***************************************************************** 09/13/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.215 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: Charlotte Observer: Hydro power dries up amid drought NUCLEAR REACTORS 2 The Hindu: Left to submit note on nuke deal to panel tomorrow 3 AFP: North Korea helping Syria build nuclear facility - report - 4 AU ABC: Reaction time: climate change and the nuclear option - 5 Energy Publisher: Canada to host 2008 Summer nuclear institute 6 US: APP.COM: Federal panel denies motion by Oyster Creek operator | 7 US: Burlington Free Press: Opinion: Nothing at Vermont Yankee distur 8 UPI: Report: S. Korea plans two reactors 9 US: NRC: NRC Seeks Public Input on Vogtle Early Site Permit Applicat 10 APA: Small nuclear reactor to be constructed in Azerbaijan in 2009 11 US: Newsday.com: Nuke plant whistleblower loses reinstatement bid -- 12 NewsRoom Finland: Malfunction closed turbine at Finnish nuclear plan 13 US: WCAX: State official: Inspection of cooling towers inadequate NUCLEAR SECURITY 14 US: Bulletin Online: U.S. loose nukes 15 Platts: Vietnam, US sign `arrangement' on nuclear cooperation 16 Platts: 14 cases of "illicit trafficking" in nuke materials in 2006 17 The Hindu: 'Trafficking, theft of N-material a persistent problem' 18 WNN: IAEA reports latest trafficking statistics 19 UPI: U.N.: Nuke trafficking still a problem 20 St. Petersburg Times: Anarchists Freed After One Month NUCLEAR SAFETY 21 US: OpEdNews: DU Wasteland: Signs of Truth? 22 US: The Tribune: Time to stop denying hazards of uranium NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 23 ReviewJournal.com: Second Yucca Mountain contractor announces 24 ReviewJournal.com: Officials suspect 'bait and switch' on Yucca 25 US: Daily News Journal: Commission will ask for permanent ban on rad 26 US: Bradenton.com: Plume cleanup plan not finished 27 US: The State: Nuclear landfill won’t stay open to nation PEACE 28 US: RIA Novosti: U.S. develops 14-ton super bomb, bigger than Russia US DEPT. OF ENERGY 29 DOE: DOE Issues Final Request for Proposals for Savannah River Site 30 Tri-City Herald: Hanford Advisory Board critical of new pact plans 31 Knoxville News Sentinel: DOE event links old friends in Oak Ridge 32 lamonitor.com: Laboratory addresses nuclear inventory questions 33 NewsBlaze: DOE Issues Final Request for Proposals for Savannah River ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Charlotte Observer: Hydro power dries up amid drought 09/13/2007 | JOHN MURAWSKI The (Raleigh) News & Observer The region's prolonged drought is drying up one of the state's cleanest energy sources: water. Receding water levels are forcing Progress Energy and Duke Energy to cut back production of hydroelectric power. Progress Energy's production is down nearly 30 percent at its three hydroelectric plants in the state. Duke Energy's 18 plants in the state has fallen 45 percent compared with this time last year. "Production is down probably more than it's ever been down before," said Cecil Gurganus, hydro plant manager for Raleigh-based Progress Energy. Because hydroelectric power represents only about 1 percent of the total electricity produced in the state, both companies say the cutbacks haven't had a substantial effect on power supplies. But they have had to tap other energy sources. "We have to make it up somewhere," said George Galleher, Duke Energy's senior engineer for hydro operations. "What it means is we either have to go out and buy (the electricity) or we have to burn more (natural) gas in combustion turbines." The hot weather is also affecting operations at conventional power plants that rely on water for cooling. Charlotte-based Duke shut down its Riverbend Steam Station for a half-day last month because the coal-burning plant outside Charlotte would otherwise have exceeded environmental temperature limits on outflow water that is released into the river. Progress also is monitoring falling water levels at Harris Lake, the primary source of cooling water for the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County. The man-made reservoir is approaching record low levels, but the drought poses no immediate concerns for the nuclear plant, company officials say. Water is one of North Carolina's oldest energy sources, dating to the birth of the state's electric utilities in the late 1800s. Because water currents don't require burning fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases, hydroelectric power counts as a renewable resource. But water is renewable only as long as the rivers don't run dry. The state is experiencing one of the most severe droughts in recent history, and rainfall in the Triangle is 10 to 15 inches below normal for the year. At hydroelectric stations, less water means that less electricity is produced. A hydroelectric plant generates electricity on the same principle as any other power plant, except the energy source that drives the turbines comes from water current instead of pressurized steam. The water collects at a dam and then is channeled to a hydroelectric generating station nearby, spinning the turbines up to 10 revolutions per second. As waterways shrink, more time is required to fill the dams, resulting in fewer water releases to drive the turbines. The hydroelectric cutbacks affect more than electricity generation. The water releases affect river flow and can be both a bane and boon for outdoors enthusiasts. Reduced water releases limit the number of days for rafting, kayaking and canoeing. The state's hydroelectric plants have been a salvation for outdoorsmen who seek the rapid currents. Many natural rivers are so dry that they are unsuitable for advanced paddling, said Larry Ausley of Apex, who is president of the Carolina Canoe Club. "The dammed rivers are our options right now, and that's where people are going," he said. "Just this week I've run into friends from Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee on the Nantahala River, because they just don't have anywhere else to paddle." Along depleted waterways, some Duke hydroelectric plants have cut back production as much 75 percent, Galleher said. Progress Energy's experience is similar. Last month, Progress' Walters Plant on the Pigeon River in Haywood County on the Tennessee border was scheduled to release water four times a week, not only to generate power but to accommodate whitewater rafters. The water shortage reduced the scheduled water releases to once a week. How soon the releases will return to normal is unclear. The hydroelectric water reservoirs are fed by numerous rivers and tributaries in the state, some more seriously affected by the drought than others. In general, the drought is more severe in Western North Carolina than in the Triangle. Subject to the whims of the weather, hydroelectric operators can only guess when they will be back to full power. "There's really not a lot of guidelines on this," said Duke's Galleher. ***************************************************************** 2 The Hindu: Left to submit note on nuke deal to panel tomorrow Thursday, September 13, 2007 : 1800 Hrs New Delhi, Sept. 13 (PTI): Left parties will submit a detailed note on their objections to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA-Left committee tomorrow. The contents of the note were finalised at a meeting of the four Left parties here today. The note will spell out their opposition to the deal in the context of the Hyde Act and its implications for the country's foreign policy. Left leaders said they were expecting a reply from the government side on Monday, ahead of the second meeting of the UPA-Left committee on Wednesday. "We discussed the points on which we will prepare our note," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters after the meeting. Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas said the note would be sent to the committee tomorrow. "The reply from the government should come to us by 17th. Then the committee will meet on the 19th," he added. He said "the committee itself has noted our concern and we will elaborating on some of the issues. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 3 AFP: North Korea helping Syria build nuclear facility - report - Friday September 14, 05:29 AM WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korea may be helping Syria build some kind of nuclear facility, a US newspaper reported, Thursday citing unnamed intelligence sources. Israeli secret service relayed the information to the US government, which The Washington Post described as "dramatic." "The new information, particularly images received in the past 30 days, has been restricted to a few senior officials under the instructions of national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of it or uncertain of its significance," the report said. "Some (sources) cautioned that initial reports of suspicious activity are frequently reevaluated over time and were skeptical that North Korea and Syria, which have cooperated on missile technology, would have a joint venture in the nuclear arena," the Post added. ***************************************************************** 4 AU ABC: Reaction time: climate change and the nuclear option - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) By Ian Lowe Updated September 14, 2007 14:35:00 The Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan, where four reactors automatically shut down after an earthquake. (AFP: Kazuhiro Nogi) There is no objective truth about the future performance, cost and safety of nuclear reactors. There is a range of defensible opinions, as well as some that appear indefensible. Even when dealing with the history, some people are selective in choosing evidence that seems to support their position. We are all influenced by our experience, our culture and our values in trying to make sense of complex and uncertain issues. So you should read all statements about the nuclear issue - including this essay - with a critical eye. The Fox Report of 1977, on the proposed Ranger uranium mine, made the telling point that nuclear power, while it had been relatively safe and clean until that time as a means of generating electricity, had two fundamental problems: it produced radioactive waste that would need to be stored for immensely long periods, and it provided fissile material that could be diverted to produce weapons. The report argued that it would be irresponsible to contribute to a worsening of these problems without convincing evidence that they had been solved, or were at least likely to be. After considering these arguments, I accepted that I had been wrong to support nuclear power and became more critical. I now found that the claims about the economic case for nuclear power were very dubious, usually based on careful selection of the past evidence or heroic assumptions about future costs. Back in the UK, I was involved in the late '70s debate about a bizarre proposal by the electricity authority for a crash program to build 36 nuclear reactors in 15 years to avert the coming energy crisis. There was at the time no evidence that an energy crisis was imminent, but when we analysed the demand for concrete, steel and other materials that would be produced by the proposal, we found that it would itself have created a crisis, which the authority would then claim to be solving! So by the time I returned to a permanent appointment at Griffith University in 1980, I had become very jaundiced about the claims of the nuclear power industry. Safety By then it was clear that nuclear power was expensive, but the industry still had a reasonable safety record and could justifiably claim that it killed and injured fewer workers than did the production of coal-fired electricity. Even this argument was subsequently weakened in 1979 by the Three Mile Island accident; the reactor almost melted down and was effectively destroyed. While good management of the crisis averted a major radiation leak, it is sobering to reflect that the same basic design is used in most of the world's reactors. We were not so lucky with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which spread a swathe of radioactive pollution across Europe from the Ukraine to the western parts of the British Isles. That marked the end of public support for the European nuclear power program. The level of nuclear power then steadily declined, as old reactors were retired and not replaced. The Thatcher government tried to prop up the nuclear industry by enacting an obligation for a minimum percentage of power to come from sources other than fossil fuels, but instead this kick-started the UK wind energy industry. By the end of the 20th century, nuclear power looked like a dying industry. Re-badging Then something very strange happened. A small group in the UK nuclear industry concocted the idea of re-badging it as the answer to global climate change. This struck me as a very improbable line. The nuclear power industry had previously used every trick in the book to disparage environmental activists, who had been critical of the industry's record. But desperate times call for desperate measures. The nuclear lobby embraced the science of global climate change, aligning themselves with their old foes such as WWF and Greenpeace. The industry embarked on a very clever campaign of briefing journalists and opinion-makers with the new line: global climate change is a serious problem, clean energy is needed, renewables are unreliable so the world needs nuclear power, which they re-defined as being "clean". Though the claim to cleanliness was dubious, it was seized on by some politicians and journalists. Their enthusiasm was perhaps a sign of desperation, born of a desire either to cling to the old idea of centralised electricity or to find a "silver bullet" for climate change now that the urgency of the issue was plain. This campaign had not yet reached Australia when I spoke to the Press Club two years ago, saying that nuclear power was not a sensible solution to climate change, but I was concerned that it might be transferred here from Western Europe. Not long afterwards, the tide turned on public perceptions of global warming and the studied inaction of the Howard Government was finally shown by its own polling to be indefensible. Then the Prime Minister returned from Washington in mid-2006 to announce that Australia needed to consider nuclear energy as an option. Interviewed on AM, Howard said: "What I am saying to the Australian people is: let us calmly and sensibly examine what our options are. Let's not set our faces against examining all of those options and when all the facts are in, we can then make judgments. But I don't think all the facts are in in relation to nuclear, because we've had very little debate on this issue over the last 25 or 30 years, because everybody's said, 'oh well, you can't possibly even think about it.' That's changed a lot." It wasn't clear at that point that things had changed a lot, but the Prime Minister set about ensuring that they did. Nuclear by Tuesday A task force described by John Clarke as "people who want nuclear power by Tuesday" was hastily put together. The process was so rushed that Howard was only able to give the waiting press the names of some members of the taskforce on the day he announced its formation. In a reminder of the truism expressed by an anonymous American as "Facts ain't given, they're gotten!", the task force seems to have set about finding facts that would show the nuclear industry in the best possible light. The subsequent report by Dr Ziggy Switkowski and his colleagues was hailed by the Prime Minister and his media cheer-squad as giving the green light for the nuclear industry: "a glowing future" was the Freudian slip in a headline used by The Australian. That section of the press even rang me to ask if I had been persuaded by the "rational argument" of the report to "move beyond my emotional opposition to nuclear power." I told them that my opposition to nuclear power was rational and based on both the experience of the last 50 years and a sober assessment of global futures. Change is coming Energy is essential for civilised living, but the current approach of basing our energy-intensive lifestyle on fossil fuels is unsustainable. We need to make fundamental changes if our society is to survive. The nuclear option does not make sense on any level: economically, environmentally, politically or socially. It is too costly, too dangerous, too slow and has too small an impact on global warming. That is why most of the developed world is rejecting nuclear power in favour of renewable energy and improved efficiency. We should be a responsible global citizen and set serious targets to reduce our greenhouse pollution, but we should not go down the nuclear path. The rational response to our situation is to combine vastly improved efficiency with an investment in renewable energy technologies. Professor Ian Lowe is the president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and author of the latest Quarterly Essay, Reaction Time: Climate Change & the Nuclear Option. The essay will be launched by Robyn Williams at the Brisbane Writers' Festival on Saturday September 15. ***************************************************************** 5 Energy Publisher: Canada to host 2008 Summer nuclear institute The World Nuclear University (WNU) has announced that its fourth annual Summer Institute will take place in Canada Thursday, September 13, 2007 by World Nuclear News  The World Nuclear University (WNU) has announced that its fourth annual Summer Institute will take place in Canada, inviting applications from under-35s around the world. The 2008 Summer Institute will take place in Canada between 5 July and 15 August. It will be hosted by AECL, Bruce Power, Cameco and Ontario Power Generation and largely take place at McMaster University in Hamilton, in Canada's Ontario province. Around 100 young people from 30 countries will take part in a series of morning lectures covering nuclear power's global setting and international regimes as well as its technology and aspects of operation. Afternoon practical sessions are designed to foster teamwork and leadership, and the course as a whole is intended to build a global network of potential leaders, which the WNU said already numbers 264. Applications are to be submitted to the WNU Coordinating Centre (WNUCC) in London by 30 November. The course is being organized by Madiba Saidy, who had been seconded to the WNU from AECL and is supported by the Canadian nuclear industry. Saidy said Summer Institute fellows would gain first-hand experience of Candu reactor technology, uranium mining & processing, medical isotope production and leading research & development techniques. The WNU is supported by the World Nuclear Association, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA has previously provided financial assistance to support the participation of many applicants from developing countries. Korea hosted the 2007 WNU Summer Institute, which concluded last month. Previous events took place in Stockholm, Sweden and Idaho Falls, USA. © Copyright EnerPub, All rights reserved. RSS ***************************************************************** 6 APP.COM: Federal panel denies motion by Oyster Creek operator | Asbury Park Press Online Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/13/07 BY NICK CLUNN STAFF WRITER Post Comment A federal panel set to review safety plans in two weeks for the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant on Wednesday denied motions filed by the plant's operator and a coalition that has raised contentions against it. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board denied an AmerGen Energy Co. request to strike from the record certain statements presented as testimony to the board by Stop the Renewal of Oyster Creek, a coalition of six advocacy groups. Three judges presiding over the hearing on behalf of the board said they found no merit in the six reasons presented by AmerGen. A similar motion filed by the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was also denied. The NRC is expected to decide by January whether to grant an AmerGen request to renew Oyster Creek's operating license for an additional 20 years. Without it, the Lacey plant, the nation's oldest operating commercial reactor, would close in 2009. The board is an independent arm of the NRC that could weigh in on the NRC's final decision by imposing conditions on the renewal, if one is granted. Between Sept. 24 and 26, the board will decide during a public hearing in Toms River whether the frequency with which AmerGen plans to measure the thickness of a certain region of radiation barrier using ultrasound is adequate. Also Wednesday, the judges struck down a coalition motion requesting permission to cross-examine Peter Tamburro, an AmerGen official familiar with the barrier, during the hearing. "Cross-examination by the parties is allowed only where the presiding officer determines it is necessary to ensure the development of an adequate record for decision," the judges wrote. The radiation barrier, also known as the drywell liner, would contain highly pressurized and radioactive steam in the event of a serious accident. The liner is made of steel, stands 100 feet tall, and surrounds the reactor vessel, where atoms are split to make heat. It has received more attention than any other part of the plant during the NRC review that AmerGen must pass for Oyster Creek to receive a renewal. Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Burlington Free Press: Opinion: Nothing at Vermont Yankee disturbs regulators burlingtonfreepress.com | Burlington, Vermont Thursday, September 13, 2007 Once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission learned that most of Vermont's population lives in the state's upper left-hand corner, the commission breathed a huge sigh of relief. Vermont Yankee, the only nuclear power plant in our state, is in the lower right-hand corner -- which clears NRC employees and their state-government counterparts to focus on matters far more important than making sure the atom-splitter runs safely. Stuff like lunch. And day trading. And YouTube. This explains why very little that happens at Vermont Yankee is of much concern to regulators. When you're splitting the atoms of Uranium 235 to superheat water to create huge billows of steam to turn colossal turbines to churn out 650 megawatts of electricity, bad things can happen and there's no sense losing your head over trifles such as chunks of the plant collapsing because some wood has rotted and a few bolts have rusted. Anybody who owns a home, as many nuclear regulators do, knows that wood and bolts can and do fail. Just because a nuclear power plant misplaces a few lousy rods of highly radioactive fuel is no reason to panic. Anybody who has kids, as many nuclear regulators do, knows that you can't keep track of everything, and when your children happen to be the neutrons of invisible-to-the-naked-eye uranium atoms, they're going to go missing now and again. Just because a bunch of the emergency alert radios you've distributed don't work is not an indication that the sky is falling. Anybody who has a DVD player at home, as many nuclear regulators do, knows that electronic devices can go on the fritz without any notice. Just because a nuke plant started running the year George McGovern got his butt whupped by Richard Nixon and was built to run until 2012 is no reason not to seriously consider and probably approve the plant owners' request to operate the reactor until 2032. Anybody who enjoys an occasional bottle of wine or a slice of cheese, as nuclear regulators do, too, knows that some things improve with age. Just because a control room operator -- one of the guys who's supposed to be watching a gazillion dials and gauges to make sure nothing is melting -- tests positive for marijuana is no reason to run for your life. Anybody who grew up, as some nuclear regulators have, knows that experimental drug use is a rite of passage through which many young men and women pass before becoming contributing and thoughtful members of their respective communities. So what if a stoner is running a reactor humming along at 570 degrees? Where, exactly, the regulators' threshold for mild concern lies is unclear. A class of preschoolers on a field trip to Vermont Yankee found having a splash party in the glowing waters of the spent-fuel pool? C'mon, get a grip. Happens all the time. A new business opening next door to the plant with a gala ribbon cutting attended by the governor? Welcome to the Brand Spanking New Northeast Regional al-Qaida Training Center! Quit your complaining and look at a map. The plant is in the lower right-hand corner. Most of you are in the upper left-hand corner. Can't be any safer than that. Ed Shamy's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 660-1862 or eshamy@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com Copyright ©2007 Burlingtonfreepress.com All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 UPI: Report: S. Korea plans two reactors United Press International - International Security - Energy - Published: Sept. 13, 2007 at 3:28 PM SEOUL, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- South Korea plans to build two light-water nuclear reactors by 2014 to plug its energy gap, Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported. The newspaper said plans by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to build unit three and four of Kori Nuclear Power Plant were approved by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Nuclear accounts for some 40 percent of South Korea’s energy mix. The units will use locally designed APR1400 light-weight reactors, which will have a capacity of 1,400 megawatts. The country currently uses OPR1000 reactors. Work is expected to start this month at Kori; unit three is expected to be complete by 2013 and unit four by 2014, the newspaper said. © Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 NRC: NRC Seeks Public Input on Vogtle Early Site Permit Application; Meeting to be Held Oct. 4 News Release - 2007-118 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on its preliminary conclusion that environmental impacts would not keep the agency from issuing an Early Site Permit (ESP) for the Vogtle site, about 26 miles southeast of Augusta, Ga. The preliminary conclusion is contained in NUREG-1872, “Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an Early Site Permit at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site.” The draft EIS is available for public comment until Nov. 28, and will also be the subject of a public meeting Oct. 4 in Waynesboro, Ga. The ESP process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at the site. The Vogtle application was filed Aug. 15, 2006, by Southern Nuclear Operating Company. If approved, the permit would give Southern up to 20 years to decide whether to build one or more nuclear plants on the site and to file an application with the NRC for approval to begin construction. The NRC staff’s preliminary recommendation is that a permit should be issued. The staff bases its conclusion on its independent review of Southern’s environmental report, taking into account consultations with federal, state, tribal and local agencies and consideration of comments received during the public scoping process. The staff’s preliminary conclusions include a finding that there are no environmentally preferable or obviously superior sites, and that any adverse environmental impacts from possible site preparation and preliminary construction activities at Vogtle could be redressed. On Thursday, Oct. 4, the NRC staff will meet with the public to obtain comments on the draft EIS at the Waynesboro Auditorium of the Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro/Burke Campus, 216 Highway 24 South. The formal meeting will be transcribed and will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. In addition, the NRC staff will host an informal discussion two hours prior to the meeting. NRC staff members will answer questions and explain the ESP process during this informal session. An NRC staff person and a court reporter will also be available from 5 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. to receive comments from members of the public who wish to provide input but are unable to speak at the formal meeting. For planning purposes, anyone interested in attending or presenting oral comments at the Oct. 4 meeting is encouraged to pre-register no later than Sept. 27 by contacting Cristina Guerrero of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 2981, or by e-mail at Vogtle_EIS@nrc.gov mailto:ClintonESP@nrc.gov. Interested persons may also register to speak within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting. Time for individual comments at the meetings may be limited to accommodate all speakers. People requesting special accommodations to attend or present information at the meeting should contact the NRC by Sept. 27 so the requests can be properly reviewed. Written comments on the draft EIS will also be considered by NRC staff. Comments should be submitted either by mail (postmarked by Nov. 28) to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail (sent no later than Nov. 28) at Vogtle_EIS@nrc.gov mailto:VogtleESP@nrc.govmailto:ClintonESP@nrc.gov. The NRC staff has also issued a Safety Evaluation Report (SER), with open items, for the Vogtle ESP application. Southern must address the open items before the staff can finalize the report. The draft EIS, SER and related documents are available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. They will also be available on the NRC’s Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/esp/vogtle.html http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/esp/clinton.html. In addition, the Burke County Library in Waynesboro has agreed to make the draft EIS and SER available for public inspection. NRC news releases are available through a free listserv 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. Thursday, September 13, 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 APA: Small nuclear reactor to be constructed in Azerbaijan in 2009 Last updated | 13 Sep 2007 20:08 AZ RU EN wap.apa.az The projects that will be implemented in Azerbaijan in 2008-2011 will be discussed in the 51st conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 17-21. Construction of research and nuclear reactor is one of the first projects, director of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Radiation Problems Institute, representative of IAEA on nuclear sciences in Azerbaijan Adil Garibov told the press conference, APA reports. He said that small nuclear reactor will be constructed in Azerbaijan in 2009. This reactor will provide new isotopes both for diagnostics and treatment. No paper work has yet been carried out with IAEA, but all proposals have been sent to the international organization. There is 316-MW nuclear reactor in Armenia. This reactor is usable until 2013. New 1000-MW nuclear reactor will be built in Armenia in 2016. /APA/ Photo.APA.az more photos Website fully supports Mozilla Firefox , Netscape ver 7.x, Opera & Internet Explorer ver 5.x. © 2004-2006 2004-2006 APA. All Rights Reserved. Reference and ***************************************************************** 11 Newsday.com: Nuke plant whistleblower loses reinstatement bid -- 4:25 PM EDT, September 13, 2007 SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ A former nuclear plant engineer may go to federal court with his whistleblower case after an appeals panel reversed a previous decision ordering his reinstatement. In 2005, a Department of Labor administrative law judge ruled that Louisiana-based Entergy fired Carl Patrickson in November 2003 to retaliate against him for reporting safety problems at the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant in upstate New York. The company was ordered to give Patrickson his job back and pay his legal fees, but it appealed to the department's Administrative Review Board. On Aug. 31, Administrative Appeals Judge Oliver Transue and Chief Administrative Appeals Judge M. Cynthia Douglass reversed that decision and ruled Entergy was justified in firing Patrickson. Patrickson could appeal the reversal to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City, said Lawrence Ordway, Patrickson's attorney. "It's unfortunate," said Ordway, that the judges who reversed the ruling didn't get to "assess the credibility of the parties." "We think he has basis to appeal," Ordway said, but he didn't know what Patrickson would decide. Patrickson, an engineer at the Scriba plant, was fired Nov. 20, 2003, less than a year after he told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's resident inspector he was concerned the plant could suffer a meltdown if the main cooling pumps and back-up cooling pumps failed. He asked for protection as a "whistleblower." The two judges, however, found that Entergy showed Patrickson was not performing his duties, was not improving and had lied to a supervisor regarding a chlorine injection project. "Though Entergy did not argue the point, it would seem that lying to a supervisor about a hazardous situation at a nuclear power plant could and perhaps should, by itself, warrant termination," the two judges wrote. Douglass and Transue also noted that Patrickson's March 2003 complaint about the water pumps came four days after he was placed on administrative leave pending drug and alcohol tests. The NRC reviewed Patrickson's concerns and dismissed them as unwarranted. Entergy told Patrickson it was firing him because he failed to meet the terms of an employee performance improvement plan, a type of probation imposed in April 2003. Before his firing, Patrickson said, the company required him to submit to unreasonable drug-testing and a psychological evaluation. Patrickson passed them all, Ordway said. ___ Information from: The Syracuse Post-Standard, www.syracuse.com Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press ***************************************************************** 12 NewsRoom Finland: Malfunction closed turbine at Finnish nuclear plant 13.9.2007 at 12:08 A turbine at one of the nuclear power stations in Loviisa in Finland came to a halt on Thursday morning. The system detected a fault in the device adjusting the output of the turbine at 7.30 am. Fortum says people and the environment are in no danger. The turbine closes down automatically if malfunction is detected in any of its components. "The system has been designed to react to the slightest fault," said Peter Tuominen, a Fortum spokesman. One of the two turbines in unit 1 functions as usual, so the unit generates half of its usual output of electricity. Unit 2 is undergoing annual maintenance. Mr Tuominen says that this does not affect consumer electricity supply. The reason for the fault is not known yet. Mr Tuominen added that it was not uncommon for turbines to close down automatically. These kinds of faults can usually be repaired in a day or two. Mr Tuominen did not want to give an estimate, adding the reason for the disruption was not known yet. /STT/ © Copyright STT 2007 © 1995 – 2005, Virtual Finland Produced by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Department for Communication and Culture/Unit for Promotion and Publications ***************************************************************** 13 WCAX: State official: Inspection of cooling towers inadequate Associated Press - September 13, 2007 7:15 AM ET BRATTLEBORO (AP) - The state's nuclear engineer says that inspections of cooling towers at Vermont Yankee nuclear plan have been lax. Uldis Vanags, in an e-mail to Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, says portions of the columns are showing degradation requiring repair. On August 21st, 1 of the units in the cooling towers collapsed. Vanags says the collapse occurred because of rotted wood and rusting steel bolts that were used to hold together wooden support joints. Vanags says the collapse had nothing to do with Vermont Yankee's recent power boost. All content © Copyright 2001 - 2007 WorldNow and WCAX. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Bulletin Online: U.S. loose nukes By Pavel Podvig | 13 September 2007 The idea that lax accounting, a violation of security procedures, and/or plain negligence could cause a warhead to disappear from a nuclear superpower's arsenal without notice was one of the scariest scenarios in the immediate post-Cold War period. More than a decade later, it turns out these concerns weren't unfounded. Such a scenario more or less occurred at the end of August. The only surprise was where it happened--not in Russia or one of the former Soviet republics as expected, but in the United States. On August 30, 2007, crews at Minot Air Base in North Dakota loaded a B-52 strategic bomber with air-launched cruise missiles, which were slated for decommissioning. When the aircraft landed 3 1/2 hours later at Barksdale Air Base in Louisiana, air force personnel realized that (according to estimates) six of these cruise missiles carried actual nuclear warheads. That such a mishap could occur was so hard to believe that it reportedly took almost ten hours for the chain of command to absorb the message and issue the orders that allowed the warheads to be moved to secure storage. Most U.S. news reports of the incident emphasized that the public was never in danger. The air force continues to maintain that the weapons were in its custody at all times and that it would be impossible for them to "fall into the wrong hands." Others correctly pointed out that even if the plane crashed, the probability of a nuclear explosion was essentially zero--the warheads are designed to withstand such an accident. But that's not the point. The point is that the nuclear warheads were allowed to leave Minot and that it was surprised airmen at Barksdale who discovered them, not an accounting system that's supposed to track the warheads' every movement (maybe even in real time). We simply don't know how long it would've taken to discover the warheads had they actually left the air force's custody and been diverted into the proverbial "wrong hands." Of course, it could be argued that the probability of this kind of diversion is very low, but anyone who knows anything about how the United States handles its nuclear weapons has said that the probability of what happened at Minot was also essentially zero. Thus far, the reaction in the United States hasn't been encouraging. The story made a splash in the news, but the public has apparently bought the air force line that there was never a chance of an explosion and that the accident wasn't a big deal. The Pentagon is paying attention (if only because there are still a few people there who remember that nuclear weapons are dangerous), but air force leadership has already started arguing that releasing information about the accident would harm national security by "giv[ing] terrorists insights into how the United States guards and moves weapons." There might be some congressional action, but with the Iraq War taking center stage this fall, it's quite possible that the accident won't get the attention it deserves. As early comments from knowledgeable people suggest, part of the problem is that the U.S. military no longer takes nuclear weapons seriously--and certainly not as seriously as they took nuclear weapons during the Cold War. I've long argued that in theory this is the right attitude: Indeed, in today's world, nuclear weapons contain no value, rendering them useless and dangerous. But this attitude hasn't translated into bold steps toward radically reducing the U.S. arsenal. The U.S. military, correctly judging that nuclear missions don't give them clout anymore, are trying to come up with different ways to give their nuclear systems some kind of "useful" conventional capability. With no political decision to cut the nuclear weapons forthcoming, they remain in place, sometimes dangerously side-by-side with conventional weapons, hidden from public scrutiny, and increasingly neglected. As the Minot accident demonstrated, this is an accident waiting to happen. Maybe it's time for the United States to ask itself whether it can handle its nuclear weapons in a safe and secure manner. © 2007 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Remote Address: 206.130.124.74 · Server: www.thebulletin.org ***************************************************************** 15 Platts: Vietnam, US sign `arrangement' on nuclear cooperation 2007-09-12 Washington (Platts)--12Sep2007 Vietnam and the US signed an "arrangement" on nuclear cooperation, the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration announced September 12. Under the arrangement, scientists from two DOE national laboratories -- Lawrence Livermore in California and Oak Ridge in Tennessee -- will collaborate with Vietnamese counterparts in areas such as reactor operations and safety, radiation protection and radioactive waste disposition, NNSA said in a statement. Future collaborations will address nuclear safeguards and regulatory controls, NNSA said. The arrangement will help Vietnam develop nuclear energy "in ways that will reduce potential nuclear proliferation concerns," William Tobey, NNSA's top nonproliferation official, said in the statement. Post this story to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 16 Platts: 14 cases of "illicit trafficking" in nuke materials in 2006 - IAEA 2007-09-13 London (Platts)--13Sep2007 Fourteen incidents of "illicit trafficking" in nuclear materials occurred in 2006, the IAEA said September 11. Documented in the IAEA's Illicit Trafficking Database, the majority of the incidents last year involved sealed radioactive sources, but the country of Georgia reported a February 2006 incident involving the seizure of 79.5 grams of 89% enriched uranium, IAEA said. "Eighty-five incidents occurred in 2006 that involved theft, losses, or misrouting of nuclear or other radioactive materials," it said. In about 73% of cases, "the lost or stolen materials have not been reported recovered," the agency said. Information reported to the database "shows a persistent problem with the illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, thefts, losses, and other unauthorized activities," the IAEA said. The report is online (http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/itdb.html). Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 17 The Hindu: 'Trafficking, theft of N-material a persistent problem' Thursday, September 13, 2007 : 1220 Hrs New York, Sept. 13 (PTI): Illicit trafficking, theft and loss of nuclear and other radioactive materials remain "a persistent problem," says the United Nations agency entrusted with pre-empting nuclear and radiological terrorism and preventing proliferation. More than 250 incidents involving unauthorized possession and related criminal activities, theft or loss of nuclear or other radioactive materials, and unauthorized disposal were reported to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Illicit Trafficking Database (ITDB) last year, of which 150 occurred last year and the rest mainly in 2005. "Information reported to the ITDB shows a persistent problem with the illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, thefts, losses, and other unauthorized activities," the latest ITDB report says. Of the 150 incidents that occurred last year, 14 involved unauthorized possession and related criminal activities and can be described as illicit trafficking, containing such factors as illegal possession, movement, or attempts to illegally trade in the materials. The majority of these incidents involved sealed radioactive sources and the materials included natural uranium, depleted uranium, and thorium. Thefts of such materials are of particular concern since they can be upstream evidence of illicit trafficking and are indicators of vulnerabilities in control and security systems. In about 73 per cent of cases, the lost or stolen materials have not been reportedly recovered. "Uncontrolled nuclear and other radioactive materials also are evidence of weaknesses in control and security measures. These could be exploited by those with a malicious intent." In January, Georgia reported to the ITDB an incident that occurred in February 2006 and involved the seizure of 79.5 grammes of 89 per cent-enriched uranium. Another 85 incidents in 2006 involved thefts, losses or misrouting of nuclear or other radioactive materials. Eight of these incidents involved high-risk "dangerous" radioactive sources that are classified as Category 2 and 3. As of December 31, last year, the ITDB contained 1,080 confirmed incidents reported by participating States since 1993, of which 275 involved unauthorized possession and related criminal activity, 332 involved theft or loss and 398 other unauthorized activities. Past incidents of illicit trafficking involved seizures of kilogramme quantities of weapons-usable nuclear material, but most have involved very small quantities, the report said. "In some of these cases, there is a possibility that seized material was a sample of larger quantities available for illegal purchase or at risk of theft. If so, these materials pose a continuous potential security threat," it added. "Where information on motives is available, it indicates that profit seeking is the principal motive behind such events. Some cases, however, showed an indication of malicious intent." Currently, 96 States participate in the ITDB Programme. In some cases, non-participating Member States have provided information. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 18 WNN: IAEA reports latest trafficking statistics 13 September 2007 Fourteen cases of illicit trafficking of radioactive materials and nuclear sources were recorded in 2006, according to the latest information released by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Office of Nuclear Security. 'Illicit trafficking' incidents cover illegal possession, movement or attempts to illegally trade in nuclear materials, according to the IAEA. The majority of the cases involved sealed radioactive sources, but cases involving natural uranium, depleted uranium and thorium were also reported. One incident, reported in 2007 but occurring in 2006, involved the seizure of 79.5 g of 89%-enriched uranium. The information is from the IAEA's Illicit Trafficking Database (ITDB), which was established in 1995 and holds data from 1993 onwards. It covers a broad scope of information and is the Agency's tracking system on illicit trafficking incidents and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive materials. In addition to incidents involving illegal trade and movements of materials it covers the loss of materials and discovery of uncontrolled materials, plus 'scams' where non-radioactive materials are being offered for sale purporting to be radioactive or nuclear. In total, 150 incidents occurred in 2006 and were reported to the ITDB. As well as the 14 illicit trafficking cases, these included 85 incidents of theft, loss or misrouting of materials and 51 incidents of other 'unauthorized activities' with no direct evidence of criminal behaviour, such as the recovery of sources, discovery of 'orphan' sources and detection of materials disposed of in an unauthorized way. The number of incidents involving unauthorized possession and related criminal activities has remained more or less stable at around 16 incidents per year since 1994, the IAEA noted. Nevertheless, the report says, these incidents show a persistent problem with the illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive materials as well as theft, loss and other unauthorized activities. Most incidents of trafficking of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium over the lifetime of the database have involved very small quantities, and appear to have been supply-driven with no pre-identified buyer. Profit-seeking, rather than malicious intent, appears to be the principal motive. For cases of theft, radioactive sources and devices in which they are used may be attractive because of their perceived high resale value or the scrap metal value of the materials from which they are made. International Atomic Energy Agency WNA's Safeguards to prevent nuclear proliferation information paper WNN: ***************************************************************** 19 UPI: U.N.: Nuke trafficking still a problem United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: 13, 2007 at 1:37 PM VIENNA, 13 (UPI) -- A U.N. agency in Austria said theft, loss and trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive materials remains "a persistent problem." The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency Illicit Trafficking Database was informed of more than 250 incidents involving criminal activities related to radioactive materials last year, the IAEA said. The agency said 150 of the reported incidents, which include theft, loss and unauthorized possession of nuclear and other radioactive materials, took place in 2006 and the majority of the remaining incidents took place in 2005. "Information reported to the ITDB shows a persistent problem with the illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, thefts, losses and other unauthorized activities," the ITDB said in its latest report. The agency said the reported incidents suggest that there are many others it doesn't have information about. "In some of these cases, there is a possibility that seized material was a sample of larger quantities available for illegal purchase or at risk of theft. If so, these materials pose a continuous potential security threat," the report said. © Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 St. Petersburg Times: Anarchists Freed After One Month Issue #1306 (72), Friday, September 14, 2007 Two St. Petersburg anarchists, Andrei Kalenov, 29, and Denis Zelenyuk, 22, who were arrested on Aug. 15 in connection with the bombing of a passenger train on its way to St. Petersburg were released from custody Thursday, their lawyers said. Both suspects gave a written undertaking not to leave the Novgorod region where they were detained, Kalenov’s lawyer Renat Gusmanov told reporters on Thursday. The police had also arrested 25-year-old Chechen Khasan Didigov. Nobody has yet been officially charged. St. Petersburg’s human rights groups have questioned the grounds for the anarchists’ lengthy detention. Ruslan Linkov, head of the St. Petersburg organization Democratic Russia, accused the police of a vindictive attitude toward the detainees, who allegedly created trouble for themselves ... New PM Hints At Top Job MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin’s choice for prime minister said Thursday that he would not rule out a run for the presidency, adding to the intrigue ... Russia and The World Ask ‘Who is Mr. Zubkov?’ MOSCOW — Like his predecessor, Viktor Zubkov kept a low profile before being propelled to the post of prime minister, but he maintained close personal ... © Copyright The St. Petersburg Times 1993 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 21 OpEdNews: DU Wasteland: Signs of Truth? September 13, 2007 at 09:48:34 by Steve Beckow http://www.opednews.com What non-scientist can tell you in a world of faraway events what is true and what is not? In a world where science is carried on in laboratories on a “top secret” basis? In a world where military authorities freely fabricate, mislead, and cover-up the truth? Unless one is a trained expert, which I am not, much of what one writes can only be educated conjecture. However, some people supply indications that one may be uncomfortably near the truth. One indication came to me in an e-mail yesterday from someone claiming to be closer to events than I - one Lt. Col. Roger Helbig, U.S. Air Force (retired). It stated, in part: “Your latest [article] about Bush being DU contaminated is pure rubbish .. there is no DU contamination much farther than a few yards from each wrecked tank. You are the one poisoning the world with their lies [i.e., those of Dr. Leuren Moret and Dr. Doug Rokke]. I presume that you really have no scientific education or experience at all. If you do, explain why you believe the trash that Moret and Rokke have posted. Do you also think that government agents have kidnapped your kid, Moret makes that claim, or forced your car off the road, Rokke has.” (My emphasis.) No, I have no scientific education or experience at all. Well, maybe I do. Not much though. Lt. Col. Helbig has riled enough people to invite web comment from DU activists. The headline on one website, Axis of Logic (google), reads: “LTC Roger Helbig, United States Air Force: A Bully Pushing Around Civilians -- Air Force Colonel Abuses American Citizens over Uranium Weapons Coverup.” San Francisco journalist and DU activist Bob Nichols reports that: "Individuals on web sites throughout the United States have complained over a period of months about the abusive and aggressive actions of an Air Force Lieut. Colonel named Roger Helbig. ... Col. Helbig has consistently misrepresented himself and his participation, voluntarily or on a paid basis, as a minder&rs or enforcer for the DOD lie about Uranium Munitions." Why bother trying to thwart DU activists if what they say is manifestly untrue? If I were to tell you that the Sun revolves around the Earth, you would probably ignore me. No, I must have come close to a truth to have stirred up an Air Force lieutenant colonel, even a retired one. (Most lieutenant colonels wouldn't give me the time of day.) In my opinion, the same thrust to cover up the events of 9/11 is at work to cover up the lethal effects of so-called “depleted” uranium. That overall thrust is to establish American dominance in world affairs before the U.S. economy collapses under the weight of its debt and the rejection of the greenback as the world's premier currency. We are watching the sunset of the American empire. And in that sunset the American military is lashing out, using weapons that endanger the world in a desperate attempt to secure global dominance. While on the surface of things the American sunset push looks militarily unstoppable, in fact it may already have been stopped. The Russians have supplied Iran with numerous Sunburn missiles, capable of Mach 2.2 speeds, flying below the radar, moving erratically in the last few seconds before impact. Some say (remember, I am no expert) that the Sunburn is itself unstoppable by any existing American weapons system and may have made the U.S. carrier fleet obsolete. Wherever Sunburns have been deployed, the American military appears to keep its distance. Probably wisely too. The three carrier fleets stationed in the Persian Gulf could be a formidable instrument of American military might. Or they could be sitting ducks for Iranian Sunburns. We won’t know until either George Bush or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pulls the trigger. I would certainly advise the President not to send any more carriers into that Iranian lake, the Persian Gulf, until he sees the fate of … however many carriers are there now (numbers vary from source to source). In the pause that we are now in, one has to ask if any world leader is capable of hearing the voice of reason. Even if they are not, the people need to make them hear. This is what the voice of reason tells me: If the United States goes to war with Iran, it will explode in and over that country thousands of tons of “depleted” uranium, which forms the core of a wide range of American (British, Russian, and Israeli) weapons right now. Exploded DU will create a ceramic aerosol or cloud of particles one or two microns in size. The fact that they are “ceramic” means they are rugged and enduring. These particles will travel on the winds around the world, radioactive for a half-life of 4.5 billion years. DoD spokesmen used to tell schoolchildren that DU was so harmless that you could sprinkle it on your Cheerios for breakfast. So for Lt. Col. Helbig to acknowledge that “there is no DU contamination much farther than a few yards from each wrecked tank” - i.e., that DU is indeed radioactive – is a big step forward towards the truth for DoD and its spokesmen. Most DU experts that I consider reliable (Dr. Rosalie Bertel, Dai Williams, and yes, Dr. Leuren Moret, and Dr. Doug Rokke) say that a dose as small as a millionth of a gram, if ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, is sufficient to kill. I am told that non-combatant women can ingest or inhale DU directly or be irradiated by the “hot semen” of their returning GI husbands. Either way, they may give birth to horribly deformed babies or to babies that die within months. I am also told that there is no protective gear good enough to keep DU out. Besides, once one takes the gear off, one is immediately irradiated. Once irradiated, one cannot be treated or cured. A DU-contaminated land is a wasteland, forever. It cannot be cleaned up. If we keep using uranium weapons, all the world will be a wasteland. War with Iran having occurred, we will not be able to turn the clock back. You can listen to Lt. Col. Helbig if you like. But the gamble you take is that he is misleadling you and that he is wrong and, in listening to him and going ahead with a war in Iran, we may have turned the whole planet into a DU wasteland. Can we afford to take that gamble? Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers www.freewebs.com/truthseeker22 Steve Beckow is a former Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and a former Historian at the National Museum of Man in Canada. He has previously published on cross-cultural spirituality and now publishes on 9/11 truth, depleted uranium, and impeachment. Cathy Garger Superb Superb piece, Steve. Welcome to the club! Once you are harassed at least once by DU-Lover Roger H? It means you have arrived! In other words, this means that somewhere or other along your travels, you have stumbled upon the truth! If what you said was not so concerning to the aims of Empire? You never would have received your DU-love letter. Those who write about DU consider notes from Roger to be quite the honor! Receiving his attentions means you have gotten too close for comfort to the truth concerning this known carcinogen scientifically proven to also ruin the mitochondria and genetic cell material. And the truth about radioactive Uranium poison gas is very scary to this Empire that has been using it on its own people at countless military bases, proving grounds, Army depots, and national nuclear weapons laboratories for over 40 years... Yes, right here at home. Whether or not the US military ever blasts into Iran or not? One thing is for certain. We are currently using enough of it inside the US, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia right now (not to mention countless other nations and islands and oceans in the past) to effectively have contaminated the world forevermore. I imagine that makes Mr. RH feel warm and fuzzy all over... and very, very proud. Cathy Garger by CathyGarger (9 articles, 12 comments) on Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 11:42:51 AM Peter Dearman Roger emails but he doesn't dance Roger is actually registered at OpEdNews. He has left comments here before. But he avoids this practice now it seems. I really wish he would write an article here explaining how DU weapons are so safe. Rob, please don't stop Roger or anyone like him from publishing. It would be a pleasure to defeat their arguments here on OpEd. The DU defenders these days prefer to leave their propaganda droppings on YouTube where there are severe word and link limitations. They can only defend these dumb bombs using their distorting one-liners designed for mainstream journalists to lap up. My DU blog: beagle17.gnn.tv A relevant entry: Roger and Me (DU version) - Peter Dearman by Beagle17 (4 articles, 42 comments) on Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 1:11:57 PM Copyright © OpEdNews, 2002-2007 ***************************************************************** 22 The Tribune: Time to stop denying hazards of uranium Guest Commentary September 13, 2007 A nuclear storm is brewing in northern Colorado so we may consider practicing the old duck and cover. A Canadian company called Powertech has purchased thousands of acres of mineral rights to extract 1 million tons of uranium from the immense Cheyenne Laramie Fox Hills Aquifer. An aquifer lying beneath much of northern and northeastern Colorado, supplying drinking water for tens of thousands of people, and agricultural water to grow crops and animal products for millions. The uranium deposit is harmless if left undisturbed. But if mined, it will certainly trash a most precious water source, as well as the prestigious distinction northern Colorado has as a choice place to live, recreate and raise children. We will be left with greatly deflated property values and a Super Fund site, while Powertech officials exit the state with $1 billion stuffed in their pockets. This dastardly procedure is to take place within 25 miles, predominantly upwind, of nearly one-half million northern Colorado residents. Another 3 million in the Denver-metro area are not much farther away. It will take 10 to 12 years to accomplish and require the extraction of billions of tons of material, leaving an underground cavern (in the aquifer) of unfathomable proportions, filling with water so polluted it can never be used by humans again. There will be extracurricular activity including the hauling of tailings and uranium across the entire region. All this to supply a nuclear power resurgence in the United States and in developing countries that have little regard for safety or the environment. An industry that has never been, or ever will be, safe or clean. Remember Chernobyl? It's still melting down 21 years later and still poses a worldwide threat that will most likely last forever. We still don't know what to do with the waste generated from nuclear power plants we have now (with a half-life of ten thousand years). Then there are serious security issues, with the times we now live in, that must have groups like al-Qaida licking their chops! We are on the cusp of tremendous alternative energy technology that will propel us far away from the need of fuels like nuclear and fossil. We know the answers and the right thing to do. The question is will we continue to live in denial and remain our own worst enemy? If so, we have no one to blame but ourselves for our ultimate destruction. Let's not go there. Randy King has worked for 27 years in water quality and treatment in northern Colorado. He lives in Wellington. All contents © Copyright 2007 greeleytrib.com The Greeley Publishing Co. - P.O. Box 1690 - Greeley, CO 80632 ***************************************************************** 23 ReviewJournal.com: Second Yucca Mountain contractor announces plans for worker layoffs Sep. 13, 2007 Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- A second major Yucca Mountain contractor confirmed Wednesday that it was preparing layoffs on the nuclear waste project over the next few months. Fifty-three workers in Las Vegas associated with Sandia National Laboratories face job actions starting in October, spokesman Michael Padilla said. Of the total, 50 are employed by subcontractors while three are Sandia employees who will be reassigned elsewhere in the New Mexico-based science organization, he said. Job cuts will include administrative workers and some in the quality assurance branch, Padilla said. Sandia National Laboratories is the lead science and technical group on the project, which is forming plans to establish a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Earlier this week, officials with Bechtel SAIC, the prime operations contractor at Yucca Mountain, said they were preparing to lay off between 60 and 80 people in the face of anticipated budget cuts. A formal announcement will be made today, DOE officials said. Likewise, Sandia anticipates a 40 percent reduction in its allocation from the Energy Department for the fiscal year 2008 that begins Oct. 1, Padilla said. Sandia will be given $75 million for its 2008 budget, while this year it has $123 million, he said. Yucca Mountain layoffs had been expected. Ward Sproat, the director of the Energy Department Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said in March that the Yucca program in 2007 was burning through $100 million in carryover on top of its approved budget of $444.5 million. So even if Congress fully funded the project in 2008, it would come up short for the year, he said. At the same time it faces budget shortfalls, DOE continues to revise the Yucca work force, favoring technical personnel who are compiling a repository license application that officials have said will be ready by June 30. "The main thing for this is that we are refocusing our work," Padilla said. "We are focusing now on applying for the license application." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 24 ReviewJournal.com: Officials suspect 'bait and switch' on Yucca Sep. 13, 2007 Skepticism surrounds DOE license application process By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Nevada officials suspect the Energy Department might be preparing to pull a "bait and switch" when it applies for permission to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, a state leader said Wednesday. Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said Energy Department documents examined by state technical experts indicate that government might be preparing a radically new version of a technically complex license application. The documents suggest that the application would not be ready in time to meet a June 30 deadline to be sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission but might be substituted at some point in place of a version that the Energy Department knows to be flawed, Loux said. Loux said other documents suggest that new science teams the Energy Department brought in last fall from Sandia National Laboratories found new problems in engineering and data management. "It might be a bait and switch," Loux said. "We found documents that suggest the current performance assessment is largely indefensible." "We are concerned and disturbed by this," Loux said, adding that at this point the state is operating on suspicion and wants the situation investigated further. Loux outlined the state's views in a letter sent Monday to Dale Klein, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was posted Wednesday on the state's Web site. Asked for comment, Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson wrote in an e-mail to the Stephens Washington Bureau: "The license application will meet NRC requirements." He did not directly address the state's suspicions. As part of Nevada's efforts to kill the project, state-hired lawyers and engineers are combing thorough a trove of documents that the Energy Department has posted on a Yucca Mountain Web site. The reviewers look for clues as to the Energy Department's plans and search for ammunition that can be used against the repository, which most state leaders believe will be unsafe and do not want to see built. In this case, Loux said, the state has discovered references to a "next generation performance assessment" that the Energy Department would refer to after its license request is filed next summer. "DOE is developing an altogether different version that it considers more defensible but which will not be ready in time," Loux told Klein. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 25 Daily News Journal: Commission will ask for permanent ban on radioactive dumping Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, Tennessee news The Rutherford County Commission will consider a resolution at today’s monthly meeting to make permanent the ban on dumping low-level radioactive materials in Middle Point Landfill. The commission meets at 6 p.m. today in the Rutherford County Courthouse. The resolution asks Allied Waste to make permanent and legally binding its discontinuation of the Bulk Survey for Release Program under which low-level radioactive materials have been deposited in Middle Point Landfill. On Aug. 20 Allied Waste, owners of the landfill on East Jefferson Pike in Walter Hill, announced it would voluntarily discontinue the BSFR program because of public concern over the program. Also on the agenda: • A plan for the county to share the cost of a smoking cessation plan with employees who are quitting. Smokers who voluntarily enroll in the program would pay $150 of the estimated $450 cost of the program per individual, and the county would pick up the rest of the cost. • Approval of a $25,000 federal grant to set up a mental health court. The court would divert nonviolent, mentally ill individuals charged with a crime from the regular court system. Originally published September 13, 2007 Print this article Email Rutherford County Commission agenda — Sept. 13, 2007 Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 Bradenton.com: Plume cleanup plan not finished Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2007 By DONNA WRIGHT dwright@bradenton.com TALLEVAST -- Lockheed Martin Corp. has asked the Department of Environmental Protection for another year to turn in a revised cleanup plan for the Tallevast plume. Lockheed scientists say they cannot address all 130 concerns the DEP identified in the original plan by the agency's Oct. 1 deadline. The company has asked the deadline be moved to Sept. 1, 2008. "We asked for the extension so we can thoroughly address each one of the state's comments and requests," said Lockheed spokeswoman Gail Rymer. Lockheed's request is under review, said Pamala Vazquez, DEP spokeswoman. "No decisions have yet been made," she said. "We will be reviewing it regarding the validity of the request and the length of time requested." Before making its decision, DEP will seek input from FOCUS, an advocacy group for Tallevast residents, as well as the community's technical consultants. Lockheed says it needs time to run more tests on wells and ponds and make new soil borings to develop a three-dimensional model of the contamination. Some of those activities will require access to private property, and the proposed schedule includes time negotiating with property owners to obtain access, the letter states. Lockheed has proposed a meeting Sept. 27 "to ensure that the Lockheed Martin team is in lock-step with and fully engaged with the DEP and FOCUS." Jeanne Zokovitch, an environmental attorney with the nonprofit advocacy group WildLaw Inc., which advises Tallevast, was pleased that Lockheed specifically identified FOCUS as a partner in developing the cleanup plan. "I have been told by DEP that Lockheed intends to make significant changes and that they are open to working with FOCUS," Zokovitch said. "I think they have gotten the clear message that FOCUS speaks for the community." FOCUS leaders declined comment until they had a chance to review Lockheed's request with Tim Varney, their technical consultant. In the letter, Lockheed also asked for state approval to demolish two buildings on the site of the former beryllium plant identified as the source of the toxic spill. The buildings sit on the most contaminated soil, which will be removed once the buildings are torn down, Rymer said. During the demolition process, Lockheed's engineers hope to locate a 400-foot well that once provided water for the plant. As former owner of the plant when the toxic spill was discovered, Lockheed has responsibility for cleaning up the plume, now known to cover more than 200 acres. The plant is now owned by a BECSD, a limited holding company in New Jersey, and is leased by Lockheed. Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be reached at 745-7049. Bradenton.com ***************************************************************** 27 The State: Nuclear landfill won’t stay open to nation 09/13/2007 By SAMMY FRETWELL - sfretwell@thestate.com A Utah nuclear services company has abandoned plans to keep its 36-year-old landfill near Barnwell open to the nation after next year. Energy Solutions Inc. doesn’t have the political support for a bill extending the life of the landfill past 2008 to every state in the country, company spokesman Tim Dangerfield said Wednesday. “After understanding all the politics behind everything ... it was in our best interest not to do anything more,’’ Dangerfield said. “This discussion has been going on for the last couple of months in our company.’’ For years, the site’s operator has hired lobbyists to persuade lawmakers they needed to extend a series of closure deadlines and keep the landfill open to the nation. But legislators changed their stance last spring after a coalition of environmental groups mounted a furious campaign. In March, a House committee voted 16-0 against a bill that would have kept the dump open to all states for another 15 years. Although some legislators expected Energy Solutions to come back in 2008 with a similar bill, others said it wouldn’t have been worth it. “I don’t think there’s any chance the Senate would approve’’ a bill to extend the deadline again, said Sen. John Courson, R-Richland. Some lawmakers say the company’s chances of changing the Legislature’s mind worsened after The State newspaper reported in August that radioactive tritium levels above a federal safe drinking water standard were tainting more than 30 wells at the landfill. At least a dozen House members have said they don’t remember being provided those details about the leak during debate last spring. The decision by Chem-Nuclear, a division of Energy Solutions, means utilities from every state except South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey must find other ways to dispose of low-level nuclear waste after July of next year. South Carolina and the two Northeastern states cut a deal in 2000 giving them exclusive rights to the dumpsite for commercial nuclear waste after 2008. Other states probably would store low-level waste on-site, as they do with high-level nuclear waste. The Barnwell County landfill is the only one in the country that will accept the most potent forms of low-level nuclear waste from every state. It also might mean Chem-Nuclear, a division of Energy Solutions, will scale back operations at the state-owned landfill it has operated since 1971. That might mean layoffs or running the site only a few days per week. Chem-Nuclear employs fewer than 100 people at the landfill near Snelling. The state has a $120 million fund that can be used to monitor groundwater, maintain the landfill and clean up contamination after Chem-Nuclear leaves. Either way, environmentalists applauded the decision not to seek an extension. The landfill has generated millions of dollars for education in South Carolina and Barnwell County, but critics said it is time to find other ways to fund schools. “It was a nuclear addition; the withdrawal may be painful, but it had to happen,’’ the Sierra Club’s Bob Guild said. “We’re pleased that Chem-Nuclear and its owner has acknowledged political reality.’’ Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537. ***************************************************************** 28 RIA Novosti: U.S. develops 14-ton super bomb, bigger than Russian vacuum bomb 14:32 | 13/ 09/ 2007 WASHINGTON, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. has a 14-ton super bomb more destructive than the vacuum bomb just tested by Russia, a U.S. general said Wednesday. The statement was made by retired Lt. General McInerney, chairman of the Iran Policy Committee, and former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. McInerney said the U.S. has "a new massive ordnance penetrator that's 30,000 pounds, that really penetrates ... Ahmadinejad has nothing in Iran that we can't penetrate." He also said the new Russian bomb was not a "penetrator." On Tuesday, the Fox News television channel said: "A recent decision by German officials to withhold support for any new sanctions against Iran has pushed a broad spectrum of officials in Washington to develop potential scenarios for a military attack on the Islamic regime.". Commenting on the report, McInerney said: "Since Germany has backed out of helping economically, we do not have any other choice. ... They've forced us into the military option." McInerney described some possible military campaign scenarios and said: "The one I favor the most, of course, is an air campaign," he continued. He said that bombing would be launched by 65-70 stealth bombers and 400 bombers of other types. "Forty-eight hours duration, hitting 2500 aimed points to take out their [Iranian] nuclear facilities, their air defense facilities, their air force, their navy, their Shahab-3 retaliatory missiles, and finally their command and control. And then let the Iranian people take their country back," the general said describing the campaign, adding it would be "easy." McInerney is well-known among the U.S. conservatives. He is the chairman of the Iran Policy Committee co-chaired by James Woolsey, former CIA director, William A. Nitze, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Richard Schifter, former Assistant Secretary of State, and Professor Raymond Tanter, former Personal Representative of the Secretary of Defense to arms control talks in Europe. The McInerney statement was made following a Fox News report that U.S. "officials are making plans to attack Iran as early as next summer," since Washington believes diplomatic efforts have failed. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 29 DOE: DOE Issues Final Request for Proposals for Savannah River Site Liquid Waste Contract September 13, 2007 WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the release of a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for the competitive selection of a Liquid Waste (LW) contractor for the Savannah River Site (SRS). The resulting contract is expected to be approximately $3 billion over six years with an option for a two year extension. The fee for the LW contract is up to ten percent. The primary facilities related to this procurement include liquid radioactive waste tank farms, the Defense Waste Processing Facility, the saltstone facility, and potential operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility. The procurement workscope includes the safe receipt, storage, and disposition of liquid wastes, and the operational closure of the LW storage tanks. The RFP describes the criteria DOE will use in evaluating the proposals received. The RFP’s evaluation criteria include the technical approach to accomplish the LW scope of work; the proposed organizational structure and key personnel; the offeror’s risk management approach and identification of key risks in the offeror’s technical approach; the offeror’s approach to providing safety analysis work; relevant experience; and past performance. SRS is a key DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) industrial complex located in South Carolina. The current EM focus at SRS is on the cleanup of legacy materials, facilities, and wastes left from the Cold War. This LW contract does not include that scope of work identified in the Site Management and Operating Contract Request for Proposal which is the subject of a separate procurement. Proposals must be submitted by December 10, 2007. The RFP is available to interested parties on the DOE e-Commerce website and the DOE-SR acquisition website. In addition, a document library and other information regarding this procurement is available on the DOE-SR acquisition website. Responses to clarifying questions and other information about the RFP will also be posted to the DOE e-Commerce website and the DOE-SR acquisition website. In March of this year, DOE released a draft RFP providing a comment period for interested parties and subsequently held a pre-solicitation conference and site tour. A tour of the laboratory facilities operated by the Savannah River National Laboratory which support the Liquid Waste program will be conducted next month. Specific registration information for the tour will be posted separately on the DOE-SR acquisition website. Media contact(s): Jonathan Shradar, 202-586-4940 James Giusti, 803-952-7697 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 y ***************************************************************** 30 Tri-City Herald: Hanford Advisory Board critical of new pact plans Published Thursday, September 13th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Bid requests for new Hanford contracts do not match up with legal requirements for cleanup work and make assumptions about which cleanup methods will be chosen before required studies have been completed, according to the Hanford Advisory Board. Of particular concern is that bids for new contracts will be based on the assumption that hundreds, possibly thousands, of contaminated sites will be covered with a protective barrier rather than dug up, said Gerald Pollet, who represents Heart of America Northwest on the advisory board. The Department of Energy is seeking bidders for contracts to clean up much of central Hanford under the new Plateau Remediation Contract and to close underground waste tanks under the new Tank Operations Contract. It also is evaluating bids for a contract to provide Hanford site support, such as utility and information technology services. The new contracts, which cover at least five years of work, will replace expiring agreements that already have been extended two years until the end of September 2008. The Hanford Advisory Board has long recommended that removing and treating buried waste at the nuclear reservation should be the default choice in most instances, instead of covering waste sites with a cap to keep water out that could drive contamination deeper toward ground water. The requests for bids also contradict the intent of cleanup laws that specify permanently removing contamination is preferred to capping without cleanup, the board wrote in advice sent to DOE. "Contracts should provide incentives for contractors to meet the requirements of the (Tri-Party Agreement) and environmental laws as decisions evolve," the advice said. Board members said they feared that contract language might influence the outcome of studies that are required before cleanup methods are adopted. Hanford regulators also said they were concerned. Too often the Environmental Protection Agency hears from contractors that work is not covered by their contract, said Nick Ceto, Hanford program manager for the Environmental Protection Agency. DOE had only limited talks on the request for contract proposals with EPA, he said. "By starting at a place where we are not sure we can meet Tri-Party Agreement requirements, we have some reservations," said Jane Hedges, the nuclear waste program manager for the Washington Department of Ecology. The board also objected to DOE including presumed decisions related to Hanford's underground tanks holding 53 million gallons of radioactive waste from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. For instance, the tank contract specifies that the contractor will build and operate a bulk vitrification plant to treat some tank waste; will grout residues in emptied tanks without characterizing leaks and residues; and will need to reduce the ground water impacts of some radioactive contaminants from past tank leaks by just 90 percent, according to the board. None of those decisions has been made, it said. The work outlined in the request for proposals should instead cover the range of reasonable alternatives under consideration, the board said. However, Maynard Plahuta, who represents Benton County on the advisory board, warned that DOE needs to be sure to have a range of viable contractors submitting proposals. "Get too much into detail and you may not get as many bidders as you like," he said before the advice was approved by consensus at the board's meeting today and Friday in Seattle. "It's not very tenable advice," said Todd Martin, who represents Citizens for a Clean Eastern Washington on the board, after the advice was adopted. Preparing a proposal covering a wide range of possible cleanup options would be a burden on potential contractors, he said. The real issue is that DOE's contracts that reimburse cost and then add a fee -- often called cost-plus-fee contracts -- are not practical if they need to be awarded before DOE knows what the scope of work is, he said. The board may want to consider advice on types of contracts, he said. Although DOE managers listened to the advisory board's discussion, DOE's policy is not to discuss contracts with individual groups before they are awarded to make sure all prospective contractors have the same information. The advice on the request for bids also covers health and safety and fee structure. The board praised making fee amounts part of the bid competition, with prospective contractors required to propose fees between 5 percent and 10 percent. But it also said that 10 percent fees are not appropriate for cost-reimbursement contracts in which the contractor places no capital at risk. The board also called for stiff financial penalties for serious violations of environmental or worker health and safety regulations. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 31 Knoxville News Sentinel: DOE event links old friends in Oak Ridge Hundreds celebrate 60-year anniversary with laughs and hugs By Frank Munger (Contact) Thursday, September 13, 2007 OAK RIDGE — They ate cake, but the memories were sweeter still. Hundreds of government employees, some of whom worked here during the early days of the Atomic Energy Commission and witnessed momentous and monumental events, gathered Wednesday afternoon on the lawn of the Oak Ridge Federal Building. The event commemorated the Department of Energy’s 60th anniversary in Oak Ridge, and there were dignitaries and VIPs on hand to read proclamations and do all the things that typically stamp an event as important. But the highlight for most people was just seeing old friends and co-workers, shaking hands and sharing hugs, remembering the good times or making light of the bad ones. “I haven’t seen most of these good old folks in 20, 30 years,” said Joe Lenhard, DOE’s former research chief in Oak Ridge. Jim Alexander, who retired in 1994 after working 30 years in the public affairs office, worked his way through the crowd and greeted as many people as possible. “I can’t wait to shake Bob Hart’s hand,” he said, referring to his former boss, who was DOE’s Oak Ridge manager from 1971 to 1983. The 85-year-old Hart was one of the speakers, and he was as energetic as ever. “I’m proud to be here. I’m proud to be anyplace at my age,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd. Whereas many DOE field operations have been shut down or downsized in the post-Cold War period, Oak Ridge has sustained a strong and diversified federal presence. “This place could always stand on its record,” Hart said, “and it still can.” U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., praised the employees who carried out important missions that contributed to the country’s well-being. He said DOE and its predecessors, the AEC and the Energy Research and Development Administration, always had a reputation for excellence, tenacity and patriotism in Oak Ridge. “There’s a tradition here like no other,” Wamp said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 32 lamonitor.com: Laboratory addresses nuclear inventory questions The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor A federal audit found some shortcomings in the way Los Alamos National Laboratory was handling its nuclear materials accounting procedures during the first six months under the lab's new managers, Los Alamos National Security LLC. A laboratory official said that there is nothing in the report to suggest that anything is missing. A Department of Energy inspection conducted between June and December last year found, among other things, that "a 100 percent inventory was not even conducted when the LANL management contract transitioned from the University of California to LANS in June 2006." The program to prevent, deter or detect the theft or diversion of nuclear materials is known as the Material Control and Accountability (MC&A) Program. A response from the National Nuclear Security Administration generally agreed with the report, but noted "there is no requirement for such an inventory," asserting that the laboratory "currently meets the requirements for conducting physical inventories." "LANS did its due diligence - LANS self-identified the issue during the transition," said Kevin Roark, a laboratory spokesperson. "They conducted a very thorough review of the MC&A and came up with their own strengths and weaknesses." The laboratory maintained 19,400 lots of accountable nuclear material at the time of the inspection, according to the department's Inspector General, including weapons components and high-grade materials containing significant quantities of plutonium and uranium. The highest risk categories are maintained in Material Balance Areas within a secure storage vault known as the Material Access Area. "In many respects," the auditors found, the control and accounting of nuclear materials at the laboratory "provided timely and accurate information." Further, during their observations, laboratory personnel "appeared to be conforming with prescribed inventory procedures." Among the main findings in the report was that none of the six inventories performed by the laboratory since December 2005 was "completed in a timely manner." The same findings were reported in similar surveys in 2003 and 2005. Procedures require that any follow-up measurements identified during the physical inventory be conducted within eight working days - "to ensure timely detection of errors or discrepancies in records" associated with the weapons-grade materials. For various reasons, starting with a contamination incident in the Material Access Vault, the group that conducts the verification measurements was shut down for lengthy periods of time during 2006, delaying the timely completion of the work, inspectors reported. To meet its "due diligence" obligations, the report stated that LANS did statistical sampling, rather than a wall-to-wall physical inventory during the contract transition period during the early months of last year. Another concern raised by the IG inspection had to do with several instances in which custodians served as both the shipping and receiving agents in the same transaction. The NNSA replied that a more explicit standing order has been developed regarding the separation of duties for the custodians and that there have been no further violations since then. "The IG is focused on administrative issues - the what and the when, what things are numbered and so forth," Roark said. "This is not an issue about the security of the material access areas." © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 33 NewsBlaze: DOE Issues Final Request for Proposals for Savannah River The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the release of a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for the competitive selection of a Liquid Waste (LW) contractor for the Savannah River Site (SRS). The resulting contract is expected to be approximately $3 billion over six years with an option for a two year extension. The fee for the LW contract is up to ten percent. The primary facilities related to this procurement include liquid radioactive waste tank farms, the Defense Waste Processing Facility, the saltstone facility, and potential operation of the Salt Waste Processing Facility. The procurement workscope includes the safe receipt, storage, and disposition of liquid wastes, and the operational closure of the LW storage tanks. The RFP describes the criteria DOE will use in evaluating the proposals received. The RFP's evaluation criteria include the technical approach to accomplish the LW scope of work; the proposed organizational structure and key personnel; the offeror's risk management approach and identification of key risks in the offeror's technical approach; the offeror's approach to providing safety analysis work; relevant experience; and past performance. SRS is a key DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) industrial complex located in South Carolina. The current EM focus at SRS is on the cleanup of legacy materials, facilities, and wastes left from the Cold War. This LW contract does not include that scope of work identified in the Site Management and Operating Contract Request for Proposal which is the subject of a separate procurement. Proposals must be submitted by December 10, 2007. The RFP is available to interested parties on the DOE e-Commerce website: http://e-center.doe.gov/ and the DOE-SR acquisition website: http://professionals.pr.doe.gov/srs/. In addition, a document library and other information regarding this procurement is available on the DOE-SR acquisition website. Responses to clarifying questions and other information about the RFP will also be posted to the DOE e-Commerce website and the DOE-SR acquisition website. In March of this year, DOE released a draft RFP providing a comment period for interested parties and subsequently held a pre-solicitation conference and site tour. A tour of the laboratory facilities operated by the Savannah River National Laboratory which support the Liquid Waste program will be conducted next month. Specific registration information for the tour will be posted separately on the DOE-SR acquisition website. Source: U.S. Department of Energy judythpiazza@newsblaze.com Copyright © 2007, NewsBlaze, Daily News ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************