least 300 years, so that experts can continuously monitor the facility to ensure it is working as designed. And at some point the spent fuel will be removed for reprocessing. In the meantime, interim spent fuel storage at a central location would show that progress is under way toward resolving the nuclear waste issue, which would help facilitate construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants. Ultimately, this will enable nuclear power to play a central roll in reducing America's reliance on foreign oil and combating global warming. C.T. Carley, Ph.D., P.E., of Starkville is professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Mississippi State University. E-mail: ctcarley@bellsouth.net to The Clarion-Ledger. 2007 The Clarion-Ledger ***************************************************************** 23 IPS-English JAPAN-US: Peace Activists Warn of Ongoing Nuclear Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:54:15 -0700 ROMAIPS NA AP HD IP PR 05 NU JAPAN-US: Peace Activists Warn of Ongoing Nuclear Threat Emma Winterbottom NEW YORK, Aug 6 (IPS) - Sixty-two years ago Monday, the U.S. bomber Enola Gay descended from the skies above the Japanese city of Hiroshima to drop an atomic bomb, ironically nicknamed Little Boy, to devastatingly large affect. Three days later, on Aug. 9, 1945, the city of Nagasaki became victim to the same fate as Fat Man plummeted from the U.S. B29 Superfortress. The Radiation Effects Research Foundation admits the validity problems of statistics about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but estimates that 90,000 to 140,000 acute deaths occurred after Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 after Nagasaki (acute describes deaths two to four months after the bombing). The difficulty of accurately determining the death toll from the two nuclear bombs is due to a number of factors, but mainly because many deaths occurred months and even years after the initial event due to radiation poisoning. Criticism of the actions of the United States and then President Harry S. Truman's decision to drop the bombs has also been said to hinder the reporting of the event. What is evident is that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were two mammoth occurrences of death and destruction. They are also unique, as they comprise the only instances where nuclear weapons have been used in warfare. This fact caused the events to be surrounded by horror and controversy, as science and war seemed to have reached a new level, extending beyond anything that humankind had ever seen before. SuZen, founder and co-director of the Universal Peace Initiative, a New York-based organisation formerly known as Art for the People, believes the bombings changed the whole world. This opinion is shared by many, including Anne Gibbons of CODEPINK NYC, who describes the attacks on the Japanese cities as a stain on history that left her horrified. For these reasons many feel it is of extreme importance that the anniversaries of the bombings are commemorated and not slowly erased from the history books. Cities around the United States held events to mark the anniversaries. Manhattan made its own contribution to the cause by conducting a number of activities this past weekend and the coming week. Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, delivered a thought-provoking presentation at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, based in Manhattan. Gagnon spoke of the need to accelerate nuclear disarmament and stop the weaponisation of space. He conceded the difficulties of achieving these aims, suggesting that governments are becoming more corporate and pouring money into their militaries, but proposed potential responses. Emphasis was placed on the importance of local and grassroots initiatives and how communication between them could build success. The Adult Education, Peace Task Force, and Nuclear Disarmament groups at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, and Peace Action New York State, and CODEPINK NYC sponsored the event. Universal Peace Day on Sunday started with an afternoon peace concert at the Central Park Bandshell. Featured performers attending from both the U.S. and Japan included Kathleen Chalfant, Shinji Harada, Ray Korona Band, Laraaji, Robin Greenstein and Moogy Klingman. The New York Buddhist Church then hosted a commemoration ceremony, lead by Reverend T.K. Nagagaki of the New York Buddhist Church and attended by Hiroshima survivor Koji Kobayashi, among others. It included a screening of the film The Lost Generation, and chiming of the bells at the exact moment of the bombing of Hiroshima (7:15pm local time). The memorial service also featured readings of messages from the present mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tadatoshi Akiba and Tomihisa Taue. Akiba's words, spoken by Tak Furumoto, were particularly moving as he described the horrific deaths and how survivors were plagued with misery as they struggled day after day questioning the meaning of life. A silent candlelit walk led the congregation on to the final location of Universal Peace Day at the Riverside Church where an interfaith service, hosted by Randi Rhodes of radio station Air-America, was conducted. The events acted as commemorations for Hiroshima and Nagasaki but also sought to educate the attendees about the ongoing dangers of nuclear weapons. Cheryl Wertz, the executive director of Peace Action New York State, suggests that though Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only cases in history of nuclear weapons being used in warfare, there is nothing to say it will remain this way forever. It is a common misconception that the threat of nuclear war ended with the Cold War. That's simply not true, particularly with Iran, Wertz said. SuZen also observes the poignancy of commemoration in 2007, post-Vietnam, post-9/11, mid-Iraq, referring to the condition and insanity that the world is in now. Her thoughts were shared by Reverend Nakagaki: The world is doing a lot of chaotic things, he said. Sponsors of both events urged that steps be taken so that contemporary society does not forget the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the risks that nuclear warfare still pose to civilisation today. Hiroshima's mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba, directed criticism at the United States, among other countries, this weekend at a Japanese ceremony held at the Peace Memorial Park, close to ground zero where the bomb was dropped. The Japanese government, which has the duty to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons through international law, should protect its pacifist constitution which it should be proud of, and clearly say 'No' to antiquated and wrong U.S. policies, he said. Bruce Gagnon also spoke to the U.S. people, asking them to look away from their modern, consumer-driver society and take note of the life-threatening nuclear situation, and the U.S.'s role in it. There is something more important than material consumption, he said. There is something more important than the name on your business card, and that is the future of our planet. ***** + DISARMAMENT: US-India Nuke Deal May Spark Asian Arms Race (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38744) + POLITICS: South Sceptical of North Korean Assurances (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38674) + ENERGY: Nuclear Power No Panacea, Critics Say (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38575) (END/IPS/NA/AP/IP/PR/HD/NU/EW/KS/07) = 08070353 ORP004 NNNN ***************************************************************** 24 Marking Hiroshima Anniversary, Ban Ki-moon Calls For Elimination Of Nuclear Weapons Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 18:01:25 -0400 New York, Aug 6 2007 6:00PM On the 62nd anniversary of the worlds first-ever atomic bomb attack, which devastated the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the occasion serves as a powerful reminder of the efforts necessary to halt nuclear proliferation. Today, our challenge as it was for the founders of the United Nations is to make the world safer for succeeding generations, Mr. Ban said in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11116.doc.htm">message, delivered by Sergio de Queiroz Duarte, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, to the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan. This requires us to continue to work towards a world free of nuclear dangers, and ultimately, of nuclear weapons. Mr. Ban stressed the pressing nature of nuclear proliferation, and noted that the nuclear threat has been compounded by terrorists attempts to acquire weapons and materials. He paid special tribute to the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who, along with their predecessors, have promoted the Mayors for Peace initiative which now has support from over 1,600 mayors in 120 countries for the last quarter century. It has not only helped inform millions of people around the world of the catastrophic effects of the nuclear attacks of 1945, the Secretary-General said of the programme, which has also drawn attention to the dangers that cities would face with any future use of such weapons. He paid tribute to the memory of Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old when Hiroshima was attacked by the bomb and died a decade later from the atom bomb disease. Before her death, she folded one thousand origami peace cranes and her words This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world. is inscribed under her statue in the Hiroshima Peace Park. We must do all we can to turn back the tide of nuclear proliferation, and ensure that Sadakos experience is never repeated, Mr. Ban said. 2007-08-06 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ _______________________________ To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/ ***************************************************************** 25 [NYTr] Hiroshima Day: Demand No More Nukes, No More War Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 11:28:58 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by Ed Pearl [Here's a delicious quote on the widening of Bush's eavesdropping, but also applicable to the monstrous 'defense' budget, just passed: (thanks to NY Transfer) "In my country, we have two parties. The stupid party, of which I am a member, and the evil party, which we oppose vehemently. Sometimes my party wins, in which case we get lots of stupid legislation. Sometimes the other party wins, in which case we get lots of evil legislation. Occasionally, the parties act together in what we call 'bipartisanship,' in which case we get legislation which is both evil and stupid." -unattributed. ] Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice, http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ August: Demand No Nukes, No Wars, No Profiteers! Sixty-two years after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bombs on two densely populated cities, killing more than 200,000 civilians, nuclear weapons remain a cornerstone of U.S. national security policy. Today, the U.S. retains about 10,000 nuclear weapons, is designing new ones, and is pouring billions of dollars into its nuclear weapons complex, while warning Iran that "all options are on the table." Who is threatening whom? On the occasion of the August anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, join with groups across the country who are working to expose the escalating threat to the world posed by U.S. nuclear hypocrisy, and to confront the corporations that are perpetuating and profiting from a worldwide nuclear crisis and the wars in the Middle East. Some of this month's highlights include the Widening War Tour (http://www.august6.org/node/233), featuring Hiroshima survivor Yuko Nakamura, that stops in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Florence, MA; nonviolent direct actions at the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (http://www.august6.org/events); and the Think Outside the Bomb youth conference in Santa Barbara (http://www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org). Here's what you can do to prevent future Hiroshimas and Nagasakis throughout August and beyond: 1. Visit August6.org to locate or post events, download action and education resources, and learn more about the nuclear facilities and war profiteers that operate near you. 2. Cast your "vote" for the elimination of nuclear weapons by printing out, filling in and mailing copies of the unofficial ballot to the Department of Energy and public officials. http://www.august6.org/vote 3. Email your senators to demand that they reject the Bush administration's plan to build new nuclear weapons. http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/issues/alert/?alertid=10128026 4. Host the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's traveling "Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-bomb Exhibition." http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/images_e/poster/us07.html 5. Organize a video screening or house party. http://www.august6.org/screen_videos We especially encourage you to take advantage of the August HBO premiere of Academy Award-winner Steven Okazaki's powerful new film, White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The critically acclaimed documentary features 14 Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors and is a remarkable document of the only times nuclear weapons have been used in war. Organize a house party or community screening and discussion -- if you don't get HBO you can order a special community screening DVD from UFPJ (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/whitelightblackrain). Download a White Light/Black Rain Discussion Guide (http://www.august6.org/discussion_guide) or a ND Action Tool Kit (http://www.august6.org/tool_kit) to help focus the discussion on the current nuclear threat and what people can do about it. This call was initiated by the United for Peace & Justice Nuclear Disarmament Working Group (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/disarm) and Bite the Bullet: War Profiteering Education & Action Network (http://www.bitethebullet.us). At the same time that we are calling for actions focusing on nukes and war, the Occupation Project (http://www.occupationproject.org is calling for nonviolent civil disobedience to end the war in Iraq, and both these calls are part of the larger United for Peace and Justice campaign that runs from early August to the end of October (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3733). MORE AUGUST PEACE & JUSTICE ACTIVITIES * Aug. 13-18: California call-in days http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=114 * Aug. 19: March Through the Arch in St. Louis, MO http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/march.htm * Aug. 25: People's March for Peace, Equality, Jobs & Justice in Newark, NJ http://www.peaceandjusticecoalition.org * Aug. 25: Rally & March for Peace, Kennebunkport, ME http://www.kportprotest.org/ * Click here to find more peace & justice events in your area: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php * ================================================================= .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 ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 26 Daily Yomiuri: Peace declaration by Hiroshima mayor The following is an official translation by the Hiroshima municipal government of the text of a speech delivered by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima: That fateful summer, 8:15 a.m. The roar of a B-29 breaks the morning calm. A parachute opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, an enormous blast--silence--hell on Earth. The eyes of young girls watching the parachute were melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking help dangled from their fingernails. Their hair stood on end. Their clothes were ripped to shreds. People trapped in houses toppled by the blast were burned alive. Others died when their eyeballs and internal organs burst from their bodies--Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the dead. Within the year, 140,000 had died. Many who escaped death initially are still suffering from leukemia, thyroid cancer, and a vast array of other afflictions. But there was more. Sneered at for their keloid scars, discriminated against in employment and marriage, unable to find understanding for their profound emotional wounds, survivors suffered and struggled day after day, questioning the meaning of life. And yet, the message born of that agony is a beam of light now shining the way for the human family. To ensure that "no one else ever suffers as we did," the hibakusha [atomic-bombing survivors] have continuously spoken of experiences they would rather forget, and we must never forget their accomplishments in preventing a third use of nuclear weapons. Despite their best efforts, vast arsenals of nuclear weapons remain in high states of readiness--deployed or easily available. Proliferation is gaining momentum, and the human family still faces the peril of extinction. This is because a handful of old-fashioned leaders, clinging to an early 20th century worldview in thrall to the rule of brute strength, are rejecting global democracy, turning their backs on the reality of the atomic bombings and the message of the hibakusha. However, here in the 21st century the time has come when these problems can actually be solved through the power of the people. Former colonies have become independent. Democratic governments have taken root. Learning the lessons of history, people have created international rules prohibiting attacks on noncombatants and the use of inhumane weapons. They have worked hard to make the United Nations an instrument for the resolution of international disputes. And now city governments, entities that have always walked with and shared in the tragedy and pain of their citizens, are rising up. In the light of human wisdom, they are leveraging the voices of their citizens to lift international politics. Recognizing that "cities suffer most from war," Mayors for Peace, with 1,698 city members around the world, is actively campaigning to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020. In Hiroshima, we are continuing our effort to communicate the A-bomb experience by holding A-bomb exhibitions in 101 cities in the United States and facilitating establishment of Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Courses in universities around the world. American mayors have taken the lead in our Cities Are Not Targets project. Mayors in the Czech Republic are opposing the deployment of a missile defense system. The mayor of Guernica-Lumo is calling for a resurgence of morality in international politics. The mayor of Ypres is providing an international secretariat for Mayors for Peace, while other Belgian mayors are contributing funds, and many more mayors around the world are working with their citizens on pioneering initiatives. In October this year, at the World Congress of United Cities and Local Governments, which represents the majority of our planet's population, cities will express the will of humanity as we call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The government of Japan, the world's only A-bombed nation, is duty-bound to humbly learn the philosophy of the hibakusha along with the facts of the atomic bombings and to spread this knowledge through the world. At the same time, to abide by international law and fulfill its good-faith obligation to press for nuclear weapons abolition, the Japanese government should take pride in and protect, as is, the Peace Constitution, while clearly saying no to obsolete and mistaken U.S. policies. We further demand, on behalf of the hibakusha, whose average age now exceeds 74, improved and appropriate assistance, to be extended also to those living overseas or exposed in "black rain areas." Sixty-two years after the atomic bombing, we offer today our heartfelt prayers for the peaceful repose of all its victims and of Itcho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki shot down on his way toward nuclear weapons abolition. Let us pledge here and now to take all actions required to bequeath to future generations a nuclear-weapon-free world. Tadatoshi Akiba Hiroshima Mayor The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 27 Daily Yomiuri: Survivors remember loved ones To a background of singing cicadas, people prayed for the souls of victims of the atomic bombing and renewed their vows to achieve peace Monday, at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and other places. Looking up at the sky from the Hatchobori commercial district in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, atomic bomb survivor Tetsushi Yonezawa, 72, of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, said: "Here I am. This is where my life began." At the time of the bombing, Yonezawa--then a fifth-year primary school student--was riding a streetcar with his 36-year-old mother Shizuko on their way home from an evacuation facility. The train car was packed with about 100 people, and Yonezawa was sandwiched among adult passengers in the middle of the car. As the car approached Fukuya Department Store, about 750 meters east of the epicenter, Yonezawa saw a flash and heard an unusual sound. Seconds later, he saw windows blown out and people nearby covered in blood, screaming for help. He escaped the train with his mother, stepping over people lying on the floor. They passed through the burning town and arrived back at their evacuation facility, where their hair began falling out and they developed a high fever--the aftereffects of exposure to nuclear radiation. Yonezawa's mother died on Sept. 1 that year. His 1-year-old sister followed shortly after. Although she was not exposed to radiation, she probably died from drinking her mother's milk. Twenty years after he left Hiroshima to attend university, Yonezawa learned that Akira Ishida, who chaired a national association of teachers who survived the atomic bombing, had been on the same train. At Ishida's invitation, Ishida, Yonezawa and five other survivors of the bombing organized a get-together in 1985 to talk about their experiences related to the bombing and their life after the war. However, many of the participants died of cancer, and the meetings were discontinued in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the bombing. Ishida, who often said to Yonezawa, "You and I are the only ones left," died, too, in 2003. Believing that his life had been saved by the adult passengers around him on the streetcar, Yonezawa has spoken about his experience of the bombing for more than 30 years. "As a witness to the bombing, I want to speak on behalf of victims and relay their anger and shock and mourn them in public as long as I live," he said. === Sister's death acknowledged In a hospital near the Peace Memorial Park at 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb exploded, patient Genshin Takashita, 84, of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, calmly brought his hands together to pray for his younger sister Ikue, who was 19 when she was killed in the bombing. After 62 years, Takashita had only recently confirmed where his sister died. "I could see you again at last. I hope you'll rest in peace," Takashita said in memory of his sister. The day after the bombing, Takashita, who was serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy, went to Hiroshima from Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture, where his unit was stationed. Although Takashita found his mother, he could not find his sister, who had been working at the Hiroshima Daiichi Army Hospital about a kilometer away from the epicenter. Although he saw an announcement of her death sent by the Imperial Japanese Army, he could not accept it. In May, he found by chance a cenotaph along a river in Naka Ward for victims related to military hospitals in Hiroshima. Among the 742 names, he found his sister's name. She had died while on duty. "You're here! I've been looking for you so long! Forgive me for taking so long to find you," he thought. He ran his trembling fingers over the inscription of her name in the cenotaph's copper plate, remembering how gentle she was. Since then, Takashita has offered water to the cenotaph every morning. He also planted a hydrangea nearby as a tribute to her and visited the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims to register her as a victim. He felt her death had been acknowledged publicly at last. Takashita wanted to attend this year's peace memorial ceremony, but was unable to make it as he has been hospitalized since late July. "I'll definitely attend next year," he vowed. The Yomiuri Shimbun. ***************************************************************** 28 MDN: Hiroshima Peace Declaration 2007: Aim for a nuclear weapon-free world - MSN-Mainichi Daily News August 7, 2007 A woman places a memorial in front of the cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Park in Hiroshima on Monday, the 62nd anniversary of the city undergoing the world's first atomic attack. (Mainichi) Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba gave the city's 2007 Peace Declaration early Monday morning, the 62nd anniversary of the world's first nuclear attack. An English translation of Akiba's declaration is reproduced in full below: That fateful summer, 8:15 a.m. The roar of a B-29 breaks the morning calm. A parachute opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, an enormous blast -- silence -- hell on Earth. The eyes of young girls watching the parachute were melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking help dangled from their fingernails. Their hair stood on end. Their clothes were ripped to shreds. People trapped in houses toppled by the blast were burned alive. Others died when their eyeballs and internal organs burst from their bodies -- Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the dead. Within the year, 140,000 had died. Many who escaped death initially are still suffering from leukemia, thyroid cancer, and a vast array of other afflictions. But there was more. Sneered at for their keloid scars, discriminated against in employment and marriage, unable to find understanding for profound emotional wounds, survivors suffered and struggled day after day, questioning the meaning of life. And yet, the message born of that agony is a beam of light now shining the way for the human family. To ensure that "no one else ever suffers as we did," the hibakusha have continuously spoken of experiences they would rather forget, and we must never forget their accomplishments in preventing a third use of nuclear weapons. Despite their best efforts, vast arsenals of nuclear weapons remain in high states of readiness -- deployed or easily available. Proliferation is gaining momentum, and the human family still faces the peril of extinction. This is because a handful of old-fashioned leaders, clinging to an early 20th century worldview in thrall to the rule of brute strength, are rejecting global democracy, turning their backs on the reality of the atomic bombings and the message of the hibakusha. However, here in the 21st century the time has come when these problems can actually be solved through the power of the people. Former colonies have become independent. Democratic governments have taken root. Learning the lessons of history, people have created international rules prohibiting attacks on non-combatants and the use of inhumane weapons. They have worked hard to make the United Nations an instrument for the resolution of international disputes. And now city governments, entities that have always walked with and shared in the tragedy and pain of their citizens, are rising up. In the light of human wisdom, they are leveraging the voices of their citizens to lift international politics. Because "Cities suffer most from war," Mayors for Peace, with 1,698 city members around the world, is actively campaigning to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020. In Hiroshima, we are continuing our effort to communicate the A-bomb experience by holding A-bomb exhibitions in 101 cities in the US and facilitating establishment of Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Courses in universities around the world. American mayors have taken the lead in our Cities Are Not Targets project. Mayors in the Czech Republic are opposing the deployment of a missile defense system. The mayor of Guernica-Lumo is calling for a resurgence of morality in international politics. The mayor of Ypres is providing an international secretariat for Mayors for Peace, while other Belgian mayors are contributing funds, and many more mayors around the world are working with their citizens on pioneering initiatives. In October this year, at the World Congress of United Cities and Local Governments, which represents the majority of our planet's population, cities will express the will of humanity as we call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The government of Japan, the world's only A-bombed nation, is duty-bound to humbly learn the philosophy of the hibakusha along with the facts of the atomic bombings and to spread this knowledge through the world. At the same time, to abide by international law and fulfill its good-faith obligation to press for nuclear weapons abolition, the Japanese government should take pride in and protect, as is, the Peace Constitution, while clearly saying "No," to obsolete and mistaken U.S. policies. We further demand, on behalf of the hibakusha whose average age now exceeds 74, improved and appropriate assistance, to be extended also to those living overseas or exposed in "black rain areas." Sixty-two years after the atomic bombing, we offer today our heartfelt prayers for the peaceful repose of all its victims and of Iccho Itoh, the mayor of Nagasaki shot down on his way toward nuclear weapons abolition. Let us pledge here and now to take all actions required to bequeath to future generations a nuclear-weapon-free world. Hibakusha: Hope for a time when nuclear weapons are no longer used Hibakusha: Creating good from evil -- survivors after the war Hibakusha: Little girl's courage hits a homer with baseball champ Harimoto Hibakusha: One step forwards, two steps back Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Photo Gallery Hibakusha: Confronting the reality of atomic devastation Hibakusha: Preserving a true message August 6, 2007 Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 sacbee.com: Remembering Hiroshima: Solemn memories - Atomic bomb survivors pray and receive honors from Japan as they recall the loss of loved ones 62 years ago. By Lakiesha McGhee - Bee Staff Writer Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, August 6, 2007 Tokiko Okano, 86, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, prays at a Buddhist commemoration in Sacramento of the wartime event. Sacramento Bee/Bryan Patrick Survivors of the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima 62 years ago gathered Sunday in Sacramento to remember a day too hard to forget. On the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, Tokiko Okano was outside her home in Hiroshima during World War II when United States air forces dropped a nuclear weapon on the city. Her husband, Hiroyoshi Tsukwaki -- a soldier in the Japanese army -- was at work. "He didn't get burned, but I could see his bones poking through his back," Okano said of finding her husband in the rubble. Okano's husband died, along with her brother, who was severely burned, and an estimated 140,000 other people. Survivors in Hiroshima roamed the streets with singed hair and skin peeling from their bodies, Okano said. Shocked by the devastation, Okano said she could not speak for several months. "I hope this never happens again," said Okano, 86, who now lives in Sacramento. She recalled the events while sitting in the chapel at Buddhist Church of Sacramento Betsuin. A memorial service was held there Sunday to commemorate Japanese Americans, age 80 and older, who survived the nuclear bombing. Yuzan Fujita, governor of Hiroshima prefecture, sent special certificates to Okano and other Sacramento-area survivors Alfred Dote, Isamu Kobata and Satsuki Yamamoto. It was a somber ceremony, but one marked by hope for peace. About 100 people at the Buddhist ceremony chanted the three Sacred Vows of Dharmakara's pledge, which includes becoming a great provider and saving the poor and suffering. Incense was offered to pay tribute to the deceased. Takanori Okuda, consul of the San Francisco Japanese Consulate, talked about the difficulties faced by the Japanese after World War II and efforts to rebuild cities and their relationship with the United States. "I believe it is our duty to make sure that the achievements of our predecessors are handed on to our children's generations," Okuda said. "As we gather today to pray for the peace of the departed souls, we also pledge our commitment to the Japanese American community and to the friendship between Japan and the United States." But current events stifling peace were not forgotten. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the following conflict in Iraq are frightening reminders of the devastation of war, the Rev. Bob Oshita said. "Peace at this time may seem like an impossible dream," Oshita said, as he urged people to have more patience and tolerance for each other. "World peace begins with your peace of mind and forgiveness." Organizers of the memorial service said there are about 30 survivors from Hiroshima living in the Sacramento area. Many shared stories about their survival and the relatives and friends they lost. Masaaki Tademaru, 71, of Sacramento said he was fishing at a pond six miles outside of Hiroshima when he saw a "big shine in the sky" and a mushroom cloud hovering over the city. Tademaru rode his bicycle home, looking for his mother. Her body was never recovered, he said. For Okano, Aug. 6, 1945, is a day she will never forget. "I was fortunate to be able to outlive all of this," Okano said. About the writer: * The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee can be reached at (916) 321-1121 or lmcghee@sacbee.com. Commendations from the governor of Hiroshima prefecture were given to four survivors Sunday. Sacramento Bee/Bryan Patrick Copyright The Sacramento Bee 2100 Q St. P.O. Box 15779 Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 321-1000 ***************************************************************** 30 SFGate: 62 years after atomic bombings, the nuclear threat is bigger than ever Early this morning, more than 40,000 people gathered at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. military's dropping of the atomic bomb on that city in southwestern Japan, an attack that led to the ending of World War II. Toru Hanai/Reuters Doves flew over the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, this morning, where visitors had a view of the gutted A-bomb dome At 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945, American forces dropped a single bomb (named "Little Boy") on Hiroshima that "killed more than 140,000 people and fatally injured tens of thousands of others with radiation or horrific burns." (Herald Sun, Australia) Three days later, a U.S. military plane dropped a second atomic bomb (dubbed "Fat Man") on the southern Japanese city of Nagasaki. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's data on the two atomic bombings, "[a]s with the estimates of deaths at Hiroshima, it will never be known for certain how many people died as a result of the atomic attack on Nagasaki. The best estimate is [that] 40,000 people died initially, with 60,000 more injured. By January 1946, the number of deaths probably approached 70,000, with perhaps ultimately twice that number dead total within five years." Today, some 251,000 survivors of the atomic attacks (known as "hibakusha" in Japanese) live within and outside of Japan. Most are in their seventies. Activists representing the hibakusha have demanded more and better assistance from the Japanese government for their health-care and other needs. (Asahi Shimbun) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended this year's Hiroshima commemoration ceremonies. In a speech, he stated: "I have strengthened my determination not to repeat this tragedy....I want to renew my promise to maintain the non-nuclear principles..." Abe was referring to the Japanese government's long-standing policy of "refusing to possess, produce or allow the entry of nuclear weapons on its soil." Last year, though, after North Korea tested an atomic weapon, some of Abe's more conservative advisers "called for Japan to at least study going nuclear...." (Herald Sun) Toru Hanai/Reuters Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered a commemorative wreath before the cenotaph for the atomic-bomb victims at the park in Hiroshima However, "going nuclear" would be "sacrilege to many people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki" and to many other Japanese, too. In his remarks to the crowd assembled at his city's Peace Memorial Park today, Hiroshima's mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba, "denounced nuclear powers for maintaining their weapons, mentioning the United States by name." Akiba said: "Human beings are still faced with the crisis of destruction because a limited number of outdated leaders turn their back on the reality of the atomic bombings and the messages of survivors." He also stated: "The government of Japan must say no to the policy of the United States, which is outdated and a mistake." Asahi Shimbun notes that Akiba's remarks "clearly reflected his concerns about recent developments in Japan, although he did not explicitly refer to them." The Japanese daily reports: "Some lawmakers have openly argued that Japan should possess nuclear arms amid moves by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to revise pacifist Article 9 of the [postwar, U.S.-imposed, national] constitution so as to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense." In an editorial today, the Japan Times notes that this year's anniversary of the atomic bombings "comes amid circumstances not necessarily favorable for abolishing nuclear weapons....North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006, has shut down its plutonium-producing reactor and other facilities at Yongbyon, and accepted International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. But it is unclear when it will complete its next-stage commitments under the Feb. 13 six-party deal to declare all its nuclear programs and disable all its nuclear facilities. Iran is refusing to stop its program to enrich uranium, thus retaining the potential to obtain weapons-grade material." Toru Hanai/Reuters Some of the more than 40,000 people who gathered in Hiroshima today to remember the victims of the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945 The U.S. under its self-styled "war president," George W. Bush, Jr., isn't helping to tone down the nuclear threat either, the Japanese daily notes. Its editorial adds: "The United States and India have agreed on broad terms for U.S. resumption of sales of civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India and virtual admission of India into the nuclear club. Although the deal provides for international supervision of India's nuclear fuel cycle, it could undermine the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty regime, which India has refused to join." Considering how hot-headed India and its neighbor, Pakistan, have been toward each other for so long, can - or should - India be trusted with the big bomb? Meanwhile, Pakistan, Bush, Jr.'s well-funded (by U.S. taxpayer dollars) ally has already proven itself incapable of protecting nuclear secrets. (See the case of the infamous Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who in 2004 "confessed to leaking nuclear secrets" and "took full responsibility for proliferating nuclear weapons to Iran, Libya and North Korea." (BBC)) The Japan Times concludes with words of caution for any Japanese government that might rush to beef up the nation's defenses by going nuclear. It advises: "At a time when the [world's] nuclear powers do not seem interested in nuclear disarmament, and nuclear weapons appear to be proliferating, the Japanese can play a meaningful role. But the fact that some Asian people regard the atomic bombings as having ended Japan's aggression against them should not be forgotten. The atomic bombings, in a sense, were the culmination of the war process that began with Japan's aggression against China. To gain support in Asia and elsewhere for elimination of nuclear weapons, Japan should not try to dilute its responsibility for its wartime behavior." Posted By: Edward M. Gomez (Email) | August 06 2007 at 11:12 AM Listed Under: Asia-Pacific, Defense, India, Iran, Japan, National security, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Pakistan, United States, Wars, Weapons | Comments (1) : Post Comment Comments ***************************************************************** 31 Reuters: Japan remembers Hiroshima | U.S. Mon Aug 6, 2007 9:44AM EDT By Toru Hanai HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan marked the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing with a solemn ceremony on Monday as the city's mayor criticized the United States for refusing to give up its nuclear weapons program. Tens of thousands of elderly survivors, children and dignitaries gathered at the Peace Memorial Park, near ground zero where the bomb was dropped, to remember the more than 250,000 people who ultimately died from the blast. "Even to those who managed to survive, it was hell where they envied the dead," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told the crowd, describing scenes from the bombing such as charred faces and torn clothes. In a speech followed by the release of 1,000 white doves into the sky, Akiba singled out the United States for failing to halt nuclear proliferation. "The Japanese government, which has the duty to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons through international law, should protect its pacifist constitution which it should be proud of, and clearly say 'no' to antiquated and wrong U.S. policies." The crowd bowed their heads for a moment of silence as two children rang the Peace Bell at 8:15 a.m., the same time the Enola Gay B-29 bomber dropped the bomb on the western Japanese city on August 6, 1945. The United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the southern city of Nagasaki on August 9. Six days later, Japan surrendered. This year's anniversary followed outrage by local residents over remarks by Japan's former defense minister that had appeared to condone the bombings. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized on Sunday to survivors in Hiroshima over the comments by Fumio Kyuma, who had said the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "couldn't be helped" because they brought World War Two to an end. Continued... ***************************************************************** 32 CNN.com: Atomic bomb survivors share stories in HBO film - There's apparently enough emotional scar tissue built up to allow the television premiere of "White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" on Monday (7:30 p.m. Eastern), 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. It ended World War II. 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, Sheila Nevins, head of HBO's documentary unit, said. Steve Okazaki's 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 dates back to the early 1980s, when Okazaki agreed to accompany his sister to a San Francisco, California, area meeting of bomb survivors for a school project she was doing. Watch Steve Okazaki talk about making the movie » Everyone at the meeting agreed Okazaki should make a film about their stories. Other movies about this event 1970s film "Hiroshima Mon Amour" 1989 film "Kuroi ame (Black Rain)" 1946 book "Hiroshima" by John Hersey 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. He instead made a more personal film, "The Mushroom Club," figuring his dream was dead. That's 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. 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. "The story about the survivors of this has been told many, many times," Van Kirk, 86, said about Okazaki's film. "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 it 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. Other than documenting the horror of war, the film carefully takes no sides on the morality of dropping the bomb. Okazaki even refuses to say how he personally feels about it. Something Okazaki found mystifying, and a barrier to his research, was the lingering stigma faced by bomb survivors in Japan. Perhaps it's because they remind Japanese of a time they'd 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'd talk was a woman who now lives in the United States. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All ***************************************************************** 33 Japan Times: Abe pledges to review rules for A-bomb health support japantimes.co.jp Web Monday, Aug. 6, 2007 HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised Sunday to review the government's contentious criteria for recognizing whether atomic bomb survivors suffer from radiation disease and are thus eligible for special medical allowances. "Regarding the criteria for recognizing (radiation disease sufferers), I will have the government consider reviewing it on the basis of the judgment of experts," he was quoted as saying. The groups have been pushing for the government to review the criteria following a series of court rulings that have backed their contention the screening process is overly stringent and has prevented deserving hibakusha from receiving the medical subsidies. Atomic bomb survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver ailments. But of the 251,834 people who have been certified as hibakusha as of March 31, the government has recognized only 2,242 as having illnesses caused by radiation from the atomic bombings, according to Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry data. During the meeting, Abe also apologized for controversial remarks by former Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, who before he resigned angered A-bomb survivors by suggesting the bombings were justified because they ended the war. "I apologize for Mr. Kyuma's remarks that resulted in hurting the feelings of hibakusha," Abe was quoted as saying. Kyuma was forced to step down as defense minister in early July after saying in a speech, "I understand the bombing brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped." The remarks outraged hibakusha and others who took them as suggesting the atomic bombings were justified. It was the first time a prime minister has met with the groups since Junichiro Koizumi did so in 2001. Abe initially had no plan to meet with them but changed his mind after his party's stunning defeat in the July 29 House of Councilors election. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and other leaders of the groups had asked for the meeting, particularly after Kyuma's comments in late June. The Japan Times ***************************************************************** 34 AFP: Japan vows against nukes on Hiroshima anniversary - Monday August 6, 02:02 PM HIROSHIMA, Japan (AFP) - Japan vowed on Monday never to seek atomic weapons and urged nuclear powers to give up their own arsenals 62 years after the world's first nuclear attack on Hiroshima. Some 45,000 people recited silent prayers at 8:15 am, the exact moment in 1945 when a single US bomb instantly killed more than 140,000 people and fatally injured tens of thousands of others with radiation or horrific burns. Under a scorching sun, people across the western city stopped and observed a minute's silence as a bell echoed at a memorial park, where survivors in their 70s and 80s gathered. "I have strengthened my determination not to repeat this tragedy," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said against the backdrop of the famous A-bomb dome, a former exhibition hall burned to a skeleton by the bomb's heat. "I want to renew my promise to maintain the non-nuclear principles," Abe said, referring to Japan's policy of refusing to possess, produce or allow the entry of nuclear weapons on its soil. Some of the conservative premier's top aides last year called for Japan to at least study going nuclear after arch-rival North Korea tested an atomic bomb. Going nuclear is sacrilege to many people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was flattened by a nuclear bomb that killed another 70,000 people three days later. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba on the anniversary denounced nuclear powers for maintaining their weapons, mentioning the United States by name. "Human beings are still faced with the crisis of destruction because a limited number of outdated leaders turn their back on the reality of the atomic bombings and the messages of survivors," Akiba said. "The government of Japan," he said, "must say no to the policy of the United States, which is outdated and a mistake." Japan has been officially pacifist since its defeat in World War II and turned into one of the closest US allies, hosting more than 40,000 US troops. Abe has vowed to rewrite the US-imposed pacifist constitution, although his plans received a major setback last week when his party lost key elections. Abe's government also faced a backlash in June after his defence minister appeared to justify the nuclear attacks, saying they hastened Japan's surrender and prevented the Soviet Union from seizing large parts of the country. The minister, Fumio Kyuma, apologised and resigned over the remarks, which are similar to arguments made by US proponents of the decision to use nuclear weapons. Abe on Sunday apologised to atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima for Kyuma's remarks, saying they hurt their feelings. Some 251,800 survivors of the two atomic bombs were alive as of March 31, with their average age 74.6, according to the government. The Hiroshima mayor called for Japan to take the lead in opposing nuclear weapons. "The government of Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, should learn humbly from the reality of the attacks and spread the philosophy of the survivors," Akiba said. The mayor also mourned the death of his counterpart in Nagasaki, Iccho Ito, a staunch anti-nuclear campaigner who was gunned down in April by a gangster. ***************************************************************** 35 MDN: 'Die-in' staged in front of A-Bomb Dome on anniversary of Hiroshima bombing - MSN-Mainichi Daily News August 7, 2007 Participants lie on the ground acting dead during the die-in protest in front of the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on Monday. HIROSHIMA -- About 200 people took part in a 'die-in' in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on Monday, the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bomb attack on the city, praying for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The participants lay on the ground pretending to be dead during the gathering, which began at 8:15 a.m., the time that the atomic bomb was dropped over the city. Lying on the asphalt, which had been dampened by morning rain, they quietly prayed for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Eiji Jo, a 66-year-old participant, said he wanted to reflect on the past. "I want to reflect on the fact that we have peace now because of many sacrifices in the past," he said. (Mainichi) Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Photo Gallery August 6, 2007 Have your say in the MSN-Mainichi Daily News Readers' Forum Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 36 MDN: Hibakusha: Struggling to protect peace - MSN-Mainichi Daily News August 7, 2007 Hiroshi Maruya (Photo by Tsuyoshi Nishimura, Mainichi Shimbun)@ "A temporary setback, nothing more," says Hiroshima Kyoritsu Hospital honorary director Hiroshi Maruya, 82, of the July 29 House of Councillors election's effect on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to amend the Constitution. "I doubt the momentum (towards amendment) has been stopped." The political situation today, Maruya feels, is at a critical juncture. Parties designed to protect the war-renouncing Constitution have not been successful in the election. Public opinion is wavering. There's no telling what might happen. Power in the hands of authorities willing to use it to the limit can be terrifying. In June 1960 protesters opposed to a pending revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Pact demonstrated for days on end, surrounding the Diet building and shouting slogans. The Prime Minister at the time was Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandfather. Maruya, then working as a doctor in Tokyo, joined the protesters whenever a pause in his schedule allowed. The crowd was overwhelming; it was a human wave. Even so, the rebellion was crushed. Maruya has good reason to dwell on the events of 1960. A University of Tokyo student, Michiko Kanba, was killed in the melee. The following day Maruya was handed a notebook by the deputy director of his hospital. This was the autopsy report -- page after closely written page. "We must resolve the ambiguities concerning the cause of death," said the deputy director. Maruya hurried off to talk to the doctor who had performed the autopsy. The medical opinion was that the victim had choked to death after being hit hard in the stomach with a blunt instrument. No sooner was it released than the police came in for heavy criticism -- which the government promptly brushed aside, insisting the victim had fallen and been crushed to death. "I spoke to her parents," recalls Maruya. "They said, 'We want to know the truth about our daughter's death.' The expression on their faces -- it was so intense. I've never forgotten it." Assigned 30 years ago to the Hiroshima Kyoritsu Hospital, Maruya has examined some 1000 hibakusha. He continues to document their suffering. "An insult to the hibakusha," he says furiously of remarks by influential politicians to the effect that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, or that the atomic bombings were justified. At times it may seem a lost cause, but Maruya is determined that Japan not become a nation capable of waging war. Japan's identity as a "peaceful country" has become somewhat tattered lately, but Maruya's resolve remains as firm as ever. (By Noboru Ujo, Mainichi Shimbun) Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 37 DOE: Statement from Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on the Passage of H.R. 2776 and H.R. 3221 August 4, 2007 "Today the House passed legislation that does little to increase our nation's energy security or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the bills will actually lead to less domestic oil and gas production and increased dependence on imported oil. Because H.R. 2776 and H.R. 3221 fail to deliver American consumers or businesses more energy security, but rather would lead to higher energy costs and higher taxes, the Presidents senior advisors would recommend that he veto these bills. As the full Congress considers this legislation, I urge them to implement President Bush's Twenty in Ten Initiative that will reduce gasoline usage 20 percent in ten years and put America on a path towards a stronger, cleaner energy future." Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 2776 and H.R. 3221 Media contact(s): Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 38 Hanford News: Reach director says she'll make center more than just a museum This story was published Friday, August 3rd, 2007 Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer The Hanford Reach Interpretive Center will be more than a museum under the guidance of Executive Director Kimberly Camp. It'll be a community focal point and gathering place that Camp hopes will inspire people to learn about local history, culture and science. The Richland Public Facilities District voted July 16 to hire the 51-year-old native of Camden, N.J., to oversee development and operation of the interpretive center, known as The Reach, at a yearly salary of $137,000. Camp will start the job sometime in September, said Georganne O'Connor, a spokeswoman for The Reach. The $40.5 million project is intended to serve as a gateway to the Hanford Reach National Monument, as well as highlight the natural history of the region and Hanford's role in ending World War II and winning the Cold War. Camp was in the Tri-Cities on Thursday looking at houses and getting familiar with the community she soon will call home. She said she didn't expect to be hired for the job, but was intrigued enough to apply. "Whether you believe in guardian angels, spirits, or God ... something steered me," she said. Camp is an earthy woman who speaks with the cadence of a poet and exudes the calm confidence of someone who knows where she's been and exactly where she wants to go. She's fought her share of battles as director of The Experimental Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution from 1989-94, president of the Museum of African American History in Detroit from 1994-98, and most recently as president and chief executive officer of The Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa., from 1998 until 2005. When Camp took over The Barnes Foundation and its $70 billion art collection, the organization was in a shambles, she said. "It had a $3.3 million defect. There were no financial controls. There was thievery going on," she said. She spent much of her time there waging legal battles with neighbors of the chateau housing The Barnes' extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. Local residents wanted to restrict the hours the foundation could operate and how many people could visit the collection per week, but they also fought when the foundation's board wanted to move the collection to nearby Philadelphia, where it could be more easily accessed by the public. Camp said she spent so much time in court, she was asked to serve on a judicial selection advisory committee for the federal Third Circuit Appellate Court. By the time her contract was expiring in late 2005, she felt ready for a change. She looked at possible jobs from Canada to Miami, but the job at The Reach was the first one that felt right. "After I left The Barnes, it took time to figure out what I wanted my life to look like," she said. "It took until about three weeks ago to figure out it looked like here." She'll spend her first 30 days at The Reach getting to know the staff, board members and the community so everyone with a stake in the center can collaborate on a strategic plan. She's interested in finding ways to give diverse local governments, scientists, schools, Native American tribes and the large Hispanic population a voice in The Reach. "Organizations fail when they try to follow the vision of one person," she said. "Organizations succeed when they follow a shared vision." She also wants to provide children with hands-on educational experiences with lasting effects. "It has a deeper, more intimate effect when they see the evidence of it," Camp said. "It not only educates them, but moves them so they learn." © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 Knoxville News Sentinel: Oak Ridge cleanup a work in progress Officials say a lot has been accomplished already, but there's still much left to do By Frank Munger (Contact) Monday, August 6, 2007 OAK RIDGE — No one knows exactly when the Oak Ridge cleanup will be completed or what the ultimate price tag will be, but the responsible parties hope to at least have the goals on paper — along with specific timetables for the work — by 2016. At this point, even that is uncertain. “There’s a great deal to be decided,” said John Owsley, who oversees the cleanup work for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. “It’s extremely difficult because you are making decisions for many future generations.” For example, the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors recently completed a series of multilayered caps on old nuclear landfills — covering 145 acres — in Melton Valley near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The project cost millions of dollars and took several years to complete, but it’s only considered an “interim” action. Even though early results are encouraging, it will take at least a few years before environmental regulators decide whether the project is truly effective in reducing leaks. The elaborate system, which diverts rainwater from the underground waste zones and monitors the runoff, is supposed to stem the off-site migration of radioactive materials buried there over decades — beginning with the World War II Manhattan Project. Even if the Melton Valley caps do their job, allowing much of the radioactivity to decay in place over the next century or so, there still is the question of long-lived nuclear elements — so-called transuranics — that will remain radioactive for thousands, even millions, of years. Owsley said about 5 percent of the radioactive material buried in Melton Valley falls in that category. That’s consistent with findings in a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. If DOE pushes a plan to make the landfill caps a final action, the state may require some sort of “assured funding” to protect people indefinitely from potential hazards there, Owsley said. “The risks will never go away,” he said. Other difficult decisions are on the horizon. DOE currently is seeking approval of a multiyear project — known officially as the Integrated Facilities Disposition Program — that would dismantle more than 200 old buildings at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Although that giant project recently passed the initial stage of approval, establishing “mission need” for the work, it could be years before Congress provides the big bucks necessary to bring those buildings down and to clean up the mess. And, until the dirty buildings are gone, it’s impossible to fully evaluate the contamination in the soil underneath these Cold War production sites and assess the associated problems in the groundwater. Harold Taylor, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said there is an informal dispute over some groundwater issues on DOE’s 33,000-acre Oak Ridge reservation. “In general, EPA feels groundwater needs to be restored to beneficial reuse — to the extent practicable,” Taylor said. The EPA official said the Oak Ridge geology is complicated, which has required lengthy studies of the pollution plumes, and he acknowledged that there’s a lot of room for discussion when determining what’s feasible and what isn’t. “We’re trying to work with them (DOE), but where do you stop sampling and when do you start doing something about it?” Taylor said. “We believe we’re at a point where we can move forward with some of those plumes.” The EPA has proposed a “treatability study” to better evaluate cleanup options for the groundwater, he said. Taylor said a number of projects were put on the backburner a few years ago when the EPA, the state and DOE signed an accelerated cleanup agreement. The agreement was designed to bring more money to Oak Ridge over a shorter period to get key projects completed, including the dismantlement of the massive K-25 uranium-enrichment plant. Work on K-25, however, got delayed because of safety problems and technical issues, and Taylor said it’s important to “dust off” plans for other projects to make sure the cleanup momentum isn’t lost. Steve McCracken, DOE’s environmental manager in Oak Ridge, said he couldn’t quantify how much remains to be done, but he emphasized that a lot has been accomplished already. “We have made significant progress,” he said, noting that billions of dollars have been invested in Oak Ridge cleanup programs over the past 20 years. “There is a lot of work yet to be done. The important thing is to do it right,” McCracken said. Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the Local Oversight Committee, which reviews activities for local governments, called the work to date “a good start” by DOE and its contractors. “They have attacked some of the worst actors first, as it should be, but it’s not anywhere near the whole of the enormous Cold War legacy,” she said. That’s why it is important to get future cleanup commitments on paper for all to see, Gawarecki said. It’s also important to get the public more involved in decision-making. “I think there’s more apathy than in past years,” she said. Gawarecki said she wants to see what type of remediation the regulators propose for Bear Creek Valley, an area where the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant dumped its uranium wastes for decades. Another longstanding issue that still demands attention is the mercury contamination at Y-12. The East Fork Poplar Creek, which originates on Y-12 property and flows through the west side of Oak Ridge, has been posted as a health hazard since November 1982. Numerous cleanup projects have been successful to varying degrees, including soil removal in the creek’s floodplain and a new treatment system that cut the annual mercury discharges in half — from 8 kilograms to 4 kilograms. State officials are pleased with those results, but so far, there hasn’t been a similar reduction in mercury levels in the creek’s fish, Owsley said. So, the warning signs will remain for the foreseeable future, he said. Most everyone agrees that the biggest challenge facing the Oak Ridge cleanup program may be funding. “You’re talking about a lot of money to finish Oak Ridge,” Taylor said. “Everybody wants to get it done as expeditiously as possible but all this is subject to budgets and priorities.” Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 40 Oak Ridger: Hundreds protest Y-12 work - Story last updated at 12:23 am on 8/6/2007 By: John Huotari | john.huotari@oakridger.com Scott Fraker/Staff A peace demonstrator holds a sign protesting nuclear weapons during the annual demonstration outside the gate of the Y-12 National Security Complex Saturday afternoon. Law enforcement officers guard the Y-12 entrance. Click to view all photos Several hundred protesters met in Oak Ridge on Saturday, objecting to nuclear weapons production work at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Five people were arrested at Y-12’s main entrance on Scarboro Road for obstructing a public roadway, part of an annual act of civil disobedience. This year, they chained themselves together and to a barricade, holding a sign that read, “Our New Hope: A World Without Nuclear Weapons.” “We have come to have our voices heard,” Maryville resident Erik Johnson said at an earlier rally at A.K. Bissell Park, where protesters enjoyed music, food and a puppet show. “People ... want the gifts of human resources channeled toward goodness for the well-being of all human life and the care of the Earth — rather than for the building of weapons of mass destruction.” Johnson is a member of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which has been leading the peace protests at Y-12 for 19 years. The protests are held annually around the anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Uranium enriched at Y-12 helped fuel that bomb, the first atomic weapon used in wartime. Coming from as far away as Sweden, protesters said the United States is violating international law and disregarding the U.S. Constitution by helping to make bombs at Y-12 rather than pursuing disarmament. “The work here contradicts our commitment to the (Nuclear) Non-proliferation Treaty,” said Ralph Hutchison, OREPA coordinator. The protesters drummed, chanted, and carried signs and flags down South Tulane Avenue and South Illinois Avenue on their way from A.K. Bissell Park to the Y-12 entrance. Along the way, they scattered sunflower seeds, symbolizing their hopes for an end to the international nuclear arms race. The five people arrested on Saturday were: • Mary Dennis Lentsch, 70, of Oak Ridge; • Elizabeth Velkey Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C.; • Mary Ellen Gondeck, 66, of Detroit, Mich.; • William Thomas Hickey, 62, of Detroit, Mich.; and • Billie Jo Hickey, 58, also of Detroit. All except Gondeck were taken to the Anderson County jail. Some of Saturday’s protesters had walked or biked from Asheville, N.C., while others had run from Columbus, Ohio. It took protester Lena Feldman more than three days to bike about 170 miles from Asheville. Her motivation? “My desire to see actual disarmament instead of just refurbishment going on at Y-12,” Feldman said. She called Y-12 a “crime scene” for its effects on the environment and human spirit, as well as public health, and she said refurbishing nuclear weapons motivates other countries to arm themselves. For their part, Y-12 officials said they are proud of the work they do, including that done on nuclear non-proliferation as well as disarmament work aimed at reducing weapons stockpiles. “We’re helping to ensure the national security,” said Steve Wyatt, National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman. NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, oversees Y-12. Wyatt said the nation still needs a reliable, safe nuclear deterrent. | © 2004 The Oak Ridger | Conditions of Use ***************************************************************** 41 LocalNews8.com: Step Two Of Reactor Removal Complete Idaho Falls, Pocatello - Back in July, the Idaho Cleanup Project removed the outside shell of the engineering test reactor by blowing it up. This method saved both time and money. Now, step two is to get rid of the building which the reactor is kept. August 3, 2007 workers with Idaho Cleanup Project used two bulldozers and two heavy trucks to pull down this building. The reactor that sits inside was built back in 1956, and served it's purposes until 1982 as the largest and most advanced material test reactor in the world. It's removal is being marked a major milestone for the INL and Idaho Cleanup Project. "Friday went exceptionally well. It was completed safely. The crews worked well together like a well choreographed dance out there," says Jason Casper, project manager. After the debris is cleared from the area, the team will prepare for the next phase of demolition. Workers will lift the 135 ton reactor vessel and take it to a disposal facility at the INL site designed for cleanup waste. The lift plan to get the reactor out from under the ground is scheduled for this fall. All content Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KIFI. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************