***************************************************************** 11/01/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.257 ***************************************************************** 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: AU ABC: Nuclear power unlikely in Lyne - Vaile - 2 US: cantonrep.com: Fake news conference has gone beyond spin 3 Saskatoon Star Phoenix: Debate left many issues untouched - Swenson 4 The Australian: Nuclear necessary evil: scientist NUCLEAR REACTORS 5 US: NRC: NRC Conducting Special Inspection at Arkansas Nuclear One 6 US: St. Cloud Times: Nuclear emergency drill slated for Monticello n 7 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Omaha Public Power 8 US: CapeCodTimes.com: Nuclear plant safety group will get hearingbsb 9 US: Rutland Herald: Workshop backs 'green' energy over nukes, fossil 10 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Towns around VY will hold extended siren t 11 US: Salt Lake Tribune: In our town 12 US: RN&R: Nuclear summer on its way? 13 US: NRC: NRC Issues a Yellow Finding to Farley Nuclear Plant for Val 14 US: NRC: Issue at Farley has substantial safety significance - 15 Berwickshire Today: Torness shuts down for repairs - 16 WNN: TransCanada evaluating nuclear for Alberta 17 US: WTVY: Employee Files Whistleblower Complaint Against Farley Plan NUCLEAR SECURITY 18 US: MiamiHerald.com: Dozing guards gone from Wackenhut - NUCLEAR SAFETY 19 US: Honolulu Advertiser: Depleted uranium find to be topic of discus 20 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Plan to scrap KI pills irks Vt. delegation NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 21 US: Start Tribune: Prairie Island Indians seek removal of nuclear wa 22 Houston Chronicle: USEC: Centrifuge Tests Meet Objectives 23 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca gets its 15 minutes of fame 24 RGJ.com: Clinton strengthens Yucca stance at hearing 25 US: NRC: Revised Notice of Intent To Prepare a Generic Environmental 26 Reuters: USEC Provides American Centrifuge lead cascade test program 27 NWN: Candidates Take on Yucca Mountain—and Each Other 28 NEI Nuclear Notes: NEI Statement on Senate EPW Hearing on Yucca Moun 29 US: WIStv.com: Nuclear landfill in SC is closing; 36 states must sto 30 Las Vegas Now: U.S. Senate Holds Contentious Hearing Regarding Yucca 31 News & Star: Sellafield strike threat 32 Whitehaven News: Sellafield accused of ‘double safety standards’ 33 Whitehaven News: Sellafield job fears prompt new alliance 34 US: Guardian Unlimited: S.C. Nuclear-Waste Landfill Is Closing 35 ReviewJournal.com: Yucca project debated anew 36 Sydney Morning Herald: Panel dashes hopes of nuclear fuel plan - PEACE 37 [NYTr] Canadian Navy Tests US "Defense Missile" for Arctic 38 US: [v911t] B-2s Drop Bombs on Hawai'i Island 39 BBC NEWS: Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92 40 UPI: U.S. counters nuclear criticism - US DEPT. OF ENERGY 41 Knoxville News Sentinel: Report shouldn't affect ORNL 42 Amarillo.com: Nuke safety official praises Pantex ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 AU ABC: Nuclear power unlikely in Lyne - Vaile - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted November 1, 2007 13:38:00 Federal National Party leader Mark Vaile says he would want to see the location and technology before deciding whether to support any future proposal for a nuclear power plant in his electorate. The Coalition has promised to conduct binding plebiscites in any community where a nuclear facility is proposed. But a National Party candidate in New South Wales and a sitting Liberal MP have already voiced their opposition to a nuclear plant in their electorates. Mr Vaile is today in his own seat of Lyne on the NSW north coast and says he has had no clear indication from his voters about how they would feel. "My gut feeling is that I suspect that the competition would be too great both in terms of support and in terms of the economic viability from other areas to see something seriously considered along the coast here," he said. ***************************************************************** 2 cantonrep.com: Fake news conference has gone beyond spin Thursday, November 1, 2007 BY MARIE COCCO WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP WASHINGTON The Bush administration so far has not surpassed that of Richard Nixon in its contempt for a free press and its unrelenting war on the truth. Its latest miscarriage of misinformation — a fake “press conference” run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to update the country on the California wildfires — doesn’t match Nixon’s targeting disfavored journalists on an “enemies list” with wiretaps and tax audits. Yet the FEMA fiasco fits the Bush pattern of duplicity, secrecy and possible lawbreaking in its public relations. And it works, until they’re caught in the act. As fires consumed thousands of homes in Southern California, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and at least seven dead, FEMA officials — eager not to convey information but to burnish the blackened image the agency earned with its response to Hurricane Katrina — called what it billed as a news conference. But it gave reporters too little time to get to the event, setting them up instead on a telephone conference line on which they could listen but were barred from asking questions. QUESTIONS ARE SOFTBALLS Piercing inquiries such as this came from FEMA employees instead: “Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far?” FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey E. Johnson replied: “I’m very happy with FEMA’s response so far.” The phony news conference was carried live on some cable television news stations, complete with podium, the FEMA seal as a backdrop, and a sign-language interpreter. The sham would probably have worked if The Washington Post had not exposed it a few days later. It has now been condemned by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and White House press secretary Dana Perino, who assures us that fake news conferences are “not a practice that we would employ here at the White House.” You want to believe her. If only facts did not get in the way. Two years ago, the Government Accountability Office found that the administration had violated a law against “covert propaganda” by paying conservative commentator Armstrong Williams to praise the No Child Left Behind Act in his columns and television appearances. GAO also said the law was broken when the administration used public funds to pay a public relations company to analyze whether the media carried the message “The Bush administration/the GOP is committed to education.” PHONY REPORTER USED Government money was used to produce video “news releases” featuring a phony reporter who praised Bush education policies and the Medicare drug benefit. Some news stations used the videos without disclosing they were produced by the government. Like its forerunners, the FEMA fakery is something worse than spin — it’s government-sponsored propaganda. When the Chinese and other global miscreants practice it, we condemn it. When the Bush administration does it, it seems to blend into the background of disinformation and outright untruths that have damaged the president’s credibility at home and overseas. Even now, an army of administration officials and their allies in the conservative media are recklessly promoting the idea that the United States and the world have almost no choice but to bomb Iran for its presumed pursuit of nuclear weapons capabilities. The drumbeat is an eerie reprise of the run-up to the Iraq invasion. The FEMA imbroglio, like so many other administration media gambits, reveals complete insensitivity to the dangers and devastating losses experienced by people directly touched by tragedy. The reality of this loss is itself discredited by FEMA’s phoniness, and this arrogant agency has again discredited itself. Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is: mariecocco@washpost.com © 2007 The Repository ***************************************************************** 3 Saskatoon Star Phoenix: Debate left many issues untouched - Swenson Darren Bernhardt, The StarPhoenix Published: Thursday, November 01, 2007 Brad Wall, David Karwacki and Lorne Calvert masqueraded as the three wise monkeys -- see, hear and speak no evil -- in Tuesday's pre-Halloween debate, say political parties not involved in the televised bout. The debate was more significant for what was left unsaid than what was actually discussed, said Progressive Conservative Party Leader Rick Swenson. "The words 'agriculture, rural education, uranium, personal tax cuts and industrial development' failed to cross the lips of Messieurs Calvert, Karwacki and Wall," he said. "The largest agricultural land base in Canada was ignored (while) one of the largest uranium deposits in the world was omitted. "Saskatchewan needs more electrical power, high-speed Internet to rural areas and further natural gas distribution, not dueling drug plans or grants for kids' hockey equipment and dance lessons," Swenson said, swiping at the promises made by the NDP's Calvert, Saskatchewan Party's Wall and Liberals' Karwacki. "The debate should have been held on Halloween night with all the tricks and treats that were provided courtesy of the three leaders with Saskatchewan taxpayers' money." A vocal supporter of nuclear fuel and developing a power plant to refine and manufacture uranium for that purpose, Swenson accused the three leaders of being afraid to broach the controversial subject for "fear of voter backlash." Marijuana Party Leader Nathan Holowaty unmasked Wall, Karwacki and Calvert, respectively, as "a hypocrite, a coward and an out-of-touch old bat." They have failed to "hit on all issues important to people in this province" while resorting instead to bickering and drowning one another out with shouts. They need to mellow out a bit, suggested Holowaty, whose primary concern in the campaign is to push for the legalization of pot. He called Wall a hypocrite for labelling pot as a gateway drug while admitting to having tried it in his youth. Karwacki has supported decriminalization but lacks the courage to back full legalization, Holowaty said. Calvert seems to be unaware that his federal counterpart, Jack Layton, has a formal policy supporting certain legalized uses, Holowaty said. And back in 2002, a Senate committee on illegal drugs recommended the federal government legalize marijuana usage by adults. The committee's report stated the current system of prohibition in Canada does not work and should be replaced by a regulated system that would focus on illegal trafficking, prevention programs and respecting individual and collective freedoms. "Calvert's party continues to uphold the prohibition here in Saskatchewan when it's basically been decided that's not the way to go," said Holowaty. dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007 ***************************************************************** 4 The Australian: Nuclear necessary evil: scientist NEWS.com.au Network Dennis Shanahan, Political editor | November 02, 2007 THE nation's chief scientist Jim Peacock has declared targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions using renewable energy sources cannot be achieved without more investment in research and development, and that nuclear power needs to be considered. Dr Peacock believes clean coal technology and nuclear power must be part of a portfolio of new energy sources and suggests that the higher cost to consumers cannot be calculated "with any certainty". Dr Peacock said yesterday it was essential that Australia reduce its CO2 emissions from electricity generation and increase the role of low-emission energy sources. "The commitment of the country to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is something that must be a reality," Dr Peacock told The Australian in an interview yesterday. "It's not all doom. I would like to see as much done as we possibly can." He suggested it would be 10 to 15 years before there was a significant level of retrofits to existing power plants for clean coal power production, and solar, wind and geothermal power still needed much more development. Dr Peacock said Australia's current 10 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources - mostly from hydro-electricity - could rise "to a higher figure" but he did not set a target nor a deadline. "None of it will really happen without committing more to research and development - that is essential," Dr Peacock said. As chief scientist, Dr Peacock reviewed last year's energy and nuclear power report of former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski. He formed the view there were only two "mature technologies" with low emissions that could contribute to baseload power for the foreseeable future: clean coal power stations and nuclear energy. Dr Peacock yesterday reiterated those views. "Nuclear has very, very low emissions and, even if it was committed to now, it would still be 15 years before there was a nuclear plant," hesaid. "I realise it is a very emotional issue in Australia but it could provide one element of a low-emissions power system. "Currently we produce about 10 per cent of our power from renewable energy; of that, hydroelectricity makes up 8 to 9 percentage points and wind produces the rest," Dr Peacock said. "There is no doubt in my mind that clean coal has to be developed. There are various methods of CO2 capture, including retrofitting carbon capture to existing stations, geo sequestration, gasification and other variants." Dr Peacock said all forms of alternative energy deserved to be developed but solar and wind power had problems with constancy of supply and geothermal required much more development. "Windmills are relatively simple to build but all have a problem with 'intermittency' - when they can't produce - and energy storage capacity has yet to be developed," he said. "One or all should find there way into our portfolio. "But they will be developed at a cost, and they are more expensive than our current coal-fired power stations." Dr Peacock suggested that renewable energy sources, and clean coal, were currently between two and five times more expensive than existing coal-fired power stations, although at present it is not possible to accurately calculate rising costs for households. "It all depends on research and development and what new technology can be developed to bring costs down," he said. Copyright 2007 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT +10). ***************************************************************** 5 NRC: NRC Conducting Special Inspection at Arkansas Nuclear One News Release - Region IV - 2007-040 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at the Arkansas Nuclear One plant in response to a fire there that led to the declaration of an Alert on Oct. 23. The plant, located near Russellville, Ark., is operated by Entergy Operations, Inc. A two-person team of NRC specialists will review the circumstances related to electrical breaker problems that affected a piece of safety equipment, prompting the Oct. 23 Alert, as well as a similar electrical fire in October 2006 that also led to an Alert, the second lowest level of nuclear emergency. Both incidents occurred at the Unit 2 reactor. The team consists of a senior project engineer from the NRC’s Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, and one of the resident inspectors permanently assigned to the site. They will evaluate the licensee’s response to both events, the cause of the problems and corrective actions. Although the October 2006 fire was reviewed by NRC, the team will determine whether common causes exist with the Oct. 23 fire. The inspection will begin tomorrow and take several days. The team will write a report about 30-45 days after completion of the inspection. The report will be available on the agency’s online document library at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html ====================================================================== 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. November 01, 2007 ***************************************************************** 6 St. Cloud Times: Nuclear emergency drill slated for Monticello next week By Kari Petrie kpetrie@stcloudtimes.com Published: November 01. 2007 12:30AM - Last updated: November 01. MONTICELLO — Full-scale nuclear preparedness exercises will be conducted next week at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. The exercise will take place Monday through Wednesday. The event will test the participating agencies’ ability to respond to a nuclear emergency. The event includes a scenario-based rehearsal. The state of Minnesota, the Nuclear Management Company, Xcel Energy, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Wright and Sherburne counties will participate. Each nuclear generating plant must conduct an exercise every year. FEMA will evaluate all components of the exercise. The public can attend a FEMA briefing at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 in the community room of the Wright County Government Center at 10 Second St. NW, Buffalo. Copyright © Users of this site agree to the Terms of Service and ***************************************************************** 7 NRC: NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Omaha Public Power District on Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant News Release - Region IV - 2007-041 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a regulatory conference with officials from the Omaha Public Power District on Nov. 8 to discuss problems with one of the plant’s emergency diesel generators. The plant is located near Omaha, Neb. Conferees will discuss the safety significance, causes and corrective actions associated with two apparent violations of NRC requirements identified by the NRC during an inspection completed on Sept. 18. The violations involve improper electrical maintenance of an emergency diesel generator which resulted in failures on Feb. 14 and Feb. 16. The licensee has taken corrective action to prevent recurrence. The NRC evaluates regulatory performance at commercial nuclear plants with a color coded process which classifies regulatory findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in increasing order of safety significance. The NRC’s preliminary evaluation determined that the safety significance of the two apparent violations was “greater than green,” meaning they involved more than very low safety significance. The meeting is open to public observation. A phone bridge is available to members of the public by calling 1-800-952-9677 and asking to be transferred to the meeting. Members of the NRC staff will be available to answer questions from members of the public after the business portion of the meeting. No decision on the final significance, the apparent violations or any contemplated enforcement action will be made during the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time. The NRC inspection report is available through the agency’s electronic reading room at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html ====================================================================== 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. November 01, 2007 ***************************************************************** 8 CapeCodTimes.com: Nuclear plant safety group will get hearingbsb Cape Cod Online November 01, 2007 Duxbury-based citizens group Pilgrim Watch will get a hearing on one, but not two, safety issues related to a proposed 20-year operating license extension for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. On Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided not to hold a hearing on economic impacts and an evacuation management plan in the event of an emergency. The ruling follows an Oct. 18 decision by the commission to hold a hearing on the plant owner's management plan for buried pipes and holding tanks that contain radioactive water. Entergy Nuclear Operations, which owns Pilgrim, has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the Plymouth plant's operating license from 2012 to 2032. The company appealed to the commission not to hold the safety hearings. But company officials also tried to no avail to reach a settlement with Pilgrim Watch members to install monitoring wells to monitor for leaks from pipes and storage tanks. The hearing has not yet been scheduled. — STEPHANIE VOSK Cape Cod Online/Cape Cod Times is published by the Cape Cod Media Group. © 2007 Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. the Local Media group of Dow ***************************************************************** 9 Rutland Herald: Workshop backs 'green' energy over nukes, fossil fuels November 01, 2007 By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff SPRINGFIELD — If the people in the cafeteria at Springfield High School were writing Vermont's new energy policy, Vermonters would no longer use electricity generated by coal, oil or nuclear fuel. Activists, businesspeople and ordinary citizens said they were worried about the effects some sources of power generation had on climate change. And they repeatedly said they wanted more of Vermont's energy generated locally, preferably by smaller plants. Many people said they were willing to pay more for "green" power. More than 170 people signed up for Monday's regional workshop sponsored by the Vermont Department of Public Service. It is one of five workshops across the state designed to gain people's insights into how and where Vermont's energy should come from in the future. Starting in 2012, Vermont is losing access to two-thirds of its electricity. The state's utilities' contract with Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, expires when its federal license expires. And the state's contract with Hydro-Quebec also starts to expire, ending completely in 2016. Those at the five-hour workshop said they wanted more money put into energy conservation and efficiency, and said they were worried about the effects of climate change, spurred by the use of fossil fuels, and what to do about high-level radioactive waste. The group also gave a thumbs-up to wind development, saying that they could easily live with the aesthetic impacts of large industrial wind turbines on some of Vermont's ridgelines. The Department of Public Service hired Raab Associates of Boston to run the planning process at a cost of $500,000, and the workshops included instant polling on about 50 different energy questions at the end of the workshop. Using small keypads the size of calculators, participants registered their opinions on diverse energy questions, with the results tallied instantly on giant computer screens. David O'Brien, the commissioner of the Department of Public Service, said that Springfield's results were similar to results in South Burlington, Montpelier and St. Johnsbury. When push came to shove on the tough choices of energy purchases, the 130 people who participated in the instant polling said they would favor shutting down Vermont Yankee and getting the state's power elsewhere by a slim margin, 52 percent to 48 percent, over more coal or oil-fired power. An earlier question showed that 64 percent wanted Vermont Yankee nuclear plant shut down. And residents, who came from all over southern Vermont, said they were willing to pay more for "green" energy, with 20 percent saying they were willing to pay at least $50 more a month for "green" energy. O'Brien said that the state was already talking with Hydro-Quebec, but that the issue would probably come down to cost. And he noted that Hydro-Quebec is also building wind facilities. "There are no perfect solutions," O'Brien said. Stephen Wark, director of consumer affairs, said that the results of the Springfield workshop and the others would be compiled and cross tabulated and posted on the department's Web site. Wark said that in addition to the workshops, which were open to the general public, 200 Vermonters randomly selected from the telephone book, have been invited to a two-day "deliberative polling" session in Burlington. At luck would have it, Wark said, the head of Green Mountain Power was randomly selected. He declined to participate, Wark said. Wark said that in the St. Johnsbury session, there was more opposition to wind development. But the Springfield session, which was attended by people involved in the debate over the now-stalled Glebe Mountain wind project in Londonderry, there was overwhelmingly support for wind. "People care very deeply about the environment," Wark said. The group at Springfield High School was notable for being overwhelmingly male, 67 percent. And 32 percent of the people were college graduates, with 30 percent adding they had graduate degrees. Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 10 Brattleboro Reformer: Towns around VY will hold extended siren test BRATTLEBORO, VT Reformer.com Thursday, November 1 BRATTLEBORO -- If you hear the emergency sirens that dot the landscape around Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant activate over the next few days, keep reminding yourself that this is just a test. The emergency sirens are normally activated the first Saturday of each month in Brattleboro, so hearing them won't be anything new for town residents. But the duration of the alarm will be longer -- three minutes -- than the once-a-month test, which lasts about 90 seconds. The annual test happens the first week of November for those towns with sirens and is based on criteria developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency which requires a full three-minute test of the sirens once per year. * Saturday, Nov. 3 -- Vernon, 8 a.m. Brattleboro and Colrain, Mass., noon. Winchester, N.H., 12:30 p.m. * Tuesday, Nov. 6 -- Hinsdale, N.H., 6 p.m. * Wednesday, Nov. 7 -- Bernardston and Northfield, Mass., 7 p.m. Residents with questions on the annual testing can contact their town's emergency management director. ***************************************************************** 11 Salt Lake Tribune: In our town Article Last Updated: 11/01/2007 11:22:04 AM MDT Nuclear power Panel will discuss reactor for Utah "Nuclear Power, Global Warming & Utah's Energy Future" will be discussed today. HEAL Utah, the Wallace Stegner Center for Land Resources and the Environment and the Cultural Vision Fund are hosting a panel discussion. The panel is made up of national and local experts, who will talk about how the Utah Legislature is considering a nuclear reactor in Utah, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Pickle Company Gallery, 741 S. 400 West. For information, e-mail jessica@healutah.org. Call to action Food, music at 'no new coal' meeting Saturday is "Step It Up 2: An Environmental Call to Action." Music, free pancakes, schmoozing with elected officials, poetry, photos and more all in the name of "no new coal," from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Washington Square, 400 S. State St. In case of inclement weather, head across the street to the Main Library. For information, call Jordan at 801-535-7939. Inspirational rally Tomlin to perform, Giglio to speak Christian musician Chris Tomlin, will perform Monday. Tomlin, Gospel Music Association 2007 Artist and Male Vocalist of the Year, will perform along with Louie Giglio, inspirational speaker, 7:30 p.m. at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple St. Tickets range from $18 to 25, plus a service fee and are available at the box office or by calling 800-355-ARTS. ***************************************************************** 12 RN&R: Nuclear summer on its way? Reno News and Review > 11.01.07 Opposition to coal power plants is helping create interest in nuclear plants By Dennis Myers Critics of nuclear power say alternative energy sources, such as Ormat's 12.5-megawatt Yankee Caithness geothermal complex south of Reno, can provide enough energy to prevent a revival of nuclear power. They face skepticism. PHOTO BY DENNIS MYERS U.S. Sen. Harry Reid may find that his opposition to coal fired power plants is working too well. The nuclear power industry, always alert for an opening, is exploiting the declining fortunes of coal plants to call for new nuclear plants to take up the slack. A revival of nuclear power would bring renewed pressure for construction and opening of the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada's Nye County, which Reid and virtually all Nevada officials oppose. It's not only the industry promoting nuclear power plants. Political leaders and major publications—and they include some surprising names—are urging a new look at nukes as an energy source. Coal plants have been cancelled, delayed or otherwise suffered setbacks this year in Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and other states. In a single instance in Texas, an 11-plant deal was cut to a three-plant deal. Reid's decision to oppose three coal plants in Nevada, and then to try to block all coal plants, has become a major hurdle for the coal industry because of his influential role in the Senate. But his opposition to coal is cited by supporters of nuclear plants as helping to drive a revival of nuclear power. Three utility corporations have filed applications with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for new plants, the first such applications in more than a quarter of a century. Unusual figures like Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore have embraced nuclear power. Critics of the Yucca Mountain project express doubt about a comeback for nuclear power plants. "I don't think so," said Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "There's so much going on in alternative energy. Why go to those two types of energy that are non-sustainable and unhealthy? If you put a solar power facility in a community, you'd probably get 100 percent support." In the nation's capital, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Jon Wellinghoff said, "But I think if we're going to have fewer coal plants built—which I think we are going to have fewer coal plants built—it simply means we're going to have more natural gas plants built. ... One thing it may mean is that we may have to become much more serious about also sitting LNG [liquefied natural gas] facilities at strategic points around the country." But energy development does not always flow in expected paths. In 2001, in the wake of the energy deregulation crisis in California, a new generation of coal-fired plants was almost universally predicted. One laboratory where the nuclear experiment is playing out is Washington, where Gov. Christine Gregoire, like many governors, has launched a large scale effort to reduce the state's carbon footprint. Washington has a long and troubled history with nuclear power that has given the state good reason to steer clear of nukes. Along the Columbia River at Richland, a massive decades-long cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a multi-reactor and dump facility, is going on. In 1982, the Washington Public Power Supply System, a private system which launched construction of five nuclear power plants, defaulted on $2.25 billion in loans ($4.8 billion in 2006 dollars), a default so huge that the state—which was not even associated with the project—lost bond rating points. Yet Washington is taking a hard look at nuclear power and environmentalist leaders like Vancouver Sen. Craig Pride more and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee are leading the way. Inslee told Seattle Times columnist Kate Riley, "Global warming is such a titanic challenge, all of us have to check our prejudices at the door." In the financial world, bankers and investors who were once burned by the financial black hole of nuclear power are considering a second look. In April, Global Market Brief argued, "As coal plants continue to come under attack, nuclear energy will only grow more attractive." The Wall Street Journal reported, "If significant numbers of new coal plants don't get built in the U.S. in coming years, it will put pressure on officials to clear the path for other power sources, including nuclear power, or trim the nation's electricity demand, which is expected to grow 1.8 percent this year." The nuclear power industry is expected to make its most serious push for new sites in the Southeast, where consumer advocacy groups are weakest. Those who oppose both coal and nuclear face some major obstacles. Many policy makers and investment sources believe that alternative sources of energy are not able to take up the slack if coal is deemphasized. Supporters of alternatives say that's a myth, but if so, it's a myth that commands widespread belief. Natural gas plants run cleaner than coal plants and cost less to build and run. "They just keep finding more and more gas," Wellinghoff said. Natural gas supplies about 20 percent of power in the United States, about the same as nuclear, but the price of gas has been rising as demand grows, and production lags. Moreover, there is often resistance to LNG facilities from local communities, as there was in Lyon County in the 1990s. Opponents of nuclear power frequently point out, first, that the industry must still solve the waste storage problem, and second, that Sen. Reid is the gatekeeper on issues in the Senate. But the need to solve the waste problem is a double edged sword. If interest in nuclear power continues to grow, it will generate more and more pressure for the Yucca Mountain dump. And the protection that Reid offers against nuclear power assumes a number of things—that Reid will continue as majority leader, that the Democrats will continue with a majority, that the political dynamics will stay the same—an unpopular Republican president, for instance. A Republican president who achieves good working relationship with Congress would be a whole different matter. "We're seeing all the [presidential] candidates come in here and say, no nuclear waste in Nevada," Gilbert notes. Well, not exactly. All the Democratic candidates are saying that. And some of them supported waste in Nevada until running for president. No nukes Nevada has no nuclear power generating plants—the nearest is the mothballed Rancho Seco in Sacramento—but it was not for lack of trying: 1952 U.S. Sen. George Malone of Nevada announced formation of a committee, chaired by former state engineer Alfred Merritt Smith, to work for installation of the world's first atomic power plant to be located at Ruby Hill near Eureka. 1964 With the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Alan Bible of Nevada, Sierra Pacific Power Company had a proposal prepared for submission to the Atomic Energy Commission, seeking authority to construct a $3 million atomic power plant in Lyon County that would generate 100,000 kilowatts and employ 500 people. This effort continued for many years. The lack of such plants is one of the state's arguments against construction of the proposed Yucca Mountain dump. It's the states that generate the waste that should host the dump, state officials say. COPYRIGHT ©2007 CHICO COMMUNITY PUBLISHING, INC. ***************************************************************** 13 NRC: NRC Issues a Yellow Finding to Farley Nuclear Plant for Valve Test Failures News Release - Region II - 2007-051 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that an inspection finding at the Farley nuclear power plant related to valves associated with the Unit 2 residual heat removal system containment suction supply is "yellow," meaning the issue has substantial safety significance and will result in additional NRC inspections and potentially other NRC actions. The Farley plant, operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, is located in southern Ala. near Dothan. The NRC staff completed a special inspection in May that reviewed the circumstances surrounding Unit 2 residual heat removal containment sump suction valve failures which occurred during surveillance testing in April 2006 and January 2007. During that inspection, the NRC found the company failed to promptly identify and correct the condition. After the NRC staff issued a preliminary “yellow” finding, a conference with Southern Nuclear was held September 12. During that meeting, the company described its assessment of the significance of the finding, its root cause evaluation and corrective actions. After considering the information from the inspection, the conference, and additional information supplied after the conference, the NRC staff has concluded that the inspection finding is appropriately characterized as “yellow.” The NRC is also citing the company for a violation. Under the NRC reactor oversight process, inspection findings are evaluated using a significance determination process and assigned a color indicating its safety significance. Findings with very low safety significance are labeled "green." "White" findings have low to moderate safety significance, "yellow" findings have substantial safety significance, and "red" findings have high safety significance. The “yellow” finding moves Farley Unit 2 into the “degraded cornerstone” column of the NRC action matrix, resulting in a higher level of NRC scrutiny. This is the third highest level of NRC oversight and Farley Unit 2 joins 10 other U.S. nuclear units in that column. Farley Unit 1 remains in the first, or licensee response column, of the matrix. The position of all nuclear units within the NRC Action Matrix is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/actionmatrix_summary.html. “I want to reassure residents near Farley that the plant continues to operate safely,” said NRC Regional Administrator William Travers. “However, the failure to promptly address these valve failures warrants increased oversight by the NRC.” 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, November 01, 2007 ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: Issue at Farley has substantial safety significance - The Dothan Eagle Thursday, Nov 01, 2007 - 11:22 AM The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that an inspection finding at the Farley nuclear power plant related to valves associated with the Unit 2 residual heat removal system containment suction supply is "yellow," meaning the issue has substantial safety significance and will result in additional NRC inspections and potentially other NRC actions. The Farley plant, operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, is located in southern Ala. near Dothan. The NRC staff completed a special inspection in May that reviewed the circumstances surrounding Unit 2 residual heat removal containment sump suction valve failures which occurred during surveillance testing in April 2006 and January 2007. During that inspection, the NRC found the company failed to promptly identify and correct the condition. After the NRC staff issued a preliminary "yellow" finding, a conference with Southern Nuclear was held September 12. During that meeting, the company described its assessment of the significance of the finding, its root cause evaluation and corrective actions. After considering the information from the inspection, the conference, and additional information supplied after the conference, the NRC staff has concluded that the inspection finding is appropriately characterized as "yellow." The NRC is also citing the company for a violation. Under the NRC reactor oversight process, inspection findings are evaluated using a significance determination process and assigned a color indicating its safety significance. Findings with very low safety significance are labeled "green." "White" findings have low to moderate safety significance, "yellow" findings have substantial safety significance, and "red" findings have high safety significance. The "yellow" finding moves Farley Unit 2 into the "degraded cornerstone" column of the NRC action matrix, resulting in a higher level of NRC scrutiny. This is the third highest level of NRC oversight and Farley Unit 2 joins 10 other U.S. nuclear units in that column. Farley Unit 1 remains in the first, or licensee response column, of the matrix. The position of all nuclear units within the NRC Action Matrix is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/actionmatrix_summary.html "I want to reassure residents near Farley that the plant continues to operate safely," said NRC Regional Administrator William Travers. "However, the failure to promptly address these valve failures warrants increased oversight by the NRC." The NRC staff will determine the most appropriate response and notify Southern Nuclear later of any additional inspections, meetings or other activities the agency may plan. This press release was sent to the media from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Public Affairs, Region II. The Dothan Eagle and dothaneagle.com will have more on this issue. Dothan Eagle Copyright © 2007 Media General, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 15 Berwickshire Today: Torness shuts down for repairs - * Published Date: 31 October 2007 By Janice Gillie TORNESS Nuclear Power Station near Dunbar was forced to close down recently to allow necessary improvements to be made. And the British Energy-owned plant wasn't the only one forced out of action, ones at Hartlepool, Heysham and Dungeness also suffered the same fate as the company decided to close seven of its 16 reactors in order for repairs to be carried out. It was originally thought that the closure of the plants would prompt a hike in electricity bills and increase the possibility of power cuts, but now Torness, along with some of the other stations, is back in business. A spokesperson for Torness said: "British Energy has been carrying out electrical repairs at Torness power station which required us to temporarily switch off both of the two reactors to complete the work which is minor in nature but requires the plant to be off in order to do it. "Both units returned to service after being off for approximately a week. "Safety remains the first priority for British Energy and this latest example underlines the point that British Energy will always make the right, safe decision, regardless of commercial cost. "Torness has been generating low carbon, secure electricity for almost 20 years and in that time has avoided the emission of around 100 million tonnes of CO2." Last Updated: 31 October 2007 11:37 AM All rights reserved ©2007 Johnston Press Digital Publishing ***************************************************************** 16 WNN: TransCanada evaluating nuclear for Alberta 01 November 2007 TransCanada, Canada's largest pipeline company, is the latest to consider the use of nuclear energy in order to meet Alberta's increasing energy requirements. "We think Alberta is in an interesting situation just because the long-term supply/demand fundamentals are good in Alberta, there is certainly demand for power," TransCanada's CEO Hal Kvisle said during a conference call to discuss the company's results for the third quarter of 2007. Alberta currently consumes some 9000 MW of electricity, but increased demand, particularly within the oilsands sector, is expected to push demand up to around 14,000 MWe by 2016. TransCanada, in addition to owning a fleet of gas-fired power plants, holds a stake in the Bruce nuclear power plant in Ontario. In December 2003, TransCanada, together with Cameco and BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust, agreed to buy 79.8% of Bruce Power, the owner of the Bruce plant, from British Energy. Facing an impending power shortage, the Ontario government in October 2005 agreed with Bruce Power to refurbish its four oldest reactors - collectively known as Bruce A, each 769 MWe - rather than the longer process of building new ones to replace them. TransCanada is now investing C$2.6 billion ($2.7 billion) in the ongoing refurbishment of units 3 and 4 at the plant. The company said it could use the experienced gained from the project in constructing a new nuclear power plant in Alberta. "We've got an exceptionally competent team at Bruce Power that has done a very good job of guiding the refurbishment of the Bruce A plant, which in many ways is a complete new build," Kvisle said. "We have confidence that team would do a very good job of pursuing nuclear projects in Alberta if they make sense." However, Kvisle pointed out that a major obstacle to constructing a nuclear power plant in Alberta is the lack of transmission infrastructure within the province and between the province and other North American markets. In addition, Kvisle said, "We don't yet know if nuclear would be competitive with exotic forms of coal generation. We don't think simple coal-fired generation makes sense in Alberta going forward for CO2 reasons, but there are coal-gasification and other projects that might make sense and that is what nuclear has to compete with. We're doing our detailed homework as always." Various proposals have been made to use nuclear power to produce steam for extraction of oil from Alberta's northern oilsands deposits and electricity also for the major infrastructure involved. In the most advanced proposal, Energy Alberta has selected Peace River as the potential site for its nuclear power plant in the province and has filed an application for a site preparation licence with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The application is for the siting of up to two twin-unit plants, using AECL's ACR-1000 Advanced Candu reactors. Energy Alberta plans initially to build one 2200 MWe twin-unit plant, with a start-up target of 2017. Areva Canada, a subsidiary of France's Areva, has also been considering construction of a nuclear power plant in the province. In March 2007, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources recommended that no decision should be taken on the use of nuclear energy for Canada's oil sands until the "repercussions of this process are fully known and understood". Their report estimated that a reactor of some 600 MW capacity could supply a processing plant producing 60,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. Hence almost 20 such reactors would be needed to meet the production growth planned to 2015, when Canadian output from oil sands is forecast to reach three million barrels per day. Smaller reactors, with capacities of some 100 MW, could be more suitable for individual projects, given the limitations of supplying steam over more than 25 km. Further information TransCanada WNA's Canada's Uranium Production & Nuclear Power information paper ***************************************************************** 17 WTVY: Employee Files Whistleblower Complaint Against Farley Plant Save Posted: 4:09 PM Nov 1, 2007 DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) - A senior engineer at the Farley Nuclear Power Plant filed a whistleblower complaint against the company that operates the plant. In a complaint filed with the Department of Labor in Washington, Michael Smith claims that Southern Nuclear Operating Company and its parent, Southern Company, have retaliated against him for reporting nuclear safety issues at the Farley plant. Smith claims that Farley's management falsely accused him of being "a danger to nuclear safety." Smith claims the accusations came just days after he reported safety concerns and acts of retaliation by Farley management to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Smith said he met with the NRC to report that Farley was not concerned about maintaining a safety conscious work environment. Southern Nuclear spokeswoman Alyson Fuqua said the company does not comment on ongoing litigation. The complaint was filed on the same day that the NRC announced that it gave the plant's Unit 2 reactor a "yellow" rating -- the next-to-worst in its color coding. The NRC also cited Southern Nuclear for a violation for failing to promptly identify and fix a valve failure. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ***************************************************************** 18 MiamiHerald.com: Dozing guards gone from Wackenhut - 11/01/2007 - FPL | TURKEY POINT The security firm that employed the guards accused of sleeping on the job at FPL's Turkey Point said all six are no longer working at the company. BY CURTIS MORGAN cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com Five of six guards who admitted dozing on duty at Turkey Point nuclear power plant have not worked for Wackenhut Nuclear Services for a year or more and the sixth remains on suspension, the security firm said Wednesday. Marc Shapiro, a senior vice president at Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut, said the company had not had time to gather details about a Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation that found guards sleeping on the job on a number of occasions from 2004 to 2006. But Shapiro echoed Florida Power & Light and the NRC in defending Turkey Point's safety. The sprawling plant along Biscayne Bay in deep South Miami-Dade boasts multiple layers of security -- including heavily armed Wackenhut guards, concrete barriers, motion detectors and other measures that companies and agencies will not discuss. ''Both the NRC and FPL have emphasized that the security was never compromised at Turkey Point,'' he said. ``If these allegations are true, we certainly want to know and we want to validate the information.'' Shapiro said the company already had taken ''corrective measures'' to deal with what the NRC called ''willfully inattentive'' guards. Those steps were ordered, he said, because of similar incidents recently reported at a handful of other plants around the country that also employ Wackenhut guards. ''It's not a particularly new matter,'' Shapiro said. IN PENNSYLVANIA In a case that got national attention earlier this year, an anonymous whistle-blowing guard videotaped a dozen fellow Wackenhut officers snoozing on the job at the Peach Bottom nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, a tape later aired on television. The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., formed its own security force and formally ended its contract with Wackenhut on Wednesday. April Schilpp, FPL's senior manager for nuclear communications, said Tuesday that the company planned to take a close look at its relationship with Wackenhut. The security firm, one of the nation's largest, provides guards for FPL's nuclear plants at Turkey Point and in St. Lucie County, nearly half the nation's 64 nuclear power facilities and a number of military facilities. Shapiro said it would be inappropriate to discuss any business discussions with FPL. ''I can tell you that Wackenhut is proud of its service to FPL,'' he said. ``We have delivered an extremely high-quality product and we stand by our record.'' Both FPL plants have reported security incidents in recent years. The most serious: In March, tests on a Turkey Point reactor that was shut down for refueling revealed a small hole that had been mysteriously drilled in a cooling system. The FBI, which interviewed hundreds of FPL and contractor workers, has not yet named a suspect. Last year, a former Wackenhut security guard was charged with stealing a semiautomatic rifle and a thermal sight from FPL's St. Lucie plant. In April 2004, FPL also barred six guards there after an audit found they took shortcuts during fire inspections. The NRC, which oversees the nation's nuclear power sites, sent FPL and Wackenhut letters Tuesday notifying them of the ''apparent violations'' uncovered at Turkey Point during an investigation that ran from March to December 2006. Under NRC rules, the companies have 30 days to contest findings, explain corrective steps or ask for outside mediation. Companies also can face fines if violations are upheld. `INATTENTIVE TO DUTY' The NRC, citing security concerns, did not provide details or a specific number of incidents, but said the problems involved multiple unnamed guards who were ''willfully inattentive to duty [sleeping] at times'' from 2004 to 2006. Investigators said five officers admitted to sleeping on separate occasions, and one was observed by other guards sleeping several times. Two others admitted to serving as lookouts at least once for fellow guards. One officer in a ''vital area'' also was caught ''inattentive'' on duty in April 2006 by an NRC inspector. Shapiro said three of the guards left the company three years ago, and two others more than a year ago. The last is under suspension. He said he did not know any details behind their departures or the suspension. He said the company was still gathering facts on isolated incidents that happened as long as several years ago. ''We were just presented with this information,'' Shapiro said. ``The NRC did not advise us this investigation was taking place.'' * Copyright 1996-2007 The Miami Herald Media Company| ***************************************************************** 19 Honolulu Advertiser: Depleted uranium find to be topic of discussions - , November 1, 2007 KAILUA, KONA State Rep. Cindy Evans will host a series of discussions in West Hawai'i about the discovery of depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training Area. Evans, D-7th (North Kona, S. Kohala), said West Hawai'i residents "need to know what is present and what is being done to protect us. ..." Representatives of the U.S. Army and the state Department of Health will be among the speakers. The meetings will be at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Waikoloa Library Workroom; 9 a.m. Nov. 17 at Hokuloa United Church of Christ on Puako Beach Road; 1 p.m Nov. 17 at the Kealakehe High School cafeteria; and 2 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Waimea Senior Center. © COPYRIGHT 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 20 Brattleboro Reformer: Plan to scrap KI pills irks Vt. delegation BRATTLEBORO, VT By EVAN LEHMANN, Reformer Washington Bureau Thursday, November 1 WASHINGTON -- Thousands of people living near Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant could fail to receive cancer-preventing pills before a radiation spill if the White House rejects a congressional mandate issued five years ago. The decision is expected within weeks. President Bush authorized his chief scientist in July to consider rejecting a plan developed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to expand the distribution of potassium iodide to people who live in a ring 10-20 miles around the nation's 104 nuclear power plants. The chemical can prevent thyroid cancer, one of many concerns in the event of a nuclear disaster. Emergency responders are trained to take potassium iodide and millions of pills have been distributed to people who live within 10 miles of a reactor, but Bush hasn't fulfilled Congress' requirement in 2002 to expand the program to 20 miles. Bush's resistance reflects long-simmering opposition to the chemical's distribution among some officials. Its scientific name is KI. Critics say the pills could give residents a false sense of security during a radiation leak. The most effective safety response, they say, is evacuating the area and providing uncontaminated food. "It may be possible that options exist that are more protective of public health than the distribution of KI," said Kristin Scuderi, spokeswoman for the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. "All potential options are being thoroughly evaluated." Bush is using a technicality in the law to give his top science advisor, John Marburger, the option to discard Congress' plan. The law, named the Bioterrorism Act, was passed amid concern that terrorists could target nuclear power plants. In Vermont, about 115,000 pills have been distributed to residents, hospitals and day care centers within 10 miles of Vermont Yankee since 2002. About 46,000 people in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire live in that belt around the plant. State Commissioner of Health Sharon Moffat supports the expanded plan to 20 miles, saying the pills are an important piece of preventing illness during a disaster. But she added, "I think it's important for us not to rest on potassium iodide as the solution," saying evacuation and the ingestion of safe food are just as critical. Potassium iodide can block radioactive iodine -- emitted in certain types of nuclear spills -- from entering the thyroid gland and causing cancer, especially among children, pregnant women and adults under 40. "It's extremely important," said Jacob Robbins, a physician with the American Thyroid Association, which supports extending the chemical's distribution up to 200 miles around nuclear reactors. "This should be provided." In July, the president shifted authority for the distribution program from the Health and Human Services Agency to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to USA Today, which first reported on the upcoming decision by the White House. That shift made Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., bristle. "Potassium iodide tablets are a simple, effective and relatively inexpensive precaution," Leahy said in a statement. "It's fine to consider other steps, but the Bush administration's track record in moving this program from a health agency to the NRC does not instill confidence that the public's health and safety are the White House's overarching concerns here." Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent and member of the committee overseeing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, expressed concern with reports that the NRC is worried that an expanded distribution program could make residents wary about the safety of nuclear reactors. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should be focused on the health and safety of Americans, not PR for the nuclear power industry," Sanders said in a statement. "In my view, we should do everything possible to make sure all residents in the surrounding areas are as safe as possible and I would certainly expect the commission to make that their primary concern." Andrew Savage, communications director for Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Bush is "wrongly putting special interests before protecting public health." "There is nothing more important for the federal government to do on this issue than assure the safety of existing nuclear power plants and the citizens who live nearby," he added. ***************************************************************** 21 Start Tribune: Prairie Island Indians seek removal of nuclear waste WASHINGTON - A representative from the Prairie Island Indian Community was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday urging legislators to make Nevada's Yucca Mountain a permanent nuclear waste repository. By Nina Petersen-Perlman, Star Tribune Last update: November 01, 2007 – 9:55 AM WASHINGTON - A representative from the Prairie Island Indian Community was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday urging legislators to make Nevada's Yucca Mountain a permanent nuclear waste repository. Prairie Island, about 50 miles downstream from Minneapolis on the Mississippi River, is situated 600 yards away from a nuclear waste storage site owned by Xcel Energy. Tribal Council member Ron Johnson said the waste needs to be moved to a safe facility that can be monitored. Currently, no one from the Department of Homeland Security guards the site, which could be a terror target, he told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "Developing a safe, permanent storage facility for spent nuclear fuel is critical to the health and welfare of the millions of Americans who currently live near temporary nuclear waste storage sites," the tribe said in a statement. Johnson met with staff members of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman, and Rep. John Kline, who represents the Prairie Island community. "The Yucca Mountain storage facility is a permanent solution to the nuclear waste storage problem facing Minnesota communities," Kline said. "I remain committed to removing this dangerous nuclear waste from Prairie Island and the Red Wing community." Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982 and voted to make Yucca Mountain the site, overruling objections from Nevada voters as recently as 2002. The U.S. Department of Energy has been studying the site to determine if it would be suitable for the nation's first geologic repository for the 72,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste currently stored at more than 120 sites nationwide. Democrats on the Senate committee came out strongly against using Yucca Mountain as a definitive solution, noting that the site is in an earthquake-prone area. And both Nevada senators testified against the plan. Kline, a Republican, said he was "dismayed that [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.] and others continue to obstruct completion of the project." If the Yucca Mountain project continues to face strong opposition, Prairie Island could continue to host nuclear waste for decades to come. Nina Petersen-Perlman ? 202-408-2723 Nina Petersen-perlman ? nperlman@startribune.com © 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488 (612) 673-4000 ***************************************************************** 22 Houston Chronicle: USEC: Centrifuge Tests Meet Objectives | Chron.com - Nov. 1, 2007, 5:48PM BETHESDA, Md. — USEC Inc.'s centrifuge testing program met its October target and is on track to be usable by commercial nuclear power plants, the uranium supplier said Thursday. Data gathered from centrifuge testing were consistent with USEC's predictions, the company said. USEC is under an agreement with the Energy Department to have its Lead Cascade machines operational and generating material in a capacity to be used by power plants. Testing continues at its demonstration facility on Piketon, Ohio. "During the past two months, our American Centrifuge team in Piketon has operated the machines in a variety of cascade configurations, and we have obtained reams of valuable data about performance and safe operations," said Philip G. Sewell, USEC senior vice president of American Centrifuge & Russian HEU. The project is meeting "key objectives," Sewell said. USEC shares rose $1.11, or 13.2 percent, to $9.52 in after-hours trading, after falling 39 cents, or 4.4 percent, to close at $8.41. ***************************************************************** 23 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca gets its 15 minutes of fame Today: November 01, 2007 at 7:34:22 PDT Politics put nuclear dump on front burner By Lisa Mascaro Las Vegas Sun WASHINGTON - Let's be honest. There was no real news at the Senate's big Yucca Mountain hearing Wednesday. No upturned scientific fact. No shocking political flip-flop. No government admission to forever alter the course of the debate. But boy, was the theater compelling. For the first time in years, Yucca Mountain climbed out of the shadows of Washington and into the klieg lights. Marquee names were falling all over themselves to talk about the best way to store nuclear waste. The issue that has been so important to Nevadans was suddenly hot again on the Hill. Sure it was grandstanding by the Democratic presidential candidates. They saw media spots. Why none thought to speak so passionately about nuclear waste until now, with Nevada poised to hold an early presidential caucus, is obvious. But sometimes soapboxes work: Promises were made that a Yucca Mountain dump would be killed. Federal witnesses squirmed in their seats. And some couldn't help but see a new era of debate over storing the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Consider this loosely transcribed exchange, about an hour into the hearing, between committee member Sen. Hillary Clinton and Bush administration officials. On the witness stand were Robert Meyers of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is in charge of determining how much cancer-causing radiation Nevadans can be exposed to from the nuclear waste; Edward Sproat, the project manager at the Energy Department, which is designing the repository; and a representative of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will ultimately decide whether the dump can be licensed. The radiation standards have been in limbo for a year, with no indication of when they will be released to the public. Clinton: When will EPA finalize the radiation standards? Meyers: In my written testimony I indicated that it is our hope to get that done soon. Clinton: And what does "soon" mean? Meyers: " Soon " means that it will probably be in the normal medium term ... It's our intention to continue work on this and get it done, soon. Clinton: That's very enlightening, Mr. Meyers, I must confess. (The crowd awakens with chuckles. The senator smiles diplomatically.) Will "soon" be before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has to act? Meyers: We are focusing on the process, Sen . Clinton, and completing our process. Clinton: Well that's the problem. Because if the standard is not finished soon ... then the NRC will be acting without the standards. Do you agree with that? Meyers: That could be hypothetically correct. Clinton: Mr. Sproat , why is the Department of Energy rushing to finalize the license application by June of next year in the absence of final EPA standards? Sproat: Good question, Senator. (He explains that while he awaits the data, he's estimating there won't be much cancer-causing radiation from Yucca Mountain - about as much as you get from a cross-country airplane ride.) Clinton: What I'm picking up is that there's a disagreement here. And that DOE is going full -fledged ahead, and EPA is dragging its feet because EPA doesn't want to be on the record of either contradicting DOE or having to once again mangle science in order to get some preconceived outcome that will suit those who wish to move forward on this. That's the kind of talk you can hear any day of the week from Nevada officials fighting a Yucca repository. That's not what you typically hear in Washington. Clinton had called for the hearing and stole the stage, vowing to kill the dump at Yucca. Not to be outdone, fellow presidential hopefuls John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama countered Clinton's brash vote-getting campaign with their own. Obama dashed off a letter saying the time for new alternatives to Yucca is now. His campaign offered up a former energy secretary to vouch for him. Edwards reiterated his opposition. The Republican National Committee was at the ready, poised to offer a comment if needed. A cynic would say this was nothing more than Yucca Mountain's 15 minutes of fame on the campaign trail. An optimist would counter that it signal ed the beginning of a new era when a Yucca repository no longer gets a pass. Maybe it was a little of both. One thing is certain: After past Yucca Mountain hearings, no matter how battered and bruised the project was after disclosures of cost overruns or delays, the Republicans in Congress almost always picked up the pieces and promised that Yucca would survive. After Wednesday's hearing, the momentum seemed to teeter in the other direction. "Observation from the hearing today: It was a different tone," Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada said. Exhibit A: When he testified that Yucca Mountain was dead, no one disagreed with him. Ensign said he passed along that sentiment during his routine Republican leadership meeting with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, both supporters of the nuclear industry , which needs a place to store its waste. He said he made a point of talking about how much trouble Yucca Mountain is in. "I talked about it's time to start exploring other options." Ensign, in a comment sure to cause head shakes among some of his Republican colleagues, added: "The fact the Democrats held this hearing is a very positive move in trying to get other alternatives on the table." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada by day's end waxed that Clinton did very well. "I admire and respect her outspokenness on this issue," he said. So will Congress suddenly drop Yucca and perhaps embrace Reid and Ensign's bill to store waste where it now sits at nuclear power plants across the nation? Probably not this week. Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com. All contents © 1996 - 2007 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. ***************************************************************** 24 RGJ.com: Clinton strengthens Yucca stance at hearing November 1, 2007 ANJEANETTE DAMON RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Posted: 11/1/2007 CHAT(read AP/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members, Democratic president hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, and U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., chat in the committee’s hearing on the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington. The grilling Bush administration officials took on the safety of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository before a national audience Wednesday will help opponents of the dump halt the project, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said. She also said she hopes it will help her presidential campaign in Nevada. The hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works enabled Clinton to air her anti-Yucca Mountain position that no other presidential candidate has. It also fulfilled a campaign promise she made to Nevadans this summer. "The increasing doubts about Yucca among the industry members -- and this Senate hearing raised even more questions-- gives a lot of ammunition to those of us who are trying to stop it," Clinton told reporters after the hearing. "It is clear we have reached the time when we must move on from Yucca Mountain," she said. "We must start over." Other candidates Not much differentiates the Democratic field of presidential candidates on Yucca Mountain. They've all said they oppose it. But Clinton's hearing put the rest of the field on the defensive, political observers said. "Now, they have to try and say, I'm on board, too," said Dave Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Democrat. "And they don't really have a platform like a senate committee to do something like that." U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, not on the committee, submitted written testimony opposing the dump. "The selection of Yucca Mountain has failed, the time for debate on this site is over," Obama wrote. "It is time to start exploring new alternatives for safe, long-term solutions based on sound science." Yucca Mountain has long been a hot-button political issue in Nevada, but it's unclear how much of a role it plays in voters' decisions on who should be president. In 2004, a Reno Gazette-Journal poll found 53 percent of likely voters considered Yucca Mountain to be important in determining their vote for president. But in an RGJ poll earlier this year asking readers which issue is most important in choosing a presidential candidate, none cited Yucca Mountain. Damore said the issue is important to voters only if the candidate comes down on the wrong side of it. "It's one of those things where the presumption is everybody will get on the right side of the issue and you're only in trouble if you're not," he said. But that wasn't necessarily true in 2004. U.S. Sen. John Kerry made his anti-Yucca Mountain stance a centerpiece of his Nevada campaign. He continually hammered President Bush for his support of the project and even sent former President Bill Clinton to Las Vegas in the final days of the campaign to deliver a speech on the topic. Kerry lost Nevada by 21,500 votes. While each of the Democratic candidates said they oppose Yucca Mountain now, their past records yield more nuances. As a congressman, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson voted for the infamous 1987 "Screw Nevada Bill" which designated Nevada as the site for the dump. While energy secretary, Richardson stopped temporary storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, but the project progressed under his administration. Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards has voted both ways on the project. Clinton was criticized for skipping two committee hearings on Yucca Mountain last year and has said she is "agnostic" about nuclear power. Obama and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd represent states relying heavily on nuclear power for electricity. Obama fought against his state, Illinois, becoming a regional site for storing waste. Adam Bozzi, Edwards' Nevada spokesman, said Edwards is the only candidate to oppose additional nuclear plants until the question of the waste is resolved. "It's an important distinction," he said. "For Senator Clinton to say she is agnostic on nuclear energy, she is hedging again." Frederico Pena, a former energy secretary who is advising Obama on his energy policy, couldn't name anything to distinguish Obama from the field. "My understanding is they are all generally opposed," he said. "Whether anyone is more firmly opposed than Senator Obama, I cannot tell you." © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 25 NRC: Revised Notice of Intent To Prepare a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Uranium Milling Facilities FR Doc E7-21604 [Federal Register: November 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 211)] [Notices] [Page 61912-61913] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01no07-86] [[Page 61912]] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AGENCY: United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent (NOI). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice revises a notice published on September 27, 2007, in the Federal Register (72 FR 54947), which announced, in part, that the scoping period for the NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for uranium recovery facilities was extended to October 31, 2007. The purpose of this revised notice is to further extend the scoping comment period to November 30, 2007. DATES: The NRC has received a letter dated October 16, 2007, from the National Mining Association (NMA) in which the NMA requested an extension of the date for submitting comments on the scope of the GEIS. In response, the NRC has determined that the public scoping period for the GEIS is extended to November 30, 2007. This is the 3rd extension of the comment period, which originally was to end on September 4, 2007. However, due to several requests, the period first was extended to October 8, 2007, and then again until October 31, 2007. With this current extension, the comment period will be approximately 130 days and greatly exceeds the typical length of NRC scoping comment periods. Thus NRC does not intend to provide any further extensions of the comment period. Written comments submitted by mail should be postmarked by that date to ensure consideration. Comments mailed after that date will be considered to the extent possible. ADDRESSES: Members of the public and interested parties are invited, and encouraged to submit comments to the Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Mail Stop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Also, the NRC encourages comments to be submitted electronically to NRCREP@nrc.gov. Please refer to the ``Uranium Recovery GEIS'' when submitting comments. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the NRC NEPA process, or the environmental review process related to this GEIS, please contact: James Park, Project Manager, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection (DWMEP), Mail Stop T-8F5, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001, by phone at 1 (800) 368-5642, extension 6935, or by e-mail at JRP@nrc.gov. For general or technical information associated with the safety and licensing of uranium milling facilities, please contact: William Von Till, Branch Chief, Uranium Recovery Branch, DWMEP, Mail Stop T-8F5, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by phone at 1 (800) 368-5642, extension 0598, or by e-mail at RWV@nrc.gov. Information and documents associated with the GEIS are available for public review through the NRC electronic reading room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Documents may also be obtained from the NRC Public Document Room at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD 20852- 2738. GEIS related documents will also be found at the following public libraries: Albuquerque Main Library, 501 Copper NW., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, 505-768-5141. Mother Whiteside Memorial Library, 525 West High Street, Grants, New Mexico 87020, 505-287-4793. Octavia Fellin Public Library, 115 W. Hill Avenue, Gallup, New Mexico 87301, 505-863-1291. Natrona County Public Library, 307 East Second Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601, 307-237-4935. Fremont County Public Library, 275 North 2nd Street, Lander, Wyoming 82520, 307-332-5194. Carbon County Public Library, 215 W Buffalo Street, Rawlins, Wyoming 82301, 307-328-2618. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1.0 Background The NRC is expecting numerous license applications for in-situ leach (ISL) uranium milling facilities in the coming 2-3 years. This GEIS is intended to address the common issues associated with environmental reviews of such milling facilities located in the western United States. Due to environmental issues common to ISL milling facilities, the NRC staff will be addressing these common issues generically to aid in a more efficient environmental review for each separate license application, if and when these applications are submitted. ISL milling facilities recover uranium from low grade ores that may not be economically recoverable by other methods. In this process, a leaching agent, such as oxygen with sodium bicarbonate, is added to native ground water for injection through wells into the subsurface ore body to dissolve the uranium. The leach solution, containing the dissolved uranium, is pumped back to the surface and sent to the processing plant, where ion exchange is used to separate the uranium from the solution. The underground leaching of the uranium also frees other metals and minerals from the host rock. Operators of ISL facilities are required to restore the ground water affected by the leaching operations. The milling process concentrates the recovered uranium into the product known as ``yellowcake'' (U3O8). This yellowcake is then shipped to uranium conversion facilities for further processing in the overall uranium fuel cycle. One alternative to ISL milling is the conventional uranium milling process that extracts uranium from mined ore. At conventional mills, the ore arrives via truck and is crushed, ground, and leached. In most cases, sulfuric acid is the leaching agent, but alkaline leaching can also be done. The leaching agent not only extracts uranium from the ore but also several other constituents (e.g., vanadium, selenium, iron, lead, and arsenic). Conventional mills extract 90 to 95 percent of the uranium from the ore. These mills are typically in areas of low population density, and they typically process ores from mines within 50 kilometers (30 miles). Conventional mills may also produce significant quantities of waste materials, known as mill tailings, from the ore processing. These tailings are contained in impoundments which can be as large as 250 to 300 acres in extent. It is estimated that roughly 95 percent of the incoming ore ends as mill tailings. These mill tailings contain most of the radioactive progeny of uranium and may be a significant source of radon and radon progeny releases to the environment. The GEIS will focus on the construction, operation, and decommissioning of ISL mills and also assesses alternative methods of uranium recovery. It is noted that the hardrock mining associated with conventional uranium milling is regulated by other entities (e.g., the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and various state agencies). For more information on the uranium fuel cycle, please see Regulating Nuclear Fuel, NUREG/BR-0280, Rev. 1, (which can be found online at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/brochures/br0280/ ). 2.0 Alternatives To Be Evaluated No action--The no-action alternative would be to not build nor license potential uranium milling facilities. [[Page 61913]] Under this alternative the NRC would not approve future license applications. This alternative serves as a baseline for comparison of the potential environmental impacts. Proposed action--The proposed action is the construction, operation, and decommissioning of an ISL uranium mill. Implementation of the proposed action would require the issuance of an NRC license under the provisions of 10 CFR part 40. Alternatives--The conventional milling process is one alternative. Other alternatives not listed in this notice may be identified through the scoping process. 3.0 Environmental Impact Areas To Be Analyzed The following resource areas have been tentatively identified for analysis in the GEIS: --Public and Occupational Health: addressing the potential public and occupational consequences from construction, routine operation, transportation, and credible accident scenarios (including natural events), and decommissioning; --Waste Management: addressing the types of wastes expected to be generated, handled, stored or subject to re-use or disposal; --Land Use: addressing land use plans, policies and controls; --Transportation: addressing the transportation modes, routes, quantities, and risk estimates; --Geology and Soils: addressing the physical geography, topography, geology and soil characteristics; --Water Resources: addressing the surface and ground water hydrology, water use and quality, and the potential for degradation; --Ecology: addressing wetlands, aquatic, terrestrial, economically and recreationally important species, and threatened and endangered species; --Air Quality: addressing meteorological conditions, ambient background, pollutant sources, and the potential for degradation; --Noise: addressing ambient noises, sources, and sensitive receptors; --Historical and Cultural Resources: addressing historical, archaeological, and traditional cultural resources; --Visual and Scenic Resources: Addressing landscape characteristics, man-made features and viewshed; --Socioeconomics: Addressing the demography, economic base, labor pool, housing, transportation, utilities, public services/facilities, education, recreation, and cultural resources; --Environmental Justice: Addressing the potential disproportionately high and adverse impacts to minority and low-income populations; and --Cumulative Effects: Addressing the impacts from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions at and near the site. The examples under each resource areas are not intended to be all inclusive, nor is this list an indication that environmental impacts will occur. The list is presented to facilitate comments on the scope of the GEIS. Additions to, or deletions from, this list may occur as a result of the public scoping process. 4.0 Tiering Tiering refers to the coverage of general matters in broader environmental impact statements with subsequent narrower statements or environmental analyses incorporating by reference the general discussions and concentrating solely on the issues specific to the narrower statement (40 CFR 1508.28). The NRC intends to use the GEIS to address common issues associated with environmental reviews of ISL uranium milling facilities located in the western United States and then develop site-specific environmental assessments or site-specific environmental impact statements which will tier off the common issues identified and evaluated in the GEIS. 5.0 Scoping Comments Scoping is an early and open process designed to determine the range of actions, alternatives, and potential impacts to be considered in the GEIS, and to identify the significant issues related to the proposed action. Scoping is intended to solicit input from the public and other agencies so that the analysis can be more clearly focused on issues of genuine concern. Written comments should be mailed to the address listed above in the ADDRESSES section. Scoping comments may also be submitted electronically via email to NRCREP@nrc.gov. Please refer to the ``Uranium Recovery GEIS'' when submitting comments. The NRC staff will prepare a scoping summary report, in which it will summarize public comments. The NRC will make the scoping summary report and project- related materials, along with other relevant information on the GEIS, available at an NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/licensing/geis.html so that the public can keep abreast of the current schedule and progress on the development of the GEIS. 6.0 The NEPA Process The GEIS will be prepared according to NEPA and NRC's NEPA implementing regulations contained in 10 CFR part 51. After the scoping process is complete, the NRC will prepare a draft GEIS. The draft GEIS is scheduled to be published by April 2008. A public comment period on the draft GEIS is planned, and public meetings to receive comments will be held approximately 3 weeks after publication of the draft GEIS. Availability of the draft GEIS, the dates of the public comment period on the draft GEIS, and information about the public comment meetings will be announced in the Federal Register, on NRC's Web page, and in the local news media. The final GEIS is expected to be published in January 2009 and will address, as appropriate, the public comments received on the draft GEIS. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of October, 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Larry W. Camper, Director, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs. [FR Doc. E7-21604 Filed 10-31-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 26 Reuters: USEC Provides American Centrifuge lead cascade test program update centrifuges in integrated testing program produce commercial nuclear fuel assays | Reuters Thu Nov 1, 2007 4:33pm EDT The Lead Cascade test program of the American Centrifuge technology is producing results that achieve USEC test program objectives, marking another important step in deploying this highly efficient uranium enrichment technology. Data gathered from groups of Lead Cascade prototype machines operating together in a closed-loop cascade configuration were consistent with the predictions of USEC's analytical models regarding cascade and machine performance, and the product assays generated. The integrated testing program also demonstrated results that USEC believes achieve the October 2007 milestone under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy of having the Lead Cascade operational and generating product assay in a range useable by commercial nuclear power plants. © Reuters2007All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 27 NWN: Candidates Take on Yucca Mountain—and Each Other New West Network By David Frey, 11-01-07 Who says presidential candidates don’t care about the West? With Nevada hosting an early caucus, suddenly Western issues (or at least Nevada issues) are starting to rank right up their with ethanol in Iowa. And what could be more controversial in Nevada than the nuclear waste dump planned for Yucca Mountain? Sen. Hillary Clinton got her jabs in on Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the issue. That is, a Senate hearing that she called for. “I believe we need to start over,” she said, according to the Associated Press. Clinton sits on the Senate environment committee, and she used her position to trash the dump, nail government witnesses, then chat with Nevada reporters. Enter presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, who issued a written statement opposing the dump, and held his own conference call. And former Sen. John Edwards, tossed out a statement the day before opposing the dump and taking shots at Clinton for “trying to have it both ways” by opposing the dump but saying she is “agnostic” on nuclear energy. Even before the hearing, Clinton was firing back at Edwards, lambasting him for voting for Bush’s measure to make it a nuclear waste site. “Rather than merely talking about Yucca Mountain, Senator Clinton is taking action,” Clinton spokeswoman Hilarie Grey told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The West’s public lands were at issue elsewhere in the halls of Congress, too. Ninety-three House members fired off a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne calling for the government to an off-highway vehicles in Utah’s desert lands. That’s one out of five members of Congress, notesthe Salt Lake Tribune. Against all odds, none of them happened to be from Utah. “I don’t presume to set transportation policy for Chicago or New York,” Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, told the paper. “So I would appreciate my colleagues - none of whom are from Utah - not trying to protect Utah from Utahns.” The letter comes as the Bureau of Land Management is working out a travel management plan for millions of acres of remote lands in Utah. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is backing the letter. It’s worried about impacts on the land and cultural resources that could come from motors and knobby tires in the backcountry. Environmentalists and local communities have scored another victory in taking on gas leasing on Colorado federal land. The BLM has pulled over 58,000 acres planned to be leased in its Nov. 8 auction, reports the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. The site removed included all the land in Grand County, plus some parcels in Moffat and San Miguel counties. Protestors included the town of Granby, which worried about economic and environmental impacts, environmentalists who worried about wildlife impacts, and the state Division of Wildlife, which worried about impacts to sage grouse and other species. The protesters were pleased, of course. But BLM officials caution they shouldn’t get too optimistic. Those parcels could end up on the auction block again. © 2007 NewWest, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 28 NEI Nuclear Notes: NEI Statement on Senate EPW Hearing on Yucca Mountain Wednesday, October 31, 2007 The following statement comes from NEI's Media Relations Department: The U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works held a hearing today on the federal government’s program to dispose of used nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and high-level radioactive waste from U.S. defense programs at a geologic repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Nuclear Energy Institute’s chief nuclear officer, Marvin Fertel, made the following comments about the program. “As the Department of Energy moves steadily closer to the submission of a license application for the planned Yucca Mountain repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, today’s hearing was an opportune time to note that there is some 20 years of solid science undergirding this program. Over the past two decades, billions of dollars have been spent on analyses of the repository site by many of our nation’s leading scientific experts. This analysis will continue during construction and operation of the repository so that public health and safety of future generations will be protected. “Today’s hearing also was an appropriate time to note that, as early as 1957, the National Academy of Sciences recommended disposing radioactive waste in geologic formations. This is a project in which our nation can take great pride, because it is all about environmental stewardship. Through its hard work at this barren ridge in the Nevada desert, the United States is leading the worldwide efforts to develop geologic disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste. This is literally the most studied site of its kind in the world. “It is dismaying that today’s hearing was marred by factual inaccuracies that fly in the face of scientifically provable and measurable facts. It is fact, for example, that background radiation levels in Denver are well above the U.S. average of 300 millirem per year. It is not true that the Yucca Mountain project would lead to uncontrolled radiation exposures. And it is not true that the science at the project site has been manipulated. The nuclear industry believes it is important that these issues be settled based on a fair, thorough, impartial and open consideration of the facts. The Yucca Mountain licensing process will provide a rigorous and transparent examination of the scientific and technical facts in which opinions will be aired, vetted and accorded a full adjudicatory hearing. “Ultimately, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will judge whether to approve the Department of Energy’s project. The key role for Congress to play – implementing its endorsement of the site’s suitability in 2002 – is to ensure that funds are available and appropriated in sufficient amounts for the Department of Energy to complete the work that it needs to in a timely fashion, and for the NRC to fulfill its safety mission. It is also appropriate for Congress to provide oversight at key points in the Yucca Mountain project development. “Current national policy with regard to management of high-level radioactive waste was formulated in 1982 with enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. This policy has been reaffirmed on several occasions since. Even under an integrated used nuclear fuel management approach that in the future may involve advanced reprocessing technologies, there always will be byproducts that require geologic disposal.” For more on the industry's position on used nuclear fuel, click here. Posted by Eric McErlain at 4:23 PM ***************************************************************** 29 WIStv.com: Nuclear landfill in SC is closing; 36 states must store their own Columbia, SC: COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - Power plants, hospitals, universities and companies in 36 states are scrambling to find someone to take their low-level radioactive waste. That's because the South Carolina landfill that they've been using for years is about to close its doors. The 235-acre Barnwell County site, near the Georgia line, opened in 1971. Each year, the equivalent of more than 40 tractor-trailer loads of waste was dumped there from 39 states. South Carolina lawmakers ordered the operation to scale back in 2000. As of July 1, the landfill will take waste only from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut. Only two other landfills now exist nationwide for low-level nuclear waste. Officials from the affected states are worried that the decision will lead to numerous "temporary" storage sites across the country. That will increase the danger of leakage and contamination. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and WISTV, a Raycom Media Station. ***************************************************************** 30 Las Vegas Now: U.S. Senate Holds Contentious Hearing Regarding Yucca Mountain Jonathan Humbert, Reporter Nevada Senators like Harry Reid face an uphill battle against a Bush administration war chest. Nevada Senator John Ensign broke from the party line. A heated debate and now new hope in the fight against Yucca Mountain -- this time from the United States Senate. Wednesday, the environmental committee held a contentious hearing aimed squarely at shutting down the proposed nuclear dump. Reporter Jonathan Humbert was the only local television reporter at that hearing in Washington. Nevada senators Harry Reid, John Ensign, Barbara Boxer and even Hillary Clinton fresh from the campaign trail. It wasn't about slowing down Yucca Mountain -- it was about ending the project forever. After three decades of controversy and stalling, democratic leaders say Yucca Mountain could be closed within a year. Wednesday's hearing offered no binding commitments, but it did renew the call to cut off funding and squeeze the project dry. Nevada's senators face an uphill battle against a Bush administration war chest of $400 million. They also face opposition from many states with nuclear power who want to see the multi-billion dollar dump house their waste. Idaho Senator Larry Craig, already considered a senate outsider, took the lead for nuclear power. He says the government must finish Yucca Mountain. "And if we don't, we either become a less productive nation or we're dirtier nation based on current technology." Senator Hillary Clinton was one of the harshest voices. She grilled nuclear experts over what she sees as a shoddy process. Nevada Senator John Ensign broke from the party line though to blast the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. "What we should not do is push an incomplete application for a flawed site through a rushed site and an incoherent process," said Sen. Clinton. "I think that we are really pouring money down a large rat hole in the state of Nevada," said Sen. Ensign. From here, the Department of Energy will submit another application by June of 2008. That could be the end to the mountain of waste in Nevada's backyard. Email your comments to Reporter Jonathan Humbert. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 News & Star: Sellafield strike threat Published on 01/11/2007 Role: The 35 mechanics maintain radiation monitoring equipment By Matthew Legg SELLAFIELD nuclear plant could be brought to a virtual standstill by strike action. About 35 instrument mechanics have voted to walk out in a row over pay. Their absence could make it potentially dangerous for radiation workers to enter some of the “active” plants. That could lead to the closure of crucial areas of the site, which employs about 10,000 people. The mechanics maintain the sensitive radiation monitoring equipment and portable instruments which decide whether or not it is safe for workers to pass through the change rooms into “active” areas of the site. Alan Westnedge, regional organiser of the Amicus union, said: “Their job is to maintain and fix the monitoring machines if they go wrong so that it’s safe for people to enter active areas. If there are no machines, you don’t go in, simple as that.” One mechanic said: “Our portable instruments are used to monitor for contamination. “They were used in the recent polonium [Russian spy] incident in London, and due to the high maintenance of this equipment areas of Sellafield will be affected very quickly with the possibility of areas of the site being closed if we take action.” The BIS mechanics voted unanimously to take action after rejecting a pay offer which fell short of the 4.85 per cent increase awarded to most of the BNG employees before the transfer to Sellafield Ltd. Mr Westnedge said: “Apart from being unhappy with the pay offer, our members in BIS have felt undervalued for some time and have taken a step backward compared to the rest of the group. “As always, when it comes to industrial action we will discuss the safety implications with the management but the fact is that if of these machines break down and there’s nobody to fix them then those active areas can’t be accessed, so the potential effects are obvious.” Amicus will give seven days’ notice of any industrial action. A project services spokesman said: “We cannot comment until we are given the seven days’ notice of industrial action.” ***************************************************************** 32 Whitehaven News: Sellafield accused of ‘double safety standards’ Published on 01/11/2007 FEELINGS are running high among some Sellafield workers over an incident involving the movement of highly radioactive material in the magnox reprocessing plant. Site operators Sellafield Ltd confirmed that following an investigation it was confirmed that one worker “failed to follow the appropriate procedures while moving a radioactive sample.” The Whitehaven News understands that the worker concerned, a shift team leader, had taken the sample without a health physics monitor being present. “The individual has received the appropriate managerial action as any worker on the site would, who had failed to follow the correct process. “At no time did the movement of this sample pose a risk to the individual concerned, the rest of the Sellafield workforce or the environment.” But one angry B205 worker said: “We don’t know what this appropriate managerial action is, no one has bothered to tell us yet! If it had been one of us on the shop floor we would have been sent down the road for something like this. There are double standards here. As far as we are concerned it did cause a risk; no healthy physics monitor was there while the liquor sample was being taken. “The reason for having a monitor present is to check whether there has been any spread of contamination which could put members of the team at risk.” It is understand that the team leader concerned is now working on a different shift. View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 33 Whitehaven News: Sellafield job fears prompt new alliance Published on 01/11/2007 by David Siddall UNIONS at Sellafield have teamed up with Labour politicians to do battle with the NDA. Concern at the massive job losses which could hit Sellafield in the coming decade are behind the formation of a new pressure group, the Sellafield Copeland Alliance (SCA). The NDA has also been in the firing line as a community package has so far not been presented to the community around the Drigg low level nuclear site. The union leaders and Labour councillors met in private on Friday to form the new alliance. The campaigning partnership is dedicated to further strengthening Copeland's defence of the interests of the 70,000-plus people of Copeland and the 10,000 plus Nuclear Industry Trades Unionists in West Cumbria. An SCA news release stated: “In recent months it has become clear to elected representatives that the major uncertainties surrounding their nuclear industry are putting the area's social and economic future at risk, despite Government promises of compensatory investment. “The expanding role, plus the conflicting responsibilities and funding difficulties of the NDA, are a major contributor to these uncertainties. “There is also diminishing confidence in the NDA's ability and intention to do its part in delivering what West Cumbria needs in the view of the organisations which have formed the SCA. “The SCA will scrutinise the activities and plans of the NDA and other organisations who either are, or may be, involved in the running of the nuclear industry. It will campaign for the just treatment of nuclear workers and the future of our local community.” Commenting on the launch of the SCA, Copeland Council’s deputy leader, Allan Holliday, said: “This council is proud to formalise its long-term partnership with the Sellafield unions, together we will fight for a fair deal for Copeland and its nuclear workers. There is currently a real lack of confidence in those charged with shaping the future of Sellafield and we need to tackle that now.” Secretary of Shop Stewards Committee at Sellafield, the GMB's Peter Kane, said: “The Sellafield Trades Unions are united with Copeland Council in their concern about the future of Copeland's nuclear sites. As things stand, we have grave concerns that the right solutions are not being put in place for our industry or its people.” Local MP Jamie Reed has thrown his support behind the new alliance. He said: “I have called for a new relationship between the industry and the community for years now and I'm pleased that the Sellafield Trade Unions and Copeland Borough Council have formed this alliance. It has my full support and should result in a more effective understanding and working relationship between the community and the industry. “Partnerships are key to our future success. The Sellafield unions and the local community are inextricably linked and this alliance demonstrates the strength of this relationship to government, the NDA and the future operators of the Sellafield site. “This alliance is overdue.” But the NDA’s communications manager, Bill Hamilton, said: “The NDA welcomes scrutiny of our activities and we have been heavily involved in discussions with a large number of organisations and communities since we were established two and a half years ago, with our HQ here in West Cumbria. In that time, we have invested in local hospitals and supported the development of a range of educational opportunities for local people including the Nuclear Skills Academy at Lillyhall, the Dalton Cumbria research facility at Westlakes Science Park and most recently our involvement in establishing a West Cumbria campus of the new University of Cumbria. “This community investment currently stands in excess of ÂŁ50 million committed to West Cumbria. “However, we were established to oversee the decommissioning and clean-up of legacy nuclear sites and it has always been recognised that there will be fewer jobs at Sellafield over time. “The processes through which we make decisions are completely open and transparent and are subject to the fullest public consultation. “We will be publishing a new business plan shortly and that will indicate that our funding for the next three years is strong and that, in line with our strategy, funding will be prioritised towards the sites with the highest hazards, the most significant being Sellafield.” View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 34 Guardian Unlimited: S.C. Nuclear-Waste Landfill Is Closing Thursday November 1, 2007 6:31 PM By SEANNA ADCOX Associated Press Writer COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Starting next summer, many power plants, hospitals, universities and companies in 36 states will be forced to store low-level radioactive waste on their own property because a South Carolina landfill is closing its doors to them. The states have known for years that this day would come. But because of political opposition, environmental fears and cost concerns, most of them have done almost nothing to construct new landfills in the meantime. At issue is the Barnwell County dump site, a 235-acre expanse that opened in 1971 close to the Georgia line. The equivalent of more than 40 tractor-trailers full of radioactive trash from 39 states was buried there each year before South Carolina lawmakers in 2000 ordered the place to scale back because they no longer wanted the state to be the nation's dumping ground. As of July 1, the landfill will take waste only from South Carolina and the two states with which it formed a partnership, New Jersey and Connecticut. State and industry officials say the not-in-my-backyard resistance will ironically lead to ``temporary'' storage sites in backyards across the nation. ``I'm concerned about it, that my hospitals in my neighborhood will have to store this stuff on site,'' said Rita Houskie, administrator for disposal of the waste in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Other states affected by the shutdown include California, New York, Illinois, Florida and Texas. The danger, some officials say, is that storing the waste in potentially hundreds of locations across the country could allow radiation to escape. While none of the trash could be used to make a nuclear bomb, some experts fear it could be stolen to make ``dirty bombs,'' which use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive debris. ``As a matter of national security, health and safety, it makes good sense to ultimately dispose of this stuff and not just store it all over the country,'' said Rick Jacobi, a nuclear engineer and former general manager of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority. ``There will be hundreds, maybe thousands of them. People won't want to pay others to store the material. They'll find a closet or warehouse or a shed out back and stick it in there and see what happens.'' The trash sent to Barnwell includes protective clothing and gloves, tools, cleaning rags, lab equipment, industrial measuring devices and equipment used to treat cancer patients. It does not include spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The waste is stored in steel containers that are put in concrete vaults and then buried in long trenches. Most waste from hospitals, universities and power plants falls into the lowest-hazard class, which means it decays to nonradioactive levels within 100 years. The closing of Barnwell will mean roughly 20,000 cubic feet of trash per year, or enough to fill six tractor-trailers, will be turned away. Only two other landfills now exist nationwide for low-level nuclear waste. One, in Clive, Utah, takes only the least hazardous trash, such as slightly contaminated clothing. It accepts waste from all states. The other landfill, in Richland, Wash., receives such material along with hotter waste that decays to non-hazardous levels within 500 years. But it accepts shipments from only 11 states, including Idaho, Nevada and Colorado. Companies have had to store radioactive waste on their property before: The Barnwell site closed in the mid-1990s before reopening. And some companies store material on site now, sometimes waiting to amass enough to make it worthwhile financially to ship the stuff to a landfill. ``We're confident it can be stored safely based on the track record,'' said Jim Kennedy, senior project manager of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's low-level waste branch. If hospitals and power plants are forced to hold on to their waste, it will go into specially designed warehouses. For power plants, that is generally an aboveground bunker with thick concrete walls. The waste must be secured, specially shielded and weathertight. States had decades in which to build nuclear waste landfills. A 1980 federal law made each state responsible for disposing of non-military low-level waste generated within its borders and encouraged states to work together to develop regional disposal sites. But those efforts have repeatedly run into resistance. Only one low-level landfill, the one in Utah, has opened in the past 30 years. In 2005, Nebraska was forced to pay $146 million for blocking construction of a landfill for its region. Some environmentalists say that storing waste on a company site is actually better than shipping it. Power plants, they say, already have places to store highly radioactive spent fuel and have good security. Plus, most medical waste can simply be stored until its radioactivity subsides, after which it can safely be thrown away. ``The reality is there aren't any good choices for radioactive waste right now, so they might as well leave it on site rather than contaminate new sites and transport it across the country, where there could be vehicle accidents,'' said Michael Mariotte, executive director of Maryland-based Nuclear Information and Resource Services. Jacobi, the former Texas waste official, said he fears companies storing the waste on their own property will eventually forget about the hot trash, and it could mistakenly be sold as scrap or sent to smelters. ``These things get lost, accidentally recycled or could fall into the hands of the wrong kind of people,'' he said. Rich Janati, who heads waste disposal for Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia, said radioactive devices, such as gauges used by companies to measure a material's density or moisture, are easily lost and tough to keep track of. Their size makes them ``obviously easier for WMD-type activities and terrorist activities if they're not tracked properly,'' he said. Inspections of stored waste will be the responsibility of either the NRC or state agencies. The extra workload should not be a problem, Janati said. Storing the waste on site is just a temporary measure. As for longer-range solutions, the NRC is set to release a report this week on the pros and cons of various ideas. The possible solutions are said to include the creation of a national landfill and the opening of Energy Department dump sites. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 35 ReviewJournal.com: Yucca project debated anew Nov. 01, 2007 With Democrats in charge, hearing takes on a different tenor By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, left, and Sen. John Ensign testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday on the licensing process for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Photos by The Associated Press Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto prepares to testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill against the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. WASHINGTON -- Even though there still are gaps in safety rules and designs, the Department of Energy is rushing to show progress on Yucca Mountain before President Bush leaves office, Nevada leaders charged at a Senate hearing Wednesday. The hearing, in which leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton played a key role just two months before Nevada's early caucus, signaled a shift in how the controversial nuclear waste project is being discussed on Capitol Hill. The state's senators urged Congress to take a fresh look at pulling the plug on the long-delayed nuclear waste repository that is largely unpopular among Nevadans who perceive that it carries safety and health risks. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto warned that the government is heading into chaos. Eight months before the Energy Department expects to file for a construction license, plans for radiation health standards, safety-related designs, shipping casks, emergency response strategies and repository security appear to be up in the air. "This lack of complete design and planning information is wholly attributable to DOE's rigid insistence on its self-imposed June 2008 license application date," Cortez Masto said. "In my opinion Yucca Mountain is never going to be completed. We should look for alternatives," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. "We are pouring money down a huge rathole and we should be putting that money to good use." But Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said it is too late to turn back now, with the Energy Department so close finally to completing decades of studies and compiling them into a license package that will be judged for safety by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If Yucca Mountain is abandoned after billions of dollars have been spent, Inhofe said, "how do you justify this to taxpayers?" Ward Sproat, the Department of Energy director in charge of Yucca Mountain, said the criticism is unfounded. He said the project, the work of "2,700 professional engineers and scientists," will meet or exceed standards. "It doesn't do me any good for the DOE to deliver up a license application and then have it rejected," Sproat said. "We are now at the point where the science is ready." The arguments during a 21/2-hour hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee largely covered familiar ground. But the atmosphere seemed to have shifted after years where supporters of the Yucca project headed key Senate committees and encouraged the program along. With Democrats in charge of the Senate and many of them generally less enthusiastic about Yucca Mountain, all the Democratic presidential candidates have announced their opposition, the hearing allowed Ensign, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other repository opponents to begin assembling a new, more critical public record while putting the project on the defensive. Reid said afterward that the tone of the session "makes it very clear that Yucca Mountain is in big trouble," and that senators who customarily have been vocal supporters of the repository had lost some swagger. Ensign said he reported the same impressions to a White House meeting later Wednesday among Republican leaders, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on a variety of subjects. He would not give their reaction. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a Reid ally who became chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee earlier this year, ran the hearing and stressed her opposition to Yucca Mountain. She had several tart exchanges with Bush administration witnesses and committee Republicans. At one point she scolded Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who said senators "have a responsibility beyond politics" when it comes to nuclear matters. "Since I called this hearing, I will tell you what this hearing is about," Boxer snapped. "It is about whether Yucca Mountain is safe." The Nevadans also were aided by Clinton, D-N.Y., who is running for president and who said her platform includes killing the Yucca project if she is elected. Clinton showed up on time, was in attendance for 80 minutes and carried out a promise to grill the Environmental Protection Agency about radiation standards for the nuclear site that have not been finalized for almost two years. Robert Meyers, an EPA deputy administrator, would only say the standards would be ready "soon," despite Clinton's pressing. Clinton said the delay suggested that EPA is having troubles that merit holding up the project. "What we should not do is push an incomplete application for a flawed site through a rushed and incoherent process," Clinton said, adding, "That is precisely the course of action that this administration intends to pursue." But Sproat said the licensing process for the repository "is the most transparent regulatory process the federal government has ever seen." He said DOE has been required to share its documents with the state of Nevada and other stakeholders in advance of license hearings. Ensign said so much time has passed since plans got under way in the early 1980s for underground nuclear waste disposal that technologies such as nuclear fuel recycling are on the horizon, which might alter the need for a dump site. There also is consensus that nuclear waste safely can be stored at reactors in above-ground containers for 100 years or more, which could buy time for further studies, he said. But Craig said a repository still will be needed. Government-managed nuclear waste still sitting in Idaho that originated at Three Mile Island and at the long-closed West Valley reprocessing plant in New York might not be able to be reprocessed, he said. Craig said "responsible senators" need to find a solution. If a repository is scrapped, he said as he looked at Clinton, "do we return (the waste) to West Valley, New York?" "It is so easy to be against, but it is fundamentally important to act in a responsible manner," Craig said. "We cannot have it both ways." Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or (202) 783-1760. Links powered by inform.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 36 Sydney Morning Herald: Panel dashes hopes of nuclear fuel plan - www.smh.com.au Wendy Frew Environment Reporter November 2, 2007 THE US has been advised to dump an ambitious nuclear energy plan that involved countries such as Australia supplying other nations with reactor fuel and reprocessing their nuclear waste. The Prime Minister, John Howard, is a strong supporter of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and the push to expand the civilian use of nuclear power. However, the US National Academy of Sciences told the US President, George Bush, on Monday the plan relied on reprocessing technology that hadn't been proven. The 17-member panel expressed deep reservations about the partnership's ability to address nuclear waste disposal and found "no economic justification" for pursuing the technology on a commercial scale. The aim of the technology was to recycle spent nuclear fuel without separating plutonium, the material used in nuclear weapons. "While all 17 members of the committee concluded that the GNEP research and development program, as currently planned, should not be pursued, 15 of the members said that the less-aggressive reprocessing research program that preceded the current one should be," the academy said in a press statement. The panel said the partnership carried "significant technical and financial risks". Until recently, Mr Howard had promoted nuclear power as a possible climate change solution because, once built, nuclear power plants release little greenhouse gas. However, public polling shows most Australians remain wary of the nuclear industry and the Federal Government has steered clear of it during the election campaign. The Government declined to comment on the academy's recommendation. "The minister does not have anything he particularly wishes to say about it," said a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer. Previously, Mr Downer, expressed "no problems" with Australia working closely with the US on the plan. "I think it makes good sense to get into negotiations. Where those negotiations would lead and what sort of an agreement we would conclude at the end, I don't know. But I have no problems with it," he said. In August, the Herald reported Mr Bush had invited Australia to be part of a plan aimed at guaranteeing future energy supplies. The global nuclear partnership would drive a research effort to develop a new generation of fast-cycle reactors producing far less hazardous waste than conventional nuclear reactors. Its broader aim was to secure the entire fuel cycle and confine production and reprocessing to the group, with smaller countries effectively leasing nuclear fuel from the partnership and returning waste to it for reprocessing. The academy said the partnership research was taking money and focus away from other nuclear research programs and efforts to speed the construction of new nuclear power plants. The US Energy Department claims the program would eventually reduce the cost of commercial reactor waste disposal and remove the need for additional underground waste repositories beyond a proposed waste dump in Nevada. The science panel disagreed, saying the opposite could be true. Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 37 [NYTr] Canadian Navy Tests US "Defense Missile" for Arctic Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 15:04:30 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by mart The Times Colonist (victoria, CA) - Nov 1, 2007 http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=1565178c-8bab-49ea-8ab8-2c5ab7e70992 OR: http://tinyurl.com/2ccfr5 Frigate prepares to test-fire high-tech defensive missile Sandra Mcculloch, Times Colonist If the weather co-operates, an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile loaded with sensors will be fired from HMCS Calgary this morning to intercept an airborne target within a 15-kilometre range. The missile is designed to shoot down other airborne missiles. The firing of the $1-million missile is the culmination of months of preparation, said the commander of the Esquimalt-based ship. "It's a big step forward for our navy," said Cmdr. Kelly Larkin via satellite link from the ship yesterday. It is the third time the Canadian navy has fired the missile, but the first time it's been done in the Pacific in a U.S. missile-testing range. The Canadian navy has fired older versions of the weapon, but this new and improved missile has been hotly anticipated. "HMCS Calgary has been, for the past eight months, involved in a tiered-readiness program," said Larkin. Rigorous training and trials among Calgary's 220 officers and sailors have led up to the five-week exercise that is underway off the California coast, said Larkin. HMCS Calgary is one of five ships from CFB Esquimalt taking part in the exercise. HMCS Protecteur, Algonquin, Ottawa and Vancouver and 1,100 crew are also there alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group. "The ship is now most of the way through that readiness process," said Larkin. "One of the final checks is this missile shoot to prove that we are technically capable to competently fire this missile." Overseeing the missile firing will be Lt.-Cmdr. Steven Thornton, the above-water battle space co-ordinator for the Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre. "I have the dream job, really," said Thornton, who is involved in all of the missile firings by the Canadian navy. "It's really what I joined the navy for and I'm very lucky to be in this position." Today's firing "is very significant," said Thornton. "We use each live firing to validate our various models and simulators. The planning process starts a year in advance." The firing exercise will occur in a U.S. navy testing area that's been cleared of other boats and low-flying aircraft, Larkin said. "We have aircraft up doing aerial surveillance to ensure there's no shipping in the area other than myself and one other exercise participant and no aircraft that can venture into the area," said Larkin. The missile is not armed with an exploding warhead. Instead, it has telemetric instruments that send feedback to the ship on everything the missile is doing. "Every single command that the ship issues to the missile on its way to the target and everything that the missile sees once it starts homing on the target is captured and transmitted back to the ship," said Larkin. Every single action in the operations room, including everything that is said, is also recorded. "Absolutely everything is recorded for post-analysis. It's a technical firing more than a tactical firing." The Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile is 4.26 metres in length, 25 centimetres in diameter and weighs 227 kilograms. The vertical launchers are located in the middle of the ship. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato To subscribe, send an e-mail to: stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ============================== * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 38 [v911t] B-2s Drop Bombs on Hawai'i Island Resent-Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 15:55:51 -0500 (CDT) B-2s Drop Bombs on Hawaii Island by Lindafaye Kroll RN BSN ( tenfingers10toes [at] protecthawaii.ws ) Wednesday Oct 31st, 2007 7:40 PM Reported in Honolulu Advertiser October 30, 2007; The Air Force's stealth bomber, the B-2 Spirit, dropped dummy 2,000-pound bombs at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on the Big Island last week under a new agreement with the Army allowing the inert-ordnance bombing runs Concerned Hawaii residents have one major problem with this scenario. Last August the Army confirmed that PTA is contaminated with military radioactive uranium products... b-2_bomber_hawaii_island.... The red area on the above Hawaii Island map is the Pohakuloa Training Area and is radioactive from decades of artillery practice. What does a 2000 pound bomb that supposedly does not explode on impact and is supposedly inert do to a radioactive contaminated artillery field when dropped at high altitude? Did this action cause radioactive dust particles to be raised up and carried in the winds over our communities? For the full Advertiser article see: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710300339 Depleted uranium detected on Big Isle: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/21/ln/hawaii708210343.html The military has stated that the radioactive uranium found on Schofield Barrack on Oahu and Pohakuloa does not present any public health risk and that they are going to test the artillery fields to discover the extent of this contamination. The testing of Pohakuloa should be completed sometime in 2008. Will the Army give the public a full disclosure and transparency of their test results? Why would they allow this bombing practice before the full test results are completed and made public? Would this bombing practice help the military destroy radioactive evidence and at the same time pollute the communities downwind? Many educated, informed and concerned residents in Hawaii know that aerosolized uranium dust particles are harmful to public health, despite the militarys denials. We are asking for and need help from the global community to get at the truth about the full extent on military contamination of paradise. Please help us Protect Hawaii. Spread the Aloha and pass this information forward. No Stryker Brigade build-up in Hawaii. Halt all live-fire training. Clean-up all artillery ranges in paradise. Join Protect Hawai'i email list tenfingers10toes [at] protecthawaii.ws Please learn more Help Us Save Hawaii and sign the following petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/help-save-hawaii Then, please forward to everyone you know! READ WHY the Stryker Brigade must not stay in Hawaii! Ten Reasons to Oppose the Stryker Brigade in Hawaii http://www.dmzhawaii.org/stop_stryker_hawaii.pdf Army Regulation AR 700-48 "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities," Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002, Section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation 700-48 dated Sept. 16, 2002, specifies these requirements. http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_pam_700-48.pdf Hawaiian Islands Are Radioactive http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/893755.shtml Depleted Uranium Contamination By Strykers In Hawaii http://www.indymedia.org/it/2007/09/893176.shtml Death By Breath http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/893823.shtml Hawaiian Islands Contaminated With Ballistic Uranium http://www.rense.com/general78/hawa.htm No Peace in Paradise by Kyle Kajihiro http://www.haleakalatimes.com/news/story2527.aspx Armys Environmental Impact Statement for the Stryker Brigade Invasion of Hawaii: http://www.sbct-seis.org/ Go to Demilitarize Hawaii http://dmzhawaii.org Go to Protect Hawaii website: http://www.protecthawaii.ws/ http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/31/18457431.php Help the US become Radiation Free by 2033! www.radiation.org Cathy Garger www.mytown.ca/garger __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ***************************************************************** 39 BBC NEWS: Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92 Last Updated: Thursday, 1 November 2007, 16:57 GMT Gen Tibbets (centre) always said he had no regrets The commander of the B-29 plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima in Japan, has died. Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr died at his home in Columbus, Ohio, aged 92. The five-ton "Little Boy" bomb was dropped on the morning of 6 August 1945, killing about 140,000 Japanese, with many more dying later. 'No headstone' A friend of the retired brigadier-general told AP news agency that Paul Tibbets had died after a two-month decline in health. Gen Tibbets had asked for no funeral nor headstone as he feared opponents of the bombing may use it as a place of protest, the friend, Gerry Newhouse, said. The Hiroshima bomb killed about 140,000 Japanese The bombing of Hiroshima marked the beginning of the end of the war in the Pacific. Japan surrendered shortly after a second bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki, three days later. On the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima, the surviving members of the Enola Gay crew - Gen Tibbets, Theodore J "Dutch" Van Kirk (the navigator) and Morris R Jeppson (weapon test officer) said: "The use of the atomic weapon was a necessary moment in history. We have no regrets". Gen Tibbets said then: "Thousands of former soldiers and military family members have expressed a particularly touching and personal gratitude suggesting that they might not be alive today had it been necessary to resort to an invasion of the Japanese home islands to end the fighting." Air show Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1915 and spent most of his youth in Miami. Paul Tibbets: Life in pictures He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1937 and led bombing operations in Europe before returning to test the Superfortress. He retired from the forces in 1966. In a 1975 interview he said: "I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did... I sleep clearly every night." In 1976, Gen Tibbets was criticised for re-enacting the bombing at an air show in Texas. A mushroom cloud was set off as he over flew in a B-29 Superfortress in a stunt that outraged Japan. Gen Tibbets said it was not meant as an insult but the US government formally apologised. In 1995, Gen Tibbets denounced as a "damn big insult" a planned 50th anniversary exhibition of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution that put the bombing in context of the suffering it caused. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 40 UPI: U.S. counters nuclear criticism - UPI.com Published: Nov. 1, 2007 at 10:40 AM UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The United States defended its nuclear posture on the eve of a U.N. General Assembly vote calling for nuclear powers to take their weapons off “high alert.” The non-binding resolution before the General Assembly called on nuclear states to “decrease the operational readiness” of their weapons, The Washington Post said Thursday. The United States responded earlier to criticism that its nuclear arsenal was on a “hair-trigger alert” in violation of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Post said. “U.S. nuclear forces are not and have never been on high-trigger alert,” the U.S. representative to the U.N. Conference on Disarmament Christina Rocca told the United Nations Oct. 9. Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists, a group focused on proliferation issues, said Rocca’s comments were “plain wrong,” saying “There are forces on alert and whether they are on ‘hair-trigger alert’ or ‘launch on warning,’ they are capable of launching in minutes.” An unnamed U.S. official familiar with the proliferation issue told the Post, “The idea we are on Cuban-missile-crisis posture, sitting on a silo ready to push the button, is false,” adding “the essence of deterrence strategy is having some element of ambiguity.” © 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 Knoxville News Sentinel: Report shouldn't affect ORNL NRC wants to scale back programs, but lab's nuke work likely to continue By Frank Munger (Contact) Thursday, November 1, 2007 OAK RIDGE - A report released this week by the National Research Council was lukewarm on the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and recommended scaling back some of the more ambitious parts of GNEP's research and development program. However, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's experimental processing of nuclear fuel appears likely to continue - at least for the time being. Jeff Binder, a nuclear engineer at ORNL, said the small-scale pilot project enjoyed success in the last half of fiscal 2007, which ended Sept. 30, and has some funding currently available - pending the outcome of a 2008 budget in Congress. "I think our activity would go forward, but that remains to be seen," Binder said. "We're waiting on the budget." Oak Ridge workers are processing small amounts of used reactor fuel in heavily shielded "hot cells" at ORNL's Radiochemical Engineering Development Center. The work involves the separation of radioactive elements and testing of various processes that would be needed if the United States decides to recycle nuclear fuel on a large scale. "We're making great progress," Binder said. "We're still waiting on the last analytical results to get an exact feeling for how well the separations went, but operationally everything went well." The National Research Council report said the priority for the U.S. nuclear program should be facilitating the startup of a new generation of commercial reactors. The report suggested the Department of Energy take a step back from the GNEP plan that promotes fuel reprocessing, including the development of major test facilities in concert with industrial partners. Although the report did not endorse the aggressive GNEP plan, it did support continuing the research effort on technologies related to fuel reprocessing. That would seem to keep the options open for the relatively modest effort at Oak Ridge. Binder said the ORNL team had completed the processing of a small fuel section from the Dresden nuclear reactor in Illinois. The work involved the chemical separation of radioactive elements into two streams, one with uranium, plutonium and neptunium and the other just uranium. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 42 Amarillo.com: Nuke safety official praises Pantex 11/01/07 By Jim McBride jim.mcbride@amarillo.com Tom D'Agostino The federal government will unveil its preferred plans for the future nuclear weapons complex later this fall, but a final decision won't be made until next summer, a top official said Wednesday. Under National Nuclear Security Administration plans, Pantex and four other sites are candidates for a new facility that would manufacture plutonium weapons cores and conduct nuclear materials research and development. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino visited Pantex Wednesday to praise employees here for their work on finishing some major projects. Bodman left Pantex earlier Wednesday, but D'Agostino said the NNSA is now wrapping up a draft environmental impact study that will lay out government plans for the future warhead production network. "My vision is have a much smaller, much more efficient, safer nuclear weapons complex," D'Agostino said. Pantex is expected to dismantle more warheads in the coming decade. The NNSA also will evaluate whether to consolidate high explosives research here or transfer the work elsewhere and possibly expand nuclear materials storage. The plant now stores more than 14,000 plutonium weapons cores - dubbed pits - in a series of underground bunkers called Zone 4. About two years ago, the Defense Department raised concerns about NNSA's ability to meet critical deadlines on several weapons programs, D'Agostino said, but Pantex workers have played a key role in meeting those goals. Earlier this year, Pantex assembled the first rebuilt W88 nuclear warhead to use a replacement plutonium pit since safety issues shut down plutonium production at the former Rocky Flats facility nearly 20 years ago. The warhead is deployed on submarine-launched ballistic missiles. "We dismantled warheads at a rate three times faster than we had expected," D'Agostino said. "We built the W88 pits. We delivered them here to Pantex and installed them in the W88 warhead, which is important for our submarine deterrent. We're here today to celebrate really the work that's been done here." Pantex, he said, recently completed a backlog of weapons surveillance activities aimed at ensuring weapons are safe and reliable. Employees here worked closely with weapons labs to establish safe dismantlement procedures and test components from aging warheads. "It's kind of like checking your battery in your automobile to make sure that it's still working," D'Agostino said. "It's changing the air filter. It's taking a look at things to see how they change over time." D'Agostino foresees stable employment at Pantex for several years as the plant grapples with a growing dismantlement workload. "I don't see employment levels changing dramatically, either up or down," he said. In a related development, the NNSA announced Wednesday it has completed U.S-funded security upgrades at a Russian missile base in Siberia. Now that the missile bases in Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces are more secure, a top NNSA official said the chance of unauthorized access to Russian nuclear weapons is greatly reduced. "We remain dedicated to working as quickly as possible to secure nuclear weapons and other dangerous materials in Russia and around the world to prevent unauthorized access," said William Tobey, NNSA deputy administrator for defense - nuclear nonproliferation. Copyright 2007 Amarillo Globe-News & Amarillo.com ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************