***************************************************************** 11/09/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.264 ***************************************************************** 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: ABC4.com: Bennett calls for congressional approval of nuke tests 2 AFP: Pakistan blocks defiant Bhutto with house arrest - NUCLEAR REACTORS 3 US: [toeslist] HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS CAUSED BY THE INDIAN POINT NU 4 Platts: British Energy finds corroded wiring at second AGR 5 Platts: France's new nuclear facility licensing rule published Novem 6 Platts: Germany's Merkel backs mix of generation for future power su 7 Platts: Increased nuke use tied to only scenario that cuts C02 emiss 8 Platts: Bipartisan support grows for new nuclear to fight global war 9 Guardian Unlimited: Turkey Approves Building Nuclear Plants 10 IHT: Czech company wins bid to expand nuclear power plant in Romania 11 Guardian Unlimited: Turkish parliament approves nuclear power law 12 Baltic Times: Ignalina shutdown makes a mockery of extension call 13 US: Knoxville News Sentinel: Shutdowns at TVA Browns Ferry plant pro 14 ITAR-TASS: Duma approves 2nd reading of bill on Rosatom State Corpor 15 ITAR-TASS: Duma passes bill on creation of state corp Rostekhnologii 16 US: CollegiateTimes.com: Reconsidering a switch from coal to nuclear 17 times and star: 8.3 billion nuclear clean-up plan 18 US: The Nation: Harvey Wasserman: No-Nukers Sing a New Green Tune 19 NTVMSNBC: Turkish parliament backs law on nuclear energy NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 20 US: Rocky Mountain News: Dropping the nuclear ball 21 NEWS.com.au: Defence admits radiation leak | NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 22 Platts: UKAEA drains materials test reactor fuel pond at Dounreay 23 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Exploration company gets OK to drill for uran 24 The Arran Voice: Nuclear decommissioning contract 25 AFP: Seven arrested in DR Congo radioactive waste dumping probe - 26 Reuters: Six arrested in Congo radioactive dumping scandal | 27 US: NEI Nuclear Notes: Report: Energy Considering Recycling Fuel fro 28 Las Vegas Now: Nuclear Agency Gets Sparkling New Building in Las Veg 29 barrow in furness: Decommission plans in tatters 30 US: Arizona Daily Star: Navajo Nation wants moratorium on uranium mi 31 Las Vegas SUN: State may pull punch as Yucca fight intensifies PEACE 32 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Bennett pushes measure that would require 33 The Herald: What might have been without nuclear weapons 34 Reuters: Ex-envoy Bolton hits US role in Pakistan troubles | 35 CBS News: "Fatal Error" Changed Nuclear History, New Book Claims Tha US DEPT. OF ENERGY 36 DOE: Deputy Secretary of Energy to Discuss President Bush’s 37 Seattle PI: Energy Department hires new manager of Hanford cleanup 38 Hanford News: Board says DOE reports too complex 39 Tri-City Herald: Hanford DOE office taps Shirley Olinger as new lead 40 Hanford News: Hanford DOE office picks new leader 41 Hanford News: Radioactive waste treatment plan goes back to drawing 42 DOE: Events 43 DOE: U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management and ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 ABC4.com: Bennett calls for congressional approval of nuke tests - November 9, 2007 - 11:42 PM WASHINGTON (AP) - Utah Sen. Bob Bennett has reintroduced legislation what would require congressional approval and extensive reviews before nuclear weapons tests are allowed. The Republican has twice lost previous pushes for the legislation, which is co-sponsored by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch. Under the proposal, the White House would need permission from Congress before weapons tests could occur at the Nevada Test Site or elsewhere. No tests are pending, but after radioactive fallout from tests in the 1950s left some Utahns suffering from various cancers, Bennett says the state needs assurances against future policies and testing. The bill would set up a commission - with three Utah members - to oversee test safety and health concerns. --- Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: Pakistan blocks defiant Bhutto with house arrest - by Rana Jawad Fri Nov 9, 7:51 AM ET ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Police blocked former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto from leaving her home Friday as she pleaded to be released from house arrest to lead a rally against President Pervez Musharraf. Bhutto begged officers stationed around her compound to let her get to the planned demonstration in nearby Rawalpindi against Musharraf's nationwide state of emergency, but police served her with a house arrest order instead. "I am your sister fighting for democracy," she told police through a megaphone as she tried to get through a wall of barbed wire. Speaking with AFP by telephone from inside her bullet-proof car, she said: "I am not afraid of these tactics. My struggle is for the people of Pakistan, for their rights and for an end to dictatorship." Police later allowed her car through one cordon but it was then blocked by armoured personnel carriers. The stand-off raised the stakes in the crisis which has engulfed the nuclear-armed country, leaving military ruler Musharraf facing the most serious challenge to his rule since he seized power in a coup eight years ago. Tensions rose further when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the house of a minister and key Musharraf ally in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing four people. Bhutto had intended to lead a demonstration against key US ally Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency last Saturday citing Islamic militancy and a hostile judiciary -- a move which earned him international criticism. Police confirmed that Bhutto had been served with a house arrest order as soon as she tried to leave her residence in a leafy area of Islamabad. "Because of the serious security threat the government has served her with a restraint order," Islamabad police chief Shahid Nadeem Baluch told AFP. Sources said it was formally for 30 days but would likely be dropped later Friday. Police arrested around 100 workers from her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) outside her home. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, a close Musharraf ally, told AFP: "She is restrained from leaving her house. The decision was conveyed to her because of the very serious and credible security threat of an attack on her." A senior PPP leader, senator Anwar Baig, said outside the compound: "This is illegal confinement. This is illegal detention of a democratic leader." Police meanwhile teargassed workers from Bhutto's party in Rawalpindi, Peshawar and the northwestern town of Swabi, officials said. Despite weeks of speculation about a power-sharing arrangement between them, Bhutto on Wednesday called for mass demonstrations against Musharraf over his decision last Saturday to declare a nationwide state of emergency. Political gatherings were banned, the constitution was suspended, the chief justice -- a longtime Musharraf nemesis -- was sacked, and harsh curbs imposed on the media. Elections due in January have also been pushed back and will be held by mid-February, Musharraf said Thursday. The government also deployed 6,000 police officers to stop the protest in Rawalpindi, completely cordoning off a park in the garrison city where it was due to be held with barbed wire and concrete blocks. "Under no circumstances will the rally be allowed. The law will take its course against anyone who defies it," Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz told AFP, adding that several arrests were made in the city. Police warned that up to eight suicide bombers have infiltrated Rawalpindi, raising the spectre of a repeat of the double suicide blast that killed 139 people at her homecoming parade in Karachi on October 18. In Peshawar, federal minister for political affairs Amir Muqam -- who once received a pistol from Musharraf as a gift for his loyalty -- told state television that he was unharmed in the suicide attack on his home. As Pakistan continued to crack down on dissent, BBC and CNN went off air again on Friday after they reported that Bhutto was under house arrest. It was less than a day after they had reappeared on screens. Local cable news channels remained blacked out. Bhutto's party had so far stayed off the streets, but she turned on Musharraf this week, vowing to press on with Friday's protest and to hold a "long march" from Lahore to Islamabad on November 13 if he does not meet her demands. Britain and Germany on Friday expressed concern and called for Bhutto's release. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 3 [toeslist] HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS CAUSED BY THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR REACTORS Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 22:16:42 -0600 (CST) For those of you in the area - sm PHASE RRHP Public Health and Sustainable Energy Radiation & Public Health Project 21 Perlman Drive 716 Simpson Ave. Spring Valley, NY 10977 Ocean City, NJ 08226 (845) 371-2100 (609) 399-4343 palisadesart@ aol.com www.radiation.org odiejoe@ aol.com PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT For Immediate Release Contact: Joseph Mangano 484-948-7965 (cell), 609-399-4343 (office) Susan Shapiro (845) 596-5403 (cell), (845) 371-2100 (office) CHRISTIE BRINKLEY and ALEC BALDWIN, LOCAL GROUPS TO ANNOUNCE ALARMING NEW ALLEGATIONS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS CAUSED BY THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR REACTORS Increased elevated cancer rates in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, new evidence of radioactive material leaking from the reactors, declining safety margins, and important new contentions opposing the 20 year license renewal at the troubled Indian Point Nuclear reactors which are leaking strontium 90, tritium and cesium 137 into the Hudson River, will be detailed at a press conference on November 12, 2007, 11:30 a.m. in Room 4102 (4th Floor) at City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (corner of 34th Street). SPEAKERS AND INVITED GUESTS: Congressman Eliot Engel Christie Brinkley, celebrity spokesperson and community activist Alec Baldwin, star of hit series 30 ROCK and community activist Joseph Mangano MPH MBA, Radiation and Public Health Project Susan Shapiro JD, (Public Health and Sustainable Energy) Connie Coker, Rockland County Legislator Annie Wilson, Sierra Club New York Chapter WHEN: November 12, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. WHERE: City University of New York Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue (corner of 34th Street), Room 4102 (4th Floor) New York, NY BACKGROUND: Entergy Nuclear has requested that federal regulators extend the license of the Indian Point 2 and 3 nuclear reactors in Westchester County, NY, for and additional 20 years beyond their license expirations of 2013 and 2015. To date, neither Entergy nor federal regulators have acknowledged the grave threat to public health posed by these aging nuclear reactors, and that risk increases with each day the aging reactors remain in service. RPHP and PHASE will be laying out a plan aimed at raising public awareness, and giving citizens of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York the information they need to make intelligent decisions about the continued operation of Entergy's Indian Point nuclear reactors in Buchanan, New York, just 24 miles up river from the heart of New York City. In the post 9/11 world, "Are the health and safety risks of having Indian Point as our neighbor for 20 more years a gamble we can or want to take?" News conference subjects of note: 1) Release of Radiation and the Public Health Project report on cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear plant, with time for questions on the report. 2) Information on the PHASE, Radiation and Public Health Project co-sponsored campaign to educate local residents and leaders on the Environmental, Health and Safety risks associated with the proposed 20 year license renewal of the Indian Point reactors. 3) PHASE will be discussing their latest intervener petitions to stop relicensing of Indian Point due to impacts on human health and safety. 4) PHASE will be announcing various dates and locations where they will be collecting signatures to on Intervener Petitions to stop relicensing of Indian Point. Radiation and Public Health Project (www.radiation.org) is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization, established in 1995 by scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding the relationships between low-level, nuclear radiation and public health. Members of the organization have published 22 medical journal articles and 5 books since 1994 on health risks of nuclear reactors. RPHP is conducting the only study of in-body radiation near U.S. nuclear plants, an analysis of Strontium-90 levels in nearly 5,000 baby teeth, of which over 500 are from the New York metropolitan area Public Health and Sustainable Energy, is a grassroots, not-for-profit think tank, advocating the development and use of sustainable energy, in an effort to protect public health and safety and to preserve the integrity of our environment. Recently reorganization it, has made headlines recently for its intervention petition to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the re-licensing of Indian Point. SUPPORTED BY: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (Clearwater) Citizens Activation Network (CAN) Sierra Club - New York Chapter ----- End forwarded message ----- From: Palisadesart@ aol.com Friday, November 09, 2007 To: redbook@ hearst.com; cosmo@ hearst.com; gheditor@ goodhousekeeping.com; editor@ esquire.com Subject: Press Advisory ALEC BALDWIN/CHRISTIE BRINKLEY Press Conf. Monday 11/12 11:30AM PHASE RRHP Public Health and Sustainable Energy Radiation & Public Health Project 21 Perlman Drive 716 Simpson Ave. Spring Valley, NY 10977 Ocean City, NJ 08226 (845) 371-2100 (609) 399-4343 palisadesart@ aol.com www.radiation.org odiejoe@ aol.com PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT For Immediate Release Contact: Joseph Mangano 484-948-7965 (cell), 609-399-4343 (office) Susan Shapiro (845) 596-5403 (cell), (845) 371-2100 (office) CHRISTIE BRINKLEY and ALEC BALDWIN, LOCAL GROUPS TO ANNOUNCE ALARMING NEW ALLEGATIONS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS CAUSED BY THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR REACTORS Increased elevated cancer rates in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, new evidence of radioactive material leaking from the reactors, declining safety margins, and important new contentions opposing the 20 year license renewal at the troubled Indian Point Nuclear reactors which are leaking strontium 90, tritium and cesium 137 into the Hudson River, will be detailed at a press conference on November 12, 2007, 11:30 a.m. in Room 4102 (4th Floor) at City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (corner of 34th Street). SPEAKERS AND INVITED GUESTS: Congressman Eliot Engel Christie Brinkley, celebrity spokesperson and community activist Alec Baldwin, star of hit series 30 ROCK and community activist Joseph Mangano MPH MBA, Radiation and Public Health Project Susan Shapiro JD, (Public Health and Sustainable Energy) Connie Coker, Rockland County Legislator Annie Wilson, Sierra Club New York Chapter WHEN: November 12, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. WHERE: City University of New York Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue (corner of 34th Street), Room 4102 (4th Floor) New York, NY BACKGROUND: Entergy Nuclear has requested that federal regulators extend the license of the Indian Point 2 and 3 nuclear reactors in Westchester County, NY, for and additional 20 years beyond their license expirations of 2013 and 2015. To date, neither Entergy nor federal regulators have acknowledged the grave threat to public health posed by these aging nuclear reactors, and that risk increases with each day the aging reactors remain in service. RPHP and PHASE will be laying out a plan aimed at raising public awareness, and giving citizens of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York the information they need to make intelligent decisions about the continued operation of Entergy's Indian Point nuclear reactors in Buchanan, New York, just 24 miles up river from the heart of New York City. In the post 9/11 world, Are the health and safety risks of having Indian Point as our neighbor for 20 more years a gamble we can or want to take? News conference subjects of note: 1) Release of Radiation and the Public Health Project report on cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear plant, with time for questions on the report. 2) Information on the PHASE, Radiation and Public Health Project co-sponsored campaign to educate local residents and leaders on the Environmental, Health and Safety risks associated with the proposed 20 year license renewal of the Indian Point reactors. 3) PHASE will be discussing their latest intervener petitions to stop relicensing of Indian Point due to impacts on human health and safety. 4) PHASE will be announcing various dates and locations where they will be collecting signatures to on Intervener Petitions to stop relicensing of Indian Point. Radiation and Public Health Project (www.radiation.org) is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization, established in 1995 by scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding the relationships between low-level, nuclear radiation and public health. Members of the organization have published 22 medical journal articles and 5 books since 1994 on health risks of nuclear reactors. RPHP is conducting the only study of in-body radiation near U.S. nuclear plants, an analysis of Strontium-90 levels in nearly 5,000 baby teeth, of which over 500 are from the New York metropolitan area Public Health and Sustainable Energy, is a grassroots, not-for-profit think tank, advocating the development and use of sustainable energy, in an effort to protect public health and safety and to preserve the integrity of our environment. Recently reorganization it, has made headlines recently for its intervention petition to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the re-licensing of Indian Point. SUPPORTED BY: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (Clearwater) Citizens Activation Network (CAN) Sierra Club - New York Chapter ***************************************************************** 4 Platts: British Energy finds corroded wiring at second AGR 007-7N London (Platts)--7Nov2007 Corroded wiring has been found in a second AGR reactor vessel penetration cap, British Energy said November 7. The failed wire is part of the pre-stressing within a concrete boiler closure unit, or BCU, at the Heysham A-1 advanced gas-cooled reactor, or AGR. Its discovery follows a similar finding at Hartlepool-1 announced by BE on October 22. BE said the Heysham A-1 finding is part of the "initial results" of "partial inspections." It said similar inspections are ongoing at sister unit Heysham A-2 and will start shortly at Hartlepool-2. The BCUs are unique to the four units and form part of the reactor pressure boundary, sitting like giant plugs on top of each pressure vessel. The other 10 AGRs have side penetrations, rather than BCUs, to do the same job of providing access for the boiler feed water entering the boilers and the return of the resultant steam from the boilers to the turbines. BE described the state of the wiring as "a legacy issue of the initial construction." It said it could give no timetable for restart of the four units until the inspections and "a full assessment of the situation" have been completed. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 5 Platts: France's new nuclear facility licensing rule published November 3 007-7N London (Platts)--7Nov2007 France's new nuclear facility licensing rule was published November 3 in the Official Journal, the Nuclear Safety Authority, or ASN, said in a notice posted November 6 on its web site, www.asn.fr. The 26-page "INB licensing procedures" decree is based on the June 13, 2006 Nuclear Transparency and Safety Act. The new rule supersedes a decree published originally in 1963 (and amended since then) that set the regime for licensing all of France's "major nuclear installations," or INBs -- research and power reactors as well as fuel cycle installations whose radioactive inventory is above a certain level. The earlier decree was not based on any specifically nuclear legislation. The new rule reinforces public consultation in nuclear licensing and regulation. It stipulates licensees' responsibilities at every stage (construction, operation, decommissioning) and provides for administrative or criminal sanctions in case of violation. ASN officials said the new rule conforms to the "safety reference levels" for existing reactors agreed on by the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association. They said administrative orders implementing various sections of the new decree will be published over the next two to three years. The decree (in French) is at www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=DEVQ0762539D. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 6 Platts: Germany's Merkel backs mix of generation for future power supply 007-7N Cologne (Platts)--7Nov2007 German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs a mix of energy generation sources including coal for future power supply, she told the biannual gathering of the hard coal industry Tuesday, as announced Wednesday on her official website bundeskanzlerin.de. Merkel, who leads the conservative CDU party, added her doubts about the country's planned exit from nuclear power with a view to achieveing GHG reduction targets. She said Germany's "ambitious targets" could be reached quicker if it does not decommission its nuclear reactors over the next 15 years. The plan to close all German nuclear power plants was created under the previous SDP/Green Party government. The SDP is now a junior partner in the coalition government. Merkel said she would "demand transparency" in the electricity and gas markets for "clear and comprehensible" prices. She supports stricter cartel law for the energy sector, as planned by German Economy Minister Michael Glos. She also appealed for understanding between the energy producing industry and politicians. Merkel said confrontation between sectors had to stop and she welcomed the offer from power producers to start sober discussions aimed at "favorable and secure electricity generation." The share of German hard coal in the country's primary energy demand was 4.4% in 2006. Germany operates eight coal mines, down from 175 mines in 1956. In 2006, the country's hard coal output was about 20 million mt, down from 150 million mt in 1956. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Power in Europe at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=2_31&products_id=55 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 7 Platts: Increased nuke use tied to only scenario that cuts C02 emissions 007-8N London (Platts)--8Nov2007 Increased nuclear energy use is tied to the only scenario that cuts global CO2 emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, according to the World Energy Outlook 2007 study, released in London November 7. The International Energy Agency annual study evaluated three scenarios -- a reference scenario in which the status quo is maintained; an alternative policy scenario, which involves implementation of CO2 reduction plans that governments are "already considering;" and a so-called 450 stabilization case scenario. The latter refers to a national pathway to long-term stabilization of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at around 450 parts per million. The IEA study showed that even with the alternative policy scenario, global CO2 emissions will still be one-quarter above current levels in 2030. In the 450 stabilization case, global emissions would peak in 2012 and then fall sharply below 2005 levels by 2030. Emissions savings in the latter scenario come from improved efficiency in industry, buildings and transport, switching to nuclear power and renewables, and the widespread deployment of CO2 capture and storage. IEA said that "exceptionally quick and vigorous policy action by all countries, and unprecedented technological advances, entailing substantial costs, would be needed to make this case a reality." For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 8 Platts: Bipartisan support grows for new nuclear to fight global warming 007-9N London (Platts)--9Nov2007 A Delaware Senator said bipartisan support for new nuclear to combat global warming is growing. Thomas Carper said he sees increasing support for language in a global warming bill that would promote construction of nuclear plants. At a November 8 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on bill S.2191, Carper said his support for the measure, which calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions 60% below 2005 levels by 2050, is contingent on adding language to promote nuclear as a non-greenhouse-gas-emitting source. "There is going to be a nuclear amendment," Carper told Platts, either during committee markup or on the Senate floor. He said he believes bipartisan support for nuclear provisions is increasing. The bill, sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut, and Republican John Warner from Virginia, would set incremental caps on greenhouse emissions from the electric power, transportation fuel and industrial sectors starting in 2012, and would set up a carbon allowance market. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Turkey Approves Building Nuclear Plants Friday November 9, 2007 7:31 PM ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's parliament approved a bill Friday allowing for the construction of nuclear power plants in the country, despite opposition from environmental groups. Turkey first announced plans to build a reactor in 1996, but the project was put on hold because of financial problems, and the chosen location, near the Mediterranean coast, was near an earthquake-prone region. No specific sites have been chosen, but in the past the Turkish government has approved building its first nuclear power plants in the Black Sea province of Sinop, on the northern tip of Turkey. Local fishermen fear a plant at Sinop, with its cooling system, would raise water temperatures and harm the fish. Others were concerned that coastal residents already were affected by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl two decades ago. Earlier this year, thousands protested in Sinop after the government announced the region was chosen as a location for the country's first nuclear reactor. Environmental groups are pressing the government to seek alternative energy sources. The government has said it plans to build three nuclear power plants by 2015 to meet the country's growing energy needs. Turkey has limited energy resources, relying on natural gas supplies from Iran and Russia. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 IHT: Czech company wins bid to expand nuclear power plant in Romania - International Herald Tribune The Associated Press Published: November 9, 2007 PRAGUE, Czech Republic: The Czech Republic's dominant power utility, CEZ AS, said Friday it has won the bid to build two more reactors at Romania's only nuclear power plant. The bidding, held by Romania's state-owned Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica, the plant's operator, was for a €2.2 billion (US$3.2 billion) project to build two 720-megawatt reactors at the Cernavoda plant, to supplement the plant's two existing reactors. Cernavoda is a town on the Danube River in southeast Romania. The new reactors are planned to be operational by 2015, CEZ said. The Czech company said it is due to start talks with Nuclearelectrica on the contract in late November, and expects the talks to last several months. Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 11 Guardian Unlimited: Turkish parliament approves nuclear power law * Friday November 9 2007 ANKARA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament has approved a law allowing construction of nuclear power plants intended to help avert an energy shortfall, passing a long-delayed bill that had been vetoed by the last president. Oil importer Turkey aims to build three nuclear plants with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts. It initially planned for the first plant to come on line by 2012, although the legislative delays are seen putting that back. According to the law passed late on Thursday, the qualifications for companies bidding to build and run the power plants will be published within a month. The Energy Ministry will determine the final details of the tender and the specifics of the plants. The law enables the government to grant purchase guarantees to firms for the total energy produced in nuclear power plants. The companies will be responsible for dismantling the power plants when they are no longer operational. The law now goes to President Abdullah Gul, a former member of the ruling AK Party, for approval. Former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had vetoed the nuclear law, along with several other pieces of AK Party legislation. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun, editing by Anthony Barker) ***************************************************************** 12 Baltic Times: Ignalina shutdown makes a mockery of extension call Nov 09, 2007 By TBT staff and media reports POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Lithuanians have been protesting against the planned shutdown VILNIUS -- The reactor at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) switched itself off on Thursday afternoon according to media reports. An automatic shutdown system was triggered for reasons that have yet to be made clear, though it is not believed that there has been any leak or radiation or other public hazard. The last functioning reactor of Ignalina's two reactors recently underwent planned maintenance and was only brought back online on Sep. 28. Regardless of how serious or trivial the reason for the automatic shutdown turns out to be, the timing could barely be worse for campaigners hoping to persuade the European Commission to grant a stay of execution to Ignalina. President Valdas Adamkus made a calculated gamble on Oct. 16 when he said Lithuania could keep its Soviet-built Ignalina nuclear power plant open beyond its 2009 decommissioning date. First of all, we shall evaluate the current circumstances, future prospects, and then go and negotiate using the language of arguments; I think this is reasoned and necessary," Adamkus said in a radio interview. There are lots of reasonable people and they see the actual situation as it is, since we are an EU member state, and it is important for the EU not to ruin the whole economic life of one of its members. I think we will not be able to build [Ignalina II] by 2009; it might be expected that we will build by 2012 if we are not put back by vain discussions now," he added. However, even 2015 is looking like an optimistic target given the wrangling between the Baltic States and Poland over their respective shares in the project. Meanwhile Latvia and Estonia are clearly losing patience. "We have a new power plant to build and it would be irrational to cut any further supply sources we are using at present. I think that any reasonable establishment or person will understand we may consider a period of extension so as to have us shift from one system to the other," Adamkus said. His words were doubly significant in that they came days after European energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs slapped down similar suggestions from economics minister, Vytas Navickas, warning: "The plant must be shut down as scheduled. There is a mechanism to compensate for decommissioning in place. The grant will be lost unless the obligations are met. Do not waste time on empty discussions." Despite Piebalgs' clarity, in recent weeks calls for Ignalina to win a reprieve have been getting louder, not softer. However, the automatic shutdown incident could finally put an end to the prospect of Ignalina staying open. A more likely scenario is that a new assessment by the Lithuanian government will put a hefty price tag on the cost of shutting Ignalina down in order to show the damage an energy deficit would do to the economy. The EU would then be asked to soften the blow by providing substantial extra funding. developed by Julius Nalivaiko ***************************************************************** 13 Knoxville News Sentinel: Shutdowns at TVA Browns Ferry plant prompt NRC inspection By Andrew Eder (Contact) Updated 12:07 p.m., November 9, 2007 Federal regulators will send a team of four inspectors to TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant next week to examine the causes of five unplanned shutdowns of Unit 1 since the reactor was restarted in May. "It is a fact-finding mission, and this inspection hopes to pull together all of the information available on what TVA has done to determine the causes of the scrams, and what they've done to fix it," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Ken Clark. TVA spent five years and $1.8 billion refurbishing Unit 1 at the three-reactor plant in northern Alabama. The reactor unit had been dormant since 1985 before operators achieved a self-sustaining nuclear reaction on May 22. Unit 1 was manually shut down just two days later when a control system pipe burst, spilling 600 gallons of hydraulic fluid. Since then, the reactor unit has seen four additional unplanned shutdowns, most recently on Oct. 12. Clark said the NRC team would conduct a "focused inspection" on the shutdowns, reviewing records, talking to plant personnel and physically inspecting some of the plant's operating areas. NRC management will review the inspectors' report and decide whether further action is appropriate, Clark said. "There's no perception at this point in time of any major safety problem, but any time a unit shuts down, it's a challenge to all of the systems," he said. More details online and in Saturday's News Sentinel. Business writer Andrew Eder may be reached at 865-342-6318. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 14 ITAR-TASS: Duma approves 2nd reading of bill on Rosatom State Corporation 09.11.2007, 12.07 MOSCOW November 9 Itar-Tass) – The Russian State Duma approved on Friday the second reading of the presidential bill on the foundation of the “Rosatom” State Corporation. The document was drawn up on the basis of the president’s instruction to set up a special corporation, uniting all the country’s nuclear energy and industry enterprises. It is to be formed by reorganising the Rosatom Federal Agency for Atomic Energy and will have the same name. The “Atomenergoprom” holding, the enterprises of the nuclear weapons complex, the fundamental science institutions, and the enterprises working on problems of nuclear and radiation safety, will be subordinated to it. The purpose of the corporation is to guarantee the stable functioning of all the organisations of the atomic energy and nuclear weapons complexes, to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, and also to create conditions for the stable functioning of all the organisations of the defence sector. The corporation will also implement Russia’s international commitments linked with the peaceful uses of atomic energy and non-proliferation of nuclear materials. The corporation’s property will be formed on the basis of the Russian Federation’s property contribution, subsidies from the federal budget, and means from the special reserve funds. Handed over to it will be all the shares of the Atomic Energy Industry Association and also the property of the federal state unitary enterprises, which are now managed by the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy. A transition period of not more than three years after the law comes into force is being fixed to hand over the entire property contribution of the Russian Federation. The bill determines the competence of the Russian president and government, applicable to the procedure of setting up and ensuring the operation of the new corporation. There will be a 9-man Supervision Council among its governing bodies, eight of whom will be representatives of the Russian president and government, and also a director-general, who is to be appointed by the head of state. The members of its Board are to be appointed by the Supervision Council on recommendation of the director-general and will be working on a permanent basis. The second reading of the bill specified the functions and powers of the corporation and fixed the term of office of members of the Supervision Council (not more than five years). Furthermore, it was determined that the profits of the corporation should be used only to attain the goals for which the corporation is being formed. It was decided also to publish annual reports on the corporation’s site, except classified information. Rosatom Chief Sergei Kiriyenko had previously stated that he expected the corporation to be formed already in the first quarter of 2008. Duma Vice-Speaker Vladimir Katrenko believes “Rosatom” will be “a consolidated structure, responsible for civilian and defence atomic complexes”. Thereby, he noted, we shall guarantee the concerted management of all the organisations of this branch of the national economy, thereby contributing to the more effective coordination of the atomic sector’s work in fundamental science and in the weapons domains, in the field of nuclear safety and in the implementation of the long-range program for the development of the entire nuclear industry complex. Katrenko also noted that “Rosatom”, as a new managerial model, will not only direct the work of the huge Russian atomic energy sector, but will also conduct scientific research, experimental and designing work, will take part in the development of new technologies and installations, designed to make more effective use of atomic energy. “Rosatom” is bound to strengthen our country’s positions on the world market, Katrenko is sure. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, store ***************************************************************** 15 ITAR-TASS: Duma passes bill on creation of state corp Rostekhnologii 09.11.2007, 12.00 MOSCOW, November 9 (Itar-Tass) - The State Duma lower house of Russia’ s parliament on Friday passed in the second reading a draft law submitted by the president on the creation of the Rostekhnologii (Russian Technologies) state corporation for the support, development, production and export of high-technology industrial products. The bill is aimed at the fulfilment of the main clauses of the Russian president’s 2007 state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly regarding the tasks of the modernisation and development of high-technology industrial production units. The document sets the specifics of the corporation’s legal regulation, the goals of its creation and activities, the main functions, structure of the management bodies and their competence - assisting the design, production and export of high-technology industrial products by ensuring support on the foreign market to Russian designer and production organisations, creation of systems of its sale, results of intellectual activity, services and information, as well as the attraction of investments in the industrial and defence-industrial complexes of Russia. The laws (on Rostekhnologii and Rosatom) provide for an opportunity to secure state support of priority and competitive branches of our economy, speaker of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov said earlier. “The establishment of such corporations “is one of the ways of promoting the innovative trend of our economy. I think the house will approve the laws,” the speaker said. On October 11, the State Duma approved the first reading the Russian president-brokered federal bill on setting up a Rosatom state-owned corporation. The document was worked out in execution of the Russian president's instruction on setting up a special corporation to unite enterprises of atomic energy and industry. It will be set up by reshuffling the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power - Rosatom and will have the same name. The future organisation will incorporate the Atomenergoprom firm, enterprises of the nuclear arms complex, institutions of fundamental science and enterprises, engaged in the sphere of nuclear and radiation security. The aim of the organisation is to ensure stable operation of the enterprises of the nuclear commercial generation and arms complexes, nuclear and radiation security as well as to create conditions for stable operation of organisations of the industry’s defence sector. The Rostekhnologii corporation will also meet international obligations in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear materials. The corporation’s property is formed thanks to a property contribution of the Russian Federation, subsidies from the federal budget and resources of its special reserve funds. It will receive shares of the Atomic Energy-Industrial Complex as well as property of federal state-owned enterprises which are now under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power. A transition period is established (no more than three years since the day of enacting the law) for a transfer of the property contribution of the Russian Federation. The bill determines the competence of the Russian president and government concerning a procedure of establishing and implementing activities of the corporation. The management bodies include a Supervisory Council (nine people, including eight - representatives of the Russian president and the government as well as director-general, appointed by the head of state). Board members will be appointed by the Supervisory Council with the representation of the director-general and will work on a permanent basis. As it was proposed by Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko, the corporation will be set up already in the first quarter of 2008. Deputy speaker of the State Duma Vladimir Katrenko said the new managerial model in the form of Rosatom would, apart from running the huge nuclear energy sector, carry R&D work, participate in developing new technologies and units in the sphere of application of nuclear power. Rosatom will consolidate positions of Russia in the world market, he said. On October 9, the State Duma approved the first reading of the president-proposed bill on setting up state corporation Rostekhnologii, to promote, develop, produce and export high-tech industrial products. The bill is part of the measures to implement provisions of the presidential address to the Federal Assembly in 2007, aimed at modernising and developing high-technology branches of the industry. The document fixes the legal position of the corporation, its objectives, the basic functions, the structure of the administrative bodies and their competence, namely to provide assistance to the development, production and exports of high-tech industrial products by supporting on the domestic markets Russian developer firms and products, creating sale systems, aiding results of research, services and information, and attracting investments to the industrial and defence complex. The property of the corporation is to be formed with the property fee of the Russian Federation, the 100-percent stake in the state-owned Rosoboronexport weapons exporting company, the revenue derived from the activities of the corporation, and other legal sources. The administration bodies are the Board and the Observer Council (comprising nine people: four presidential and four government representatives and the director general). The chairperson of the Observer Council is appointed by the president from its members. The director general cannot be appointed chairman of the Observer Council. The head of state also appoints members of the Observer Council and appoints and dismisses the director general. The corporation forwards annual reports to the Russian president and the government before May 1. The establishment of the corporation will secure “Russia’s breakthrough in exports of not only armaments, but also high-tech civil products,” presidential plenipotentiary representative at the State Duma Alexander Kosopkin said. In the modern conditions on the worlds markets the creation of the Rostekhonologii state corporation is important, its activity will help restructure organisations of the industrial and defence-Industrial sectors, attraction of investments in them, as well as to raise competitiveness of the national high-technology products on international markets, chairman of the Duma committee for the economic policy, entrepreneurship and tourism Yevgeny Fyodorov said for his part. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, store ***************************************************************** 16 CollegiateTimes.com: Reconsidering a switch from coal to nuclear power Rosanna Brown, CT News Reporter Friday, November 9; 12:24 AM The annual Choices and Challenges Forum took place yesterday, hosting a variety of speakers who illuminated the history, logistics, benefits, and set-backs of nuclear energy. The all-day event, titled "Nuclear Power Reconsidered," was held in both the Lyric Theater and the Graduate Life Center. The open forum structure of the event allowed participants to question and challenge the thoughts of others regarding the facts of nuclear energy. "We thought that was a perfect issue and a very timely issue," said Daniel Breslau, co-coordinator for the Choices and Challenges forum. Breslau said that for a long time the United States' interest in constructing nuclear power plants has been in a lull because of cost and safety concerns. He said that the current resurgences of interest is coming from corporate industries and those concerned with finding an alternative fuel source to oil. "They are all coming at the issues from a different kind of disciplinarian or professional background," Breslau said. At the forum, Richard Hirsh, director of the consortium on energy restructuring at Virginia Tech, spoke alongside Benjamin Sovacool, post-doctoral fellow in energy policy at the National University of Singapore. Both described the historical evolution, concerns and proponents of nuclear energy. Research, regulation, and promotion of nuclear energy began in 1946 with the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission, Hirsh said. "Almost every other new transition to a new technology has been because of demand changes," Sovacool said. The advent of the AEC was the first time the U.S. government decided to promote a new invention prior to its demand. This promotion was about the positive aspects of going nuclear. The United States currently derives 49 percent of its energy from coal, 20 percent from natural gas, and 19 percent from nuclear power, Hirsh said. For every one pound of uranium required by a nuclear power plant, a coal plant requires 1,500 tons of coal, he said. Hirsh explained that a well-operated nuclear power plant will not release greenhouse gases. Some fears of nuclear power are the effects of radiation if a plant were to fail. In 1974 the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pa. had a failure in its Emergency Core Cooling System. No one was hurt or killed during the event; however, there is speculation that some animals may have been injured and psychological effects remain, Hirsh said. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission required that evacuation plans be in place near the vicinity where a nuclear power plant is built after the TMI incident. Another downfall of nuclear power is the money required to build the plant. The first demonstration nuclear power plant built in Shippingport, Pa. cost $84 million in 1957, Hirsh said. Not only are there health affects and money issues with nuclear power, there is the problem of where to put waste. Nuclear waste in the United States is collected in storage within the plants themselves, Hirsh said. This form of storage is not ideal, so Bush proposed in 2002 that the waste be stored in Yucca Mountain in Nevada. This proposition never took effect because of local adversity to the plan, Hirsh said. France, who has 70 percent of its energy supplied by nuclear power, uses a reprocessing plant that recycles the nuclear waste into plutonium. The main use for this plutonium is weaponry, Hirsh said. The implementation of a reprocessing plant in the United States was rejected by former President Carter because he did not want the American people to think the use of nuclear power was for weaponry, Hirsh said. As a result, there still remains no political solution for the placement of nuclear waste in the U.S., Hirsh said. The most current diplomacy that advocates nuclear power is the Energy and Policy Act of 2005. This act provides financial support to companies building nuclear power plants and gives them tax credit, Hirsh said. In Virginia, there was a reregulation law passed this past April. This act gives companies an extra 2 percent in rate return for over 12 years if they are to invest in a nuclear power plant, Hirsh said. Hirsh said it is now in the works for Dominion Virginia Power to build a nuclear power plant. "Nuclear Power Reconsidered" is Choices and Challenge's 26th forum. Choices and Challenges have been organizing these forums since the project was established at Virginia Tech in 1985. Breslau began organizing the event with co-coordinators Eileen Crist and Saul Halfon in Jan. 2007. Posted by: Jon at Nov 9 Corrections: 49% coal/20% NG/19% nuclear is US electricity, not US energy. Energy would include a great deal of oil for transportation. Yucca mountain was proposed for waste storage in 1978, not 2002. Studies are still ongoing and NRC licenses now being sought. France gets 78% of its electricity from nuclear. The main use of its reprocessed fuel, and the only use of the plutonium, is for re-use in nuclear power reactors. Flag Abuse Posted by: archivist at Nov 9 nswer to: Don't we need uranium to fuel cheap, clean nuclear power? Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) 2003 study and a 2004 University of Chicago study concurred that nuclear power is much more expensive than natural gas or coal for electrical production (MIT's estimated cost of electricity for coal was 4.2kWh/ natural gas 3.8-5.6 kWh/nuclear power 6.7kWh). The MIT study concluded "The potential impact on the public from safety or waste management failure and the link to nuclear explosives technology are unique to nuclear energy among energy supply options. These characteristics and the fact that nuclear is more costly, make it impossible today to make a credible case for the immediate expanded use of nuclear power." Brice Smith's book "Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change" (http://www.ieer.org/reports/insurmountab...) offers facts, figures, reports, and studies that show uranium and its radiation cannot be an answer to greenhouse gas reduction. In addition, for all the potential dangers nuclear energy will expose us to, it will have little effect on global climate stabilization. Peter Bradford, a former Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reports that, even if we were to triple today's worldwide nuclear capacity, it would only be equivalent to one third of what we can currently do to decrease greenhouse gas omission through energy efficiency and conservation. (See the nuclear power debate between Bradford, Patrick Moore, and Jim Riccio of Greenpeace USA at http://www.nirs.org/videodebate.htm) Dr. Helen Caldicott writes in her book Nuclear Power is Not the Answer on page viii: "Nuclear power is not "clean and green," as the industry claims, because large amounts of traditional fossil fuels are required to mine and refine the uranium needed to run nuclear power reactors, to construct the massive concrete reactor buildings, and to transport and store the toxic radioactive waste created by the nuclear process. Burning of this fossil fuel emits significant quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2)– the primary "greenhouse gas"- into the atmosphere. In addition, large amounts of the now-banned chlorofluorocarbon (as CFC gas) are emitted during the enrichment of uranium. CFC gas is not only 10,000 10 20,000 times more efficient as an atmospheric heat trapper ("greenhouse gas") than CO2, but it is a classic "pollutant" and a potent destroyer of the ozone layer." Flag Abuse Posted by: Susanne at Nov 9 There are scientific concerns about the suitability of Yucca Mountain for storing spent fuel which remains radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. The presence of Chlorine 36 indicates that the repository may be penetrated by water much faster than originally thought leading to corrosion of the spent fuel containers and release of radioactive material into drinking water.There is also a volcanic crater, the Lathrop Crater which I have viewed from the top of Yucca Mountain. This crater was caused by an eruption. An earthquake in the last twenty years damaged a building on the Yucca Mountain repository site. Transportation of spent fuel largely from sites east of the Mississippi also poses risks of traffic accidents and terrorist attacks. No state is willing to permanently store spent fuel either that produced by reactors in their own state and much less that originating in other states. Flag Abuse Posted by: LK at Nov 9 Yeah, that is how journalism writing works... Flag Abuse Posted by: Writer at Nov 9 This is the largest assortment of one-sentence paragraphs I have ever read... Flag Abuse © 1998-2007 Collegiate Times. All stories, photos etc. produced by ***************************************************************** 17 times and star: 8.3 billion nuclear clean-up plan Published on 09/11/2007 THE NUCLEAR Decommissioning Authority has been given ÂŁ8.3 billion by the government. Details were released on Wednesday in the authority’s three-year draft business plan. The Westlakes NDA, which manages the clean-up of the UK’s nuclear sites, said most of the funds will be concentrated on Sellafield and Dounreay. The cash will be the largest amount of expenditure on the UK civil nuclear clean-up programme and represents an increase of ÂŁ671 million compared with the last three years. While increasing funding, the plans will still mean a slow down in Sellafield’s nuclear clean-up business, according to site boss Barry Snelson. The authority said that operational difficulties at Sellafield were slowing progress. NDA chief executive Dr Ian Roxburgh said that it was increasingly clear that due to those difficulties, the time scale for de-fuelling Magnox stations would have to be reassessed and the company would work through the implications with its stakeholders. Sellafield Ltd welcomed the draft three-year plan. Mr Snelson said: “We have received a higher level of funding than in previous years, and this will allow us to maintain our focus on reducing the high level hazards on our sites. “While this will mean a reduction in the rate of growth at Sellafield, it clearly affirms our strategy of putting clean-up of the highest threats as our first priority.” The plan is subject to a three-month consultation process. View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.timesandstar.co.uk/digitalcopy Other stories from this category that may interest you: ***************************************************************** 18 The Nation: Harvey Wasserman: No-Nukers Sing a New Green Tune posted November 9, 2007 (web only) Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash are again singing the praises of solar energy. But it's a hard song for reactor backers now desperately seeking more than $50 billion in federal loan guarantees. The nuclear energy industry is selling "new generation" reactors as a cheap fix for global warming. But a booming renewable energy industry now makes the atomic option sound even more nonsensical than it did when the musicians first sang "No Nukes" three decades ago. At an October 23 press conference in Washington, Raitt, Browne and Nash delivered 120,000 signatures demanding that Congress strip reactor loan guarantees from this year's energy bill. The industry wants $25 billion in 2008, $25 billion more in 2009 and a blank check for the future. But the rockers' rapid-fire Internet-based campaign--complete with a music video--may have put a serious crimp in their plans. Joined by Democratic Representatives Ed Markey and John Hall (a fellow musician), backed by a wide range of environmental organizations and gathering support through their NukeFree.org website, the three musicians followed their press conference with a series of visits to Congressional leadership and an intriguing new message. In 1979, when Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) staged a legendary series of five concerts in Madison Square Garden (90,000 attended) and a rally at Battery Park City (which drew 200,000), their argument was that nuclear power was dangerous (Three Mile Island had just melted) and that renewable energy would be cost-effective "someday soon." Today, the musicians and their environmental cohorts can still say that nuclear power has failed. But what's different is that the renewable energy industry has come of age. "Wind power is booming," says Brian Parsons of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. No new reactors are currently under construction in the United States. But Parsons says about $6 billion worth of wind farms are in "various stages of development," representing "between one and 1.5 years' worth at the current pace," a number that towers over what was happening thirty years ago. Worldwide, the industry is in the $15 billion range annually, according to the American Wind Energy Association. With turbines costing less than $2 million a megawatt, and with fuel perpetually free (operation and maintenance costs run about 5 percent per year), wind energy can leave nuclear reactors in the radioactive dust. The same can now be said for photovoltaic (PV) cells. Major breakthroughs in amorphous (flexible) applications have allowed American factories to pour out ever-cheaper roofing laminates that can power the buildings on which they sit. Assembly lines longer than football fields now produce them by the mile, at production costs that continue to plummet. The Michigan-based United Solar Ovonic claims to have doubled its annualized production capacity in the past year to fifty-eight megawatts and will have another threefold expansion by the end of next year. Company officials predict the capital cost of machines to be $150 million, for an annual capacity of 100 megawatts. Industry experts predict an annual market of more than ten gigawatts in 2012, the equivalent of ten nukes per year. The cost of solar electricity is coming down rapidly, according to Ovonic, and with "suitable infusion of money to build new plants," industry experts and Energy Department officials predict "grid parity" by 2015, the very earliest new reactors could come on line under optimum conditions. Part of the new economic advantage of PV cells comes from the fact that they can be installed on the rooftops and south-facing walls of buildings that use their energy, thus avoiding transmission costs from central power stations, which can be extremely high. Other solar technologies, such as desert-based "power towers" and concave "trough mirror" farms, have proved themselves over the past two decades to the point that investors are lining up to build new ones. These long lines of mirror arrays focus sunlight on multiple tubes of heat-exchanging liquid, have run successfully at nine large farms since the 1980s. Millions of new investment dollars are also pouring into biofuels, ocean-wave generators, geothermal devices and more. Each has technical, financial and even ecological problems. But the message is clear: the renewable energy industry is in the process of achieving liftoff. By contrast, say the nuke-free organizers and their green cohorts, the atomic reactor business is mired in hype. Some things about it have not changed since 1979. Most important, there is no solution to the radioactive waste problem. Nevada's Yucca Mountain dump is as unlicensed now as it was during the MUSE concerts. What's different is that Harry Reid, an adamant Yucca foe, is now Senate majority leader. Also new is the legacy of September 11. The prospect of terror attacks was always high on the list of reasons to oppose atomic energy. But the first jet that flew into the World Trade Center passed over the three reactors (two active, one retired) at Indian Point, forty-five miles north of Manhattan. The nuclear industry vehemently denies Indian Point's containment domes could have been penetrated. But the aging, rickety complex remains supremely vulnerable in myriad ways, as do dozens of other reactors around the globe. Despite claims of "inherent safety," no private insurer will take the liability risk for a major reactor disaster, past or future, with old reactors or new. After fifty years, responsibility still reverts to the taxpayer, now and for the foreseeable future. The industry needs federal loan guarantees because it can't get private investors any more easily than it can find private insurers. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the industry's PR front group, says atomic energy is cheaper than renewables, but it can only do so by downplaying the "intangible" costs of radioactive fuel production and waste disposal, human error and terror attacks, heat and radioactive emissions and much more. The NEI also claims net gains in fighting global warming, but it would posit hundreds of reactors to do so even under optimal circumstances. Amory Lovins's Rocky Mountain Institute has shown that a dollar spent on increased conservation can save seven times more energy than a dollar spent on nuclear power can produce. The NEI also says new reactors can be built for $4 billion to $5 billion, in five years or less. But atomic energy's history is defined by massive delays and overruns. The cost of New Hampshire's Seabrook nuclear power plant went from $250 million for two reactors in the 1960s to $7 billion for one that opened in 1989. Scores of other "first generation" plants came on line horrifically late and wildly over budget. The industry likes to blame all that on protesters. And the wide range of environmental groups and the tens of thousands still signing Raitt, Browne and Nash's NukeFree.org petition make it clear that even after all these years, they are not going away. But the industry is also building its first "new generation" plant in Finland. Barely two years since ground was broken, it is nearly two years behind schedule and $2 billion over budget. Small wonder a green power industry that was barely an embryo in 1979 now sings a song that sounds a lot like success. Harvey Wasserman, editor of NukeFree.org, is a co-founder of MUSE and author of Solartopia! Our Green-Powered Earth. Copyright © 2007 The Nation ***************************************************************** 19 NTVMSNBC: Turkish parliament backs law on nuclear energy A public company will be set up to build and operate the power station, with shares being offered to the public. Güncelleme: 11:02 TSÝ 09 Kasým 2007 Cuma ANKARA - The Turkish parliament voted late Thursday evening to adopt legislation setting out the terms for the establishment and management of nuclear power plants and the sale of electricity produced by the power stations. Haberin devamý The law foresees the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) laying down the criteria required for companies that are willing to establish and operate a nuclear power plant. After the regulation is passed, Turkish Electricity Trade & Contract Corporation (TETAS) will open a tender for nuclear power plants. At the end of the tender process, the awarded companies and TETAS will sign a contract. The legislation had previously been passed by the parliament earlier this year but had been vetoed by then President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Who had requested the parliament to give more consideration to the bill. Turkey?s Council of Minister has been tasked with deciding on establishing a public company to build and manage a power station, and the terms of selling the electricity produced. Private companies can have shares in this public company. Under the law, the companies that will establish and/or manage a nuclear power plant will not have to get a licence from the Energy Market Regulation Board (EPDK) before submitting their bids for the tender. The company that wins the tender will get the licence before it starts fulfilling the project. ***************************************************************** 20 Rocky Mountain News: Dropping the nuclear ball Agency says it will probe why Flats workers excluded Judy Dehaas © News Phil Saba was among more than 800 workers at Rocky Flats Building 881. The U.S. Department of Labor will investigate why many others were left off a list for aid if they developed cancer. By Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News November 9, 2007 The federal government left thousands of eligible Rocky Flats workers off the list of those who qualify for immediate aid if they develop radiation-related cancer, the Rocky Mountain News has found. This in addition to the more than 800 workers added to the list earlier this week. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor said officials would investigate the new information immediately. "To my knowledge, it's never been brought to our attention before," said DOL spokesman David James. The omission raised ire in many sectors. "This calls into question the entire decision-making process of who's included or excluded," for immediate compensation, said Cody Wertz, spokesman for Sen. Ken Salazar. "It's unbelievable," said Terrie Barrie, of Craig, who helped form the national Alliance of Nuclear Workers Advocacy Groups. "Obviously, the agencies involved aren't doing their job. This is further proof that the whole process is so flawed it just needs to be abolished. They need to stop wasting the taxpayers' money." Many more left off list Federal officials earlier this week said they had mistakenly left off the list for immediate aid more than 800 workers from one of the largest buildings at the now-demolished Rocky Flats. They added Building 881 to the list this week because workers there risked exposure to neutron radiation, a type of radiation that would qualify them for automatic aid. The Rocky reviewed data Thursday that show another 3,071 workers in 19 more buildings were at risk of exposure to that same kind of radiation but are not included on the aid list. The data were collected in a 10-year study of Flats workers conducted by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the state health department. "This could be good news for a lot of people," said Phil Saba, a former Flats worker who has tried to help others get help. A spokeswoman for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said her agency defined eligible workers as those who risked neutron exposure, but it was the Department of Labor that determined who fits into that class. "Once the class is final, then it's DOL's responsibility," said NIOSH spokeswoman Amanda Harney. She said the agency did consider the CU-health department study in finding that neutron exposure would warrant immediate aid for certain cancers. But the Labor Department spokesman said the program director, Shelby Hallmark, had not seen the data. The DOL oversees the compensation program. Allard assailed delays Federal officials spent more than two years trying to determine which former atomic bomb builders from Rocky Flats deserved financial and medical aid for cancers linked to their work. Last month, Sen. Wayne Allard criticized continued delays not only for Rocky Flats workers but also for others who worked on Cold War nuclear weapons. "The senator has never minced his words on this," spokesman Steve Wymer said. "He is very, very committed to seeing that the people are appropriately cared for." Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, represents the Rocky Flats area and said the plan to give streamlined compensation to only a few workers should be dropped in favor of extending it to all who develop radiation-related cancers. "This compensation program is not just about money," he said. NUCLEAR WORKERS COMPENSATION Congress in 2000 created a program to compensate ill nuclear-weapons workers or their survivors for cancer and other ailments linked to their jobs building the nation's atomic arsenal. The beleaguered program has been the subject of recent congressional hearings because of ongoing delays and denials after workers apply for $150,000 and medical coverage. Most workers must prove a link between their exposures and illnesses. That process can take years. frankl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5091 © 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 21 NEWS.com.au: Defence admits radiation leak | November 09, 2007 12:32am Article from: AAP AN investigation has started into a radiation leak which began six days ago at a Department of Defence site, the department said last night. “A minor contamination involving the chemical beryllium was reported on 2 November 2007 at the Defence National Storage and Distribution Centre, at Moorebank in New South Wales,” the department said. “It is believed the contamination occurred as a result of packaging of damaged equipment items returning from the Middle East.” Everyone at the site was evacuated and firefighters were called in to assess the hazard. Hazardous materials experts detected “two low-level positive indicators for the presence of beryllium”. The area was declared safe on November 6. “Occupational health and safety briefings have been provided to the small number of staff that may have been exposed and counselling is available on request. “Those personnel exposed to the site will undergo thorough on-site medical testing. “An investigation is currently underway to determine the immediate and follow-on action required to prevent a reoccurrence.” It was not immediately clear why Defence waited six days to issue the statement. Copyright 2007 News Limited. All times AEDT (GMT +11). ***************************************************************** 22 Platts: UKAEA drains materials test reactor fuel pond at Dounreay 007-8N London (Platts)--8Nov2007 UK Atomic Energy Authority has drained the materials test reactor fuel pond at Dounreay, the first fuel pond at the former research site completely drained for decommissioning, UKAEA spokeswoman Sue Thompson said November 8. The 17-foot deep, stainless steel-clad pond was used from 1964 to 2001 to store fuel from materials test reactors from around the world. In initial work prior to drainage, fuel storage racks and other "loose debris" were removed and an irradiated fuel tube was also recovered, said UKAEA. The drainage was done July 4-August 14 under a "containment tent" to prevent the spread of contamination. Since, workers with respirators have been applying a peelable sticky paint to the pond surfaces to minimize airborne contamination. "Over a thousand individual respirator entries to the pond area were needed to reach this stage in its decommissioning," said Charlie Fowler, Dounreay's decommissioning project manager for the area. Final decommissioning work, including cutting up and removing the stainless steel pond liner, is expected to be completed by March 31, 2008. UKAEA will not reveal project cost. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 23 Salt Lake Tribune: Exploration company gets OK to drill for uranium The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 11/09/2007 12:19:52 PM MST Posted: 12:18 PM- Utah Uranium Corp. of Moab said it has secured a bond that will allow it to proceed with exploratory drilling on its 7,000-acre Pinto property near the Henry Mountains of east-central Utah. The company, whose shares are listed under the symbol UTUC on the OTC Bulletin Board system, said a drilling crew and rig are being mobilized, with work expected to begin early next week. Utah Uranium said the first phase of its program will entail drilling up to 20 holes of out a permitted 50. The company believes that based on other deposits in the region its Pinto property could hold significant amounts of uranium and vanadium ore. Privacy Policy | MNG Corporate Site Map | Copyright ***************************************************************** 24 The Arran Voice: Nuclear decommissioning contract By Nick Underdown Friday, 9 November 2007 A Norwegian engineering company, Aker Kvaerner, has been awarded a Ł16m decommissioning contract at Hunterston A nuclear site for the design and installation of a plant for the retrieval and encapsulation of wet intermediate-level waste. The project is expected to take around two-and-a-half years, with start-up scheduled for July 2010. The two nuclear reactors at Hunterston A closed in December 1989 and March 1990. The intermediate nuclear waste they had been producing will be encapsulated in concrete and stored on-site, to be constantly monitored until a safe, long-term disposal method is discovered. ***************************************************************** 25 AFP: Seven arrested in DR Congo radioactive waste dumping probe - Fri Nov 9, 2:01 PM ET KINSHASA (AFP) - Police have arrested seven people, including law enforcement officers, over the pouring of radioactive mineral waste into a river in the southeast DR Congo, Environment Minister Didace Pembe said Friday. "Seven people suspected of involvement in dumping ore are currently being questioned by police," Pembe told AFP. He was speaking after returning to Kinshasa from an inspection in the Democratic Republic of Congo's copper-rich Katanga province. He said the offence last month concerned some of a batch of almost 19 tonnes of copper ore containing uranium samples with a radioactivity level 50 times over the safe legal standard. While it had been due for disposal at a safe site, "part of these ores were poured into the Mura river and dumped elsewhere in the area," he said. Most of the ore was registered in the name of Chinese firm Magma and a part of it in those of an Indian company, Chemaf, and a Congolese mediator. Legal sources said that police from the mining sector's anti-fraud squad and a prosecutor were among those arrested. They were among those who had been responsible for the safe transfer of the waste, said Pembe. The illegal dumping of the radioactive waste threatened the drinking water for some of the 300,000 residents of the city of Lukasi, where one of the pumping stations uses Mura river water, said Pembe. "The people of Likasi must for no reason use or consume water from this station," he added. Investigators were searching for the rest of the ore, as the dumped material already discovered did not account for the total 19 tonnes. The copper itself from a mine at Kolwezi near Likassi was thought to been bought from artisanal miners. Uranium as such has not been mined since the early 1960s and the country's independence, but the DRC is rich in the mineral and the president's office is currently considering prospection and production regulations. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 26 Reuters: Six arrested in Congo radioactive dumping scandal | Fri Nov 9, 2007 12:25pm EST By Joe Bavier KINSHASA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Congolese authorities arrested six people in connection with the dumping of tonnes of highly radioactive minerals into a river near the southeastern town of Likasi, the environment minister said on Friday. A quarantine zone was set up around the site, just 10 km (6 miles) from the mining town of 300,000 people. Tests on the river banks on Thursday revealed radiation levels nearly 50 times the limit for mineral exports from Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo launched an inquiry on Wednesday after officials in Katanga province said radioactive copper and cobalt ore appeared to have been dumped into the Mura river, a source of drinking water for Likasi. Authorities in Likasi had seized nearly 19 tonnes of radioactive minerals due for export in October and ordered their disposal at a nearby abandoned uranium mine last week. The load never made it to the mine and the government says at least some ore was dropped from a bridge into the river. "The entire commission charged with disposing of these minerals is now under arrest. There are six people now in custody, and I expect a seventh to be arrested today," Environment Minister Didace Pembe told Reuters on Friday. Pembe took a team of experts from the Environment Ministry and Congo's Atomic Energy Agency to the site on Thursday and said he would report his findings to the prime minister. Continued... ***************************************************************** 27 NEI Nuclear Notes: Report: Energy Considering Recycling Fuel from Closed Reactors Wednesday, November 07, 2007 From Energy Daily (Subscription Only): In next year's budget request, the Energy Department is planning to ask Congress for authority to take title to spent nuclear fuel stockpiled at closed U.S. nuclear plants and to reprocess it, most likely in France, sources tell The Energy Daily. DOE officials in recent years have resisted congressional pressure to move spent fuel stockpiled at U.S. reactors to regional storage facilities, saying the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) bars them from taking title to the fuel until the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada is granted a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license. Now, sources say, the department is planning to ask Congress to amend the NWPA to remove that limitation as part of its fiscal 2009 budget request to Congress, which DOE is in the early stages of preparing. However, DOE's goal is apparently to transport it for reprocessing, most likely at La Hague in France, not to move the spent fuel to regional storage facilities in the United States as some lawmakers have requested. It is unclear whether DOE intends to ask for authority to take title only to fuel from closed plants, or to spent fuel stockpiled at operating U.S. reactors as well. A DOE spokeswoman Tuesday would neither confirm nor deny that DOE was considering the recycling plan, but noted DOE was pursuing recycling options through its Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) initiative. Posted by Eric McErlain at 12:57 PM ***************************************************************** 28 Las Vegas Now: Nuclear Agency Gets Sparkling New Building in Las Vegas Edward Lawrence, Reporter In a shiny new building, employees at the government agency deciding if a nuclear waste dump in Nevada gets a license to open waits for the application. Eyewitness News looks in depth at the Nuclear Regulatory agency's new hearing room in their new building in Las Vegas and why the federal agency says it's not wasted tax dollars. As shiny as a new bank and as secure as a federal courthouse, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's building will be the sight of a showdown 20 years in the making. Although Eyewitness News could not get an exact figure, the building cost taxpayers between $25 million to $30 million. It's just another example of waste according to Nevada's elected leaders. Senator John Ensign (R) said, "The politics of Yucca Mountain, the science of Yucca Mountain being very questionable, I believe we are pouring money down a large rat hole in the state of Nevada." A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not agree. The NRC, as it's called, will decide if a Yucca Mountain repository gets a license to accept nuclear waste. David McIntyre justifies the expense saying the hearings should be in Las Vegas. "The board wants to make it as easy as possible for various parties to participate in the hearing." Former Governor Bob List agrees. He's on the payroll of a nuclear lobby group that supports the Yucca Mountain repository. Fmr. Gov. Bob List, with the Nuclear Energy Institute, said, "It's very important for our state that we have these hearings here in Nevada and that everybody be able to have a seat at the table." The NRC has a full time staff working there. Eventually the building will be a West Coast satellite where hearings for new nuclear power plants are heard. That's because there are now dozens of government employees looking for something to do. They are in a $25 million to $30 million taxpayer funded building waiting on an application that has been delayed and delayed and delayed by more than a decade sending the total cost of the nuclear waste project from $80 million to $77 billion. During the first hearing on Dec. 5, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will decide if the data the Department of Energy is using to support a nuclear waste dump in Nevada is complete enough to move forward to licensing. In 2004, the state made the same challenge and won, which delayed the project three years. The DOE wants to submit a license application by June of 2008. E-mail Reporter Edward Lawrence. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 barrow in furness: Decommission plans in tatters Published on 09/11/2007 PLANS to decommission nuclear power stations are in “tatters” because of a decision to divert funds from Magnox sites, a union has claimed. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority published its draft business plan for the three years to 2011, which includes a budget of ÂŁ8.5bn for the clean-up budget, an increase of ÂŁ671m over the past three years. Chief executive Dr Ian Roxburgh said the authority’s priority was hazard reduction so it will be focusing on the sites that need the most work. “This means that the majority of funds over the next three years will be focused on Sellafield and Dounreay, while safety remains the absolute priority across all our sites. “It is increasingly clear that due to operational difficulties at Sellafield, the timescales for defuelling the Magnox stations will need to be reassessed and we will need to work through the implications of this with our stake-holders.” Prospect, which represents 15,000 staff in the nuclear industry, said the decision was a blueprint for “squandering” taxpayers’ money and “decimating” skills. National officer Mike Graham said: “The NDA’s strategy is in tatters. “This revised business plan reflects heavily on the problems but does not provide any solutions for the way forward. “It strongly promotes the idea of diverting monies from Magnox decommissioning sites to Sellafield high hazard reduction but does not deal with the consequences of such actions. “We have always supported high hazard reduction as part of an overall plan, and backed the NDA’s original 2006 strategy because it gave a clear 25-year deadline for Magnox decommissioning backed by a coherent skills strategy. “But the revised plan leaves Magnox hanging in the balance and risks losing the confidence of local stakeholders, for which industry has fought hard. “There is no detailed examination of the cost of meeting the severance terms for employees on the sites where clean-up will be suspended, or recognition of how overall costs will soar for every year decommissioning is put on hold.” The Magnox stations are at Sizewell A, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Bradwell and Berkeley. View this story and the latest newspaper in full digital reproduction, just like the printed copy at www.nwemail.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 30 Arizona Daily Star: Navajo Nation wants moratorium on uranium mining | www.azstarnet.com Associated Press Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.09.2007 WASHINGTON – The Navajo Nation is pushing for a federal moratorium on uranium mining both within the reservation's boundaries and beyond. The tribe banned uranium mining and processing on its land in 2005, but companies have been trying to revive it as uranium prices soar. Navajo President Joe Shirley Junior says his people's health has suffered due to past uranium mining operations. He says it would be unforgivable to allow it to continue for another generation. Shirley made his comments today in a roundtable discussion in Washington. Representatives Tom Udall of New Mexico, Jim Matheson of Utah and Rick Renzi of Arizona convened the discussion. Udall says he is committed to continuing a dialogue on the effects of uranium mining on the Navajos and to seek justice for those who have been harmed. ***************************************************************** 31 Las Vegas SUN: State may pull punch as Yucca fight intensifies Today: November 09, 2007 at 7:12:5 PST Feds spend big; Nevada faces budget cuts By David McGrath Schwartz Las Vegas Sun Even as the federal government plans to add up to $109 million in attorney power to push Yucca Mountain forward, Nevada's modest budget to fight the nuclear waste dump might shrink because of Gov. Jim Gibbons' demands for spending cuts. The Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects is not exempt from 5 percent budget cuts that Gibbons has asked most state agencies to prepare. Such a cut would amount to about $200,000 over the next two fiscal years, just as the fight enters a critical juncture. Bob Loux, executive director of the agency, said the reduction would mean less money to hire outside scientists and attorneys to fight the federal government. The possible reduction in Nevada firepower comes as the Energy Department has hired a second law firm to prepare the application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Yucca Mountain. The government plans to spend nearly $50 million at the outset for the legal services, with possible contract extensions that would bring the lawyers' tab to upward of $100 million. "I still think we're going to kick their butts. I don't care how many law firms they have," Gibbons said Wednesday after meeting with elected officials to discuss the state's budget problems. But news of the Bush administration's heightened efforts to prepare the Yucca Mountain application, coupled with Nevada's financial problems, frustrated others. Nevada Republican Rep. Jon Porter said he understands the need to cut some areas of state spending because revenue isn't meeting expectations. The fight against the nuclear waste dump, though, should be exempt, he said. "Yucca Mountain should be in the top-tier level of priorities," Porter said. "I would hope it remains a priority in the budget." Nevada Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley was more forceful. She pointed to the Energy Department's stated commitment to submit its Yucca Mountain application by June. "At this moment, to be considering cutting rather than adding resources for Nevada to be able to fight the Department of Energy is insanity," Berkley said. Even if the state's attorney general's office can step in and help on legal matters, there's no one to pick up the work of scientists, Berkley said. "To be credible, the science should be legitimate," she said. "Why would we cut that now?" Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto's office referred calls to the governor. Loux, the state's point man in the anti-dump efforts, finds himself delicately in the middle of the issue. "Clearly, we would rather not have the budget cut," he said. "We're in a rather critical stage of the Yucca program. On other hand, if the governor feels like we need to be cut, we will." Gibbons has not made any decisions on which state agencies face budget cuts, but has promised to protect budgets for public safety, corrections, K-12 education and forest fire suppression. The possibility of cutting the state's efforts to fight a repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, did not come up at Wednesday's budget summit in Carson City. The Energy Department hired the law firm Lewis & Bockius LLP in September. The initial contract runs through 2011 and is worth $48 million, with five one-year options. It could eventually be worth $109 million. Before that the department retained the law firm Hunton & Williams LLP . Its five-year contract, signed in 2004, is worth $45 million. Gibbons ' decision not to protect Nevada's battle against the dump is not the first reason opponents of a Yucca repository have had to question the governor. Earlier this year, Cortez Masto and Loux pushed Gibbons and his key aides to stop the federal government from using the state's water for drilling at Yucca Mountain. Gibbons allowed the water to be used for a time anyway. Gibbons also removed a fierce repository opponent on the Nevada Nuclear Projects Commission, a driving force against the dump, and replaced that member with a well-known Yucca advocate. The appointment later was rescinded. He also did not attend a Senate hearing in Washington on Yucca Mountain to which he had pushed to be invited. Melissa Subbotin, Gibbons' press secretary, said the governor remained staunchly against the dump. "There is no question whatsoever to the governor's commitment to fighting the Yucca Mountain project," she said. David McGrath Schwartz can be reached at 259-2327 or at david.schwartz@lasvegassun.com. All contents © 1996 - 2007 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. letters@lasvegassun.com ***************************************************************** 32 Salt Lake Tribune: Bennett pushes measure that would require congressional OK of N-tests Article Last Updated: 11/09/2007 01:15:55 AM MST WASHINGTON - Sen. Bob Bennett has reintroduced legislation that would prohibit nuclear testing without the approval of Congress and require extensive review before such tests could go forward. Bennett, R-Utah, has failed to get the same bill through the previous two sessions of Congress but says the goal of the legislation is still to prevent any further testing without prior approval. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is sponsoring similar legislation in the House, though neither bill is as of yet scheduled for a committee hearing. The measure, co-sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says the White House must get permission from Congress before resuming nuclear detonations at the Nevada Test Site or elsewhere, though Bennett notes there have been no proposals to restart such tests. "While the current administration does not have plans to resume testing, Utahns want greater assurances against the policies of a future administration," Bennett said. "I do not think nuclear testing will ever be necessary, given computer technology advancements, but this legislation provides a safety net by requiring congressional approval, an open process with significant public involvement, and extensive environmental and safety analysis." Nuclear testing is a hot-button issue in Utah and surrounding states, all of which experienced some level of radioactive fallout from the Cold War-era tests in Nevada. Bennett's bill says that if the administration asks and Congress approves renewed testing, the secretary of the Energy Department must provide public notice of the test, shall notify the public if any radiation is released and shall hold a town hall meeting in southern Utah after each explosion. It also establishes a nine-member commission - with three of the members coming from Utah - to oversee the safety, health and air quality concerns at the Nevada Test Site. And it requires the National Academy of Sciences to study the health and safety precautions currently at the Nevada Test Site. tburr@sltrib.com ***************************************************************** 33 The Herald: What might have been without nuclear weapons Features: LETTERS Web Issue 2987 November 10 2007 As usual, Ron Ferguson brings enlightenment in his column (November 5). After the sophistries of politicians and Ministry of Defence spokespersons regarding the inquest into the death of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, it is refreshing to read such a clear exposition on the morality of nuclear weapons and their unavoidable interface with humans. Scientists and technologists escape responsibility for the horrors that can spring from science by the clever excuse of the amorality of science. Yet the link between science and humanity is irrefutable. Just as Gordon Gentle's life may have been saved by the use of technology so, too, the deaths of 300,000 Japanese (95% civilians) could have been saved by resisting the application of technology. Thus, a set of indisputable, humane values is essential. The International Court of Justice offered such a value when it made clear that systems such as Trident, indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction, are illegal. Morality, whether derived from human reason or theologically-based rules, has to rely on a person's imaginative capacity to empathise with his or her fellow beings. It staggers the imagination to think about what the enormous sums spent on nuclear weapons could have done for education, health, social services and the maintenance of well- resourced, conventionally-equipped armed forces. It seems some, including leaders of states such as the UK, US, France and Russia and, perhaps, Paul Tibbets (the pilot of the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb), lack such imagination. As Ron Ferguson's article implies, the trillions of dollars that have been spent on instruments of mass murder are a theft from the poorest people in the world. Mhairi Hodgart, 18 Atholl Gardens, Kilwinning. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights ***************************************************************** 34 Reuters: Ex-envoy Bolton hits US role in Pakistan troubles | Fri Nov 9, 2007 4:53pm EST By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The United States has contributed to instability in Pakistan by not fully supporting President Pervez Musharraf as the best bulwark against Islamic fundamentalists, former U.N. envoy John Bolton said on Friday. Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2005-06, told a news conference at U.N. headquarters army chief Musharraf was the best hope for keeping Pakistan's nuclear weapons out of the hands of radicals. The former diplomat, who quit his U.N. job last December after failing to win Senate confirmation and now works at a conservative Washington think tank, urged the administration to drop its focus on elections in Pakistan and "get a grip." "The consequence of a radical fundamentalist regime getting its hands on those nuclear weapons would be very grave," he said. Promoting a book released earlier this week, Bolton said he was not happy with the situation in Pakistan or defending Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency, "but I think you have to consider what the U.S. strategic interest is." "The question is ... what is the policy to maximize the chances that the weapons do not fall into the wrong hands?", said Bolton, an outspoken conservative both as U.N. ambassador and earlier as an assistant secretary of state. "I think for the moment the answer to that is support for Musharraf. And I think in fact the United States has contributed to some of the instability by implying less than robust support of Musharraf." ELECTIONS The White House called on Friday for an early end to the state of emergency as a prelude to elections in Pakistan, and urged all sides to refrain from violence. But Bolton said, "I think second-guessing what's going on in Islamabad, forcing elections -- you wonder when we're going to learn our lesson. We forced an election in the Palestinian territories and got Hamas as the victor. So I think that we need to try and get a grip here." Bolton said history gave little confidence civilian rulers in Pakistan could keep the military under control or keep the nuclear weapons secure. He called the news conference to promote his book, "Surrender Is Not An Option," which lays bare his disagreements with U.S. policymakers and U.N. officials and ambassadors. On Iran, a subject that occupies two chapters of his book, Bolton repeated his view that the United States had wasted four years following its European allies in trying to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear program. Washington should have devoted that time to seeking "regime change" in the Islamic Republic and should now be considering military force, he said. He sharply attacked Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, who has spent years negotiating with Tehran, as an "apologist for Iran." (Editing by Todd Eastham) © Reuters2007All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 35 CBS News: "Fatal Error" Changed Nuclear History, New Book Claims That The U.S. Turned A Blind Eye To Pakistan's Black Market Dealings - NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2007 The founder of Pakistan's nuclear program Abdul Qadeer Khan. (AP) (CBS) By CBS News producer Wendy Krantz. As searing images of Pakistani policemen with automatic weapons and riot gear appeared this week on our network and elsewhere, hours after Gen. Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law, two dogged investigators for the National Security News Service suggest in a new book that we may be one step away from a catastrophic meltdown in a country where the Taliban, al Qaeda and nuclear weapons are all in play. In the book by David Armstrong and Joe Trento, titled "America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise," the authors provide a new perspective on Abdul Qadeer Khan's nuclear black market scandal and the circumstances that brought us to this nuclear crossroads today. "Right now, we have a government that is barely hanging on, controlling a vast stash of nuclear weapons," Trento told CBS News. "American may be facing nuclear terrorism if the Pakistani government doesn't hang on." Trento and Armstrong recently sat down with CBS News, discussing why we should be concerned about ongoing nuclear proliferation from members of Khan's former network and how a "fatal error" in 2000 changed the course of nuclear history forever. "We heard about this amazingly brave, British customs inspector who had run up against the network," Trento said. "As he makes his discoveries and gets closer and closer to AQ Khan, he's pulled off the case, and told to stop it, leave it alone." That's when it became clear, says Trento, that the intelligence services of Britain and the U.S. were actually protecting members of the AQ Khan network in what Trento calls "a cover-up." The result: proliferation continued for four more crucial years, allowing North Korea and Iran to move forward with their WMD programs. That's a gap, according to Trento, that could never be recovered. U.S. intelligence sources tell CBS News that this is a misinterpretation of the situation, and that there was no fatal error. Rather, in an effort to protect "assets" and develop "actionable" intelligence, they say that the continued monitoring of Khan's network allowed them to develop further intelligence on the nuclear weapons programs in other countries. That's an answer that doesn't sit well with Trento and Armstrong, or that loyal customs inspector, Atif Amin, who identified the front companies, the financial conduits, the middlemen and even the players who were procuring and providing all of this nuclear know-how for AQ Khan in early 2000. In a recent videotaped interview with the National Security News Service, provided to CBS News, Amin says that he was puzzled that the U.S. waited to shut things down, adding that they could have been "more proactive" in disrupting this network years ago. Armstrong and Trento offer example after example in their book of this "blind eye" policy, where members of Khan's network who were linked to proliferation activities were let off the hook. In some instances it was a case of intelligence sources tipping off some of the proliferators. In others, it was a case of Washington's long arm reaching down and tampering with the legal system. Evidence, Armstrong said, of Pakistan's nuclear "get-out-of jail-free" card. Today, few members of the network have been held accountable, and many are free to travel. Not only are they not on the "no fly" list, says Trento, but some of Khan's middlemen are even living here - including an import/export businessmen in South Florida, recently granted U.S. citizenship, who appears to be using the social security number of a man currently in jail. Still others appear to be in the same line of business, working for some of the same companies Amin uncovered in his Dubai investigation seven years ago, according to corporate records obtained by CBS News. All this despite public assurances from the Bush administration that the Khan network has been "dismantled, and the culprits "brought to justice." "We know that members of the network have largely escaped any kind of sanction, and in cases where there have been attempts at prosecution, it's been primarily slaps on the wrist, suspended sentences, small fines," Armstrong said. "There has been no real penalty, no repercussion, for the people who have participated in this and no real serious effort to wrap up the members of network and bring them to justice." That leaves a potential pool of skilled engineers and technicians trained by Khan's gang available to anyone willing to pay. © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 36 DOE: Deputy Secretary of Energy to Discuss President Bush’s Energy Efficiency Initiatives at the Alliance to Save Energy’s Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition 2007 November 9, 2007 Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition 2007 WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, November 13, 2007, U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Clay Sell will deliver remarks at the Alliance to Save Energy’s Energy Efficiency Global Forum in Washington, DC. Deputy Secretary Sell is expected to discuss the Bush Administration’s energy initiatives to improve energy efficiency throughout the U.S. and promoting energy responsibility internationally. WHO: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell WHAT: Remarks at the Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition 2007 WHEN: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:30 AM EST WHERE: Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Pl NW Washington, DC 20001 Media contact(s): Jonathan Shradar, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 37 Seattle PI: Energy Department hires new manager of Hanford cleanup Last updated November 8, 2007 7:04 p.m. PT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RICHLAND, Wash. -- The U.S. Department of Energy named a longtime federal employee Thursday to oversee certain key aspects of cleaning up the Hanford nuclear reservation, the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. As manager of the Office of River Protection, Shirley Olinger will be responsible for oversight of efforts to rid 177 underground tanks of radioactive and hazardous waste and construction of a massive $12.2 billion plant to convert the waste to glass logs for permanent disposal. Olinger was deputy manager and had been serving as acting manager of the river protection office since Roy Schepens retired in February. She has worked at Hanford for seven years. In July, David A. Brockman was named manager of the Richland Operations Office, which oversees cleanup of radioactive waste, demolition of nuclear facilities and closure of nuclear reactors along the Columbia River corridor. Together, the two managers oversee some 10,000 federal and contractor employees. Hugh N. Taylor, a 35-year veteran of project management and engineering, was named deputy manager of the Office of River Protection. "Ms. Olinger and Mr. Taylor will create a strong leadership team based on their commitment to exemplary safety and their construction management expertise," said James Rispoli, DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management. Olinger started her career in 1985 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, designing and constructing a $30 million facility to treat the radioactive liquid discharges from nuclear submarines in overhaul. In 2005, she oversaw a $500 million tank farm infrastructure project at Hanford. The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Today, the 586-square-mile site is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site, with cleanup costs expected to top $50 billion. INSIDE SEATTLEPI.COM 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 Home Delivery: (206) 464-2121 or (800) 542-0820 seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors and 30 million page views each month. Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com ©1996-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer ***************************************************************** 38 Hanford News: Board says DOE reports too complex This story was published Thursday, November 8th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy and its contractors need to sharpen their writing skills, says the Hanford Advisory Board. Members became frustrated enough wading through lengthy reports on complex topics that they offered advice at their November meeting last week on how DOE could make the reports easier to understand. They didn't get any resistance from DOE on the topic at the meeting. "I agree," said Steve Wiegman, DOE senior technical adviser. "We have to read the documents too." The tipping point for the board was a 780-page DOE document released this summer for public comment. Titled "Draft A Risk Assessment Report for the 100 Area and 300 Area Component of the River Corridor," it was written to look at risks to human health and the environment in areas along the Columbia River at Hanford where waste cleanup has been done. It's one step in a process toward making final decisions on Hanford environmental cleanup and looked at possible exposure to people, animals and plants from hazardous chemicals and radionuclides. The report was information rich, but even its 25-page executive summary didn't reach a clear conclusion, board members said. The key to more readable reports is better executive summaries, the portion of the reports the public is most likely to read, the board said. Principal conclusions need to be clearly presented there. The board recommended professional technical writers and editors help create the executive summary to make sure the public can understand it. The introduction of reports also should follow a standard format that includes the reason for preparing the report, a statement of the problem being examined, conclusions reached, the impact of the conclusions on future decisions and any action that should be taken. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 Tri-City Herald: Hanford DOE office taps Shirley Olinger as new leader Published Friday, November 9th, 2007 ANNETTE CARY, HERALD STAFF WRITER The Department of Energy has promoted Shirley Olinger, the acting manager of Hanford's Office of River Protection, to serve as manager after a 13-month search. The office oversees half of the work at the Hanford nuclear reservation -- managing underground tanks holding 53 million gallons of radioactive waste and building the $12.2 billion vitrification plant to treat the waste. DOE calls it the nation's biggest and most challenging cleanup project. In addition DOE announced plans to name Hugh Taylor, a Raytheon program manager with a rsum heavy on construction management experience, to Olinger's former position as deputy manager of the Office of River Protection on Thursday. "Ms. Olinger and Mr. Taylor will create a strong leadership team based on their commitment to exemplary safety and their construction management expertise," said James Rispoli, DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management, in a statement. "Together they will lead ORP's complex construction projects." Olinger replaces Roy Schepens, who announced his retirement from federal service in February and later took a job with Parsons in Aiken, S.C. However, DOE had started a search for his replacement when it announced in September 2006 that Schepens was being transferred to a newly created job at DOE in Washington, D.C. The announcement came in the wake of budget increases and schedule delays in construction of the Hanford vitrification plant. DOE had interviewed five candidates for the manager position early this year, but then started over in its search in April. Olinger has served as acting manager at the Office of River Protection since Schepens' retirement eight months ago, impressing regulators and the Tri-City Development Council. "I think she's performed extremely well under difficult circumstances (of being acting manager)," said Carl Adrian, TRIDEC president. Both Gary Petersen, the TRIDEC vice president of Hanford programs, and Nick Ceto, the Environmental Protection Agency Hanford program manager, mentioned Olinger's willingness and ability to communicate with diverse groups interested in Hanford cleanup. "She brings a wealth of positive interactions with EPA, the tribes and the public to the job," Ceto said. The state is pleased that a decision has been made and that Olinger is DOE's choice, said Jane Hedges, program manager of the Washington State Department of Ecology's Nuclear Waste Program. "Shirley's knowledge and experience about Hanford issues will allow decision making to go forward and the cleanup momentum to continue," Hedges said in a statement. Olinger was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment. Before serving as deputy manager of the Office of River Protection, she worked for DOE's other office overseeing Hanford cleanup, the Hanford Richland Operations Office. There she was assistant manager for river corridor and end states project lead and assistant manager for safety and engineering. She has more than 25 years of federal service, beginning her career in 1985 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. She delivered the design and construction of a $30 million facility to treat the radioactive liquid discharges from nuclear submarines in overhaul. She has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii and half of her degree work was done at Purdue University in Indiana. She also completed extensive course work in the nuclear Navy program. Before coming to Hanford she was the acting assistant manager for engineering at the Rocky Flats Field Office in Colorado. She also has worked at DOE Headquarters. At the Office of River Protection, Olinger delivered the $500 million tank farm infrastructure project in 2005 that required extensive construction work in highly contaminated areas. Taylor will bring to Hanford 35 years of experience in project management, general management, design engineering, construction start-up, plant maintenance outages and turnarounds, according to DOE. He now is a program manager for Raytheon, where he is building the Zheleznogorsk Plutonium Production Elimination Project in Russia. His experience includes employment at Bechtel as a special projects manager and project manager in constructing major facilities while maintaining a perfect safety record, DOE said. His construction management experience includes building a mining chemical processing facility in Canada, a gas refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands and petrochemical projects throughout the United States. He holds several patents, is a registered professional engineer and has been recognized by the Professional Management Institute for leading the "Project Team of the Year." © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 40 Hanford News: Hanford DOE office picks new leader This story was published Friday, November 9th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy has promoted Shirley Olinger, the acting manager of Hanford's Office of River Protection, to serve as manager after a 13-month search. The office oversees half of the work at the Hanford nuclear reservation - managing underground tanks holding 53 million gallons of radioactive waste and building the $12.2 billion vitrification plant to treat the waste. DOE calls it the nation's biggest and most challenging cleanup project. In addition, DOE said Thursday it plans to name Hugh Taylor, a Raytheon program manager with a résumé heavy on construction management experience, to Olinger's former position as deputy manager of the Office of River Protection. "Ms. Olinger and Mr. Taylor will create a strong leadership team based on their commitment to exemplary safety and their construction management expertise," said James Rispoli, DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management, in a statement. "Together they will lead ORP's complex construction projects." Olinger replaces Roy Schepens, who announced his retirement from federal service in February and later took a job with Parsons in Aiken, S.C. However, DOE had started a search for his replacement when it announced in September 2006 that Schepens was being transferred to a newly created job at DOE in Washington, D.C. The announcement came in the wake of budget increases and schedule delays in construction of the Hanford vitrification plant. DOE had interviewed five candidates for the manager position early this year, then started over in its search in April. Olinger has served as acting manager at the Office of River Protection since Schepens' retirement eight months ago, impressing regulators and the Tri-City Development Council. "I think she's performed extremely well under difficult circumstances (of being acting manager)," said Carl Adrian, TRIDEC president. Gary Petersen, the TRIDEC vice president of Hanford programs, and Nick Ceto, the Environmental Protection Agency Hanford program manager, mentioned Olinger's willingness and ability to communicate with diverse groups interested in Hanford cleanup. "She brings a wealth of positive interactions with EPA, the tribes and the public to the job," Ceto said. The state is pleased that a decision has been made and that Olinger is DOE's choice, said Jane Hedges, program manager of the Washington State Department of Ecology's Nuclear Waste Program. "Shirley's knowledge and experience about Hanford issues will allow decision making to go forward and the cleanup momentum to continue," Hedges said in a statement. Olinger was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment. Before serving as deputy manager of the Office of River Protection, she worked for DOE's other office overseeing Hanford cleanup, the Hanford Richland Operations Office. There she was assistant manager for river corridor and end states project lead and assistant manager for safety and engineering. She has more than 25 years of federal service, beginning her career in 1985 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. She delivered the design and construction of a $30 million facility to treat the radioactive liquid discharges from nuclear submarines in overhaul. She has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii and half of her degree work was done at Purdue University in Indiana. She also completed extensive course work in the Navy nuclear program. Before coming to Hanford she was the acting assistant manager for engineering at the Rocky Flats Field Office in Colorado. She also has worked at DOE Headquarters. At the Office of River Protection, Olinger delivered the $500 million tank farm infrastructure project in 2005 that required extensive construction work in highly contaminated areas. Taylor will bring to Hanford 35 years of experience in project management, general management, design engineering, construction start-up, plant maintenance outages and turnarounds, according to DOE. He now is a program manager for Raytheon, where he is building the Zheleznogorsk Plutonium Production Elimination Project in Russia. His experience includes employment at Bechtel as a special projects manager and project manager in constructing major facilities while maintaining a perfect safety record, DOE said. His construction management experience includes building a mining chemical processing facility in Canada, a gas refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands and petrochemical projects throughout the United States. He holds several patents, is a registered professional engineer and has been recognized by the Professional Management Institute for leading the "Project Team of the Year." © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 Hanford News: Radioactive waste treatment plan goes back to drawing board This story was published Friday, November 9th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy is rethinking its plan for treating radioactive sludge now held in the K West Basin after reviews by independent experts raised issues. The design of the treatment system had been considered complete, but now DOE is returning to the conceptual phase of the design. Until DOE is confident of the technology to be used for sludge treatment, it is not estimating when treatment of the sludge will start. But it's certain that DOE will miss the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement deadline of March 31, 2009, to have all the sludge out of the K West Basin and the K West and K East Basins demolished. "We're frustrated with the length of time not just for the sludge removal but also treatment," Nick Ceto, Hanford program manager for the Environmental Protection Agency, told the Hanford Advisory Board at its meeting last week. EPA is the regulator for the K Basins. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board also appears frustrated. "For the past several years, the effort to remove sludge from the K Basins has repeatedly encountered problems requiring a shift in the project's technical approach," the board wrote in a recent quarterly report to Congress on unresolved technical issues. In the meantime sludge "containing up to 300,000 curies of actinides and fission products continues to be stored in temporary containers in a storage basin that has exceeded its design life," the report said. Irradiated fuel for Hanford's plutonium production program was left stranded in the two K Basins when processing stopped at the end of the Cold War. The fuel corroded and mixed with sand and bits of concrete in the basin to form a radioactive sludge. DOE has completed the difficult task of getting the bulk of the sludge into underwater containers and has transferred the K East sludge to K West, where all of it is being held until it is treated. The water is needed to shield workers from radiation in the sludge. DOE continues to plan to use grouting as the basic treatment method to prepare the radioactive sludge for disposal, said Matt McCormick, DOE assistant manager for central Hanford cleanup. But DOE is investigating simplifying the treatment process by not heating the waste, which would speed oxidation of metals. As metal corrodes, or oxidizes, it gives off hydrogen, which can create the danger of an explosion when closed containers of waste are being driven to New Mexico for disposal. However, laboratory tests have shown that after the sludge is heated to speed oxidation it becomes stiff and difficult to move. Now DOE is proposing dealing with oxidation after the sludge is grouted and transported away from the Columbia River for temporary storage in a relatively benign form in central Hanford. It estimates that enough of the metal may already have oxidized that finishing the process might only take a month to a year. Oxidation could be speeded by raising the storage temperature, possibly to around 100 degrees. While letting the grouted waste oxidize would delay shipment to New Mexico for disposal, it would allow the elimination of some work with wet, highly radioactive waste. "We think it's a much more predictable and safer approach," McCormick said. "We took a few steps backward" in the design, he said. "We are making sure the system works as expected." DOE also has some other design issues to resolve. Pumping the waste through double hoses has been difficult even with nonheated sludge. It's looking at a way to reliably move the sludge from the K West Basin to the Cold Vacuum Drying Facility for treatment. It also is looking at ways to measure the radioactivity of waste before it is grouted to make sure it meets criteria for the New Mexico repository. EPA is concerned that more slips in the schedule will mean the sludge remains longer in the K West Basin, even though vacuuming the bulk of the sludge into underwater containers lowered the environmental risk. It also delays other cleanup work at the K Reactors attached to the basins and cleanup of contaminated soil at the reactors. "We're concerned that their planning bases for treatment have changed and that it's not clear to us at this time how those changes will affect the balance of the K Basins program," Ceto said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 DOE: Events DOE-Sponsored Public Meetings and Workshops DATE TITLE LOCATION 11.13.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Hawthorne, NV 11.14.07 Oak Ridge Site Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 11.15.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Caliente, NV 11.15.07 Paducah Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 11.17.07 Yucca Mt. Project Public Open House Las Vegas, NV 11.19.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Reno/Sparks, NV 11.26.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Town of Amargosa Valley, NV 11.26.07 - 11.27.07 SRS Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Augusta, GA 11.27.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Goldfield, NV 11.28.07 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 11.29.07 - 11.30.07 SC/High Energy Physics Advisory Panel Mtg. Washing ton, DC 11.29.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Lone Pine, CA 12.03.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Las Vegas, NV 12.05.07 Public Mtg.: Draft Yucca Mt. Repository SEIS and Draft NV Rail Alignment EIS Washington, DC 12.12.07 Oak Ridge Site Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 12.13.07 Brookhaven National Laboratory Community Advisory Council Mtg. Upton, Long Island, NY U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 43 DOE: U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management and Department of Energy to Host Press Conference Call to Discuss Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Proposing Energy Transport Corridors on Federal lands November 8, 2007 WASHINGTON, DC – Today, November 8, 2007, U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Energy Policy Office Manager, Ray Brady and Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Director for Permitting, Siting and Analysis, Mark Whitenton will host a press conference call to discuss a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement proposing energy transport corridors on Federal lands in 11 Western States in accordance with Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Who: Ray Brady, Manager, BLM Energy Policy Office Mark Whitenton, DOE Deputy Director for Permitting, Siting and Analysis What: Press conference call to discuss Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement When: Thursday, November 8, 2007 3:00 PM EST Call-In Number: 1-888-529-1867 3:00 PM EST Conference ID: 24134737 3:00 PM EST Media contact(s): Heather Feeney, BLM (202) 452-5031 Jonathan Shradar, DOE (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************