***************************************************************** 08/27/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.201 ***************************************************************** 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 NUCLEAR REACTORS 1 The Hindu: No empty threat - Brinda Karat 2 AU ABC: Richmond candidate plays down nuclear station threat 3 Times of India: Govt quotes energy study to push nuke deal 4 Radio Prague: IAEA head says: Temelin nuclear power plant is safe - 5 US: Burlington Free Press: Tentative deal in hand, union workers at 6 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Strike averted at VY 7 Slovak Spectator: SE continues preparing for nuclear plant completio 8 AFP: Finnish fish, mushrooms still toxic from Chernobyl - 9 Expres: Indo-US nuke deal will cost country dear 10 US: NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Pl 11 US: AlterNet: The Nuclear Industry's New Shill: Christie Todd Whitma 12 US: Telegraph: Fluor and Toshiba to build new US power stations - 13 Bruce A. Roth: India and the New Nuclear Era 14 NewsRoom Finland: Fennovoima narrows nuclear site search to five 15 icWales: Nuclear power plan could hit taxpayers 16 icWales: Burning questions on nuclear power 17 icWales: Many burning questions to answer on nuclear power 18 Sydney Morning Herald: N-power without weapons possible: Blix - 19 US: Free Press: Astonishing tower collapse screams "No New Nukes!!" NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 20 [DU-WATCH] AZ Daily Star: Cancer in Iraq vets raises possibility of 21 US: [NYTr] Bush Gets Away with Lies, Lies and More Lies in History-I 22 [NYTr] Colombia: FARC Won't Free Hostages, Says Reyes 23 US: Columbus Dispatch: Neighbors of atomic plant get judge's OK 24 US: Guardian Unlimited: Armed Guard Found Asleep at Nuke Plant 25 US: Seattle Times: Hanford workers report symptoms after waste spill NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 26 US: IPS-English AUSTRALIA: 'Uranium Sales May Fuel Asian Arms Race' 27 US: The Hindu: Uranium sales to India could accelerate arms race - B 28 US: AU ABC: Evans slams yellowcake sale plans - 29 AU ABC: Nuclear partnership won't lead to waste dump - Downer - 30 US: Charlotte Observer: Attorney general wants tougher standards for 31 US: WIStv.com: Attorney general wants tougher standards for nuclear 32 AU: The Age: Nuclear, ethanol on Bush-Howard agenda - PEACE 33 Moscow News: Russia Resumes Bomber Patrols 34 RIA Novosti: Bulava missile not ready for mass production 35 Reuters: Belarus May Get Nuclear Weapons 36 Daily Times: Pakistan will maintain ‘nuclear parity’ in South Asia, 37 Daily Times: NPT won’t be signed - FO 38 Reuters: Only diplomacy can avert bombs in Iran row - Sarkozy 39 Reuters: Russia says bombers not flying with nuclear weapons 40 Reuters: U.S, Russia must unite to fight weapons of mass destruction US DEPT. OF ENERGY 41 DOE: DOE to Make Available up to $33.8 Million to Support 42 Tri-City Herald: Lampson lifting frame for vit plant passes test 43 Tri-City Herald: Oregon officials oppose adding radioactive waste at 44 New Mexico Business Weekly: Environment Department seeks comment on 45 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL, Y-12 pitch in to conserve power ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 The Hindu: No empty threat - Brinda Karat Monday, Aug 27, 2007 Special Correspondent UPA government accused of violating coalition “dharma” AHMEDABAD: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member, Brinda Karat, on Sunday said her party was “extremely serious” on the nuclear deal and its demand for not “operationalising” the deal should not be taken as an “empty threat.” Talking to mediapersons here, Ms. Karat, who was on a day’s visit to Gujarat to discuss the party’s strategy for the coming elections to the State Assembly and other issues, said the CPI(M) had all along taken the stand that India should maintain an independent foreign policy and its sovereignty could not be allowed to be undermined through any agreement. She said the Common Minimum Programme for the Congress-led UPA government was formulated in 2005 on the same premises that it would not pursue the foreign policy of the previous NDA government, which was pushing India into the U.S.-led block. “Ball in Congress court” Reiterating that the “ball is in the Congress court,” Ms. Karat said her party want the present government to continue for the full term, provided it agreed to strictly follow the Common Minimum Programme and did not deviate from the “set rules.” She said the CPI(M) even had no problem with the Indian representative attending the annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scheduled next month, but the government should not put any “India-specific” agenda at the meeting. Claiming that no country in the world except China was buying the U.S. nuclear reactors, Ms. Karat said the millions of dollars of the American business houses were at stake on the deal. In addition, the U.S. could also make India its base for military operations in the South-East Asia if the deal was put through. She accused the UPA government of violating the “dharma” of coalition and said it should be able to honour the viewpoints of all its partners and those supporting from outside. She disagreed that her party had anything to do with the BJP and said the CPM could not be bracketed with the BJP which had “changed its stand” on the nuclear deal “while we have maintained our consistent stand.” She declined to answer a question on the possibility of a mid-term Parliamentary election stating that it was a “hypothetical scenario.” She hinted that at least the current session of Parliament scheduled up to September 14 would go on unhindered when the government was expected to take up two important Bills one on the unorganised labour and the other on women’s reservation. Her party was looking forward to both the Bills, she said. Gujarat elections Ms. Karat said her party would contest the Gujarat elections on its own but was yet to finalise the number of candidates it intended to put up. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 2 AU ABC: Richmond candidate plays down nuclear station threat ABC North Coast Posted August 27, 2007 08:37:00 The Nationals' candidate for the north-eastern New South Wales federal seat of Richmond, Sue Page, says the electorate's geological make-up should ensure it is never the site of a nuclear power station. Federal Government ministers have called for a plebiscite on the locations for power stations. Dr Page says the region's geology, pristine environment and the strength of community feeling against nuclear power, should mean it is a non-issue for the time being. "I think when you look at Richmond we've got a couple of issues. We've got a very rapidly growing population, but we've got a very strict tension against protecting our environment areas," she said. "It's very unlikely, I would think, geologically speaking we would be chosen as a nuclear site, and I think that there are certainly very strong community feelings about protecting our pristine environment." Tags: electricity-energy-and-utilities, nuclear-issues, federal-government, nuclear-energy, lismore-2480 ***************************************************************** 3 Times of India: Govt quotes energy study to push nuke deal 28 Aug 2007, 0111 hrs IST,Bhaskar Roy,TNN NEW DELHI: Determined to go ahead with the nuke deal brushing aside the Left objection, the government has projected the findings of a study claiming that nuclear power in the long run will be cheaper than thermal electricity. Telling the Left on Monday to be content with the 'concessions'— likely to be announced during the Parliament debate — the government made no bones about its resolve to push the deal through various stages. Its experts said that nuclear energy was the future because of its advantages over conventional sources of fuel. "Nuclear power will be cheaper than that from the thermal plants at a distance of 800 km from the coal mines; it’s the preferred fuel since it does not have any greenhouse gas emission," said economist Kirit Parikh, Planning Commission member dealing with the government’s energy policy. Explaining that reprocessing of spent fuel could lead to augmentation of energy manifold, Parikh said, "10,000 MW of nuclear power means 50 million tonnes of less coal transported. "Minister for science and technology Kapil Sibal — a vocal proponent for the 123 Agreement — endorsed Parikh’s views. "From a meagre 3,700 MW of nuclear power today, we will increase the capacity to 20,000 MW by 2020," he said. Looking at the many possibilities of the nuke deal, Sibal saw the entry of the private players into the nuclear power sector. "Through joint ventures, we will be able to build nuclear reactors; in future India can be a supplier of nuclear power to other countries," he said. Sibal is optimistic about the nuclear deal opening up opportunities for new technology in areas like agriculture, medicine, bio-sciences and IT. "The 9% growth has led to a tremendous spurt in the demand for energy,"he said. The government, which has promised CPM and CPI leaders the much talked-about mechanism to address their concerns, is likely to take this line of argument during the Parliament debate on the 123 Agreement. bhaskar.roy@timesgroup.com Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 Radio Prague: IAEA head says: Temelin nuclear power plant is safe - [27-08-2007] By Daniela Lazarova Listen 16kb/s ~ 32kb/s The drawn-out Czech-Austrian dispute over the Temelin nuclear power plant in south Bohemia, located just sixty kilometers from the Austrian border, took a new turn over the weekend when the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Muhammad El Baradei threw his weight fully behind the Czech Republic. In an interview for Monday's edition of the Austrian paper Profil Mr. El Baradei said that Temelin posed no danger to the environment and indicated that the plant's opponents in Austria were obsessed with its existence rather than concerned about its safety. Muhammad El Baradei The interview was bad news for Austrian anti-nuclear activists who had been pushing their government to take the Temelin dispute to an international court. Earlier this year the Austrian government commissioned a legal study to assess its chances of winning such a dispute. The verdict was - practically none. Now, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency - Nobel Peace Prize winner - Muhammad El Baradei has confirmed this opinion. "I do not have the slightest fears for Temelin and I can say so with a clear conscience since I live in Austria," Mr. El Baradei told the paper, advising Austrians to stop focusing on the plant's existence and focus instead on its safety. The head of the Czech Agency for Nuclear Safety Dana Drabova said while she welcomed Mr. El Baradei's statement she did not hold out much hope that it would bring to an end the seven year long dispute over Temelin. Dana Drabova "Mr. El Baradei based his statement on the results of more than twenty expert missions conducted under the IAEA umbrella in the course of the last fifteen years to assess various aspects of the plant's safety so I would say that his knowledge concerning the safety of Temelin is pretty robust. However, I do not really hope that it will quiet the storm of emotions among upper Austrian anti-Temelin activists. There are very strong emotions in play there and it is very hard to make a rational, pragmatic assessment under such circumstances. But nevertheless, Mr. El Baradei's statement is another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of the overall assessment of Temelin which suggests that Temelin may not be a star among power plants but that it is a perfectly normal power plant that does not endanger anyone." Temelin The upper Austrian anti-nuclear association Atomstop is not convinced. Its activists say they plan to renew blockades of the common border as of mid-September and will persist in their efforts to get the nuclear power plant closed down. The blockades - which were recently expanded to all Czech-Austrian border crossings - have put increasing strain on Czech-Austrian relations, with Prague insisting that Vienna guarantee the right of free movement across the border. On a semi-official visit to the Austrian capital last week President Klaus attempted to diffuse the tension - saying that the Temelin dispute should not be overly dramatized and expressing the belief that time - and the pro-nuclear energy trend in Europe - would eventually heal the breach. Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99 Prague 2, Czech Republic tel: +420-2-2155 2900, fax: +420-2-2155 2903 © Copyright 1996-2007 Radio Prague, All Rights Reserved E-mail: cr@radio.cz ***************************************************************** 5 Burlington Free Press: Tentative deal in hand, union workers at Vermont Yankee vote  burlingtonfreepress.com | Burlington, Vermont Monday, August 27, 2007 By DAVE GRAM Associated Press Writer MONTPELIER — Six days after rejecting a contract offer, union workers at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant were to cast ballots Monday on a new deal with plant owner Entergy Nuclear. The vote, by about 157 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 300, came after negotiators worked into the night Friday to reach a tentative contract and avert a possible strike. George Clain, the union’s business manager, wouldn’t disclose details of the tentative agreement before the ratification vote. An earlier tentative agreement was rejected by union members in a vote last Tuesday. On Wednesday, the union gave Entergy the required 72 hours notice that a strike was possible if a new deal was not reached by 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Vermont Yankee workers have complained that they are the lowest-paid in the nuclear industry. They also have complained about being asked to pay more for health insurance and that their retirement benefits were being reduced. Plant spokesman Larry Smith didn’t immediately return a call about the union vote Monday. If the union rejects the contract offer again and can’t get further concessions from Entergy, the union might step up pressure in part by “discussing some of our safety concerns that we’ve heard through these negotiations. ... We’re taking a very active role on some of these issues that have come up during these negotiations,” Clain said. He declined to specify what the concerns were, saying he wanted to talk first with state regulators and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency had a special team assigned to monitor Vermont Yankee in the event of a strike and make sure the plant is properly staffed. The first vote came the same day as the collapse of one of 22 towers used to cool water taken from the Connecticut River before it is returned to the river. The water is used to cool plant components. By week’s end, state officials had ruled out sabotage or terrorism as a cause. The plant has been reduced to half its usual 610-megawatt power output while repairs are under way. Copyright ©2007 Burlingtonfreepress.com All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 6 Brattleboro Reformer: Strike averted at VY By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Monday, August 27 BRATTLEBORO -- A strike by union employees at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant was averted late Friday night after Entergy announced it had reached a second tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The first agreement, reached last week, was rejected by the 157 members Tuesday, who said it didn't do enough to protect retirement benefits, forced them to pay too much for medical benefits and had a wage package that didn't keep up with cost of living increases. Union representatives and Entergy went back to the negotiating table Wednesday and, aided by a pair of federal mediators, were able to hammer out a second contract, on which union members will vote Monday. Union employees account for about one-third of those who work at the power plant in Vernon, which has operated since 1972. Recently, Entergy received approval to increase the power level of its boiling water reactor in order to create more electricity. Entergy also has an application before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend its license for Yankee from 2012 to 2032. Earlier this month, the NRC announced it had found the plant's extended operation would have no significant environmental impacts. Its final decision is expected early next year. Details of the new contract won't be available until union members vote on and accept it. If it is rejected a second time, the union must notify Entergy 72 hours before it plans to take a work action, such as walking off the floor. The tentative contract averted a strike that was scheduled to occur at 3:30 today. Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273. ***************************************************************** 7 Slovak Spectator: SE continues preparing for nuclear plant completion Volume 13, Number 33 August 27 - September 02, 2007 The power producer Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) is continuing its preparations for the completion of the construction of the third and fourth reactors of the Mochovce nuclear power plant (EMO). The power company has announced another tender for a supplier for the construction project. The supplier will provide technical means of physical protection. Potential bidders can enrol in the tender by September 14, and they can collect tender documents by September 5. The winner of the tender is expected to be announced in the middle of October. -SITA Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings. Copyright © 1998-2007 The Rock spol. s r.o. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 AFP: Finnish fish, mushrooms still toxic from Chernobyl - Mon Aug 27, 2:25 PM ET HELSINKI (AFP) - Twenty-one years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, fish and mushrooms in parts of Finland are still toxic due to radioactive fallout, Finnish authorities said on Monday. The concentration of cesium-137 exceeded the EU maximum recommended level in 20 percent of fish and more than half of the mushrooms tested in 2005 by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira. The tests were conducted in the lakes and region around Vammala, 230 kilometers (145 miles) northwest of Helsinki in southwestern Finland -- the Finnish area most affected by the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986. Radioactivity levels reached nearly three and a half times the maximum recommended level in fish and up to nine times the maximum in mushrooms, with significant variations depending on where the tests were carried out and other factors. Seventeen percent of fish also had elevated levels of mercury. Finnish authorities recommend consumers eat lake fish no more than once or twice a month -- expectant mothers are advised to stay away from pike entirely during their pregnancy -- and to wash mushrooms well before eating. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 9 Expres: Indo-US nuke deal will cost country dear The Indian Express Monday , August 27, 2007 CPI national council secretary says farmers’ suicides and cost of electricity on rise here in State Vadodara, August 26: Terming the crucial September 19 IAEA board of governors’ talks in Vienna as deciding-day for the UPA government at Centre, Communist Party of India national council secretary Shameem Faizee said its alliance with UPA would come to an end if it goes ahead with safeguarding talks at Vienna. He was in Vadodara on Sunday to address the state CPI council meet. All four Left parties, Faizee said, stand by their opposition to the Indo-US nuclear agreement. He was responding when asked about controversy over Indo-US nuke deal, with the government’s Left allies and opposition NDA rejecting the agreement and demanding urgent freeze on it. Though India has garner support from the other countries at the IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), its no smooth sailing for UPA at domestic front. Faizee said they consider the deal ‘anti-national’ and country will pay heavy price for it. He said Primer Minister Manmohan Singh’s August 13 statement in Parliament and subsequent US reaction had raised serious questions of PM being not entirely aware of details of the N-deal. Faizee said,”The UPA-Left Coordination Committee has not formally met since November past and there appears no enthusiasm on either to revive it. We want government not to make the deal operational.” He said NDA had prepared groundwork for the deal and now UPA is going ahead with it. In yet another anti-UPA move, the Left will take two different ‘Visakhapatnam Yatra’ to protest against a joint military exercise by India, US, Japan, Australia and Singapore (Malabar CY 07-2) in Bay of Bengal, almost in China’s backyard, beginning September 4. Faizee said the two Yatra, one beginning from Chennai and another from Kolkata, would be culminating at Visakhapatnam on September 8 where a large-scale protest is being planned on last day of Malabar CY 07-2. He said Centre need to rethink over from whom do we have threat — Pakistan and China or Nepal and Maldives. Commenting on the political scenario of State, Faizee said, last five years were of utter anarchy and the image of past Gujarat is no longer among people. He said that farmers’ suicides and farm power cost on rise here in state. To protest against N-deal, he said, district level agitations are being planned on September 6, 7, and 8 across Gujarat. © 2007: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 10 NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant News Release - Region IV - 2007-031 - 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 John Kirkland as a resident inspector at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant. The plant, operated by the Omaha Public Power District, is located near Omaha, Neb. “John Kirkland’s experience and commitment to safety will help the NRC ensure that Fort Calhoun conducts operations with the highest safety standards to protect public health and safety,” said NRC Region IV Administrator Bruce S. Mallett. Kirkland holds a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University. A native of Zargosa, Spain, he is a 1981 graduate of Bellevue West High School in Omaha. A veteran of the nuclear navy, Kirkland worked as a reactor design engineer at Black & Veatch. He joined the NRC in 2004 where he has worked as a project engineer in the Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. He joins another resident inspector assigned to Fort Calhoun and can be reached at (402) 426-9611. 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. August 27, 2007 ***************************************************************** 11 AlterNet: The Nuclear Industry's New Shill: Christie Todd Whitman By Diane Farsetta, Center for Media and Democracy. Posted August 27, 2007. Hiring former Bush administration EPA head Christie Todd Whitman to chair its "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" is the nuclear industry's latest PR attempt at "greening" its image. "Was it wrong to try to get the city back on its feet as quickly as possible?" an exasperated Christine Todd Whitman asked members of Congress. The occasion was Whitman's first appearance before the House subcommittee investigating her handling of New York air quality issues post-9/11, when she headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Absolutely not," she continued. "Safety was first and foremost, but we weren't going to let the terrorists win." There are many critics of the EPA's response to the admittedly unprecedented attacks. In August 2003, the EPA's own inspector general reported that there was not "sufficient data and analyses" to claim -- as Whitman did on September 18, 2001 -- that New York's air was "safe to breathe." The inspector general also found that EPA statements were confusing even to experienced toxicologists, and may have contributed to low rates of respirator use among Ground Zero workers. In February 2006, federal judge Deborah Batts called Whitman's statements post-9/11 "misleading" and "conscience shocking." In June 2007, the Government Accountability Office identified serious, continuing problems with how Whitman's EPA addressed indoor contamination in lower Manhattan. The issue is more than academic. Since 2001, some 70 percent of Ground Zero workers -- tens of thousands of people, many without health insurance -- have had respiratory problems, including chronic illnesses, according to one medical study. Two deaths have been linked to World Trade Center dust, and reports of rare cancers are on the rise. Yet in her Congressional testimony on June 25, 2007, Christie Whitman dismissed criticisms of her former agency as "misinformation, innuendo and outright falsehoods." Presumably, the nuclear power industry admires Whitman's rhetorical chutzpah. When the Nuclear Energy Institute -- with help from its PR firm, Hill & Knowlton -- launched the "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" in April 2006, Christie Whitman was named its co-chair, a paid position. Since then, the industry-funded campaign to re-brand nuclear power as clean, green and safe has benefited from Whitman's communications skills, political connections and environmentalist image. It's not easy being (seen as) green Whether Whitman has earned green credentials is another matter. She's often portrayed as well-meaning but stymied by hard-line Republicans. When Whitman announced her resignation from the EPA in May 2003, the Philadelphia Inquirer lauded her as a "voice of reason." David Letterman joked that the Bush administration thought she was "too soft on decimating pristine forests." Whitman's 2005 book "It's My Party, Too" fed this image, as did her recent admission that she left the EPA not for personal reasons, as she claimed at the time, but to avoid signing off on plans to ease factory pollution controls. (Whitman's admission -- four years after her resignation -- was made the same week as the 9/11 air quality hearing. Just before the hearing, Whitman charged the administration of former mayor Rudy Giuliani with not doing enough to ensure that Ground Zero workers used respirators, and with hampering the EPA's response to a 2001 anthrax scare. Whitman's belated candor conveniently deflected attention away from Congress' investigation into her role post 9/11.) Jim DiPeso, the policy director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, is among those who give Christie Whitman an "A for effort." During Whitman's tenure at the EPA, "she was on such a tight leash," DiPeso told PR Watch. "I think that she wanted to push the administration towards regulating greenhouse gases, putting caps on carbon dioxide emissions, but the White House and the Vice President's office just simply wouldn't allow it." DiPeso's group is a strategic partner of Whitman's political action committee, the Republican Leadership Council. Others are more critical of Whitman's tenure at the EPA. "At times it seemed as if Ms. Whitman had been appointed merely to make the Bush administration seem more interested in the environment," editorialized the Washington Post in May 2003. "Yet if she really disagreed with some of the decisions, it seems strange that Ms. Whitman stayed in her job as long as she did." If it were Bush, Cheney et al. that kept Whitman's environmentalism in check, then perhaps she championed green issues prior to moving to Washington. But Whitman's record as governor of New Jersey, from 1994 to 2001, is spotty at best, according to reporters, state workers and environmentalists. Open for business As she took office, Whitman famously declared New Jersey "open for business." Two and a half years later, an award-winning series in The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) examined the impact of the governor's new policies. The newspaper found that, "in trying to attract new jobs and new business," the Whitman administration drastically cut the budget for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), with hundreds of layoffs and "an across-the-board five-hour weekly reduction in working hours." Subsequently, inspections and polluter fines decreased, the pace of toxic clean-ups slowed, and new "streamlined pollution permits" allowed increased dumping. "Symbolic of the administration's priorities was the rewriting of the DEP's mission statement to add 'economic vitality' to its goals and to delete a promise to 'vigorously enforce' environmental laws," wrote The Record's Dunstan McNichol and Kelly Richmond. A new state Office of the Business Ombudsman, working with companies including repeat polluters, pressured the DEP to decrease fines and weaken environmental standards. Within DEP, Whitman established an Office of Dispute Resolution, to broker agreements "behind closed doors ... reducing environmental fines" and "extending the time [polluters] are given to clean up environmental hazards," according to The Record. A 1997 survey of more than 700 DEP employees was particularly damning. More than two-thirds of respondents felt that "the regulated community excessively influences DEP permitting, policy and enforcement." More than three-quarters said environmental enforcement had decreased under Whitman, and more than 60 percent agreed that the state's "inaction or lack of enforcement has caused environmental damage." What Christie Whitman touted as "a new chapter in the story of public-private cooperation in environmental protection" didn't seem like such a good deal for neighborhoods unable to get rid of hazardous waste, for emergency workers no longer able to access information on toxins at industrial sites, for homeowners denied compensation for damaging fuel and chemical spills, or for fishers dependent on state testing to ensure the safety of their catches. Dunstan McNichol told PR Watch that the situation didn't improve after the 1996 Record series that he co-authored. "They've never gone back to fully funding the Department of Environmental Protection," he explained. "There are lots of areas of the Department that are still either just not in operation, or never really got underway. ... There's always this tension between economic growth and the environment, and I think since [Whitman's] administration, that balance has tilted." However, the hoped-for economic boost was anemic. From 1994 to mid-1996, job growth in New Jersey was below the national average, and 80 percent of the new jobs "came in the lowest-paying sectors of the economy: services and retail sales," reported The Record. Up to today, according to McNichol, "The economy in New Jersey is not doing terrifically well." Whitman did launch one major, popular environmental program as governor: the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund. While the original goal of purchasing one million acres of open space was not met, more than 400,000 acres have been preserved to date. That's a remarkable accomplishment, especially in the most densely populated U.S. state. Even Whitman's critics applaud the dedicated conservation funding, but there are concerns about the program. Former DEP employee Bill Wolfe -- who became a whistleblower during the Whitman administration, leaking studies about mercury pollution in the state -- called the Trust Fund's land purchases "scattershot," made without reference to land use or conservation plans. The program also lacks regulatory safeguards to ensure that conservation goals are met, he added. "It's just creating a pot of money to give away to landowners," Wolfe told PR Watch. Nuclear spin Still, Christie Whitman is a PR asset for the nuclear industry. She's a major political figure widely seen as a moderate. She was the first (and only, to date) woman governor of New Jersey, who ascended to the national stage by responding to President Clinton's 1995 State of the Union address and co-chairing the 1996 Republican National Convention with then-Governor George W. Bush. Moreover, Whitman has worked hard to obscure her spotty environmental record. Even as she was dismantling New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection, "She would ride her bicycle, she would horseback ride, and she would do a lot of public events around open space preservation," Bill Wolfe told PR Watch. "So, the public perception of her was very favorable on the environment." For the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy), Whitman has played a lower-profile role than her co-chair, Greenpeace activist turned PR consultant Patrick Moore. Both Whitman and Moore promote nuclear power as environmentally friendly. Both are being paid to do so, by the Nuclear Energy Institute. And overwhelmingly, media accounts fail to identify either as consultants for the nuclear industry. A Nexis news database search revealed that nearly two-thirds of news items that mentioned Christine Todd Whitman and nuclear power, from April 2006 to August 2007, failed to disclose her financial relationship with the industry. Granted, Whitman's 35.5 percent disclosure rate is better than Moore's dismal rate of 12 percent (measured from April 2006 to March 2007). That difference is at least partially due to the smaller number of articles mentioning Whitman, and the greater relative percentage of industry trade press pieces. (In both pools of stories, the trade press articles were most likely to mention the Nuclear Energy Institute's funding of CASEnergy and its co-chairs.) In some cases, journalists may have been informed about Whitman's industry consulting but chose not to mention it in their reports. But there are several instances where Whitman herself presumably could have disclosed her Nuclear Energy Institute work, but failed to do so. These include a September 2006 television interview with Whitman, an April 2007 letter to the editor from Whitman to Iowa's Des Moines Register, and op/eds penned by Whitman that ran in the Boston Globe (May 2006), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 2006), and North Carolina's Charlotte Observer (June 2007). CASEnergy press releases that named Whitman also failed to include disclosure. Judging by CASEnergy's website, Whitman may be increasing her pro- nuclear public outreach. Her recent radio hits include WSMN and WGIR in New Hampshire, and WJR and WDET in Detroit. All four interviews were conducted on July 11, 2007, which -- along with a WSMN host's remark that "she's spending the day talking to talk shows all over the country" and the fact that the WSMN audio file is hosted on Hill & Knowlton's website (the URL contains hillandknowlton.com) -- suggests a radio media tour organized by the Nuclear Energy Institute's PR firm. In May 2007, Whitman appeared at CASEnergy events in Florida and Washington DC. The latter was a Capitol Hill Symposium also featuring Patrick Moore, Rep. James Clyburn, the American Enterprise Institute's Ben Wattenberg, the National Association of Manufacturers' Keith McCoy, and Environmental Defense's Mark Brownstein. Jim DiPeso of Republicans for Environmental Protection doesn't think that Whitman's speaking in favor of nuclear power while being paid by the industry is a problem. "If the nuclear industry is paying for her services," he told PR Watch, "that should be out there. Everybody should be above board about that. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it. ... The more important issue is what is the role of nuclear energy in a broader energy policy, and what is the role in driving down greenhouse gas emissions." However, the public's perception of nuclear power and the energy policy debate is profoundly shaped by news media coverage. And news audiences are most swayed by people presented as independent experts. That's why the "third party technique" -- putting your words in someone else's mouth -- is standard PR practice. That's also why nuclear power companies are launching pro-nuclear groups in areas where they operate plants. PR Watch previously reported on Entergy-funded groups in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. In mid-August 2007, the "New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition" (NJ ACRE) was born. NJ ACRE's start-up funds came from Exelon, which operates the state's Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. Its media contact works at the PR firm Burson-Marsteller, which lists Exelon among its "past and present" energy clients. And one of NJ ACRE's two leaders is Richard Mroz, who served as chief counsel to Governor Christie Whitman. Whose line Is It, anyway? Christie Whitman is certainly not unique in making the transition from federal regulator to industry consultant. She opened her own firm, the Whitman Strategy Group, in late 2004. It has offices in New Jersey and Washington DC and offers services in issue management, crisis management and "brokering agreements among public, private, and non-profit sectors." Whitman's four partners in the firm also previously worked at the EPA. What is remarkable about Whitman's current advocacy is how infrequently she talked about nuclear power, prior to being hired by the Nuclear Energy Institute. Even as a member of the unabashedly pro- nuclear Bush administration, Whitman rarely discussed nuclear energy. To be fair, nuclear power is much more the purview of the Energy Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Congress than it is an EPA concern. Still, her near silence on the issue seems curious, especially since she was part of the Cheney Energy Task Force. News searches didn't identify any Whitman statements on nuclear energy while she served as governor, even though New Jersey gets roughly half its electricity from nuclear plants. While Whitman's assessments of nuclear power prior to 2006 are rare, they are positive, with the exception of a remark during a November 2004 interview: "Nuclear power isn't on the table -- people don't even want to talk about it." The nuclear industry has been a defining client for the Whitman Strategy Group, but the firm's first ongoing client was FMC Corporation. FMC is a chemical and pesticide manufacturer "responsible for 136 Superfund sites around the country" that's been "subject to 47 EPA enforcement actions," according to the Star- Ledger. The New Jersey paper reported that FMC is "negotiating with EPA over the cleanup of arsenic-contaminated soil at a factory near Buffalo, N.Y." In response, Whitman told the Star-Ledger that "she will never represent any company looking to dodge environmental responsibilities." FMC has paid the Whitman Strategy Group at least $70,000, according to federal lobbying reports. FMC isn't the only Whitman Strategy Group client with Superfund issues. Chevron Environmental Management Company retained the firm to address "issues associated with the cleanup of its Perth Amboy, NJ facility." Hovensa, which operates a Virgin Islands oil refinery partially owned by Venezuela's national oil company, has paid the firm at least $90,000, to "resolve a Title V emissions fee issue." National Re/Sources, a company that acquires and remediates "environmentally challenged properties," has paid the firm at least $140,000 to assist with "remediation issues in New Jersey under the auspices of the US EPA." Other clients listed in the Whitman Strategy Group's federal lobbying reports include the breast implant manufacturer Mentor, the energy company L S Power Development, and the industrial site developer ProLogis. Federal lobbying reports suggest that the Whitman Strategy Group is popular among companies with business before the EPA. However, the reports don't contain any information on the firm's Nuclear Energy Institute account. That's because they only cover work focused on Washington legislators, policymakers and regulators. Christie Whitman, who works out of her firm's New Jersey office, has declined to say how much the nuclear industry is paying her firm. PR Watch's requests for comment from Whitman and her firm went unanswered. When she opened her firm, Whitman told the Washington Post that it was "a way to stay involved in public policy and make a difference." That makes her current job sound like a continuation of her work as governor and EPA administrator. However, government officials are paid to act in the public interest, and are accountable to the public if they don't. Lobbyists and PR consultants are paid to further their clients' interests, and are accountable only to their clients and their bottom line. This distinction is crucial, yet increasingly blurred. The confusion greatly benefits industries wanting to advance their interests from behind a screen of semi-anonymity. The losers include democratic debate, informed decision making and, often, the environment. If Christie Whitman doesn't understand why, she should study her own record in New Jersey. The rest of us should start questioning Whitman's moderate, environmentalist image and ask who's benefiting from clothing their agenda in it. Diane Farsetta is senior researcher at the Center for Media and Democracy. © 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 Telegraph: Fluor and Toshiba to build new US power stations - By Katherine Griffiths Last Updated: 12:04am BST 28/08/2007 Giant US engineering group Fluor is teaming up with Japan's Toshiba to build the first new nuclear power stations in the US in two decades. The agreement could cement the relationship between Fluor and Toshiba in the UK, where the two are bidding for the multi-billion-pound contract to clean up the Sellafield nuclear site in West Cumbria. Toshiba and Fluor are also in talks about teaming up to bid for contracts to build nuclear power stations in Britain. Irving, Texas-based Fluor said it had struck a deal to work with Toshiba on two power stations in Bay City, South Texas. The power stations are part of the US's decision to encourage the construction of new nuclear power plants, which have been dormant in the US since the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979. Under the terms of the deal on the Texas contract, Fluor will provide "engineering, procurement and construction-related services" for the power stations. The contract is expected to be the first of three to cover the entire process to build the reactors, which will take at least three years. Alan Boeckmann, Fluor's chairman and chief executive, said: "These two new reactor units for the South Texas Project could very well be the first new nuclear power plants built in the United States in more than two decades." The competition in the UK for the Sellafield contract is hotting up ahead of an announcement by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) next March. Whoever wins the 18-year contract can look forward to annual payments of about Ł1.3bn from the NDA. As well as Fluor and Toshiba, America's Bechtel is bidding with Serco, and Washington Group is teaming up with Amec. CH2M Hill is also bidding. Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, said last week an energy Bill this autumn would detail how the bidding process to build new power stations in the UK will work. The Government supports nuclear new-build to replace Britain's aging reactors, but it had to commission a pubic inquiry into the merits of nuclear power after Greenpeace won a judicial review of its policy in February. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2007. | Terms ***************************************************************** 13 Bruce A. Roth: India and the New Nuclear Era CounterPunch Newsletter Subscribers! August 27, 2007 123 or 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0? By BRUCE A. ROTH India's Prime Minister Singh has cut the sweetest deal for his country since it became an independent nation 60 years ago. The Hyde Act, along with the 123 Agreement, will open the U.S. nuclear trade to India and create up to 27,000 jobs and $100 billion in foreign direct investment. But Singh can't celebrate yet; his coalition is about to disintegrate because opponents to the deal claim that it will compromise India's sovereignty. Ironically, it is the U.S. President who should worry about the effect the deal will have on his party, U.S. Congress which should be showing stronger opposition to the deal, and U.S citizens who should be outraged. Being one of only four nations that have steadfastly refused to abide by the hallmark Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), India's nuclear program has long been controversial. India broke the terms of two nuclear contracts, one with Canada and the other with the U.S., by misusing civilian nuclear facilities to secretly build and test a nuclear weapon in 1974, resulting in a U.S. ban on nuclear exports to India. And, India continues to secretly shift materials from these deals to its weapons program. India's second test in 1998 incited its arch rival, Pakistan, to follow suit in a show of force. These tests violated a global norm against testing and they precipitated recrimination and additional punitive sanctions from several nations. Only eight years later, North Korea, another non-NPT nation, tested a nuclear weapon. Iran has been busy developing a nuclear program that can easily be used to make nuclear weapons, Russia is improving its nuclear arsenal, and China is flexing its economic and military biceps. Conveniently, India happens to be strategically situated in that neighborhood, making it vital to U.S. interests. The U.S. is hoping that India will be a counterweight to China and promote U.S. interests on critical issues such as North Korea and Iran, but that may just be delusional thinking. India is fiercely independent in its relationships with other nations, China could overtake the U.S. as India's largest trading partner, and India maintains close ties to Iran. U.S. laws that impose penalties on countries doing energy business with Iran along with outright U.S. pressure have not dissuaded India from doing so. Although India remains intransigent in its nuclear weapons posture and trading relations with Iran, the Bush administration and Congress have decided to provide India with nuclear assistance. While India might appear to be a trustworthy and stable democracy when viewed in the present regional context, more factors should be considered in this grave decision. Proponents of 123 often claim that India has an impeccable history of nonproliferation. However, India has unwittingly disclosed sensitive information about uranium enrichment while soliciting bids. It has an illicit program for procuring its own nuclear supplies, two Indian companies transferred missile and chemical weapons technology to Iran in 2005, and two nuclear scientists employed by India's state-run nuclear facility secretly aided Iran's nuclear program. India may not be determined to proliferate to other countries, as Pakistan or North Korea have, but India isn't determined to prevent it either. Even if these events had not occurred, the simple reality is that building more nuclear weapons for India's own arsenal is proliferation nonetheless. There are several additional factors worthy of consideration. India shares a disputed border and an inflammatory relationship with two contentious nuclear states, Pakistan and China. Pakistan is potentially at risk of being overrun by al Qaeda, which would put its nuclear weapons in the hands of the world's number one terrorist. India's current administration could be voted out by the strongly nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for the 1998 test. And, although India is a democracy, a lack of conditions that contribute to long term domestic stability, such as education, economic opportunity, and social justice may explain why India has seen widespread communal rioting and religious violence for many years. For example, much of its teeming population suffers from widespread poverty and illiteracy, faces a diminishing supply of unsafe drinking water, is plagued by drug resistant malaria born by pesticide resistant mosquitoes, lives in squalid conditions with inadequate sanitation, and is trapped in an anachronistic caste system. In sum, India's track record of breaking nuclear contracts along with these additional factors do not paint a clear picture of a nation that we should be enabling to produce more of the world's most terrible weapons. As a result of India's amazing metamorphosis from an untrustworthy nation deserving sanctions to a trustworthy and stable nonproliferator, the Bush administration became India's champion, and in 2006 the U.S. Congress approved the Hyde Act which removed the nuclear trade barriers with India. This deal will have many beneficiaries. India will be able to use its own limited uranium supply to build seven times as many nuclear weapons rather than create economic opportunity for its poor, grow food for its hungry, or build infrastructure. The deal will also benefit America by possibly allowing the U.S. to expand its influence in the region through the medium of India, major U.S. corporations can begin to stake their claim in the multibillion dollar India Uranium Rush, and Americans will benefit from opening U.S. markets to Indian mangoes, which have been closed for 17 years because of pests and diseases. However, before the food can enter the U.S., it will have to be irradiated, which won't be hard for India to do anymore. U.S. citizens and the rest of the world should rightly feel "sold out"-and not just because the U.S. subsidized India's mango crop in 2004 to the tune of $900,000! In its subsequent negotiations over nuclear trade, the Bush administration then over-stepped Congressional limits by capitulating to almost all of India's demands in the 123 agreement. This agreement is in contravention of both the letter and spirit of the Hyde Act. The U.S. has given unprecedented preferential treatment to India, offering it terms not found in any other U.S. peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement-not even those it has made with 180 or so other nations, all of which have assumed the full obligations and responsibilities of the NPT. In 2004 the U.N. General Assembly voted to ratify the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FissBan), which would ban the production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium for weapons. However, U.S. negotiators caved in to India's refusal to halt its production of weapons grade fissile material and granted India advance long term consent to do so-in spite of provisions in the Hyde Act to the contrary. India did agree to allow partial safeguards on eight additional civilian nuclear reactors by 2014 (India gets to decide which reactors are civilian), but its military reactor installations won't have to fret about pesky IAEA inspectors or full scope safeguards. India will be able to test another nuclear weapon with some impunity because 123 does not give the U.S. a clear and unambiguous right to require the return of its fuel and equipment or to cancel the agreement for that reason. The agreement does not even mention nuclear testing in its "termination and cessation" clause. In fact, if India's supply of uranium does get shut off because of a nuclear test or safeguards violation, the Bush administration has committed the U.S. to help find other nations that will restore India's supply. The U.S. is setting a terrible example, the Hyde Act sets a dangerous precedent, and if approved, 123 will formalize both. This deal will permit India to remain outside the nonproliferation mainstream. Consider these potential consequences: North Korea will regard U.N Security Council Resolutions and sanctions with the same deference that Iran does, Pakistan and China will participate in the new arms race, Pakistan is seeking a similar nuclear deal from China and France, some nations will question their membership in the NPT, and Russia might even seek to justify a comparable deal with Iran. Not surprisingly, the governments of the U.K., Australia, Canada, Russia, and undoubtedly other nations that place their own short term parochial interests over the long term interests of the world are lining up behind the U.S. to sell uranium and nuclear technology to India. Have we not learned from past mistakes that expediency is often very costly in the long run or from a wider perspective? Overall, the deal is great for India, U.S. political interests, and the corporations that will get a slice of the action, but it's bad for everyone else on the planet. But there is a silver lining in this dark cloud-before long, we could have a nuclear winter to offset global warming. World leaders should insist that New Delhi meet the nonproliferation standards of the NPT before lifting restrictions on civilian nuclear trade. Such being the case, there would be no rational argument for India remaining a non-NPT state. I am not at all opposed to India benefiting from the peaceful use of nuclear energy, which it can by merely signing the NPT; however, I am fully opposed to doing so at the expense of nonproliferation, disarmament, and the NPT, which has served its member States well for thirty-seven years. The NPT's structural integrity was weakened at the 2005 NPT Review Conference, and it languishes in a compromised state. Once the U.S. opens Pandora's Nuclear Box, there may be no hope for the elimination of these weaponsor for mankind. After all, one can have too much of a good thing-even mangoes. Bruce A. Roth is the author of No Time To Kill, a layman's guide to WMDs, terrorism,and genocide. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He can be reached at: bruce.roth@rothassociatesinc.com ***************************************************************** 14 NewsRoom Finland: Fennovoima narrows nuclear site search to five 27.8.2007 at 18:12 Nuclear power station joint venture Fennovoima said in a statement on Monday that its studies of 30 sites had proceeded to a stage where it would continue cooperation with five municipalities: Kemijärvi, Kristinestad, Pyhäjoki, Simo and Vaala. Fennovoima added that its studies had not ruled out cooperation with other municipalities. The company, founded by German utility E.ON, Finnish steel maker Outokumpu and a number of smaller firms, is to pick two to four sites for environmental impact assessment in the autumn. Once the EIAs are completed, Fennovoima intends to submit an application for a decision in principle to build a nuclear power station. France's Areva and Germany's Siemens are currently building Finland's fifth nuclear power station in Olkiluoto for Teollisuuden Voima. © Copyright STT 2007 © 1995 – 2005, Virtual Finland Produced by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Department for Communication and Culture/Unit ***************************************************************** 15 icWales: Nuclear power plan could hit taxpayers Aug 27 2007 by Martin Shipton, Western Mail Opponent says public cash could be needed to underwrite scheme A LEADING opponent of nuclear power has claimed that billions of pounds of public money could be needed to underwrite future nuclear power stations in the UK. Hugh Richards, of the Welsh Anti-Nuclear Alliance, says that, despite UK Government assurances to the contrary, there are strong grounds for believing that new nuclear power stations may prove financially unviable. The Government is currently consulting over its plans to include nuclear energy in Britain’s future energy mix. Wales’ only existing nuclear power station at Wylfa in Anglesey is due to stop generating in 2010, and there is a possibility of a new nuclear power station being built on its site. If a nuclear programme gets the go-ahead, a new power station is likely to be built at Hinckley Point in Somerset, just across the Severn Estuary from South Wales. Mr Richards has examined the four power station designs that were registered with the nuclear regulator last month for pre- licence assessment. He said, “A nuclear power programme requires a huge capital investment of up to three-quarters of its costs, compared to a gas plant’s 25%. Interest costs during construction mean that delays can make or break a nuclear project. “The Government is moving to pre-license standardised designs and streamline planning procedures in order to reduce the lead times for nuclear construction. This, however, increases the risk that public confidence in the regulatory process will be lost, and experience suggests that it will not speed up projects. In England, where public inquiries were scrapped for all the advanced gas-cooled reactors, an average 10-year construction over-run resulted. “None of the four ‘Generation III’ designs submitted to the regulators for pre-licensing assessment in July are proven commercially; they are design concepts without working prototypes to test their safety. A new nuclear programme in Britain would have to start again from scratch.” He added, “Far from having settled designs, all four candidates appear to be ‘work in progress’, having been enlarged to try to achieve ‘economies of scale’. “The Government believes that new nuclear projects will be brought forward on a commercial basis by project sponsors with strong balance sheets, but no attempt has been made to test their financial robustness. “British Energy, bailed out with Ł5bn of public money in 2002, has the sole experience of operating nuclear reactors in Britain. Of the six foreign operators from Germany, France, Spain and Belgium, five say they want to have a choice of the best available designs. “Three of the foreign operators have non-nuclear plants in the UK – Scottish Power recently acquired Iberdrola, npower is owned by RWE, and Eon-UK – all put great emphasis on renewables in their marketing. Choice puts the consumer in charge. “An opinion poll recently commissioned by the nuclear industry asked if the company that supplies your electricity were to build a nuclear power station somewhere in Britain would this make you more favourable towards them, less favourable or make no difference? The majority said it would make no difference, but of the rest, two thirds would become less favourable. Any energy company that makes the decision to build nuclear in the UK risks its reputation. “Talking-up the prospects of nuclear power may impress gullible politicians, or allow them to sidestep their carbon reduction responsibilities, but cannot guarantee that a huge investment programme will follow. Energy conservation and renewable forms of energy make poor targets for terrorists and are a more robust and immediate response to global warming than nuclear power stations.” Mr Richards added, “If the Government decides nevertheless to approve new nuclear power stations, there is every likelihood that in due course the operators will seek public funding for their projects.” But John McNamara, a spokesman for the Nuclear Industry Association, said, “Any future investment in nuclear power in the UK will come entirely from the private sector. That will include the construction of any future power stations, and the treatment and storage of nuclear waste arising at those power stations. Potential investors are queuing up already, and there is no question of the government being expected to provide funds. “So far as Wales is concerned, Wylfa could be the site of two new units. There are close to 2,000 well-paid jobs on Anglesey at the existing power station and at Anglesey Aluminium, and it would be political suicide for any politician there to oppose a new power station.” The UK Government’s public consultation on the possibility of building new nuclear power stations runs until October 10. Copyright and Trade Mark Notice ***************************************************************** 16 icWales: Burning questions on nuclear power Aug 27 2007 Western Mail comment WHEREVER you stand on the issue of nuclear power, Hugh Richards of the Welsh Anti Nuclear Alliance is right to raise financial concerns about the nuclear programme, which it is very likely that the UK Government will endorse. Despite assurances that no public money will be involved in funding any future nuclear power stations, it is clear from evidence elsewhere in the world that such projects have a tendency to cost far more than original estimates. It is therefore understandable that questions will be raised about the financial viability of any future power station projects in Britain. There are other points to be made about the current public consultation on whether new nuclear power stations should be built. We know Tony Blair was convinced that nuclear energy had a significant continuing part to play in Britain’s energy mix. Gordon Brown has also signalled his support for such a view. In these circumstances, it is almost unthinkable that the UK Government will rule nuclear power out. That means not only will it be ruled in, but that nuclear energy will be expected to provide a designated proportion of Britain’s power needs into the long-term future. It follows that around 10 new nuclear power stations will be required around the UK. If financial problems arise with these projects, the Government could be forced to make a choice between propping them up or seeing its own energy policy wrecked. Because decisions over large power station projects are not devolved, the Assembly Government will have no say over whether a new nuclear power station should be built at Wylfa. This is convenient for both parties of government. Labour anti-nuclear adherents at Cardiff Bay can maintain their position on the high moral ground while conveniently leaving the decision to Westminster. And Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones can avoid a showdown with Plaid colleagues over his support for a new nuclear power station in his constituency. While the idea of letting the private sector take the financial risk in any future nuclear power projects has its attractions, there are many who would be uneasy about the state abandoning control of such a hazardous industry. Regulatory regimes in other sectors that have been privatised, have sometimes been insufficiently robust. There is also, of course, the example of the railway network, where it is arguable that the financial risk has remained with the state while profits have been scooped up by the private sector. The same applies to many dubious private finance initiative and similar schemes. And, of course, there is the huge issue of public safety. All of these questions need to be fully considered before new nuclear power stations are approved. Western Mail ***************************************************************** 17 icWales: Many burning questions to answer on nuclear power Aug 27 2007 by Martin Shipton, Western Mail HEREVER you stand on the issue of nuclear power, Hugh Richards of the Welsh Anti Nuclear Alliance is right to raise financial concerns about the nuclear programme, which it is very likely that the UK Government will endorse. Despite assurances that no public money will be involved in funding any future nuclear power stations, it is clear from evidence elsewhere in the world that such projects have a tendency to cost far more than original estimates. It is therefore understandable that questions will be raised about the financial viability of any future power station projects in Britain. There are other points to be made about the current public consultation on whether new nuclear power stations should be built. We know Tony Blair was convinced that nuclear energy had a significant continuing part to play in Britain’s energy mix. Gordon Brown has also signalled his support for such a view. In these circumstances, it is almost unthinkable that the UK Government will rule nuclear power out. That means not only will it be ruled in, but that nuclear energy will be expected to provide a designated proportion of Britain’s power needs into the long-term future. It follows that around 10 new nuclear power stations will be required around the UK. If financial problems arise with these projects, the Government could be forced to make a choice between propping them up or seeing its own energy policy wrecked. Because decisions over large power station projects are not devolved, the Assembly Government will have no say over whether a new nuclear power station should be built at Wylfa. This is convenient for both parties of government. Labour anti-nuclear adherents at Cardiff Bay can maintain their position on the high moral ground while conveniently leaving the decision to Westminster. And Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones can avoid a showdown with Plaid colleagues over his support for a new nuclear power station in his constituency. While the idea of letting the private sector take the financial risk in any future nuclear power projects has its attractions, there are many who would be uneasy about the state abandoning control of such a hazardous industry. Regulatory regimes in other sectors that have been privatised, have sometimes been insufficiently robust. There is also, of course, the example of the railway network, where it is arguable that the financial risk has remained with the state while profits have been scooped up by the private sector. The same applies to many dubious private finance initiatives. And, of course, there is the huge issue of public safety. All of these questions need to be fully considered before new nuclear power stations are approved. © owned by or licensed to Western Mail & Echo Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 18 Sydney Morning Herald: N-power without weapons possible: Blix - www.smh.com.au August 27, 2007 - 2:23PM Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said he was in favour of nuclear power and believed it could be pursued at the same time as nuclear disarmament. Speaking at the United Nations Association of Australia 2007 National Conference in Melbourne, Dr Blix said it was "a nonsense" that nuclear power and nuclear weapons were inextricably linked. "You can have nuclear power without nuclear weapons," Dr Blix said. "It's a question about the (political) will, and therefore the decisive thing is to create such a world where countries don't feel the need for nuclear weapons." He said Australia's proposed uranium exports to India would not breach the international non-proliferation treaty. But, he said, it would be more widely acceptable if there were a new treaty barring the use of uranium enrichment plants for weaponry purposes. "If you were to have effective verification both in India, Pakistan, the US, China, all of them, that the enrichment plants are not used to make nuclear weapons, the objections would be less." Dr Blix said he was in favour of nuclear power as a tool for reducing possible future energy scarcities and climate change effects. "Nuclear power, in my view, and energy efficiency, they are the two main ways we have to restrain the use of fuels," he said. © 2007 AAP Brought to you by When news happens: send photos, videos & tip-offs to 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764), or us. Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 19 Free Press: Astonishing tower collapse screams "No New Nukes!!" Independent News Media - Harvey Wasserman August 27, 2007 A cooling tower at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant has collapsed. A broken 54" pipe there has spewed 350,000 gallons per minute of contaminated, overheated water into the Earth. "The river water piping and the series of screens and supports failed," said a company spokesman. They "fell to the ground." The public and media were barred from viewing the wreckage for three days. But when a Congressional Energy Bill conference committee takes up Senate-approved loan guarantees for building new nukes this fall, what will reactor backers say about this latest pile of radioactive rubble? This kind of event can make even hardened nuke opponents pinch themselves and read the descriptions twice. Who could make this up? Vermont Yankee has been in operation---more or less---since the early 1970s. Its owner is Entergy, a multi-reactor "McNuke" operator that last year got approval to up VY's output by 20%. Required inspections revealed worrisome cracks and other structural problems. Entergy dismissed all that, but was forced to issue a "ratepayer protection policy" against incidents caused by the power increase. The guarantee expired earlier this month, not long before the collapse. The tower came down amidst angry negotiations between Entergy and plant workers. A strike was barely averted, but VY's labor troubles are by no means over. The reactor's output has now been slashed 50%. A public battle is raging over whether it can dump water even hotter than usual into the Connecticut River. Reactors in Alabama, France and elsewhere have been forced shut because the rivers that cool them have exceeded 90 degrees. Yankee's cooling system, vintage 1972, centers on 22 (now 21) wood, fiberglass and metal towers that stretch for 300 feet, and are 50 feet high and 40 feet wide. The company calls this giant rig a "rain forest." Operators admit to hearing "strange sounds" coming from its fans last week, but say Tuesday's collapse was unexpected. Nuclear opponents who warned about such an event have been scorned by Entergy and its supporters. That something as apparently absurd as the spontaneous collapse of an entire cooling tower could actually occur underlines America's Keystone Kops reality of atomic operation and regulation. "We need to understand what happened," explains the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Diane Screnci. So does Congress. A definitive Conference Committee battle will be fought after Labor Day over an Energy Bill that includes taxpayer guarantees for $50 billion and more to build new nukes. Meanwhile Vermonters will pay for this latest pile of radioactive reactor rubble. Maybe a "fall foliage" field trip to the Green Mountain State would do the Congress some good. -- Harvey Wasserman's SOLARTOPIA: OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH, A.D. 2030, is available at www.solartopia.org. He is senior advisor to Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information & Resource Service, and senior editor of Freepress.org, where this article first appeared. All content © 1970-2007 The Columbus Free Press ***************************************************************** 20 [DU-WATCH] AZ Daily Star: Cancer in Iraq vets raises possibility of toxic exposure Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:35:18 -0500 (CDT) Missing from this story out of our local paper is any note that Tucson's Davis-Monthan AFB, is the principle training facility for the A-10 warplanes, the source of the vast majority of DU used in combat in Iraq. I've asked the writer if this was her omission, or the editor's decision. Jack Cohen-Joppa http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/198240.php The Arizona Daily Star Published: 08.26.2007 Cancer in Iraq vets raises possibility of toxic exposure By Carla McClain ARIZONA DAILY STAR After serving in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago - and receiving the Bronze Star for it - the Tucson soldier was called back to active duty in Iraq. While there, he awoke one morning with a sore throat. Eighteen months later, Army Sgt. James Lauderdale was dead, of a bizarrely aggressive cancer rarely seen by the doctors who tried to treat it. As a result, his stunned and heartbroken family has joined growing ranks of sickened and dying Iraq war vets and their families who believe exposures to toxic poisons in the war zone are behind their illnesses - mostly cancers, striking the young, taking them down with alarming speed. The number of these cancers remains undisclosed, with military officials citing patient privacy issues, as well as lack of evidence the cases are linked to conditions in the war zone. The U.S. Congress has ordered a probe of suspect toxins and may soon begin widespread testing of our armed forces. "He got so sick, so fast" Jim Lauderdale was 58 when his National Guard unit was deployed to the Iraq-Kuwait border, where he helped transport arriving soldiers and Marines into combat areas. He was a strong man, say relatives, who can't remember him ever missing a day of work for illness. And he developed a cancer of the mouth, which overwhelmingly strikes smokers, drinkers and tobacco chewers. He was none of those. "Jim's doctors didn't know why he would get this kind of cancer - they had no answers for us," said his wife, Dixie. "He got so sick, so fast. We really think it had to be something he was exposed to over there. So many of the soldiers we met with cancer at Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) complained about the polluted air they lived in, the brown water they had to use, the dust they breathed from exploded munitions. It was very toxic." As a mining engineer, Lauderdale knew exactly what it meant when he saw the thick black smoke pouring nonstop out of the smokestacks that line the Iraq/Kuwait border area where he was stationed for three months in 2005. "He wrote to me that everyone was complaining about their stinging eyes and sore throats and headaches," Dixie said. "For Jim to say something like that, to complain, was very unusual. "One of the mothers on the cancer ward had pictures of her son bathing in the brown water," she said. "He died of kidney cancer." Stationed in roughly the same area as Lauderdale, yet another soldier - now fighting terminal colon cancer - described the scene there, of oil refineries, a cement factory, a chlorine factory and a sulfuric acid factory, all spewing unfiltered and uncontrolled substances into the air. "One day, we were walking toward the port and they had sulfuric acid exploding out of the stacks. We were covered with it, everything was burning on us, and we had to turn around and get to the medics," said Army Staff Sgt. Frank Valentin, 35. Not long after, he developed intense rectal pain, which doctors told him for months was hemorrhoids. Finally diagnosed with aggressive colorectal cancer - requiring extensive surgery, resulting in a colostomy bag - he was given fewer than two years to live by his Walter Reed physicians. He is now a couple of months past that death sentence, but his chemo drugs are starting to fail, and the cancer is eating into his liver and lungs. He spends his days with his wife and three children at their Florida home. "I don't know how much time I have," he said. Suspect: depleted uranium None of these soldiers know for sure what's killing them. But they suspect it's a cascade of multiple toxic exposures, coupled with the intense stress of daily life in a war zone weakening their immune systems. "There's so much pollution from so many sources, your body can't fight what's coming at it," Valentin said. "And you don't eat well or sleep well, ever. That weakens you, too. There's no chance to gather your strength. These are kids 19, 20 and 21 getting all kinds of cancers. The Walter Reed cancer ward is packed full with them." The prime suspect in all this, in the minds of many victims - and some scientists - is what's known as depleted uranium - the radioactive chemical prized by the military for its ability to penetrate armored vehicles. When munitions explode, the substance hits the air as fine dust, easily inhaled. Last month, the Iraqi environment minister blamed the tons of the chemical dropped during the war's "shock and awe" campaign for a surge of cancer cases across the country. However, the Pentagon and U.S. State Department strongly deny this, citing four studies, including one by the World Health Organization, that found levels in war zones not harmful to civilians or soldiers. A U.N. Environmental Program study concurs, but only if spent munitions are cleared away. Returning solders have said that isn't happening. "When tanks exploded, I would handle those tanks, and there was DU everywhere," said Valentin. "This is a big issue." The fierce Iraq winds carry desert sand and dust for miles, said Dixie Lauderdale, who suspects her husband was exposed to at least some depleted uranium. Many vets from the Gulf War blame the chemical used in that conflict for their Gulf War syndrome illnesses. Congress orders study As the controversy rages, Congress has ordered a comprehensive independent study, due in October, of the health effects of depleted uranium exposure on U.S. soldiers and their children. And a "DU bill" - ordering all members of the U.S. military exposed to it be identified and tested - is working its way through Congress. "Basically, we want to get ahead of this curve, and not go through the years of painful denial we went through with Agent Orange that was the legacy of Vietnam," said Rep. Razl Grijalva, D-Ariz., a co-sponsor of the bill. "We want an independent agency to do independent testing of our soldiers, and find out what's really going on. These incidents of cancer and illness that all of us are hearing about back in our districts are not just anecdotal - there is a pattern here. And yes, I do suspect DU may be at the bottom of it." What's happening today - growing numbers of sickened soldiers who say they were exposed to it amid firm denials of harm from military brass - almost mirrors the early stages of the Agent Orange aftermath. It took the U.S. military almost two decades to admit the powerful chemical defoliant killed and disabled U.S. troops in the jungles of Vietnam, and to begin compensating them for it. Doctors flabbergasted Whatever it was that struck Jim Lauderdale did a terrifying job of it. Sent to Walter Reed with oral cancer in April 2005, he underwent his first extensive and disfiguring surgery, removing half his tongue to get to tumors in the mouth and throat. A second surgery followed a month later to clear out more of those areas. Five months later, another surgery removed a new neck tumor. Then came heavy chemotherapy and radiation. Shortly after, he had a massive heart attack, undergoing another surgery to place stents in his arteries. Two weeks later, the cancer was back and growing rapidly, forcing a fourth surgery in January 2006. By this time, much of his neck and shoulder tissue was gone, and doctors tried to reconstruct a tongue, using tissue from his wrist. He couldn't swallow, so was fed through a tube into his stomach. Just weeks later, four external tumors appeared on his neck - "literally overnight," his wife said. Suffering severe complications from the chemo drugs, Lauderdale endured 39 radiation treatments, waking up one night bleeding profusely through his burned skin. The day after his radiation ended, new external tumors erupted at the edge of the radiation field, flabbergasting his doctors. "As this aggressive disease grew though chemoradiation, it was determined at this point there was no chance for cure," his oncologist wrote then. By then, the cancer had spread to his lungs and spine and, most frightening of all, "hundreds and thousands" of tumors were erupting all over his upper body, his wife said. "The doctors said they'd never seen anything like it - that this happens in only 1 percent of cases," she said. Efforts to contact his doctors at Walter Reed were unsuccessful, but a leading head-and-neck cancer specialist at the Arizona Cancer Center reviewed the course of Lauderdale's disease. "This a a very wrenching case," said Dr. Harinder Garewal. "This is unusually aggressive behavior for an oral cancer. I would agree it happens in only 1 percent of cases." When oral cancer occurs in nonsmokers and non-drinkers, it tends to be more aggressive, he said. "My feeling is the immune system for some reason can't handle the cancer," he said. Jim Lauderdale died on July 14, 2006, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Dixie and their two grown children still feel the raw grief of loss, but not anger, she said. "But I am convinced something very wrong is happening over there. Is anyone paying attention to this? Is the cancer ward still full?" she asked. "I would hate to see another whole generation affected like this, but I'm very afraid it will be." Find more resources about cancer and other diseases in our searchable database at azstarnet.com/health Ez Contact reporter Carla McClain at 806-7754 or at cmcclain@azstarnet.com. [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:du-watch-digest@yahoogroups.com mailto:du-watch-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 21 [NYTr] Bush Gets Away with Lies, Lies and More Lies in History-Illiterate America Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:15:32 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Alternet - Aug 27, 2007 http://www.alternet.org/story/60764/ Bush Gets Away with Lies, Lies and More Lies in History-Illiterate America By Larry Beinhart, AlterNet George Bush -- and other Iraq War supporters -- have argued that if we withdraw from Iraq the result will be like the slaughters -- the killing fields -- in Cambodia. Here are the facts: * The killing fields were real. The genocide against their own people was committed by the Khmer Rouge. * The Vietnamese -- the Communist Vietnamese -- were the people who went in and put a stop to it. * The United States then supported the Khmer Rouge. Here's how that came to happen. The United States got involved in the war in Vietnam in an attempt to keep South Vietnam from going communist. Which it would have if nationwide elections had been held as promised. Cambodia is next to Vietnam. It was ruled by Prince Sihanouk. He attempted to be neutral. Both sides abused that neutrality. The North Vietnamese send arms, support and men through Cambodia on the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" to go around South Vietnamese and American forces. They also used Cambodian ports. The United States, which was not at war with Cambodia, officially or unofficially, secretly sent armed forces into Cambodia to interrupt North Vietnamese use of that route. In 1969, Nixon began a campaign of carpet bombing sections of Cambodia. Ultimately about 750,000 Cambodians were killed by the bombings (though the numbers are hard to verify.) In 1970, while Sihanouk was out of the country, visiting Europe, the USSR and China, Lon Nol took over the country in a right wing coup. There are two stories about American involvement. The first is that we supported the coup, the second (in Tom Weiner's Legacy of Ashes, The History of the CIA) is that it took the CIA and the United States by surprise. Recently declassified documents support Weiner's view. In either case, once Lon Nol took power, the US supported him. In return, Lon Nol ended the neutrality, closed the ports to the communists and demanded that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese leave the country, and let US forces openly, though secretly, operate in Cambodia. There was resistance to Lon Nol. Some of it was certainly a spontaneous matter of national sentiment. Some of it was certainly fomented by various communist interests. Sihanouk, in China, then allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia communists, which conferred new legitimacy on them. Civil War broke out. Lon Nol was both corrupt and inept. In spite of American financial and military support, he lost. America left Vietnam in 1973. The Khmer Rouge took the capital of Cambodia in 1975. They were one of the most horrendous regimes in history. They practiced a kind of class genocide, "re-educating" and murdering anyone who educated or Westernized, as well as minority groups. In 1978, Vietnam, by then fully Communist, invaded Cambodia to put a stop to the Khmer Rouge and drive them out. They installed a more moderate and sane regime. The United States, the UK, and China then supported the remnants of the Khmer Rouge. With their help the conflict continued for another ten years. When George Bush, or anyone else, uses the Cambodian holocaust as a warning of what might happen if America withdraws from Iraq, remember the facts. 1. Part of the holocaust in Cambodia is directly attributable to American bombing. The 750,000 dead. (Comparable to the number of Iraqis killed by American forces in this war.) 2. The civil war that led to the victory of the Khmer Rouge came about, at least in part, because of America's support of Lon Nol. 3. The "enemy," the Vietnamese Communists, were the ones who put a stop to the Khmer Rouge. 4. The United States supported the Khmer Rouge -- after their murders, after the genocide. That support helped a civil war continue for another decade. More death, more destruction. [Larry Beinhart is the author of Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin. His novels include Wag the Dog, on which the film was based, and The Librarian which Rolling Stone described as "John Grisham meets Jon Stewart."] B) 2007 Independent Media Institute. * ================================================================= .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 ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 22 [NYTr] Colombia: FARC Won't Free Hostages, Says Reyes Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:23:48 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Reuters - Aug 26, 2007 http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKN26406046._CH_.242020070826 Colombia: FARC won't free hostages says Reyes in Venezuela BUENOS AIRES - Colombia's FARC guerrillas insisted a handover of hostages must take place in Colombia, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered an area in his country for talks on kidnap victims, according to a newspaper interview published on Sunday. Raul Reyes, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, welcomed Chavez's efforts to broker talks on freeing hostages held by the guerrillas. But he said the rebel group still demands Colombian President Alvaro Uribe pull troops from an area the size of New York City for any negotiations to begin. The FARC has held hundreds of police, soldiers and politicians for years, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, snatched in 2002, and three Americans kidnapped while on a counter-narcotics mission in 2003. The interview was published less than a week before Chavez is due to meet with Uribe in Bogota to discuss how he might facilitate the exchange of hostages for the release of jailed FARC members in Colombia's 40-year armed conflict. "We continue seeking the demilitarization of Pradera and Florida (regions), and we would ask President Chavez to use his political weight to contribute to this, which would allow us to sit at the negotiating table and arrive at an accord to release the prisoners," Reyes told Argentine daily newspaper Clarin. Asked if the FARC would be willing to negotiate in Venezuela, Reyes said: "Yes. We have no problem engaging in dialogue anywhere, but the handover of prisoners should be in Colombia." Reyes also insisted that the three Americans would be released only after Washington freed two FARC commanders jailed in the United States. Chavez, the most visible leader of resurgent leftist politics in Latin America, has promised to act as "an observer and a guarantor" of the effort to seek a hostage exchange. U.S. officials have charged Chavez has openly aided the Marxist FARC rebels. He denies those allegations. * ================================================================= .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 ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 23 Columbus Dispatch: Neighbors of atomic plant get judge's OK Piketon lawsuit Monday, August 27, 2007 3:28 AM PIKETON, Ohio (AP) -- A federal judge has ruled that neighbors of a former uranium-processing plant suing because of health problems can proceed with their case, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Saturday. The suit was first filed against Divested Atomic Corp. in 1990 by residents who lived near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which once enriched uranium for weapons and fuel, but was closed in 2001. Plaintiffs can go forward on their claim that the plant contaminated their neighborhood with hazardous products, including carcinogenic materials, from its site, said Stanley Chesley, a Cincinnati lawyer who represents plaintiffs in the case. Although the suit can claim hazardous materials were left in the neighborhood, U.S District Judge Walter Herbert Rice said there was not enough evidence for residents to claim that any of the contamination was from radioactive material. A conference call was scheduled for Sept. 4 to set a trial date, Chesley said. The plaintiffs are seeking $600 million in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as money for medical monitoring and cleanup costs. "This case has taken a very, very long time," Chesley said. "We're going to treat this as a brand new case. We're going to get to the bottom of this, to the truth, just like we did with Fernald, which was covered up for years." Piketon is about 65 miles south of Columbus. Another plant in Fernald, about 20 miles northwest of Cincinnati, processed uranium metal used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons beginning in 1951. It was the subject of a $78 million settlement between the federal government and local residents in 1989. That settlement included funding for monitoring and medical testing for residents through 2008. Fernald workers also sued and reached a $20 million settlement with the government in 1994 that included lifetime medical monitoring. The plant at Piketon was created in 1952, when the federal government selected Goodyear Tire & Rubber Corp. to be the plant's operator. Divested Atomic Corp. became the plant's operator in 1986. The plant is now owned by USEC Inc., a private company set up by the federal government. ©2007, The Columbus Dispatch, Reproduction prohibited ***************************************************************** 24 Guardian Unlimited: Armed Guard Found Asleep at Nuke Plant Monday August 27, 2007 10:46 PM By JIM FITZGERALD Associated Press Writer WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A federal inspector found an armed guard asleep at a gate inside the Indian Point nuclear power plants but officials said Monday there was no security breach. The inspector spent two minutes trying to rouse the unnamed guard Sunday afternoon before the guard ``stood up and opened his eyes,'' said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The five-year veteran was alone on the second of three security rings around the two plants in Buchanan, about 35 miles north of New York City, Sheehan said. He said other security measures at the gate remained in operation during the guard's nap and tapes showed there was no breach, ``but that doesn't make it any less serious.'' Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owner Entergy Nuclear, said the other measures included a palm-print reader and a badge scanner. The two would have had to match before the gate would open. There was another security ring that would have had to be passed to reach critical areas, including the reactor and the spent-fuel pool, Sheehan said. The guard was found sleeping during a ``backshift'' inspection - focused on night and weekend operations. Sheehan said Entergy ``needs to get to the bottom of this and make sure the staff knows this is unacceptable.'' Steets said the guard, an Entergy employee, was placed on administrative leave pending tests for drugs and alcohol and a review. He said the guard carried a sidearm. He said security guards are rotated from post to post during their 12-hour shifts - ``in part to keep them attentive'' - and the guard had worked two previous posts on Sunday. His shift began at 6 a.m. Indian Point, on the Hudson River 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan, has attracted widespread criticism, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The problems included siren failures and leaks of radioactive water. Officials and activists say its safety and security are questionable. Federal regulators have turned away attempts to have it shut down, however. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 25 Seattle Times: Hanford workers report symptoms after waste spill seattletimes.com Monday, August 27, 2007 - Page updated at 02:05 AM By The Associated Press RICHLAND — Seven workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation have reported symptoms they believe resulted from exposure to hazardous chemical and radioactive waste that spilled from a tank in July. Symptoms included upper respiratory problems, upset stomachs, headaches, dizziness, eye irritation and blurred vision. The Energy Department contractor in charge of Hanford's tank farms, CH2M Hill Hanford Group, said it does not believe workers were exposed to enough chemicals to be harmed. Still, "we're keeping an open mind on this," said Thomas Anderson, CH2M Hill director of environmental health. Hanford's occupational health provider, AdvanceMed Hanford, has offered help to roughly 60 people who were in the vicinity of the leak. "Right now I can't find a connection, but that doesn't mean there isn't one," said Dr. John Calcagni, acting medical director for AdvanceMed Hanford. "I'm not going on the assumption they are not related. I'm going on the assumption they might be because of the time and proximity [to the spill]." The spill occurred after a new pump installed in Tank S-102 clogged. The tank is one of 142 underground tanks holding highly radioactive wastes from the past production of plutonium at Hanford. Workers briefly operated the pump in reverse, which may have pushed waste up a water line that was not intended to contain the waste. CH2M Hill believes that 115 gallons spilled from the line. The spill was sealed, but a plan must be developed to clean up the material from soil where it spilled, and eventually the equipment will be removed from the tank to determine exactly what went wrong. The company has brought in outside experts in toxicology as well as health physicians to review the data and work with employees, said Joy Shoemake, spokeswoman for CH2M Hill. Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 26 IPS-English AUSTRALIA: 'Uranium Sales May Fuel Asian Arms Race' Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:15:08 -0700 AUSTRALIA: 'Uranium Sales May Fuel Asian Arms Race' Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, Aug 27 (IPS) - Australia's deal to export uranium to India -- which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty -- will strengthen India's nuclear capabilities and could lead to a heightened arms race on the subcontinent, say activists. Dave Sweeney, from the Australian Conservation Foundation (AFC), says that Australia is rewarding unscrupulous behaviour. ”In giving the go-ahead to uranium sales to India, the federal government is telling the world (that) if you break your promises, breach international law and build nuclear weapons, Australia will respond not with sanctions, but with priority picks of our uranium,” Sweeney told IPS. The deal, agreed to in principle by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, signals a departure from Australia's hitherto policy of not exporting uranium to countries that are non-signatories to the NPT. The agreement comes less than a decade after India carried out several nuclear tests, followed closely by Pakistan testing its ”Islamic bomb”, demonstrating that both South Asian rivals had nuclear capabilities. The deal follows an agreement in March between India and the United States, which plans to provide India with uranium and nuclear technology. Under the agreement India is also allowed to reprocess fuel. It also comes after Australia's agreement in January to supply China with uranium. But unlike India, China is a signatory to the NPT. In addition, Australia is currently negotiating a deal to export uranium to Russia, with progress expected to be made at September's APEC meeting in Sydney. In a statement issued to the media, Howard said that uranium exports to India will be subject to strict conditions. These include an agreement between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on safeguards; a consensus among members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to make India an exception to its guidelines regarding international civil supply; and that Australian uranium would not contribute to any Indian military purpose. However, activists argue that India's military will directly benefit from Australian uranium exports. Steve Shallhorn, chief executive of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, says that providing uranium for civil purposes will directly assist India's nuclear capacity by enabling Indian uranium to be used by the military. India ”refuses to open its nuclear programme to full inspections and will use Australian uranium to free up its own supplies for weapons production,” says Shallhorn. As the deal only involves civil nuclear sites, India's military nuclear facilities will not be subject to the safeguards. Shallhorn points out comments made by Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, to ABC radio earlier this month, in which the minister confirmed that eight of India's 22 nuclear facilities will not come under the bi-lateral safeguards agreement between Australia and India. ”This would be like the tax office asking a known criminal which bank accounts he wants them to audit and which transactions to ignore,” says the Greenpeace chief. Shallhorn also hit out at the Australian government for what he regards as a deal for short-term financial gain at the expense of regional security. ”The government is more interested in making a fast buck for big mining corporations than in our legitimate national security interests or stabilising the already dangerous nuclear arms race on the Indian subcontinent,” says the Greenpeace boss. The AFC's Dave Sweeney argues that ”India's civilian and military programs are intimately linked.” ”Australia selling uranium to India would directly fuel India's nuclear weapons program and contribute to regional insecurity,” says Sweeney. Shallhorn says that the deal will contribute to a renewed arms race between India and Pakistan. ”The regional nuclear arms race which continues today will now be fuelled by Australian uranium,” he argues. It is also feared that an increase in India's nuclear weapons capabilities could lead to its other regional rival, China, increasing its own nuclear capabilities in order to maintain the status quo. Prime Minister Howard, in his statement, argued that India -- rather than destabilise the region with nuclear proliferation -- has a strong record of nuclear non-proliferation. ”As well as assisting India to pursue economic development while addressing environmental challenges, the decision recognises India's strong non-proliferation record and will help to bring India more fully into the non-proliferation mainstream,” said the Australian PM. This view of India's non-proliferation record has been criticised by political opponents of the government as well as by members of civil society. Senator Christine Milne of the Australian Greens says that ”to claim that India has a clean record on nuclear issues is wrong, disingenuous and dangerous.” The Greens argue that India deliberately misused civilian nuclear technology obtained under a peaceful-use agreement by the U.S. and Canada to provide material for its weapons programmes. This enabled India's 1974 nuclear weapon test, the first nation outside the UN Security Council's five permanent members to have taken such a step. ”Foreign Minister Downer also says that India is not a proliferator, which is false,” says Shallhorn, arguing that India was one of the first countries to cause nuclear weapons proliferation. The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), an anti-nuclear watchdog, has raised concerns about India's proliferation record. While acknowledging that India has not provided nuclear assistance to the extent that China did to Pakistan or that Pakistan itself did through the AQ Khan network, ISIS has identified weaknesses in India's non-proliferation record. In an April 2006 report co-authored by David Albright and Susan Basu, ISIS expresses its concern that India ”has conducted illicit procurement for its nuclear programme.” Based on a July 2005 ”European Intelligence Assessment”, ISIS argues that Indian ”nuclear entities and trading companies have procured nuclear dual-use equipment and material overseas without specifying that the end-user is an unsafeguarded uranium enrichment plant.” Based on a July 2005 ”European Intelligence Assessment”, ISIS argues that Indian ”nuclear entities and trading companies have procured nuclear dual-use equipment and material overseas without specifying that the end-user is an unsafeguarded uranium enrichment plant.” ISIS stated that ”proliferant states are known to target Indian industries.” ***** + Nuclear Ambitions û IPS Special Coverage (http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/nuclear/index.asp) + POLITICS-AUSTRALIA : Uranium for India - Business or Strategy? (http://www.ipsnews.net/login.asp?redir=news.asp?idnews=39004) (END/IPS/AP/WD/IP/NU/IF/SC/ST/RDR/07) = 08270705 ORP002 NNNN ***************************************************************** 27 The Hindu: Uranium sales to India could accelerate arms race - Blix Monday, August 27, 2007 : 1200 Hrs Melbourne, Aug. 27 (PTI): Former top UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has warned that Australian uranium sales to India could trigger tension in the region. "It would make it easier for them (Indians) to make bomb-grade material and this may increase tension vis-a-vis Pakistan and China," Blix said. In an interview to 'The Age' today, the veteran Swedish diplomat cautioned that the world is witnessing a dangerous phase of rearmament. While Blix acknowledged the need for India to secure energy supplies, he said stricter safeguards were needed to prevent proliferation globally. He said Australian uranium sales could free up India to use its own uranium to create weapons-grade material and heighten tensions in the region. Blix, who was here to address a UN function in Melbourne, led UN weapons inspections in Iraq in the lead-up to the 2003 war. After the invasion, he criticised the US and Britain for exaggerating the case for war around weapons of mass destruction. Beyond Iraq, Blix said the world had entered a dangerous period of rearmament, from the Russians developing new missiles to Britain's decision to extend its nuclear weapons programme. "Despite the ending of the Cold War, which is now 17 years behind us, we are moving in the wrong direction," he said. Blix said Cold War thinking underpinned the US' new nuclear deal with India, which he says is aimed at containing China. He said Australia had a "great reputation" in taking part in disarmament initiatives and had a "past to live up to". Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 28 AU ABC: Evans slams yellowcake sale plans - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted August 27, 2007 13:00:00 Former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans has criticised Australia's plan to sell uranium to India and China. Australia decided to export uranium to India earlier this month, with inspectors checking the yellowcake was used for peaceful purposes. But Mr Evans says other non-proliferation conditions should have been applied to the deal. "The big problem with the Australian proposed sales, as with the American deal with India, is that those conditions have simply not been applied, the conditions not to produce more fissile material, the condition not to add weapons to their nuclear arsenal," he said. Tags: government-and-politics, foreign-affairs, uranium-mining, australia, china, india ***************************************************************** 29 AU ABC: Nuclear partnership won't lead to waste dump - Downer - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted August 27, 2007 23:05:00 Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says accepting an invitation to join a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership will not lead to Australia being used as a nuclear waste dump site. The United States is expected to ask Australia to join the group, which is set up to regulate the production of nuclear resources. Mr Downer has told the 7.30 Report the Government will consider the idea closely but he says it will not result in Australia accepting nuclear waste. "What we sign up, what we'd agree to, let's see what is actually put on the table," he said. "Nobody can make us do anything and no matter what the scare-mongering of the Labor Party and their friends on the left may be, we've made it clear we won't be taking it back, and that's the beginning and that's the end of it." ***************************************************************** 30 Charlotte Observer: Attorney general wants tougher standards for nuclear waste site 08/27/2007 | By JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer COLUMBIA, S.C. -- State Attorney General Henry McMaster wants tougher groundwater monitoring standards at one of the nation's few low level nuclear waste facilities. McMaster met with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control on Monday and said he is pressing them to enforce Environmental Protection Agency standards at the Barnwell County site. Tritium levels in wells beneath the landfill are above the EPA's standard for safe drinking water although the site has met other federal standards. The site has operated since 1971 under Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards without consideration of the EPA standards. "I think that the water quality standard should be a component of the measurements that DHEC uses. I think that DHEC may be coming to that conclusion as well," McMaster said. DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said he wasn't at the meeting and could not confirm the agency is embracing the EPA standards. "We have always regulated it under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards, which are perfectly appropriate," Berry said. Berry wasn't sure what would be required to impose EPA standards on the facility. In the past, the agency has run into legislative roadblocks when it has tried to impose tougher standards on agricultural operations. Lawmakers toured the landfill earlier this year as operator Chem Nuclear argued the facility should be able to accept more low-level radioactive waste. As it stands now, the Barnwell site will be able to accept waste only from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut beginning next July. McMaster toured the site, too, but he, like legislators, said they learned only recently that a tritium plume was moving toward a major aquifer and high levels of the element were showing up in the facility's test wells. McMaster wanted an explanation from DHEC about why maps outlining a contamination plume weren't provided as legislators debated the site's future. DHEC warned of the leakage during a March hearing, but said tritium levels were below regulator limits, McMaster said. "Something that was missing is a water quality analysis," said McMaster, who doesn't think DHEC was trying to intentionally mislead anyone. DHEC has said no one lives directly in the path of the radioactive pollution from the landfill and tritium hasn't tainted drinking wells "There have been some background levels found offsite, but none that would approach any standard," Berry said. The highest concentrations of tritium are found in wells used only to quickly detect problems, Berry said. McMaster said he has gotten involved in the issue because the state owns the site and would eventually be responsible. "We don't know that anyone has been harmed and we hope no one has been," he said. McMaster said he will meet Wednesday with representatives from Chem Nuclear, which operates the site on a 99-year lease. Chem Nuclear has been trying to reduce the tritium leaks by closing landfill trenches to keep rainwater out of burial pits and is using synthetic liners above some trenches to repel rainwater that would leach through the nuclear garbage into groundwater, Berry said. ***************************************************************** 31 WIStv.com: Attorney general wants tougher standards for nuclear waste site Columbia, SC: COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - Attorney General Henry McMaster is pressing for tougher groundwater monitoring standards at one of the nation's few low level nuclear waste facilities. McMaster met Monday with the Department of Health and Environmental Control. He will meet later this week with Chem Nuclear, which operates the Barnwell County landfill under a 99-year-lease. McMaster says the site has always been regulated using Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards. He says it should have to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for safe drinking water. He thinks the agency may come to the same conclusion. DHEC spokesman Thom Berry says he can't confirm that. DHEC says no one lives directly in the path of the radioactive pollution from the landfill and tritium hasn't tainted drinking wells. Chem Nuclear has been trying to reduce leaks by closing landfill trenches to keep rainwater out. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ***************************************************************** 32 AU: The Age: Nuclear, ethanol on Bush-Howard agenda - www.theage.com.au Anne Davies and Sarah Smiles August 27, 2007 US PRESIDENT George Bush will invite Australia to be part of two initiatives aimed at guaranteeing future energy supplies: his global nuclear partnership and an initiative to produce ethanol from wild grasses. Both issues will be raised by Mr Bush at bilateral talks ahead of the APEC meeting next week, senior officials said. Prime Minister John Howard will today outline his objectives for APEC in an address to the Lowy Institute. The timing of the September 8-9 meeting is politically important ? the election could be announced as early as a week or fortnight later. The US, through the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, is already driving a major research effort to develop a new generation of fast-cycle reactors that would produce far less hazardous waste than conventional nuclear reactors. The group includes many countries involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, including Russia, China and France. Its broader aim is to eventually secure the entire fuel cycle and confine production and reprocessing to members of the group, thus reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation. Australia and Canada, the world's largest uranium producers, have so far stalled on joining because of domestic concerns about obligations to take back nuclear waste and store it. They have also been concerned about being locked out of a core group inside the partnership that is allowed to process uranium, say diplomatic sources. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr Howard are likely to compare notes in a bilateral meeting around APEC. A senior official said last week that the US would not pressure Australia to take back nuclear waste if it joined the group. "We want Australia to be part of the research effort. It doesn't mean Australia would have to take back nuclear waste," the official said. Documents reveal that the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Energy have worked on a bilateral nuclear partnership with the US, which would see closer research ties and more involvement by Australia. Hans Blix, the head of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission who is visiting Melbourne, said there were "attractive features" in the partnership initiative, which aims to reduce proliferation by confining uranium production to a small group of countries. Yet he said it remains a "hypothetical" plan and noted that the US has been averse to taking back fuel. "GNEP is pretty much far in the future, there are many things that need to be clarified and worked out before they can get to such a scheme. It presupposes new types of reactors ? the type of reactors we don't have yet," Dr Blix told The Age. Ethanol will also be a major area of discussion. The US has announced a program to boost ethanol production to 35 billion gallons by 2017, in a bid to reduce its dependence on foreign oil by 20 per cent. With MICHELLE GRATTAN Copyright © 2007. The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 33 Moscow News: Russia Resumes Bomber Patrols 28/08/2007 MOSCOW (AFP, AP) - Russia said on Thursday that its return to the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights was not a return to the Cold War. "This isn't connected with thinking in terms of blocs or conflicts, let along a return to the Cold War," first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said during a visit to Kemerovo in southern Siberia, news agency Itar-Tass reported. "This is an ordinary working situation. There are no conflicts. We are flying by the same transparent, understandable rules as our American partners." President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia was resuming regular bomber flights far beyond its borders, a practice that had stopped in 1992 as Russia's military crumbled following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian bombers had been making increasingly frequent flights toward US territory in the lead-up to Putin's announcement, while Britain and Norway had repeatedly scrambled jets to intercept Russian planes near their airspace. Ivanov said Russia had resumed the bomber flights "so Russian pilots can acquire professional experience... There is nothing at all to worry about." "Our Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions to areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States, but stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown. Booming oil prices over recent years have allowed Russia to sharply increase its military spending. "Starting in 1992, the Russian Federation unilaterally suspended strategic aviation flights to remote areas," Putin said. "Regrettably, other nations haven't followed our example. That has created certain problems for Russia's security." © 2007 Moscow News ***************************************************************** 34 RIA Novosti: Bulava missile not ready for mass production Opinion & analysis - 20:01 | 27/ 08/ 2007 MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Four of the first six flight tests of the Bulava-M missile (where "M" stands for morskoi, or naval) were a failure. However, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, said the Bulava-M (SS-NX-30), a naval derivative of the land-based Topol missile (SS-27), had been approved for mass production. Did he mean that a batch of missiles would be produced for more tests? Masorin said the trial period of the Bulava would end in 2008 after two more tests this year. The outcome of these tests is not clear. In Soviet times, 16 to 20 ground tests and then naval launches were stipulated for each new missile. Americans did likewise when designing the Trident I and Trident II missiles. The decision of the Bulava designers to begin trials with submarine launches, bypassing ground tests and launches from a sea-based stand, appears opportunistic. This has never been done in naval missile designing before. Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency, which is responsible for designing and supplying strategic missiles to the armed forces, said the Bulava could be delivered to the navy after at least 12-15 tests. Yury Solomonov, director and chief designer of the Moscow-based Heat Technology Institute, which had developed the ground-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), said after the second successful launch of the Bulava that the trial had confirmed the design characteristics of the missile's interaction with the submarine. However, he said it needed at least 10 more trial launches. Trials are held to improve onboard systems, notably microchips, astrocorrection systems, the warhead, the engine, and the like. Flight tests show what degree of the product's exploitation stability can be expected, and also its modernization potential, notably the ability to adjust to a grazing trajectory and increase resistance to external destructive factors. No mathematical models can replace live trials. The RSD-10 Pioneer mobile ICBM (NATO SS-20 Saber) is a relevant example. It was put on combat duty after all the bugs were cleaned out in 21 successful trials. It was a very good missile. Unfortunately, it was liquidated in keeping with the Soviet-American INF treaty on intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. Other examples are the RS-12M Topol (SS-25 Sickle) and the RS-12M2 Topol-M (SS-27) missiles, which suffered only one failure in a series of 13 trials. In the early 1980s, it took 16 missiles to hold the submerged and surface trials of the RSM-52 (SS-N-20 Sturgeon), a solid-fuel ballistic missile designed to carry 10 nuclear warheads, including nine launches from a naval stand and seven from a submarine. The missile was later supplied to six Akula-class (Typhoon) submarines. The missile's warhead comprises ten charges, command systems, and a liquid-fuel multiple warhead dispensing mechanism, as well as air defense evasion systems. The missile was later overhauled to produce the R-39M Grom (SS-N-28 Bark) missile, which was to be supplied to the Borei-class submarines - the Yury Dolgoruky, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh. These strategic submarines were to become the core of Russia's sea-based nuclear forces after the removal of Typhoon-class submarines from combat duty beginning in 2016. But the Bark project was terminated after the first three unsuccessful launches. The fourth missile was not even launched, although the reasons for the failure of the first three had been removed. Judging by the logic of Soviet-era trials, the Bulava project should be suspended, if not terminated. Instead, it has been proclaimed ready for mass production. Why? Some high-ranking Russian officials promised that a cutting-edge submarine would be built and armed with the latest missiles capable of evading any air defense systems, both existing and future ones, by the end of 2008. Failure to keep their word could cost them their high positions and ruin their hopes in the forthcoming presidential election. The Bulava trials began in December 2003 with a pop-up launch. Sergei Ivanov, then defense minister and now first deputy prime minister, said after the first successful trial: "This is a fourth-generation system we plan to supply to the navy by the end of 2007." Many promises were also made with regard to the Glonass, a Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). Promises must be kept, or you risk losing face. But hasty decisions, especially when made by bureaucrats, usually have dire - and very expensive - consequences. One of the reasons for closing the Bark project was malfunctions in the missile's control system exposed during the third launch. However, that system was later mounted on the modernized RSM-54 Sineva (SS-N-23 Skiff) liquid-fuel sea-launched ballistic missile, which was supplied to the navy. It is now considered the best in the world in terms of energy-mass ratio, and, unlike the Bulava, has a huge modernization potential. The idea of the Heat Technology Institute, which develops mobile ground-based missiles, to adjust the Topol missile for the navy actually boiled down to beginning from scratch. The Institute should at least be given more time to complete the project without undue haste. Otherwise we may see a repetition of the sad story with the UR-100 (SS-11 Sego) missile, developed at Vladimir Chelomei's design bureau. It underwent a series of simplified trials, with the crucial trials computer modeled, and put on combat duty. But the first live trials showed that it falls thousands of miles short of the target zone. The missiles were removed from combat duty for improvement, followed by a comprehensive program of trials. Yury Zaitsev is an academic adviser at the Russian Academy of Engineering Sciences. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 35 Reuters: Belarus May Get Nuclear Weapons Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Issue 3730. Page 2. MINSK -- Russia may consider deploying new nuclear facilities in Belarus in response to a U.S. plan for a missile shield in Eastern Europe, Moscow's ambassador to Minsk said Monday. "This depends on the level of our political integration [with Belarus]," Ambassador Alexander Surikov said, Interfax reported. "It also depends on the views of experts, diplomats and the military: Is it necessary and possible, when and how? I am talking about sites linked to nuclear weapons," he said. President Vladimir Putin has denounced the U.S. plan to deploy elements of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and has threatened to target missiles on Europe. Putin has proposed a missile shield in which Russia and European states could participate alongside the United States. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said in July that Belarus would disregard its economic disputes with Russia and work closely to resist the U.S. shield. © Copyright 2006. The Moscow Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 36 Daily Times: Pakistan will maintain ‘nuclear parity’ in South Asia, says Kasuri Leading News Resource of Pakistan August 28, 2007 Karachi: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that Pakistan will maintain “nuclear parity” in South Asia at all costs, and no external pressure will be entertained in this regard. “I want to make it clear that we will continue our nuclear programme, which is essential for meeting our energy requirements,” said Kasuri while reviewing the last five years of the country’s foreign policy at a press conference here on Monday. The foreign minister admitted that progress on the core issues of Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek had not been up to Pakistan’s expectations. “There is a dire need for progress on Kashmir. Back-channel contacts have been increased, but no final solution has been proposed so far.” As soon as any final solution is proposed, it will be presented in parliament for debate and approval, he said. “I want to make it clear that Pakistan will not accept any solution against the aspirations of Kashmiris,” he added. However, despite various hurdles, there was “forward movement” in Indo-Pak relations, the foreign minister said. He said direct bilateral trade between India and Pakistan had increased from $ 220 million five years ago to $ 1.6 billion, and added that the two governments had set a trade target of $ 10 billion for the next two years. Addressing issues related to Afghanistan, the foreign minister said the relationship had improved during the last few years. “I admit there is cross-border movement from our side,” said Kasuri. Pakistani security forces are trying their best to stop the cross border movement, he added. “However, the actual problem lies within Afghanistan,” he maintained. “Afghanistan has been facing a number of problems. It produces 90 percent of the world’s opium. There is a nexus between warlords and drug lords. And, more than anything, there is a gross sense of disappointment among the people as the promises about reconstruction have not been fulfilled by the big powers.” Speaking on the refugee situation, the foreign minister said: “Pakistan had to take care of around four million Afghan refugees in the wake of the jihad against the Soviet Union. There are still 2.2 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. We want them to go back to their homeland in a respectable way.” In this regard he reported that Pakistan and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) had extended an agreement for repatriating refugees for three more years. Kasuri also said Pakistan had been contributing in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country according to its capacity. “Pakistan is not a rich country, but we have announced a package of $ 300 million for reconstruction in Afghanistan ... projects to the tune of $ 120 million dollars have already been completed.” Bilateral trade between the two countries had increased from $ 23 million five years ago to $ 1.2 billion, he added. Speaking on Iran, Kasuri said Pakistan had always called for a peaceful resolution to the rift between Iran and America. “We have never supported any action or resolution against Iran as Pakistan opposes the use of force to resolve any issue,” he said. The foreign minister brushed aside impressions that Pakistan was being dictated to by the US. “This is devoid of truth. I have facts and figures to prove my point. We have not followed the US line on several issues. We didn’t support the US resolution on Iraq in the Security Council. We refused to send our troops to Iraq. And, we refused to support the US on Iran’s nuclear issue.” However, he added that a pragmatic approach was required. “If our relations with USA deteriorate, it will affect our stock exchange and many other things. Therefore, it is a matter of wisdom to have good relations with the world’s sole super power.” On relations with China, Kasuri said Pakistan would never compromise on this relationship. He said Pakistan had signed a free trade agreement and a five-year trade cooperation agreement with China. A joint stock exchange had also been formed, which would mean investment in different sectors in Pakistan, he added. Referring to the Palestine issue, the minister said “The world powers have to realise that without eliminating the root causes, extremism and terrorism cannot be rooted out,” adding that “if the selective implementation of UN resolutions continues, such problems cannot not be resolved”. online Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by WorldCALL Internet Solutions ***************************************************************** 37 Daily Times: NPT won’t be signed - FO Leading News Resource of Pakistan Tuesday, August 28, 2007 By Sajjad Malik ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that it will not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as its atomic capability is essential to maintain strategic balance of power in the region. “Nuclear deterrence capability is an integral part of Pakistan’s security and, therefore, it can’t be compromised upon,” Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing here on Monday. She said the statement of Japanese Defence Minister Koike in which she had urged Pakistan to sing the NPT was a desire for the non-proliferation regime, but Pakistan was not bound to accept the demand. Aslam said Pakistan had repeatedly asked India to sign the NPT so that Islamabad would follow the suit, but New Delhi always gave cold shoulder to such suggestions. She said Pakistan would maintain minimum credible deterrence and that was the reason for conducting nuclear tests in 1998 after India tested its nuclear bomb. Aslam supported the views of the Internal Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief that the NPT regime should be modified to accommodate ground realties, and also proposed some sort of informal interaction between the nuclear powers. Calling the bomb blasts in Indian city of Hyderabad an act of terrorism, she said Pakistan condemned the blasts. She reiterated that Pakistan was a victim of terrorism and working to eliminate the evil. She also said that the next meeting of Anti-Terror Mechanism (ATM) was not yet scheduled due to some technical reasons. She said Pakistan wanted an early solution of the Saichen issue, as it was not only a long outstanding issue between the two countries, but also had become an environmental hazard. “Pakistan has made certain concrete proposals which can lead to the solution of the issue provided a political will was there,” she said, adding that Pakistan presumed that India was also serious in solving the issue. About the trade across the Line of Control (LoC), Aslam said truckers would be allowed to move across the LoC once both sides agreed on the mode of trade. Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by WorldCALL Internet Solutions ***************************************************************** 38 Reuters: Only diplomacy can avert bombs in Iran row - Sarkozy Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:59AM IST By Francois Murphy PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear programme was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran". In his first major foreign policy speech since taking office, Sarkozy emphasised his existing priorities, such as opposing Turkish membership of the European Union and pushing for a new Mediterranean Union that he hopes will include Ankara. He also offered some new ideas, such as possibly renewing high-level dialogue with Syria and expanding the Group of Eight industrialised nations to include the biggest developing states. Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and that major powers should continue their policy of incrementally increasing sanctions against Tehran while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities. "This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," he said, adding that it was the worst crisis currently facing the world. Tehran says it only wants to generate electricity but it has yet to convince the world's most powerful countries that it is not secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. In the speech to France's ambassadors, Sarkozy criticised Russia for its dealings on the international stage. "Russia is imposing its return on the world scene by using its assets, notably oil and gas, with a certain brutality," he said. "When one is a great power, one should not be brutal." Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner later criticized Russia's "oil and gas blackmail", telling the ambassadors that France should not be entirely dependent on Russian gas, and suggesting Norway and Algeria as alternative suppliers. "There is a slight return of imperialism, as they say, that we do not find very pleasant," Kouchner said of Russia. Sarkozy had warm words for the United States, saying friendship between the two countries was important. But he said he felt free to disagree with American policies, highlighting what he called a lack of leadership on the environment. FRANCO-SYRIAN DIALOGUE He also stuck to Jacque Chirac's demand that a timeline be drawn up for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. But Sarkozy broke with his predecessor's policy on Syria, saying he was prepared to hold high-level talks with Damascus if it backed French efforts aimed at ending the political crisis in Lebanon. "If Damascus committed itself to this path, then the conditions for a Franco-Syrian dialogue would be in place." Sarkozy said the only option for Turkey's accession talks with the European Union was a form of privileged partnership short of EU membership. He also said he wanted a Mediterranean Union to take shape next year. Turkey has said that project should not be an alternative to Ankara joining the European Union. Sarkozy proposed setting up a "committee of wise men" to consider the future of Europe, including the Turkish question. He criticized Beijing's management of its currency, which he says is too low and gives it an unfair advantage on export markets. He said China and other developing powers Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and India should eventually join the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations to become the G13. (Additional reporting by Anna Willard, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Elizabeth Pineau and Kerstin Gehmlich) ***************************************************************** 39 Reuters: Russia says bombers not flying with nuclear weapons Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:15PM BST By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian bombers which this month resumed their Soviet-era practice of flying long-range patrols near NATO airspace are not carrying nuclear weapons, a senior air force commander said on Monday. President Vladimir Putin's announcement that patrols would resume was seen by observers as part of a military build-up which the Kremlin says is needed to ensure national security. "These flights are being carried out without nuclear weapons on board," the commander of Russia's long-range aviation, Pavel Androsov, told reporters at the defence ministry. The resumption of the long-range patrols, recent tests of a new generation of intercontinental missiles and the resumption of large-scale exercises have taken place against the backdrop of new strains in ties between Russia and the West. The Kremlin, which accuses Washington of "unilateralism", opposes U.S. plans to set up new bases and deploy elements of its missile defence shield in central and eastern Europe. Russia suspects this move and NATO's overtures towards former Soviet Georgia and Ukraine -- viewed by Moscow as part of its traditional sphere of influence -- will lead to Russia's military encirclement. Androsov said Western alarm over the resumption of the long-range patrols had been fanned artificially. "We have been flying, are flying and will continue to fly," he said. "Our colleagues are not sitting on their laurels -- if you look at the pilots of the strategic aviation of America and Great Britain -- they have also not been sitting in their airbases, they are flying very intensively." Continued... © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. | Learn more about Reuters ***************************************************************** 40 Reuters: U.S, Russia must unite to fight weapons of mass destruction Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:46PM EDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States and Russia must unite to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction rather than drifting into a new Cold War, the authors of a project to secure the former Soviet nuclear arsenal said on Monday. While acknowledging that Moscow and Washington disagree over missile defense, human rights, democracy and how to handle the Serb province of Kosovo, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar said the two nations had too much at stake to allow the relationship to sour. "The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat facing our countries and the international community," Lugar, who is the Republican leader on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a reception here. "The U.S. and Russia should be sending the clear message that we are ready to go anywhere and undertake any conversation in the pursuit of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he added. In 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed, Lugar forged a bipartisan partnership with then Democrat senator Sam Nunn to help Russia and former Soviet nations secure and destroy huge stocks of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Almost 7,000 nuclear warheads have been deactivated to date. Lugar said Russia and the United States should use the experience gained during that program to help North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons, if current six-nation talks about disarming Pyongyang succeed. Nunn urged the U.S. government to seriously consider President Vladimir Putin's offer earlier this year to share information from a Russian-run radar station in Azerbaijan to help combat potential hostile missile attacks. Both men said that much remained to be done to reduce still further the danger of accidental war between U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and to stop other nations or terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons technology. "The world is in a race between cooperation and catastrophe," Nunn said. "It's a race we must run together with others and which we must win." © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 DOE: DOE to Make Available up to $33.8 Million to Support Commercial Production of Cellulosic Biofuels August 27, 2007 WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will make available up to $33.8 million to support the development of commercially viable enzymes - a key step to enabling bio-based production of clean, renewable biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. As part of the President’s Twenty in Ten Plan, DOE is pursuing a long-term strategy to support increased availability and cost-effective use of renewable and alternative fuels. Twenty in Ten seeks to displace 20 percent of U.S. gasoline usage by 2017 through diversification of clean energy sources and increased vehicle efficiency. “These enzyme projects will serve as catalysts to the commercial-scale viability of cellulosic ethanol, a clean source of energy to help meet President Bush’s goal of reducing our reliance on oil,” DOE Assistant Secretary Andy Karsner said. “Ethanol from new feed stocks will not only give America more efficient fuel options to help transform our transportation sector, but increasing its use will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” With a minimum 50 percent industry cost-share, this funding will total nearly $68 million to further enzyme commercialization efforts. By harnessing the power of enzymes, which are responsible for many of the biochemical processes in nature, biorefineries can more efficiently use cellulosic (non-food) feedstocks for biofuels production. This funding aims to further reduce costs of enzyme system preparations in process-relevant conditions. Since 2000, DOE enzyme development advancements have yielded thirty-fold cost reductions mainly on enzyme production. This biofuels effort focuses on production from non-food materials and agricultural waste – such as corn stover, switchgrass, and prairie grass. This FOA focuses specifically on systems to hydrolyze and saccharify cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Saccharification enables the biorefining process by breaking down pretreated cellulosic material into more simple sugars, allowing them to be further processed through fermentation and ultimately turned into biofuels such as ethanol. Enzymes developed under this FOA must prove durable and effective in process-relevant conditions. Letters of intent are due September 10, 2007, and completed applications are due October 30, 2007. View the complete FOA. Projects are expected to begin in Fiscal Year 2008 and continue through Fiscal Year 2011. Funding is subject to Congressional appropriations. Read more information on President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Plan. Media contact(s): Julie Ruggiero, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 42 Tri-City Herald: Lampson lifting frame for vit plant passes test (about) Monday, August 27th, 2007 07:56 PDT Lampson tests frame for vit plant (w/ video) By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer A bright blue Lampson crane slowly lifted 430,000 pounds of concrete blocks off the dirt at the Port of Pasco late last week. The work was a test of an adjustable lifting frame designed and built by Lampson International to be used to lift spaghetti-like mazes of piping into the Pretreatment Facility at Hanford's vitrification plant. Lampson, winner of the $750,000 contract for the project in a competitive bid process, is just one area business that has benefited from the $690 million the Department of Energy has received in recent years to spend on building the vit plant at the Hanford nuclear reservation. Bechtel National, the contractor for the project, has awarded $589 million in subcontracts to small and large Tri-City businesses since December 2000, according to Bechtel's figures. The subcontracted amount spent in Washington and Oregon is close to $849 million. Subcontracts awarded just to small businesses in all locations has totaled almost $768 million, according to Bechtel. "We've been pretty fortunate to work with Bechtel from the start of the vit plant," said Randy Stemp, engineering projects manager at Lampson, as he watched the test lift Friday. Lampson's most recent challenge has been to build a lifting frame to be suspended from the crane to pick up piping configurations, which include some of the 160 miles of piping to be installed at the vit plant. The piping modules the frame will be required to lift into the building range from 54,000 to 339,000 pounds, and each has a different center of gravity. Complicating the task is the nuclear grade construction requirements of the project. The vit plant is being built to turn millions of gallons of radioactive waste left from weapons production of plutonium into a stable glass form for disposal. The piping modules for its Pretreatment Facility are being built outside the building on the vit plant campus. "Those pipes are so tightly clustered you can imagine how difficult it would be to work on them in such a tight space" if the work were done in cells within the plant, said Drew Slaton, spokesman for Bechtel National. They'll be used to carry high-level radioactive waste, including in areas that will become so contaminated that humans cannot enter again once the plant starts operating. "The pipe is nuclear grade so they were very worried about bending and distorting it as it is lifted," Stemp said. When any material is picked up, it bends or deflects. Imagine a PVC pipe suspended between two benches, bowing slightly toward the ground. Because of the nuclear-grade materials involved in the vit plant project, Lampson was limited to a third an inch of deflection in every 100 inches of length. "That was an overwhelming challenge to meet and do for 13 pipe modules," Stemp said. Making a frame for each module was too expensive to consider. The design Lampson developed working with Bechtel engineers uses an adjustable steel beam frame that can have pieces inserted or removed to change its size from 10 feet-by-10-feet square at the smallest to as large as 75-by-52 feet. It's hung with stands for attaching the load that were machined within thousandths of an inch. The test Friday was to determine if Lampson had met deflection tolerances on the lifting frame. A crane, loaded with 1.8 million pounds of counterweight, slowly lifted concrete blocks weighing a total of 430,000 pounds and arranged to simulate a piping module with an offset center of gravity. The test was designed to use an extra 25 percent load in addition to the weight of the most difficult of the modules that need to be placed in the Pretreatment Facility, said Nelson Moya, Bechtel rigging engineer. After the crane slowly lifted the concrete blocks about 10 feet off the ground, an optical leveler was used to check for deflection. Moya was all smiles when he heard the results. "The results are approximately half of the allowable deflections," Stemp said. "What it means is we are going to be able to lift those modules without inducing any additional stress into the piping." The frame is expected to be used this fall to move some of the piping modules within the vitrification plant campus. The first piping module is expected to be lifted into the plant's Pretreatment Facility in mid 2008. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 43 Tri-City Herald: Oregon officials oppose adding radioactive waste at Hanford Published Monday, August 27th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The state of Oregon opposes a Department of Energy proposal to send more radioactive waste to Hanford for permanent disposal. Residents from Washington and Oregon have a chance to comment at public hearings today and Tuesday. In all, there are hearings planned in nine cities across the nation, including tonight in Troutdale, Ore., and in Pasco on Tuesday. The Pasco meeting will be held at the Red Lion Inn, beginning at 6 p.m. DOE announced last month that it planned to conduct an environmental impact study looking at options for disposing of 7,280 cubic yards of radioactive waste. It plans to consider Hanford as a disposal site, among about nine other sites. A little less than half of the waste is from commercial operations, such as decommissioning nuclear power plants, sterilizing medical equipment and irradiating food. The remainder of the waste was generated by the Department of Energy in nonweapons work. Together the waste includes an estimated 130 million curies of radiation, according to the state of Oregon. In comparison, 2,100 tons of uranium would have 14,000 curies of radiation. While transuranic waste from Hanford -- typically debris contaminated with plutonium -- is sent to a national geological repository in New Mexico. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant now does not accept nonweapons waste. DOE is considering whether the 7,280 cubic yards of radioactive waste should be disposed of at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and Yucca Mountain -- deep geological repositories -- or at another site, such as Hanford. If Hanford is selected, the waste might be deposited in a bore hole drilled deep into the ground. In a second alternative being considered for Hanford, the waste might be buried nearer the ground's surface in engineer trenches or vaults. They would offer better containment that a lined landfill such as the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, which was built to hold 12 million cubic yards of low level radioactive waste from Hanford cleanup. Added features might include deeper depth, barriers or increased waste packaging. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 44 New Mexico Business Weekly: Environment Department seeks comment on LANL permit - New Mexico Business Weekly - 1:43 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2007 The New Mexico Environment Department has released a draft hazardous waste facility operating permit for Los Alamos National Laboratory. It is seeking public comment on the document. The permit governs LANL's operation of 27 waste management units and the closure of three disposal units at the facility. It's designed to work in conjunction with the order mandating a "fence-to-fence" cleanup to remedy past problems and make sure hazardous wastes are properly handled, said John Goldstein, director of the department's water and waste management division. The fence-to-fence order governs ongoing environmental cleanup and the draft permit requires cleanup activities after the order terminates, as well as ensuring the safe handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste at the facility. The draft permit also establishes closure milestones and requirements for hazardous and radioactive waste landfills at Technical Area 54. The U.S. Department of Energy continues to allow disposal of radioactive waste in one of these landfills, known as Area G. Under the draft permit, DOE would be required to close that dump and implement a cleanup plan that would protect human health and the environment. The closure plan would be open for public comment. Written comments and requests for a public hearing will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Oct. 26. For more information, go to www.nmenv.state.nm.us/HWB/lanlperm.html. © 2007 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. ***************************************************************** 45 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL, Y-12 pitch in to conserve power Energy use reduced by more than 2 MW By Frank Munger (Contact) Updated 01:16 p.m., August 27, 2007 OAK RIDGE — Conservation measures in recent days at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have reduced power use by more than a megawatt, and similar savings were achieved at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. According to information provided by Herb Debban, ORNL’s director of facilities management, the lab has cut power usage between 1 and 1.2 megawatts since TVA’s conservation request last Wednesday. ORNL spokesman Billy Stair said today the precise number is difficult to calculate because in some cases the total power usage reflects the energy use avoided as well as the energy use that was reduced. At two of the lab’s major research facilities — the Spallation Neutron Source and the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences — the temperature settings in offices and research labs were increased by 5 degrees to save energy, Stair said. The temperature “set point” was raised by 8 degrees in utility areas, he said, and lighting in offices and general work areas was reduced to the safe minimum. “In the hallway outside my office all the lights are turned out except for the emergency (signs),” Stair said. “I haven’t been in all the buildings on campus, but I think that is the case in the majority of them.” Bill Wilburn, a spokesman at Y-12, said Monday that the plant had reduced power consumption by about a megawatt following TVA’s request for conservation. Unused copier and computers were turned off, as were lights in offices that have windows, he said. “We also checked the thermostats to make sure they were at a good setting,” Wilburn said. The spokesman said the energy savings didn’t include the newly constructed Jack Case Center and New Hope Center, which receive their power separately from the rest of Y-12’s buildings. But similar measures were enacted at those facilities, he said. More details as they develop online and in Tuesday’s News Sentinel. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************