***************************************************************** 11/14/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.268 ***************************************************************** 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 PMW: U.S. Energy Secretary Highlights Need for Energy Diversity at 2 2 Reuters: Industry leaders embrace nuclear business option NUCLEAR REACTORS 3 PTI: No climbdown or a U-turn on nuke deal - CPI 4 US: NRC: Society Honors Luis Reyes For OutstandingContributions to T 5 JP: Japan Nuclear Plant Utilization Rate Drops to 56.3 Pct 6 Independent Online: British Energy set for new nuclear plants - 7 US: Rutland Herald: Douglas changes tune on Yankee 8 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Activists push for closing Indian Point with help 9 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Opponents conclude legislative discussion on 10 US: NRC: NRC Names Two New Members to Its Advisory Committee On Reac 11 US: NRC: Eastman Kodak Company; Environmental Assessment and Finding 12 US: NRC: Independent External Review Panel To Identify Vulnerabiliti 13 US: NRC: State of California; Supplement to a Petition for Rulemakin 14 Guardian Unlimited: French strike cuts power capacity, disrupts LNG 15 US: UPI: FBI: Vandal drilled hole at nuclear plant - 16 US: Dothan Eagle: Farley Nuclear coming under closer scrutiny 17 US: The Free Press: Local expert foresees nuclear renaissance 18 US: The Ely Times: Generating as much controversy as power 19 US: Deseret Morning News: Utahns closer to backing nuclear plant? 20 US: ajc.com: Feds tighten scrutiny of 2nd Southern reactor | 21 The Manila Times: Asean to promote nuclear energy 22 AU ABC: Bid to ban nuclear power in SA fails - 23 Daily Yomiuri: Govt: TEPCO N-plant leak was minimum level NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 24 TheStar.com: Port Hope radiation tests 'alarming' 25 TorontoSun.com: Study: Uranium found in 4 of 9 test subjects 26 BBC NEWS: Radioactive test fund deal agreed 27 US: The American Prospect: The VA's Claim Dodge | 28 US: WISN: Congress Acts To Take Rocket Fuel Out Of Drinking Water - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 29 US: Platts: Senator Domenici calls for near-term nuclear reprocessin 30 Platts: Italy becomes 17th member of GNEP 31 US: Platts: EC backs most of the EP's proposed changes to the ESA 32 US: Platts: Uranium players see spot prices moving more gradually up 33 washingtonpost.com: Nevada struggles to gain clout with early 2008 v 34 US: Reuters: China CNNC ups uranium exploration, price incentives 35 Boston Globe: Regional concerns on energy policy pose risks for cand PEACE 36 London Times: The sheer futility and huge cost of Trident 37 The Herald:Russia issues threat over US missile sites 38 Asia Times Online: US eyes Pakistan's nuclear arsenal 39 Asia Times Online: Iran, Pakistan dump India on pipeline 40 UPI: Russia considers deploying new missiles - 41 Russia-InfoCentre: Siemens gained access to Russian nuclear reactors 42 Guardian Unlimited: Russia May Deploy Missiles in Belarus 43 Telegraph: Russia piles pressure on EU over missile shield - 44 Daily Mail: Military vehicle carrying nuclear warheads got lost 45 AFP: Top US diplomat to visit Pakistan to seek end to turmoil - 46 AFP: US has no good option in a Pakistan nuclear 'nightmare' - US DEPT. OF ENERGY 47 Hanford News: Hanford, PNNL changed economy, paved way for growth 48 Hanford News: Hanford budget included in continuing resolution 49 Ventura County Star: Future of lab site uncertain 50 Knoxville News Sentinel: DOE to extend OR cleanup pact 51 Knoxville News Sentinel: Power restored at Y-12 after equipment fail 52 Knoxville News Sentinel: Spy story restokes Oak Ridge memories 53 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL reactor restarted; maintenance work su 54 NAS: Project: Development and Implementation of a Cleanup Technology ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 PMW: U.S. Energy Secretary Highlights Need for Energy Diversity at 20th World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum in Rome Published 11/14/2007 - 1:58 a.m. GMT (PressMediaWire) ROME, ITALY November 13, 2007 – U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today will deliver remarks at the 20th World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum, highlighting the importance of robust investments in a diversity of energy supplies and breakthrough technologies to meet growing global demand for energy. While in Rome, Secretary Bodman welcomed Italy to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), an international framework aimed at expanding nuclear power worldwide while responsibly managing nuclear waste and reducing proliferation risks. Italy is the most recent nation to sign the GNEP Statement of Principles, which 16 nations joined in September at the Partnership’s second Ministerial in Vienna, Austria. “By becoming a member of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, Italy is joining a growing group of nations committed to developing solutions to power a clean, safe and reliable energy future,” Secretary Bodman said. “To increase global energy security, producing and consuming nations alike must make robust investments in a diversity of energy sources, accelerate efforts to increase energy efficiency, and rapidly deploy advanced clean energy technologies to meet growing energy demand and sustain economic growth.” Earlier today, Secretary Bodman and Italian Minister of Economic Development Pier Luigi Bersani signed an agreement to advance cooperation in energy research and development. The agreement builds on current bilateral energy efforts between the nations to advance nuclear technology, increase research and development in carbon sequestration, and promote greater energy efficiency through advanced technology. In his remarks to the 20th World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum, Secretary Bodman will highlight the role of investment in all stages of the energy cycle to ensure affordable and reliable supplies of energy. Secretary Bodman will discuss diversification of the global energy supply as essential to increase global energy security and economic growth. As a world leader in energy research and development investments, Secretary Bodman is expected to emphasize the role of cutting edge technology in developing and distributing energy resources, using energy more efficiently, and powering economic growth. In signing the GNEP Principles, Italy today joins China, France, Japan, Russia and the United States, who are original GNEP partners, as well as Australia, Bulgaria, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine in efforts to address the prospects of expanding the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including enhanced safeguards, international fuel service frameworks, and advanced technologies. GNEP seeks to develop worldwide consensus on enabling expanded use of clean, safe, and affordable nuclear energy to meet growing electricity demand. GNEP proposes a nuclear fuel cycle that enhances energy security, while promoting non-proliferation. Read additional information on the Statement of Principles and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Italy is the first stop in Secretary Bodman’s five-nation visit to Europe and Central Asia. Later this week, Secretary Bodman will travel to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to address the Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas Exhibit (TIOGE) and meet with the President and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan. Following his visit to Turkmenistan, Secretary Bodman will travel to Turkey to highlight the importance of expanding and securing oil and gas infrastructure and to Greece to celebrate the opening of the Turkey-Greece Inter-connector pipeline, which will be a critical link between the gas suppliers of central Asia and the consumers of Europe. Secretary Bodman will conclude his trip in London, England where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with senior English officials and deliver remarks to U.S. and British business leaders. Media contact(s): Andy Beck, (202) 586-4940 Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940 Free & Paid Press Release Distribution Service, Video News Releases & Events Promotion, 22950 Regent Terrace, Sterling, VA 20166 Tel. 1-571-484-3392 Site Development by Spectrum Interactive Media, LLC ***************************************************************** 2 Reuters: Industry leaders embrace nuclear business option Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:14am EST By Barbara Lewis - Analysis ROME (Reuters) - When around 4,000 representatives of the world's energy industry gathered in Rome this week, two Greenpeace protesters suspended themselves from the ceiling and dropped a banner urging "quit nuclear madness". They were a lone voice in the halls of a sprawling conference village, where CEO after CEO has lined up to hail nuclear energy as an essential part of the energy mix to keep the lights on and prevent global warming. Even Italy -- host for the 20th World Energy Congress -- which outlawed nuclear energy after a referendum after the world's worst nuclear accident at Chenobyl in 1986, has sounded less hostile than usual. One of the most enthusiastic has been Pierre Gadonneix, chief executive officer of EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), which runs France's 58 nuclear power plants that provide around 80 percent of the country's electricity. "Clearly, nuclear energy is going to start up again," he told reporters as he sipped a flute of champagne. It is a prospect EDF might well relish as it is very well-placed to export its know-how. Gadonneix has already said EDF, Europe's largest utility by market volume, was considering building up to five nuclear plants in Britain. In Italy, he said EDF was collaborating with Enel (ENEI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and engineers from the Italian utility were involved in construction of a 59th French nuclear plant at Flamanville. Continued... ***************************************************************** 3 PTI: No climbdown or a U-turn on nuke deal - CPI New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Asserting that there has been "no climbdown or a U-turn" by the Left on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI today said the government would have to report its discussions at the IAEA to the UPA-Left panel and consider its views before signing the safeguards agreement. "We have taken a flexible stand and allowed the government to hold discussions on the safeguards agreement. But we have not given a blank cheque. "They will have to come back to the UPA-Left Committee on the discussions it holds at the IAEA," CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told a press conference here. He said the nuclear deal "cannot be operationalised till the issues are sorted out with us in this Committee." The CPI leader, who was accompanied by National Secretary D Raja and senior Lok Sabha MP C K Chandrappan, said "there is no climb down or a U-turn on part of the Left parties in this issue". Acknowledging that there were differences in perception between government and Left on the question of operationalisation, Raja said while the Left felt that talking to the IAEA would imply operationalisation, government felt the deal could become effective only when agreements were signed with the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group. "We are being reasonable. We are discussing (with government). The next meeting will be held on Friday. We expect the government to tell us on that day what it plans to do," Raja said. He and Dasgupta said the opposition of the Left to the nuclear deal remains. Dasgupta said the government should heed to the opinion expressed in the proposed debate on the nuclear issue in Parliament. PTI © Copyright PTI 2007 ***************************************************************** 4 NRC: Society Honors Luis Reyes For OutstandingContributions to The Nuclear Field News Release - 2007-150 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Executive Director of Operations, Luis A. Reyes, was honored Nov. 13 with an American Nuclear Society (ANS) Presidential Citation. Donald C. Hintz, president of ANS, presented the award to Reyes at the ANS/European Nuclear Society International Meeting in Washington, D.C. The citation acknowledges Reyes' outstanding work and tireless commitment to improve U.S. nuclear energy science and technology polices. In the past 29 years with the NRC, Reyes has demonstrated consistent leadership while working on challenges and preparing for the future of the agency. As the Commission's chief operating officer, Reyes manages the agency's day-to-day operations, overseeing 3,500 employees and an annual budget of over $800 million. Under his tenure, the NRC has been recognized as the top-ranking agency in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government and for its commitment to diversity. "I am honored to receive this recognition from ANS," said Reyes. "I have been fortunate to work with many outstanding colleagues who are dedicated every day to carrying out the agency's mission to protect people and the environment." NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. November 14, 2007 ***************************************************************** 5 JP: Japan Nuclear Plant Utilization Rate Drops to 56.3 Pct Tokyo, Nov 14, 2007 (Jiji Press) - The capacity utilization rate of nuclear power plants operated by Japan's 10 major power companies in October dropped 5.3 percentage points from a year before to 56.3 pct, marking the lowest level since July 2003, industry data showed Wednesday. The decline stemmed from the continued shutdown of a plant of Tokyo Electric Power Co. that was hit by July's major earthquake in Niigata Prefecture as well as regular inspections of nuclear plants, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. Tokyo Electric Power saw the capacity utilization rate of its nuclear plants slumping at 31.2 pct in the reporting month. By Jiji Press, (c) Jiji Press Copyright © 2007 JCN. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network KK. ***************************************************************** 6 Independent Online: British Energy set for new nuclear plants - By Danny Fortson, Business Correspondent Published: 14 November 2007 The head of the country's largest electricity provider gave his bullish outlook on the same day that investors again punished the company for its inability to provide any clarity on when four of its oft-troubled nuclear reactors – shut down in recent weeks due to corrosion on the boilers – will come back on line. "We have been in discussion with more than 10 entities about possible partnerships, and we'll be able to give an indication of the nature of one, possibly two, by next month," he said. The company reported £511m in earnings before expenses for the first six months of the year, broadly hitting analyst estimates. But Mr Coley warned that the rest of the year's numbers will be hindered by the shutdown of the four reactors at its Heysham 1 and Hartlepool sites. Analysts, who have estimated that the reactors will be out of commission for up to five months, were given no new information about how long the shutdowns will last. "We are very early into this. We are in the process of inspections. We are going to do several thousand radio-graphs of the BCUs [boiler closure units] on each of the reactors. Our people are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week on this, but it is still too early to tell how long it will be," Mr Coley said. Investors sent the company's shares down a further 2.4 per cent, bringing the total loss since the problems at Heysham were first revealed to 12.7 per cent. The reactors, built more than three decades ago using UK-unique designs, have a history of problems. Mr Coley said: "There is not a pound sterling that we could have invested in the last five to 10 years that will have made any difference with the issues we are dealing with right now." : Independent.co.uk © 2007 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 7 Rutland Herald: Douglas changes tune on Yankee November 14, 2007 By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff VERNON — Gov. James Douglas now supports an independent safety assessment of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, told members of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel Tuesday evening that he would propose a motion supporting such a review of Yankee. O'Brien said during a break before the formal vote, that recent events at the plant — the August collapse of a portion of a cooling tower and the emergency shutdown of the plant because of an ungreased bearing a few days later — had eroded public confidence in the management and future of the plant. "The cooling tower failure was a confidence shaker," O'Brien said. "This is work that's got to be done before" the plant is given state OK to operate for 20 more years, he said. "The governor wants an independent safety assessment of the plant and to work in cooperation with the congressional delegation," O'Brien said. Vermont's congressional delegation, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., all support federal legislation that would allow governors to call for such reviews, which would be done in conjunction with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "There were other confidence shakers early on — transformer fire. But a photograph had more impact. This really brought it home to the people," said Rep. Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro, a member of the advisory panel who has lobbied for such an in-depth review in the past. O'Brien said the state's new nuclear engineer, Uldis Vanags, had identified those two problems and the serious transformer fire at the plant — which are all events since Entergy Nuclear bought the plant — as problems that could be traced back to deferred maintenance. Nuclear opponents have long supported an independent safety assessment at the 35-year-old plant, particularly when the plant sought state and federal approval to boost power production by 20 percent. But at that time, what was called an independent engineering assessment, which critics called a watered-down evaluation, was conducted instead. Raymond Shadis, a senior technical advisor to the New England Coalition, who has long pushed for an independent safety assessment similar to the one at Maine Yankee nuclear plant, said that he hoped Douglas' change of heart wouldn't hinge on semantics. People opposed to an in-depth independent evaluation of the plant have tried to "muddle the definitions," he said, of the word independent and assessment. "This should be a deep, diagnostic evaluation," said Shadis, who was scheduled to make a presentation to the panel later in the evening about the independent safety assessment of Maine Yankee. Shadis, who lives in Maine, was involved in that issue as well. O'Brien said the Douglas administration had been working privately with Vermont's three-man congressional delegation to come up with a compromise. All three members of the delegation have either introduced or supported legislation which would allow a governor of a host or neighboring state to ask for such an independent evaluation. O'Brien, who is chairman of the nuclear advisory panel, said the issue was too important for partisan politics. O'Brien said Edwards and Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Orange, both members of the advisory panel, had been pushing for an independent safety assessment since the August events at Yankee that put the reactor under the public eye. Vanags, who came to Vermont this summer after working for many years in Maine as the state nuclear advisor, gave the panel a primer on the independent safety assessment at Maine Yankee in 1996. While that evaluation, done by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and some independent contractors, uncovered serious problems at Maine Yankee, it didn't lead directly to its eventual permanent shutdown, he said. The company, once a questioning attitude by staff was in place, discovered another serious problem which did lead to the decision by its owners to shut down and dismantle the plant rather than fix it. MacDonald, a longtime critic of Vermont Yankee, questioned the timing of the Douglas administration's change of heart, noting in 2004 Douglas opposed such an in-depth review of the plant before Entergy Nuclear was given permission to boost power by 20 percent. "The test is in the words, and how it gets carried out," MacDonald said. "I'm cautiously optimistic." Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 8 JOURNAL NEWS: Activists push for closing Indian Point with help from actor Alec Baldwin Tuesday, November 13, 2007 By GREG CLARY NEW YORK — Opponents of Indian Point tapped "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin yesterday to help launch an educational campaign they hope will close the nuclear plant - or at least keep it from extending its operating license another 20 years. Baldwin volunteered to appear at a news conference at City University offices on Fifth Avenue and decried the U.S. government's handling of radiation information since the Johnson administration of the 1960s. "I'm not opposed to nuclear power, so long as it's safe," said Baldwin, a Long Island native. "Nuclear power as it exists today is not safe. Many of the people in this room know that the federal government has manipulated the facts about nuclear power for years. The government cannot be relied on ... to present you with honest facts." Baldwin, a wildlife and environmental activist whose mother is a cancer survivor, spoke about the nuclear industry's closeness to its regulators, the media's mishandling of the nuclear issue and the hidden costs of continuing to use nuclear fuel despite the nation's "addiction to energy." Baldwin appeared with Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, who acknowledged his position at yesterday's event by saying he was "just warming the crowd up for Alec Baldwin," even as he reiterated his long-standing opposition to the plant. After the two men spoke, they were followed by representatives of the Radiation and Public Health Project, Westchester Citizens Action Network, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and a new anti-Indian Point group, Public Health and Sustainable Energy, outlining the reasons they believe the Buchanan site should be shut as soon as possible. Barring a full closure, the activists argued against renewing the operating licenses of Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3, both of which are seeking 20-year extensions that would allow their owner, Entergy Nuclear, to continue to create electricity there until 2035. The opponents cited groundwater contamination from leaks of strontium 90 and tritium, two radioactive isotopes first discovered as far back as August 2005, that they maintain are contributing to higher incidences of cancer in communities around the plants. Joseph Mangano of the RPHP research group said cancer cases vastly decreased in areas where other plants had been closed, decommissioned and cleaned up. Susan Shapiro, one of the activists who spoke yesterday and represents PHASE along with other anti-Indian Point groups, said the scientific community agrees with the studies. Paul Steidler, a spokesman for New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, an industry group partially funded by Entergy, ended up with his own impromptu news conference when reporters finished listening to the anti-Indian Point portion. Steidler called the science represented by Mangano and others at the meeting "junk science and nothing new" and cited a National Cancer Institute survey in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1991 that his organization said showed no more increased risk of death from cancer for those living near the nation's nuclear plants than those who don't. Steidler's remarks were cut short when the Indian Point opponents began shouting for him to leave and calling him a liar. Reporters continued their interview outside the CUNY meeting room. Jim Steets, Entergy's chief spokesman for Indian Point, said via telephone after the news conference that studies of strontium in children's teeth by Mangano's group haven't proved a correlation between the nuclear plant and increased levels of cancer. He noted that Dr. Joshua Lipsman, Westchester County's health commissioner, called Mangano's baby teeth study junk science; that was in an interview with CNN in March 2005. "There's no basis for the conclusions in his studies, let alone the correlation of cancer rates and Indian Point," Steets said. "Entergy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Westchester County Department of Health and the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation have all said there is no safety threat from groundwater contamination below Indian Point." Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com. Rem, don't get nasty, it's not you. (Getting badass is more a Harry Springer kind of thing.) I'm truly happy for you, (an inveterate party planner), that you are hanging in, and planning soires. From each, according to his abilities, right? What would life BE without parties? Having just watched Ratatouille last night, I feel like I know SO MUCH about you. Yes, as you say, the union scum who make your party lights glow, are not worthy of notice by invited Ratatouille guests, or even their Guatemalan housemaids. I apologize for interrupting such a great time the bankrupt ex-wealthy can really have, hanging out with pseudo-tribal anarchists, neo-Marxist dilletantes, UFO-cultists, lonely investment bankers out for a howl, (and some free hemp supplement), and Tiki Nite leftovers, stuck on the end of an email list by accident, because they gave the Green Party 50 bucks ten years ago. I'm sure it will be great. Are you going to do the "Burning Man" thing at midnight, and burn Albert Einstein in straw effigy, because he discovered that your sorry French ass is made out of frigging atoms? If I was those particular atoms, my friend, I would be aggressively looking for an alternative universe to populate, one where my social, historical, and ethical function could be a bit more grand. In fact, I think you, Remy the Magnifico, hear your own ass-atoms every night , wanting this other universe, just to get away from having such a lousy place to live, and you mistake it for having a mission. Maybe if you cut your ass off, the delusions would stop.... you think? My grandchildren, all ten of 'em, are in various stages of successful integration into the American dream, and so I would say offhand, that I really don't have to go "Get a Life" as you say with such faux-Gallic crypto-vinyl-fetish profundity. I would say , on good evidence, that I already have one. You, on the other hand, have only Evdokia, and your porn-movie-extra sister, with her nudie fetish pictures on line, a bucket of hemp supplement, a pouffed-up half-bald pate, and no progeny. Dead ended, so to speak. Spermless Mr. Neuter-thing. Bummer. Hint: Try a bit more of the KockTail Organico methedrine-mix tonite. You may need it. (Actually, that sentence was a spoof sentence. By no stretch of the imagination could it be construed as condoning any illegal or self-destructive behavior, in the real word. (The Paraverse). All illegal acts are strongly condemned by this poster, and the satirical intent of the words as posted must be understood under the fair-use conventions as not meaning what they might seem to suggest, if interpreted narrowly, under the Lohud terms of service). Posted by: H-DOG on Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:42 pm ====================================================================== I'm co-hosting an event in Connecticut tonight with 200+ guests http://www.ctgreenscene.org Lonely? I don't think so... Don't denigrate the level at which I run my business. It's just very upsetting to you and your Union buddies at IP that we're organizing the first adopter market in Fairfield County to oppose the relicensing of your precious radioactive rust bucket! Get a life, chump! Posted by: RemyC on Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:59 am ====================================================================== Perceptive readers will notice two separate lines of posting going on simultaneously. The first is a disrespectful and rambunctious dissing of Alec "Big Becky" Baldwin, the dumbnutz spokes-bully of the annoying public relations hag, Schmoozie Suzie Schapp, who is running around making non-events by herself, all over the map. The second, like the little mouse who keeps popping up in a cartoon, is by the loneliest man since the Maytag repairman, Remy Chevalier, who just wants everybody to know he is still here, and that he has a new group too. Alright already, Rem. Down boy!! We are gathered here because Schmoozie & Becky are ridiculous poseurs, faking a cause. You wouldn't want to end up like THEM, would you Rem? Hated, despised, ignored, and laughed at? Here are the names of a few more "groups" for you to use: FUZE USA BUZE USA LUZE USA PHAZE USA CRAZE USA DAZE USA WACK USA CRACK USA LACK USA BUM USA CRUMM USA DUMM USA NUTT USA BUTT USA Posted by: H-DOG on Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:44 am ====================================================================== FUSE USA is NOT a SHAM organization... By stating that Susan Shapiro organized yet another "sham" organization, you're disparaging FUSE USA... We may be a lot of things, but we're certainly NOT a sham organization... Otherwise you wouldn't have been paying Sherwood and myself so much attention over the last few months... Green Nuclear Butterfly wouldn't have as many readers it does... Rock The Reactors wouldn't have garnered MILLIONS of hits since it went online in April of 2006! So yeah, Susan Shapiro left us with an organization named after her previous group, Rockland Fuse... so be it, I'll live with the done to death name... FUSE... like that's original! But we applied for non-profit status, so now FUSE USA is a 501c3, and considering Sherwood and I, contrary to popular belief, are not made of money... we'll made due... FUSE USA is good enough, I can work with that, I can brand it... not a problem. I don't care what you say about PHAZE, in fact I will be first in line to cheer you on... But if you aim to trash FUSE USA, then you're answering to me... and that's a whole kettle of fish. Tata! Posted by: RemyC on Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:21 pm I do not understand Baldwin's logic. He must have lots of shares in oil and coal. All over Europe and Asia they are building Nuclear power plants. It is the cleanest and safest energy available to power the US. Does he want to burn coal and have everyone come down with emphysema? The price of oil is skyrocketing. Should we become more dependent on Arab Oil? Maybe we could fuel it with some of the other stuff he smokes. Then everyone would be 'happy'. Posted by: concernedvoter on Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:50 pm Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News Actor-activist Alec Baldwin, center, attends yesterday's news conference regarding Indian Point in Manhattan. Joseph J. Mangano, left, is the executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project. With them is Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel. "Nuclear power as it exists today is not safe," Baldwin told reporters. Copyright © 2007 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York. ***************************************************************** 9 Salt Lake Tribune: Opponents conclude legislative discussion on nuclear reactors Article Last Updated: 11/14/2007 12:06:49 PM MST Posted: 12:05 PM- Lawmakers wrapped up a months-long discussion of nuclear power Wednesday with comments from two critics. Noting that he is not an expert but an ordinary citizen, Provo resident James O'Neal told the Public Utilities and Technology Committee about the risks, the costs and the political sensitivity that Utah would face if nuclear reactors come to the state. "I do think I represent the people of Utah," said the former Tennessee resident who described how the addition of nuclear power there brought higher electric rates. "Utah doesn't need nuclear power. We have plenty of resources." Christopher Thomas, policy director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, said higher-than-expected costs for reactors have driven Utahns away from nuclear in the months lawmakers have been discussing it. He cited polls, including The Salt Lake Tribune's Nov. 11 opinion survey showing that many Utahns are not sold on nuclear reactors. Thomas cited a recent Moody's investment analysis that suggests nuclear plants will cost more than the projected $2 billion to $3 billion but more like $4 billion to $5 billion to build. There are no commercial nuclear reactors within Utah's borders. But two lawmakers, Republican Reps. Aaron Tilton of Springville and Mike Noel of Kanab, are involved in a proposal to construct the first two. Members of the committee considered a bill this summer that would have streamlined the process for nuclear plant rate plans, including allowing reactor operators to charge ratepayers the costs of an unfinished nuclear plant. The legislation is modeled on a Florida law. fahys@sltrib.com ***************************************************************** 10 NRC: NRC Names Two New Members to Its Advisory Committee On Reactor Safeguards News Release - 2007-151 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has appointed Mr. John W. Stetkar and Dr. Dennis C. Bley to its Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), which advises the Commission on licensing and operation of nuclear power plants and related safety issues. Mr. Stetkar is a principal of Stetkar & Associates and has more than 27 years of experience as an engineering consultant. He is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of risk assessment and reliability analysis. Mr. Stetkar also serves as a technical expert for the International Atomic Energy Agency. Prior to his career as a consultant, he was a licensed senior reactor operator at the Zion nuclear station. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and a master’s degree in nuclear and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Bley is president of Buttonwood Consulting, Inc., and principal of The WrethWood Group, with more than 30 years of experience in nuclear and electrical engineering, reliability and availability analysis. He has served on a number of technical review panels for NRC and Department of Energy programs and is a frequent lecturer in short courses for universities, industry, and government agencies. Dr. Bley holds a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and a doctorate in nuclear reactor engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, he attended the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power School in 1968 and the Center College of Kentucky in 1963. The other members of ACRS are: Dr. Said Abdel-Khalik, (Member-at-Large), Southern Nuclear Distinguished Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.; Dr. George E. Apostolakis, professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and professor of Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; Dr. Joseph S. Armijo, adjunct professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno; Dr. Sanjoy Banerjee, professor of Chemical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara; Dr. Mario V. Bonaca (Vice-Chairman), retired director, Nuclear Engineering Department, Northeast Utilities, Conn.; Dr. Michael Corradini, professor and chairman of the Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin; Mr. Otto L. Maynard, retired chief executive officer, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp., Kan.; Dr. Dana A. Powers, senior scientist, Nuclear Facilities Safety Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.; Dr. William J. Shack, (Chairman), retired associate director, Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill.; and NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. November 14, 2007 ***************************************************************** 11 NRC: Eastman Kodak Company; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Proposed License Amendment Authorizing Exemption to 10 CFR 70.24 FR Doc E7-22183 [Federal Register: November 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 219)] [Notices] [Page 64090-64091] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14no07-78] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 70-143] AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary T. Adams, Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop E-2C40M, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 492-3113 and e-mail mta@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is considering a request to amend Materials License SNM-1513, issued to Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak), to authorize an exemption to the criticality accident alarm system requirements of 10 CFR 70.24. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action. Based upon the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate and, therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will not be prepared. II. Environmental Assessment Introduction: Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) in Rochester, New York, has been licensed since 1966 to possess and use special nuclear material (SNM) in a research and development (R&D) facility. This license was issued pursuant to 10 CFR part 70, Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material. In July 2006, Kodak notified NRC that it had ceased principal activities and intended to decommission the facility and terminate the SNM license. Before decommissioning activities can begin, Kodak intends to remove the SNM by packaging the material and transporting it to a Department of Energy facility. Kodak possessed and used the SNM in the R&D facility with an exemption from nuclear criticality accident alarm system requirements of 10 CFR 70.24; NRC granted this exemption because the configuration of the SNM was fixed and a criticality accident was not credible. Kodak will change the SNM configuration during packaging, and will provide portable criticality accident alarms for the packaging activity. After packaging the SNM, Kodak will move the packages from the R&D facility through a long corridor to a loading dock where the packages will be loaded onto a truck for transport off the Kodak site. Kodak requested an exemption from the alarm system requirements for the corridor and loading dock, on the basis that the configuration of the SNM in the transportation packages was such that an accidental criticality is not credible. NRC staff reviewed the exemption request and determined that [[Page 64091]] it provided an adequate demonstration that the criteria in 10 CFR 70.17(a) for granting a specific exemption from 70.24 have been met. Description of the Proposed Action: The proposed action is NRC's granting an exemption from 10 CFR 70.24 for certain locations of the Kodak facility for a very short time during movement of SNM. In a letter dated October 5, 2007, Kodak requested an exemption to the criticality accident alarm system requirements of 10 CFR 70.24 for portions of the facility where SNM will be staged prior to loading onto a truck for transportation to an offsite location. Kodak possesses a critical mass of SNM that will be packaged into critically-safe transportation containers inside the facility and then moved along a corridor to a loading dock. Kodak will provide accident alarm system coverage for the area of the facility where the SNM will be packaged, but has requested an exemption for the corridor and loading dock. Need for the Proposed Action: This exemption is necessary to allow Kodak to move the SNM from the location where it has been used and packaged to the loading dock without the necessity to provide criticality accident alarm system coverage. Kodak provided a criticality safety analysis that demonstrated that a criticality accident is not credible after the SNM has been packaged for transport. Alternatives to the Proposed Action: An alternative to granting the exemption would be to require Kodak to provide accident alarm coverage for the corridor and loading dock. The licensee has demonstrated that the available fuel is much less than the critical mass for a 6M2R shipping container. Thus, a criticality event is not credible so long as the 6M2R containers are closed, and criticality accident alarm system coverage is not necessary. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives: There will be no environmental impact to granting this exemption. The alarm system required by 10 CFR 70.24 does not prevent accidental criticality; the system would reduce the dose to workers and members of the public from a criticality accident by warning them of the criticality event so that they can move away from the area. Kodak has demonstrated adequately that a criticality accident in the corridor or on the loading dock is sufficiently unlikely and that an alarm system is not needed. There will be no environmental impact from the alternative of requiring alarm coverage for the corridor and loading dock. No environmental resources will be affected. Conclusion: NRC has concluded that granting the requested exemption will have no significant impact on the environment, is in conformance with NRC regulations in 10 CFR part 70, is authorized by law, and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security and is in the public interest. III. Finding of No Significant Impact The Commission has prepared an Environmental Assessment related to the amendment of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-1513. On the basis of the assessment, the Commission has concluded that environmental impacts associated with the proposed action would not be significant and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, the Commission is making a Finding of No Significant Impact. The Environmental Assessment and the documents related to this proposed action are available for public inspection and copying at the NRC Public Document Room or through the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible through the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Agencies and Persons Consulted: New York State Department of Health. IV. Further Information 1. Eastman Kodak Company Amendment to SNM-1513, February 9, 2007, ML072200332. 2. Eastman Kodak Company Response to NRC Review Comments from License Amendment Application for Decommissioning of Kodak Californium Flux Multiplier, SNM-1513, Docket 7001703, June 18, 2007, ML071970253. 3. Eastman Kodak Company Request for exemption from 10 CFR 70.24 for License Amendment Application for Decommissioning of Kodak Californium Flux Multiplier, SNM-1513, Docket 7001703, October 5, 2007, ML072880667. 4. Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs, NUREG-1748, August 2003, ML032540811. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 31st day of October, 2007. For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Peter Habighorst, Chief, Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. E7-22183 Filed 11-13-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 12 NRC: Independent External Review Panel To Identify Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Materials Licensing Program: Meeting Notice FR Doc E7-22184 [Federal Register: November 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 219)] [Notices] [Page 64091-64092] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14no07-79] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: NRC will convene a meeting of the Independent External Review Panel to Identify Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Materials Licensing Program from November 27 through November 30, 2007. A sample of agenda items to be discussed during the public session includes: (1) History of the NRC's ``good faith'' presumption in the licensing process; (2) pre-licensing guidance; and (3) specific, general, and import/export licensing procedures and processes. A copy of the agenda for the meeting can be obtained by e- mailing Mr. Aaron T. McCraw at the contact information below. Purpose: Initiate the panel's assessment of the NRC's licensing program beginning with an examination of the NRC's ``good faith'' presumption and specific procedures and processes of the licensing program. Date and Time for Closed Sessions: November 30, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. This session will be closed so that NRC staff and the Review Panel can discuss safeguards information and pre-decisional information pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(3) and 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B), respectively. Date and Time for Open Sessions: November 27, 2007, from 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.; and November 28-29, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Address for Public Meeting: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White Flint North Building, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Specific room locations will be indicated for each day on the agenda. Public Participation: Any member of the public who wishes to participate in the meeting should contact Mr. McCraw using the information below. [[Page 64092]] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron T. McCraw, e-mail: atm@nrc.gov, telephone: (301) 415-1277. Conduct of the Meeting Mr. Thomas E. Hill will chair the meeting. Mr. Hill will conduct the meeting in a manner that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. The following procedures apply to public participation in the meeting: 1. Persons who wish to provide a written statement should submit an electronic copy to Mr. McCraw at the contact information listed above. All submittals must be received by November 20, 2007, and must pertain to the topics on the agenda for the meeting. 2. Questions and comments from members of the public will be permitted during the meeting, at the discretion of the Chairman. 3. The transcript and written comments will be available for inspection at the NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738, telephone (800) 397-4209, on or about March 1, 2008. 4. Persons who require special services, such as those for the hearing impaired, should notify Mr. McCraw of their planned attendance. This meeting will be held in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (primarily section 161a); the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.); and the Commission's regulations in Title 10, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Part 7. Dated: November 6, 2007. Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E7-22184 Filed 11-13-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 13 NRC: State of California; Supplement to a Petition for Rulemaking FR Doc E7-22213 [Federal Register: November 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 219)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 64003] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14no07-17] Proposed Rules Federal Register ________________________________________________________________________ This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. [[Page 64003]] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 51 [Docket No. PRM-51-12] AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Supplemental petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a supplement to a petition for rulemaking filed with the Commission by Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General for the State of California. The NRC docketed the original petition dated March 16, 2007, as PRM-51-12. In this supplement to PRM-51-12, the petitioner provides clarification to the original PRM. This document is being noticed for information only and not for public comment. ADDRESSES: For a copy of the original petition PRM-51-12 and the supplement to PRM-51-12, write to Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. PRM-51-12 and the supplement to PRM-51-12 may be inspected and copied for a fee at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), 11555 Rockville Pike, Public File Area O1F21, Rockville, Maryland. Copies of comments received on PRM-51-12 are available through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415- 4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone: 301-415-7163, or toll free: 800- 368-5642. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC received a petition for rulemaking dated March 16, 2007, submitted by Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General for the State of California (petitioner). The petition was docketed as PRM-51-12. The notice of receipt of PRM-51-12 was published on May 14, 2007 (72 FR 27068). On September 19, 2007, the petitioner submitted a document characterized as an ``Amended Petition'' for rulemaking to clarify PRM-51-12. In the original petition, the petitioner requested that the NRC rescind its regulations at 10 CFR Part 51 that declare the potential environmental effects of the approval, construction, and operation of high-density pool storage of spent nuclear fuel, are not and cannot be significant for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NEPA analysis; adopt and issue a generic determination that approval of such storage at a nuclear power plant or any other facility does constitute a major federal action that may have a significant effect on the human environment; and order that no NRC licensing decision that approves high-density pool storage of spent nuclear fuel at a nuclear power plant or other storage facility may issue without the prior adoption and certification of an environmental impact statement (EIS) that complies with NEPA in all respects, including full identification, analysis, and disclosure of the potential environmental effects of such storage, including the potential for accidental or deliberately caused release of radioactive products to the environment, whether by accident or through acts of terrorism, as well as full and adequate discussion of potential mitigation for such effects, and full discussion of an adequate array or alternatives to the proposed storage project. In the September 19, 2007 document, the petitioner clarifies that the State of California seeks to have the NRC rescind all regulations found in 10 CFR Part 51, that imply, find or determine that the potential environmental effects of high-density pool storage of spent nuclear fuel are not significant for purposes of NEPA and NEPA analysis. The petitioner also includes requests for a generic determination and order. These requests are identical to the requests made in the March 16, 2007 petition and are as described previously. The NRC does not consider the September 19, 2007 document to be substantively different from PRM-51-12. Therefore, the NRC will consider the September 19, 2007 document to be a supplement to PRM-51- 12 and will include it in the docket for PRM-51-12. The NRC is publishing this notice for information only and not for public comment. The public comment period for PRM-51-12 closed on July 30, 2007. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of November 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Andrew L. Bates, Acting Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. E7-22213 Filed 11-13-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 14 Guardian Unlimited: French strike cuts power capacity, disrupts LNG * Wednesday November 14 2007 By Muriel Boselli PARIS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Striking energy workers have cut about 12 percent of France's nuclear output capacity since Tuesday night and are disrupting the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal of Fos-sur-Mer, an energy union said on Wednesday. EDF, France's sole nuclear power generator, said the cuts in power capacity were not hurting the supply balance of the electricity networks or threatening power cuts. French energy and rail workers are staging their second 24-hour strike in protest at the government's plan to reform special pensions in the public service. "We are still down by 7,620 MW since around 2000 GMT on Tuesday night," a CGT spokesman told Reuters. The spokesman said the company was entitled by law to demand that workers increase power if there was a danger of interruptions to customers. "EDF has now ordered strikers to raise the nuclear capacity," he added. French electricity prices have soared in recent days in a tight wholesale market as EDF's nuclear output has appeared to struggle to meet rising demand for heating due to cold weather. EDF said some 28 percent of employees had walked off their jobs at 1000 GMT, a lower figure than the 43 percent on Oct. 18, when energy workers carried out their first strike. At GDF just over three workers out of 10 were on strike by 11 GMT, down on the 45.5 percent on Oct. 18, a company sspokeswoman said EDF said 600 MW at the 1,800-MW Porcheville thermal power station was cut, contradicting the CGT's announcement that the whole plant was shut. The utility said it would take measures against strikers at Porcheville. Some 1,200 MW of capacity at Endesa coal-fired plants was also cut, the union said. The Marseille port authority said some disruptions were taking place at the Fos-sur-Mer LNG terminal but that operations were not halted. "The terminal is not blocked," the Marseille port said. The CGT said earlier strikers were preventing ships from unloading and gas from being injected into networks. The terminal provides 7 billion cubic metres annually to households and industry in the southern half of the country. (Additional reporting by Jean-Francois Rosnoblet and William Emmanuel, editing by Anthony Barker) ***************************************************************** 15 UPI: FBI: Vandal drilled hole at nuclear plant - UPI.com Published: Nov. 13, 2007 at 9:54 PM MIAMI, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The FBI says that a contract employee drilled a hole in a cooling system at a Miami nuclear plant in an act of vandalism. During the investigation at the Turkey Point plant, 50 agents interviewed 700 people. In the end, they decided that there is no evidence that the worker wanted to sabotage the plant or that the hole, one-eighth of an inch across, was an act of terrorism, The Miami Herald reported. ''No one is being charged unless more evidence becomes available,'' FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said. The FBI knows the identity of the worker, but says there is no evidence of criminal intent. The hole was discovered in March 2006 after a reactor was shut down for routine maintenance. Florida Power & Light said that the damage was repaired quickly. The investigation involved local police, state investigators and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as the FBI. FPL offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to a suspect. © 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Dothan Eagle: Farley Nuclear coming under closer scrutiny Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007 - 06:04 AM By Lance Griffin While one nuclear reactor unit at Farley Nuclear Plant is already receiving extra scrutiny, recent safety concerns with the plant’s other reactor means it will be getting the same closer look. Recent breaker failures at Farley’s Unit 1 has placed the reactor in a safety category that opens it up to additional inspections from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the NRC announced Tuesday. The NRC announced last month that a valve failure connected with Farley’s Unit 2 had already placed that reactor under additional scrutiny. “The Farley plant is being operated safely,” NRC Regional Administrator William Travers said in a written release Tuesday. “But there are performance issues that needed to be addressed by the licensee.” The additional action from the NRC stems from separate breaker failures dealing with the component cooling water system on Unit 1. The NRC determined the failures had a “low to moderate” safety significance. While both units have always been inspected systematically by the NRC, the issues surrounding both reactors mean they will be subject to additional inspections. Southern Nuclear, which owns and operates Farley, has already sent a letter to the NRC detailing company actions to solve the problems, including an 11-point inspection process and a breaker oversight team to review inspection results, according to the release. “We acknowledge that we have experienced some equipment issues,” Barnie Beasley, president and CEO of Southern Nuclear said in an internal memo sent to company employees. “We identified the issues and initiated corrective actions to not only resolve them but also to prevent their recurrence. We are very engaged in working with the NRC to ensure they understand our commitment.” Southern Nuclear spokesperson Alyson Fuqua said the issues in question have already been corrected and that the NRC inspection process will allow the commission to confirm that all followup actions are continuing. Dothan Eagle Copyright © 2007 Media General, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 17 The Free Press: Local expert foresees nuclear renaissance Mankato, MN - Thu, Nov 15 2007 Photos Genevieve and Charles Roessler, both retired professors who specialized in health physics at the University of Florida, now live in rural Elysian. Genevieve Roessler will be giving a presentation later this month on the future of nuclear energy in America. John Cross Published November 13, 2007 10:59 pm - Genevieve Roessler, who retired to Elysian from the University of Florida's Department of Nuclear Engineering, believes the public has "misconceptions" about nuclear power. Local expert foresees nuclear renaissance Retired health physicist to speak Nov. 26 By Mark Fischenich Free Press Staff Writer Growth in America’s nuclear energy industry has been at a standstill in the nearly 30 years since the infamous malfunction at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant, a status that was reinforced with the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine in 1986. But Genevieve Roessler of rural Elysian thinks there might be a renaissance for nuclear power in America’s future, and the retired associate professor of radiation biology believes it’s time for Americans to start talking about the implications of that. That’s why Roessler agreed to give a public presentation on the outlook for nuclear energy on Nov. 26 at Centenary United Methodist Church in Mankato. “I hope that by being informed, we can make better decisions about nuclear energy,” said Roessler, who taught at the University of Florida’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. “... I personally think there are misconceptions.” The title given to the presentation, “The Future of Nuclear Energy,” might be a bit more than can be covered in one night, according to Roessler. Still, Roessler will give a bit of background on how nuclear reactors work, provide statistics about nuclear energy production in the United States and around the world, run through the pros and cons of nuclear energy and talk about storage of nuclear waste. “My perspective will be as a health physicist, which means somebody in the field of radiation safety,” she said. Roessler and her husband Charles, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida, served as consultants to the nuclear industry after the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, and she’s visited areas of the Ukraine and Belarus to study the health impacts of the radiation released in the Chernobyl disaster. “I can say that there were, and will not be, any health effects due to the Three Mile Island accident,” she said. The Chernobyl accident killed about 30 workers and damaged the thyroids of young children living in the regions around the plant, she said. Nuclear plants in the United States are constructed differently than those in other parts of the world, however, and newer and even safer designs are available for future American plants, she said. Since Three Mile Island, there have been no new nuclear power plants added to the power grid in the United States. During that time, the nation’s energy demands have only increased and warnings about global climate change have made fossil fuel consumption one of the top environmental concerns of the day. Roessler said there are legitimate concerns about nuclear power, particularly the highly radioactive waste it generates and the need to find ways to safely contain it. But there are also concerns about the carbon emissions and other pollutants that come with coal-powered plants, and about the future availability of petroleum. “How do we balance the good parts and the not-so-good-parts of all these energy sources?” she said. “... These are all part of a very delicate balancing act.” © 1996-2007, The Free Press 418 S. 2nd Street, Mankato, MN 56001 Reader Services: (507) 625-4451 | Newsroom: (507) 344-6397 Retail Advertising: (507) 344-6364 | Classified Advertising: (507) 344-6395 ***************************************************************** 18 The Ely Times: Generating as much controversy as power elynews.com :: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Delta's IPP coal-fired power plant didn't use as much water as feared, nor foul the air By RUDY HERNDON Ely Times Reporter The stack at the Intermountain Power Project, near Delta, Utah, has seldom generated major problems with visual haze and wheezing conditions that opponents predicted. At right, the massive transmission line towers stand sentinel across the greasewood flats as they carry power to Los Angeles. But the future of the plant is in question, as Californians consider their use of fossil fuel-generated electricity. Instead, the community found itself divided over a limited resource at the root of conflicts throughout the arid West: water. As originally planned, the 3,000-megawatt Intermountain Power Project (IPP) would have needed up to 45,000 acre-feet of water per year. But the proposal to withdraw that water for industrial uses did not go over well with some irrigators who struggled to make the harsh West Desert bloom with alfalfa seed and other hardy crops. “There was a certain faction that fought it,” said Grant Nielson, who served as Delta's mayor during the height of power plant construction. “They were a few old timers and farmers that didn't want to see things change.” Much to the dismay of that group, project developer Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) began acquiring water rights in early 1978. “The water fight was the worst of it,” Millard County Chronicle Progress Publisher Sue Dutson recalled. “It turned brother against brother and friend against friend.” Letters to the newspaper reflected those tensions. “Once this water gets out of private hands it will never again get back into private hands,” Delta resident Vera Giles said in a January 1980 letter to the editor. As it turns out, history has proven Giles wrong, but her concerns persist to this day. “There are still resentments about it,” Dutson said. However, those resentments may have been tempered by the economic benefits that many farmers received. Although the historic market price for water in the area had averaged between $300 and $500 per acre-foot, the Intermountain Power Agency sweetened the deal by paying farmers as much as $1,850 for each acre-foot. Irrigators who sold their water rights to the agency received an average of $100,000 to $150,000. Altogether, the sale of water rights to the IPA brought about $80 million in to the local economy. While some sellers retired and left Millard County, others purchased new equipment and additional property in the area. Many of those who decided to stay were able to expand their agricultural operations, thanks to an unexpected slump in the nation's economy. Following a minor recession in 1982, the IPP was scaled down from four coal-fired units to two. The smaller 1,500 megawatt facility -- since upgraded to 1,800 megawatts -- used about 16,000 acre-feet annually, leaving nearly 30,000 acre-feet available for other uses. The IPA began leasing that water back to irrigators -- an arrangement that some Western historians have singled out for its uniqueness. Unlike other water transfers -- including the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to export water from Eastern Nevada's aquifers -- Millard County's water has remained in the immediate area. Today, that leased water is keeping much of the area around Delta in agricultural production and is generating additional revenue for Millard County. As the intensity over the water fight died down, it was soon eclipsed by an even greater controversy. The now-defunct MX Missile Project, which some feared would spark a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, had been expected to bring as many as 105,000 construction workers to the sparsely populated region of Eastern Nevada and Utah's West Desert. Former President Jimmy Carter's proposal to build an intercontinental ballistic missile system would have enabled the Air Force to shuttle its warheads to 4,600 shelters scattered throughout the central Great Basin. Although the project was supported by some economic boosters in nearby Milford, it was widely condemned by some of the state's most powerful figures -- including the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The controversy over the Intermountain Power Project is small and insignificant in comparison to the missile project,” the Millard County Chronicle opined. “IPP can mark progress if prepared for, planned for and developed. MX is a system that will rape and plunder our water, land, mineral development, grazing, recreation (and) wildlife, and then be obsolete by 1990.” However, after the MX proposal was abandoned, Utahns and others gradually became more aware of the IPP's impacts on the surrounding environment. Today, the facility has become a focal point in the debate over climate change, standing front and center alongside White Pine's proposed coal-fired power projects. A proposal to build a third IPP generating unit was rejected earlier this year after seven of the IPA's 36 participants refused to go along with the plan. In Utah, the Logan City Council was the first to voice its opposition to the planned 900-megawatt unit, voting narrowly last March to investigate alternative sources of power. Six participating IPP member cities in Southern California with a controlling 75 percent interest in the project soon followed suit, forcing the IPA to abandon its plans. New environmental laws in California are prompting those same municipalities to look elsewhere for their power needs: Several of the California-based IPP shareholders have vowed that they will not renew their contracts with the facility once their current contracts expire in 2027. Meanwhile, Utah officials are working with industries and others to cut greenhouse gas emissions statewide. Their effort is part of a broader regional initiative aimed at reducing those emissions by 15 percent over the next 13 years. The IPA's general manager has acknowledged that the public's perceptions regarding global warming will impact the power plant. In a February interview with the Denver Post, Reed Searle said the facility is working to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. According to the Post, Searle expressed support for federal regulations on greenhouse gases. “Investors are going to become more and more concerned about managing your carbon emissions,” Searle was quoted as saying. “From a (public relations) point of view, we are doing what we can to respond.” However, the facility's contributions to regional haze and air pollution remain open to debate. The IPP burns about 4.4 million tons of bituminous coal each year, making it one of the top emitters of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in the state. But the IPA says that the plant's fabric filters remove at least 99.75 percent of all particulate matter, and claims that its scrubber removes over 90 percent of all sulfur dioxide from its emissions. Dutson scoffed when asked if those pollution controls were effective. “That brown stuff up there is a figment of your imagination,” she said. On a recent Friday, however, the “brown stuff” was nowhere to be seen around Delta. But it dominated the horizon 90 road miles to the northeast, choking the skies above Provo and its sprawling suburbs. “The cause of the pollution is the traffic along the Interstate 15 corridor,” Baker-area resident Gary Perea said. Former Delta Mayor Nielson agreed. “We get more pollution from Salt Lake City and Provo than we do from that plant,” he said. A study by the nonpartisan Utah Foundation suggests those claims may be valid. The study, which included data from a 1996 Utah Division of Air Quality emissions inventory, found that cars and other “on-road” sources such as buses and trains were responsible for the overwhelming majority of air pollution in the state. In 1996 alone, “on-road” mobile sources spewed 764,000 tons of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into Utah's air. Those sources accounted for over 83 percent of air pollutants released into Salt Lake County and were the single largest contributor to air pollution in every county along the densely populated Wasatch Front. Fixed-point sources, which include commercial and industrial facilities such as the Intermountain Power Project, released 198,000 tons of pollutants into the air that year. According to the study, the IPP's home of Millard County ranked third in emissions of nitrogen oxides and fifth in emissions of sulfur dioxide among Utah's 29 counties. Leave Your Comment 1 comment(s) Reader Comments Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Ely Times does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Copyright © 2007, The Ely Times Stephens Media, LLC ***************************************************************** 19 Deseret Morning News: Utahns closer to backing nuclear plant? Wednesday, November 14, 2007 By Joe Bauman Deseret Morning News Is Utah ready for a nuclear power plant? The answer, according to a new poll, seems to be, "Not quite." The poll found that a plurality of Utahns oppose locating a nuclear power plant in Utah: Forty-five percent were against it, while 38 percent of those surveyed favored constructing such a plant in the Beehive State. Some people hadn't made up their minds: Twelve percent said they were uncertain. And 4 percent of those surveyed said their responses would depend on other factors not covered in the poll. The Dan Jones & Associates poll for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV questioned 603 residents statewide. The survey was carried out from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. Utahns who definitely favored building a nuclear plant in Utah amounted to 23 percent, while those who said they probably favored it were 15 percent, for a combined favorable impression of 38 percent. Probably against the plant were 16 percent and definitely against were 29 percent, for 45 percent opposed. As recently as 2005, polls in Utah showed widespread opposition to all things nuclear. In November 2005, the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV sponsored a poll on a plan by Private Fuel Storage to locate a "temporary" repository for high-level radioactive spent fuel rods, a facility that was planned for the Goshute Indian Reservation in Tooele County. The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, found that 84 percent of the Utahns surveyed opposed the repository. Today, PFS is a dead issue, with the federal government refusing to grant it the needed right of way. But nuclear power is again an issue, with a nuclear plant proposed for somewhere in eastern Utah. If permitted, Transition Power Development would build a two-reactor plant in eastern Utah capable of 3,000 megawatts of electricity. While the nuclear debate has reignited, opposition to nuclear power seems to have lost a great deal of steam. A sharp gender divide shows up in the poll, with men nearly three times as likely to favor the construction than women. Men favored the plant, 56 percent to 30 percent. But women were opposed, with 60 percent against and only 20 percent in favor. Political differences also showed up. Republicans like the plant by a small plurality, 42 percent to 38 percent. Democrats were heavily opposed, with 26 percent in favor and 64 percent against. Likewise, age was a factor. People in the youngest age group, from 18 to 24, were strongly opposed: Sixteen percent for and 76 percent against. The oldest group interviewed, those 65 and above, were the most strongly in favor, by 51 percent to 28 percent. E-mail: bau@desnews.com deseretnews.com: Home | Subscription services | Contact us | FAQ | ***************************************************************** 20 ajc.com: Feds tighten scrutiny of 2nd Southern reactor | By MARGARET NEWKIRK The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 11/14/07 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has imposed stricter oversight on a second generating unit of Southern Co.'s Farley nuclear plant, based on breaker failures at that unit. And that means a much tougher inspection regimen for both units for at least two years, at Southern Co.'s expense. The latest move adds to a snowballing list of problems for Farley and its operators. The NRC issued a serious safety finding against the other Farley unit two weeks ago, related to the company's handling of a stuck valve in the system that would cool the reactor core in an emergency. A senior engineer at Farley filed a U.S. Labor Department complaint against the company the same day, saying the company had suspended him for five weeks for identifying safety concerns at the plant. Southern's Farley problems come as the company is moving toward building two new units at its Vogtle nuclear plant in Waynesboro, near Augusta. Through a subsidiary called Southern Nuclear, Southern Co. owns and operates two nuclear plants in Georgia, in addition to the Alabama plant. In a written statement Tuesday, NRC regional administrator William Travers said the Farley plant "is being operated safely, but there are performance issues that need to be addressed by the licensee." Southern Nuclear CEO Barnie Beasley echoed that, saying that "Plant Farley has had an outstanding nuclear record throughout its lifetime." "We acknowledge that we've recently experienced these equipment issues," he said, adding that Southern Nuclear reported the problems, corrected them and committed to more preventive action. "We're very involved with the regulators, and we welcome the additional oversight and involvement," he said. "That's something we expect." Farley's problems began in April 2006 when a valve in its cooling system stuck during a test. It eventually opened, and operators assumed a little dirt had caused the problem and had shaken loose. No one opened the valve. It stuck again in January of this year, again during a test. When operators opened it, they found it badly corroded inside. The NRC issued what's called a yellow finding against Farley Unit Two on Nov. 1, saying its failure to deal with the valve problem promptly posed a "substantial" safety risk. Meanwhile, Farley's other generator had breaker failures in two of its water systems. Both were classified as low and moderate safety risks. But the fact that there were two breaker incidents put that generator in the same tougher inspection category as the other generator. The events that led up to the whistle-blower complaint began in January, the same month the valve failed for a second time. Between January and August, senior engineer Michael Smith submitted 67 "condition reports" — concerns about plant operation and safety — to management. His last report cited problems with employee turnover in the engineering department, which he said may have contributed to the company's handling of equipment failures. He was escorted from the plant that day. Beasley said the company supported employees who raise concerns and that a complaint to the Labor Department is one avenue for doing so. "Southern Nuclear is very committed to a strong safety culture," he said. "A key part of that is that we have an expectation of all of us that we will raise concerns," he said. © 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Customer care | ***************************************************************** 21 The Manila Times: Asean to promote nuclear energy Thursday, November 15, 2007 SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian leaders will promote the use of civilian nuclear power, along with other alternative energy sources, when they meet in Singapore next week, a draft statement obtained Tuesday said. Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will also agree to establish a “regional nuclear safety regime” to ensure that plutonium, a key ingredient for making atomic weapons, does not fall into the wrong hands. A draft of an Asean Declaration on Environmental Sustainability, obtained by AFP, said the leaders will agree “to take concrete measures to promote the use of renewable and alternative energy sources such as solar, hydro, wind, tide, biomass, biofuels and geothermal energy.” They will also support “civilian nuclear power” for interested countries—a move which environmental campaigners see as worrying. But the draft says Asean will ensure “safety and safeguards that are of current international standards and environmental sustainability.” Heads of state and government from Asean’s member states Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are to sign the document next Tuesday during their annual summit. Host Singapore has said it wants climate change to be the focus of the summit, but the meeting is instead expected to be dominated by rogue Asean member Myanmar’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September. The document commits Asean states to implement environmentally sustainable practices, improve cooperation to fight trans-boundary pollution and to take action against illegal logging. Weak law enforcement to control the use of fire for clearing agricultural land in Asean’s biggest member, Indonesia, has been identified as a main cause of the haze that blankets wide swathes of the region each year. Asean leaders will also pledge to improve energy efficiency, reduce the loss of biodiversity in the region and halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2010, according to the draft. But the decision to promote civilian nuclear power has sparked criticisms from environmental activists. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have announced plans to build nuclear power plants by 2020 in a bid to cut their dependence on crude oil and natural gas. World oil prices topped $98 a barrel earlier this month. “If they are going nuclear, I think they are going into disaster for the region,” warned Nur Hidayati, a campaigner for the environment watchdog Greenpeace. “The nature of this region is that it is very unstable, and so when there is an accident, the whole region will suffer,” she told AFP by telephone from Indonesia, referring to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Southeast Asia also does not have the technology, the expertise or the raw materials to operate a nuclear power plant, she charged. This means governments will have to import them from foreign sources, defeating the objective of gaining energy security, Hidayati added. However, she supported Asean efforts to promote solar, hydro, wind and geothermal power. “There is still a lot of potential in the region that is not being tapped effectively. It is better for governments to look at these alternative energy sources that are relatively clean and safe,” she said. Singapore has embarked on a strategy to establish itself as a center for solar energy development. Last month, Norway’s Renewable Energy Corp. (REC) said it planned to invest more than 3.0 billion euros ($4.31 billion) to build a manufacturing plant in Singapore for solar wafers, cells and modules. --AFP Copyright (c) 2001 The Manila Times | Terms of Service ***************************************************************** 22 AU ABC: Bid to ban nuclear power in SA fails - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Posted November 15, 2007 07:22:00 The Government and the Opposition joined forced in State Parliament last night to defeat a bill from the Greens to ban nuclear power in South Australia. The private member's bill from Greens MP Mark Parnell aimed to extend state laws banning nuclear waste dumps, uranium enrichment and weapons. Democrat MP Sandra Kanck was the only other MP to support the bill in the Legislative Council. Mr Parnell says Labor governments in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have all passed laws banning nuclear power. He says the vote was a remarkable turnaround by Labor MPs in a party which once prided itself on being anti-nuclear. "Labor is out there in the [federal] election campaign putting scare tactics out there talking about how the Liberal Government would put power stations everywhere," he said. "Yet when given a chance to reject nuclear power for South Australia, the Rann Government has fallen short." ***************************************************************** 23 Daily Yomiuri: Govt: TEPCO N-plant leak was minimum level The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has classified the radioactive water leak that occurred in July at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Niigata Prefecture at the lowest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). The power station was hit by the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake in the same month. The ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Tuesday that the minute amount of radioactive material leaked into the sea measured "zero minus" on the INES scale--a level that does not pose a threat to public safety. Other problems at the power station, including a transformer fire and damage to a ceiling crane used to lift the lid of the main body of the reactor, were not included in the assessment. The agency said these other incidents were not connected to safety issues. The agency said it will report its results to the International Atomic Energy Agency in the near future. A specialist group organized by the agency, which has been studying accidents and problems that occurred at seven nuclear power stations between May and September, met Tuesday. In the case of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the specialists focused on four cases--a water leak involving a small amount of radioactivity that emanated from spent nuclear fuel storage pools at seven nuclear reactors; the leak of the minute amount of contaminated water into the sea from the No. 6 nuclear reactor; a transformer fire at the No. 3 reactor; and damage to the ceiling crane at the No. 6 reactor. In addition, about 3,000 nuclear-related incidents were uncovered at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant, including the emission of a small amount of radioactive material from ventilation ducts, and the temporary inability to remove control rods. But the agency said that these incidents were irrelevant in terms of safety and it was not necessary to investigate such problems. ) The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun © The Yomiuri Shimbun. ***************************************************************** 24 TheStar.com: Port Hope radiation tests 'alarming' Thursday, November 15, 2007 | Today's Toronto Star Port Hope residents undergo series of tests Nov 14, 2007 04:30 AM Peter Gorrie Environment Reporter New tests that show radiation contamination in a few Port Hope residents should compel the federal government to put the town under a health microscope, local advocates say. The results, while involving only a handful of people, "are the tip of the iceberg," Tedd Weyman, deputy director of an independent group called the Uranium Medical Research Centre, which conducted the study, told a news conference yesterday. The study found small levels of radioactive elements in the urine of four of nine people who were tested, including a child under age 14. "You've got almost 50 per cent of the people showing contamination," Weyman said. "You'd think (federal regulators) would see this as an alarming statistic and do further studies." Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said in a statement that he has directed officials to assess the report and provide advice on how to proceed. Port Hope – a picturesque community on Lake Ontario, east of Toronto – is home to a Cameco uranium plant that produces fuel for nuclear generating stations, and Zircatec Precision Industries Ltd., which makes fuel bundles for Candu reactors. It also produced uranium for the American military. From the 1930s to '80s, low-level radioactive waste was not considered a health hazard and was used as fill. That waste is believed to have contaminated about 1.5 million cubic metres of soil now under homes, schools, farm fields and the harbour, and the town is to undergo a $260 million cleanup. The citizens' group says previous local studies have found higher than expected rates of several diseases, including cancers and respiratory ailments. Government officials say those tests show no excess cancer deaths. The federal government and its agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, haven't tested for contamination in area people. Yesterday's findings came after a local group, the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee, raised $11,000 – enough to test four former workers at the uranium plants and five local residents. For comparison, two "control" people from outside the town were also studied. © Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2007 | ***************************************************************** 25 TorontoSun.com: Study: Uranium found in 4 of 9 test subjects Wed, November 14, 2007 By JOYCE CASSIN, SUN MEDIA PORT HOPE -- A study of nine Port Hope residents allegedly reveals that four of them have uranium contamination in their bodies. The study was prepared by the Uranium Medical Research Centre, based in Toronto and Washington, D.C., using an overseas laboratory, according to a presentation document revealed at a press conference in Toronto yesterday. John Miller, from Families Against Radioactive Exposure (FARE), said the number of test subjects was small because of affordability issues. The committee raised more than $11,000 to do a health study, in the absence of any action on their repeated requests to the federal government that a comprehensive health study be done. Dr. Asaf Durakovic, Medical Director of UMRC had previously promised to do uranium testing on Port Hope residents for no fee. When asked what specifically UMRC was testing for, Miller said he could not answer, although he said that members of the health concerns committee had been instructed to find people in the community who were either former nuclear industry workers, or have low-level radioactive waste on their properties or live in proximity to low-level radioactive waste. All subjects were to have a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness. Miller said FARE was not involved in the study's preparation, but he said he had been asked by the health concerns committee to orchestrate the release of study information because of his "connections." Miller teaches journalism at Ryerson University. The study document says laboratory tests show contamination by radioactive materials has been found in the bodies of people living in Port Hope. The tests were analyzed at a radioisotope lab in Germany. According to the report, four of the nine people tested had unusual types of uranium in their bodies, including one who carried measurable quantities of depleted uranium, which is used to make armour-piercing weapons, and another who had uranium at levels about three times higher than average concentrations of the element. Copyright © 2007, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 BBC NEWS: Radioactive test fund deal agreed Last Updated: Wednesday, 14 November 2007, 10:27 GMT A deal to monitor for particles from Sellafield has been agreed Funding issues which had held up a radiation monitoring scheme in Dumfries and Galloway have been resolved. Tests were ordered after the discovery of an increase in radioactive particles on shores in North Cumbria. Environmentalists had voiced fears that the work was being delayed by debate over who should meet £100,000 costs. The breakthrough has been welcomed by South of Scotland MSP Alasdair Morgan. He said the tests would ensure that a "sensible precaution" could go ahead. 'Valuable reassurance' "The continuation of radiation monitoring on the Solway coast is important," he said. "If it uncovers nothing then it gives valuable reassurance to the public. "If, on the other hand, it reveals that there is a problem, it should be much easier to get action to have that problem addressed." Sepa has identified sites at Powfoot, Southerness and Kirkcudbright where the tests will be carried out. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 27 The American Prospect: The VA's Claim Dodge | Beyond the awful conditions at Walter Reed hospital, something smells fishy in the government's handling of veterans' claims. One appalling case study suggests what might be happening and why. Deb Derrick | November 12, 2007 | web only The two signature injuries of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An estimated 26,000 U.S. veterans from these wars have had their brains traumatized from nearby explosions. Another 45,000 have initiated post traumatic stress disorder claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). These claims concern real disabilities that are medically hard to prove. In each VA case, it is up to the military and the Department of Veterans' Affairs to decide if and how much any given soldier's mental faculties have been impaired. These are also precisely the kinds of claims that the U.S. government has actively thwarted in the past -- and recent news and health articles suggest that a repeat performance is underway. The Defense Department is being accused of under-funding studies of traumatic brain injuries. The VA and Defense Departments are refusing to make their brain injury data public. Current PTSD claimants are finding their medical and service records missing, lost, or subject to challenge. A class action lawsuit was recently initiated on behalf of PTSD claimants. My recent investigation on the VA claims of a Navy waste disposal ship, the USS Calhoun County, provides a cautionary tale about what might be happening and why. Harvey Ray Lucas served in the late 1950s on the USS Calhoun County, a low-ranking Navy ship whose primary mission was to dump atomic and other military waste into the Atlantic Ocean. Lucas spent four years heaving radioactive materials over the side of the ship. After leaving the military, he suffered from chronic health problems and sired five children with birth defects. Lucas's testimony made my jaw drop. He described one baby whose skin oozed "bloodwater." He described the birth and death of another whom physicians termed an "anencephalic female monster." A couple years after his testimony, Lucas died of a rare cancer associated with radiation exposure. I came across Lucas's story in 1998, when I worked in a U.S. Congressional office and read the transcript of his Board of Veterans Appeals hearing. Lucas's widow, Barbara, and my boss, Congressman David Skaggs (D-Colo.), both felt that Harvey Lucas and his family's illnesses stemmed from radiation exposure in the Navy. But Barbara Lucas had been pursuing a compensation claim with the VA for 18 years without success. The VA always seemed to need more or different evidence. When our office dug up a key final document and Barbara prevailed, I decided to write a book about the USS Calhoun County and her VA claim. Deck logs and interviews with the ship's sailors, officers, and scientists suggested that the USS Calhoun County had carried excessively radioactive material and that the ship's decks had been contaminated. When I discovered a number of other sailors had experienced odd health problems, I broadened my inquiry to look at the VA cases of other USS Calhoun County veterans. I interviewed Deane Horne, whose teeth and hair had fallen out after he left the ship and whose eldest son was born without a femur. I interviewed Richard Tkaczyk, who had also lost his teeth and whose first born son had seizures and brain damage. I interviewed George Albernaz, who was half paralyzed after suffering from an odd brain disease that his physician called radiation necrosis. All had filed claims with the VA. None had made any headway. In all cases, the VA began the claims process by asserting that there was no proof that the USS Calhoun County had even carried atomic waste -- even though there was ample evidence of the ship's mission in public federal archives. In all cases, the Navy forwarded personnel files to the VA that were missing a key radiation exposure document. The treatment of these men's claims echoed what had happened with the Lucas claim. It was also entirely consistent with a vastly discouraging history of the VA's handling of hard-to-prove claims, including radiation, asbestos, Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, and PTSD-based injuries. All such cases were and are handled centrally out of a special office in VA headquarters. All required Congressional or court intervention to force the VA to grant claims. In the case of radiation-based claims, the military was found omitting incriminating documents from veterans' databases; veterans' documents were destroyed in a huge and mysterious fire at a military personnel records facility; the VA was found hiding and shredding more veterans' evidence; and whistleblowers were subjected to death threats and workplace retaliation. As I unearthed this information, I was drawn into providing evidence for the claims of several USS Calhoun County veterans. In particular, I began helping George Albernaz, who had served with Lucas on the ship between 1957 and 1958. To verify his claim, I sent the VA data on the ship's atomic loads, noting that my information came from deck logs in the National Archives. The VA called my information unsubstantiated. I sent Navy documentation on them. The Navy and the VA said that they still had no proof that Albernaz himself had ever been exposed to radiation. I sent information from the Lucas claim that challenged such "zero dose" exposure estimates. It was deemed irrelevant. Looking for more evidence on Albernaz's behalf, I dug deeper in the ship's administrative archives. I came across a memo to the ship's Commanding Officer from 1956, indicating that the deck of the USS Calhoun County had become radiologically contaminated. I found another from 1958 stating that all attempts to remove the contamination had failed. But my breath failed me when I read a final memo from 1962, stating that the Navy had never, in its history, been able to render such a ship safe for use and recommending that the USS Calhoun County be sunk. If I thought that such evidence would help win the Albernaz case, however, I was quite mistaken. Albernaz and I submitted the incriminating documents between 2005 and 2007. Yet the VA omitted the documents from the "evidence of record;" the Navy re-asserted that they had no proof of Albernaz's exposure but that he'd likely only received safe doses; and the VA continued to take the Navy at its word. As of this month, the VA was demanding a long list of additional evidence to support Albernaz's claim -- much of which he and I had already submitted. The treatment of these sailors exposes a U.S. veterans' claims adjudication system that enshrines military-produced evidence as the only "objective" arbiter of claims, even when there is ample reason to doubt it. Evidence -- even documents from the National Archives -- produced by the likes of Harvey Lucas and George Albernaz is viewed and treated as potentially fraudulent. And far from making any attempt to validate or verify claims through databases, "buddy statements," or consolidated claims reviews, the VA actively dismisses their compatriots' evidence as "irrelevant" to their claims. In sum, the veterans are treated as liars, told to prove their own cases to the government, and subject to having credible evidence dismissed when it contradicts military assertions. Americans are now becoming increasingly concerned with the treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and they ought to be. Because unless the U.S. revamps its veterans claims system to allow for decisions made independently of the U.S. military, we are headed for another series of large VA scandals. Deb Derrick is a U.S. governmental affairs specialist who is writing Exposed, a book on the USS Calhoun County and the betrayal of its veterans. She currently serves as executive director of the Better World Campaign, a group that lobbies for the United Nations in Washington, D.C. © 2007 by The American Prospect, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 WISN: Congress Acts To Take Rocket Fuel Out Of Drinking Water - WISN Milwaukee POSTED: 7:14 pm CST November 13, 2007 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Congressional subcommittee has taken a first step to keep perchlorate -- a main ingredient in rocket fuel -- out of the nation's food supply, approving new drinking water standards for the chemical. According to one government study, the chemical has seeped into our environment from old munitions plants and missile bases and into every citizen. The only Wisconsin site listed for possible perchlorate contamination is the old Badger Ammunition plant north of Madison, but the concern is that it's in the groundwater in states like Texas and California, where a lot of our food comes from. "It looks like there's 100 percent exposure to the U.S. population to this rocket fuel contamination," said Richard Wiles, who heads a Washington, D.C., advocacy program called the Environmental Working Group. The group is pushing for stricter government guidelines, saying it's a very serious problem. "(It's) very serious when you have millions of women potentially entering pregnancies with lower thyroid hormone levels," Wiles said. Those lower thyroid levels is the concern. While the health risk to most adults is minimal, perchlorate can affect the thyroid hormone levels, which, in a fetus or newborn baby, can inhibit brain development. That means pregnant woman and nursing mothers need to be aware. "We don't think people should panic, but you do have to take this one seriously," Wiles said. Copyright 2007 by WISN.com. All rights reserved. This material may ***************************************************************** 29 Platts: Senator Domenici calls for near-term nuclear reprocessing in US 2007-11-14 Washington (Platts)--14Nov2007 The US needs to build a current-generation nuclear reprocessing plant to handle spent fuel because the Department of Energy's current plan is "a 50-year program, and we can't wait 50 years for what we need," Senator Pete Domenici said Wednesday. Domenici, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, made the comment at a hearing of the panel on DOE's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. GNEP "will take way too long" and has elements that are too controversial, Domenici, who represents New Mexico, said. The US needs to move ahead with reprocessing because the proposed Yucca Mountain spent fuel repository in Nevada has "less and less credibility," he said. But Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, said at the hearing that reprocessing is more expensive than direct disposal of spent fuel "across a wide range of plausible assumptions." --Daniel Horner, daniel_horner@platts.com For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=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 ***************************************************************** 30 Platts: Italy becomes 17th member of GNEP 2007-11-13 Washington (Platts)--13Nov2007 Italy became the 17th member of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, the US DOE announced November 13. In addition to signing the GNEP statement of principles, Italian Minister of Economic Development Pier Luigi Bersani signed a broad bilateral agreement with US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on cooperation in energy research and development, DOE said. Bodman was in Rome to deliver remarks at the World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum. GNEP is a US-led initiative to promote the global use of nuclear power and develop new types of reprocessing plants and fast reactors. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 31 Platts: EC backs most of the EP's proposed changes to the ESA 2007-11-13 London (Platts)--13Nov2007 Most of the European Parliament's proposed changes to the Euratom Supply Agency are supported by the European Commission, said EC Vice President Franco Frattini. During a debate in the EP November 12, Frattini said the EC would support most of the changes - contained in new statutes for the agency -- "during final discussions with the [EU] Council." The council has the final say. The EP has called for the ESA to produce analyses and studies on the nuclear fuel market more frequently than annually, as is the current practice, and would create a "bureau" within the ESA's advisory committee to shepherd such efforts. The EP will vote on new statutes November 13. Only Green Party members of parliament spoke against the new statutes during the EP debate November 12. The EC had previously expressed a reservation against giving the advisory committee a say in who is appointed director general of the ESA. 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 ***************************************************************** 32 Platts: Uranium players see spot prices moving more gradually upward 2007-11-14 London (Platts)--14Nov2007 Uranium players expect the upward movement of the commodity's spot price to be more gradual over the next few months after strong gains this past summer, according to observers. TradeTech earlier this month kept its spot price at $93/lb U3O8. The price-reporting company said that while some sellers continued to raise their offer prices, other sellers "seized the opportunity to place material and generate revenue" before the end of 2007. Ux Consulting, in a report released late November 12, raised its price $2/lb, to $92/lb, from the price it published a week earlier. A number of utilities have apparently backed away from concluding deals after the price moved from $75/lb in October to over $90/lb, market sources said. Texas- based Mestena Uranium apparently concluded a deal after getting bids November 6 in its auction of 100,000 lb U3O8. It appears, though, that the winning bid did not accelerate the upward movement of the price the way the company's auctions did earlier in the year. Those earlier Mestena auctions could move the spot price by $10/lb or more. The Platts NuclearFuel range for the week is $93-$100/lb U3O8. 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 ***************************************************************** 33 washingtonpost.com: Nevada struggles to gain clout with early 2008 vote - By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent Reuters Wednesday, November 14, 2007; 11:32 AM LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The state of Nevada hoped to gain political clout and spotlight Western issues by bringing forward contests to choose 2008 presidential candidates, but so far attention has been as spare as the desert landscape. While White House contenders shower ads, appearances and staff on the traditional campaign kick-off states of Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada officials have seen long stretches of time with few candidate visits and have struggled to ratchet up voter interest. "The race just hasn't been engaged here yet," said David Damore, a political analyst at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "In terms of attracting candidates and national media attention, it has not fulfilled expectations." That could begin to change on Thursday, when Democratic presidential candidates gather in the gambling center of Las Vegas for a debate that will be the state's first big campaign event. Nevada's January 19 contest is expected to be the third in the state-by-state race to pick the parties' nominees for the November 2008 election. Iowa kicks it off on January 3 and New Hampshire is likely to go next on January 8. The national Democratic Party moved Nevada up in the pecking order to highlight Western issues, build on the party's recent election victories in the western Rocky Mountain states and expose candidates to a more diverse electorate. Nevada Republicans moved earlier this year to hold their contest on the same day. Democrats hope to take advantage of a growing Hispanic population in Nevada, which also has big and influential labor unions, including the Culinary Workers Union representing casino employees. But candidates have not flocked to the state, and regional issues have not topped the agenda when they do. By last week, the Democratic contenders combined had made 50 visits to Nevada in 2007, compared to 178 to Iowa and 153 to New Hampshire, according to a tally by the Hotline political Web site. The entire Republican field had made just nine visits to Nevada. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who leads national polls in the Republican race, made his first visit last week. Western issues like mining, land use and water rights remain secondary items, and Democratic agreement on opposition to the nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain has limited debate on that topic. State officials in both parties say the political tempo will pick up between the New Hampshire and Nevada voting. 'NOTHING TO SOMETHING' "We've gone from nothing to something," said Hans Gullickson, caucus director for the Nevada Republican Party. "Nevada has always been neglected except for its money when it comes to presidential politics, but that is changing." Gullickson and Jill Derby, the state Democratic chairwoman, said the event was helping them build for the 2008 election, when Nevada again will be a swing state. In 2004, President George W. Bush narrowly beat Democrat John Kerry in Nevada. "This is an extraordinary party-building operation," Derby said. "We will come out of this with an organization unlike anything we've had before -- we'll be a transformed party." Ironically, the compressed nominating calendar has probably hurt Nevada, as candidates focus on Iowa and New Hampshire in a belief they will set the stage for later contests. "We believe the Nevada caucuses will be deeply impacted by what happens in Iowa and New Hampshire," Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said in a message to supporters this week. Other factors have hurt too, political analysts say, including the state's lack of political experience. Low turnout in earlier Nevada caucuses -- in 2004 only 9,000 people, less than 1 percent of eligible voters, gathered in groups to pick delegates to the national nominating conventions -- makes it tough for campaigns to identify supporters. "In Iowa and New Hampshire, the whole thing is institutionalized. Everyone knows where to go, who to talk to, what corn field to stand in. Here, the main attractions don't even have any voters in them," Damore said, referring to the state's casinos packed with visiting tourists. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, ahead in national polls, holds a big lead in Nevada over Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, lingers in the single digits despite being the only Western candidate and Hispanic in the Democratic race. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the prime force behind the state's move into political prime time, rejected suggestions it was not a smash success. "We feel very comfortable that what is happening in Nevada is good," Reid said, adding the lack of racial diversity in Iowa and New Hampshire made them unsuitable campaign tests. (Editing by Lori Santos and David Storey) © Copyright 1996-2007 The Washington Post Company | User ***************************************************************** 34 Reuters: China CNNC ups uranium exploration, price incentives Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:54pm GMT By Lucy Hornby BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) - China is increasing uranium exploration and gradually reforming pricing to encourage China National Nuclear Corp to increase production, CNNC's top executive said on Wednesday. CNNC, charged with mining and processing the country's uranium, is seeking projects at home and in Australia, Kazakhstan and Niger. General manager Wang Delin said that it will also invest 2 billion yuan in domestic uranium projects in the next two to three years, to expand domestic nuclear generating capacity. China plans to increase nuclear power capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2020 to meet growing electricity demand, and hopes to source two-thirds of fuel needs from domestic mines by then. "Uranium prices are being appropriately corrected. Before, for the sake of the nation, sometimes we operated at a loss," Wang told reporters at the sidelines of a mining conference. "The reform approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2005 clearly said natural uranium prices should approach international levels." Less than half CNNC's sales were now at international prices, he estimated, adding the firm's sale prices may never fully match market levels. The government's fixed price was well below half international market prices, he said. Continued... ***************************************************************** 35 Boston Globe: Regional concerns on energy policy pose risks for candidates - For candidates roving US, energy stance is fraught with risks Region to region, priorities conflict By Susan Milligan Globe Staff / November 14, 2007 LAS VEGAS - John Edwards voted for making Nevada's Yucca Mountain a nuclear waste repository, but now he opposes it. Bill Richardson allowed the Yucca project to proceed when he was Bill Clinton's energy secretary, but now says he opposes it as a waste dump. Hillary Clinton several times voted against bills expanding the amount of ethanol required in gasoline, but now wants the government to help pay for the biofuel that is so important to Iowans. Energy policy, presidential candidates in both parties agree, is a critical national priority. But the regional special interests involved in energy use, production, and waste disposal have created political problems for the presidential contenders as they woo voters across the country. Question the role of ethanol as a cure-all gasoline additive when campaigning in Iowa? A candidate might as well drop out of the race instead, because ethanol comes from corn, which comes from Iowa, which will hold caucuses Jan. 3. Decrying the siting of Yucca Mountain as a place to store the nation's nuclear waste goes over well with Nevadans, who are set to hold early caucuses Jan. 19. But in South Carolina - where Republicans will hold a primary the same day and the Democrats, the following week - voters don't like the idea of shelving Yucca, because that's where they want to send their nuclear waste. Now, presidential candidates who serve in the Senate are preparing to vote later this fall on whether to increase fuel economy standards, which could alienate auto company unions and executives in Michigan, an early primary state. Environmental activists and energy industry officials say they'd like more clarity from the presidential candidates on a national energy policy - even if it means alienating voters in some states. "Democrats and Republicans are generally saying the same thing about energy policy, that global warming is an issue and we need to be energy-independent," said Frank Maisano, a veteran lobbyist for the energy industry. "Once you start talking about specifics . . . that's where people get gun-shy. That's why we don't get much substance on energy in presidential races." Blease Graham, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina, said candidates who oppose Yucca Mountain could face trouble in the Palmetto State, where nuclear power provides a higher proportion of electricity supplied than any other state. "I suppose candidates, in running campaigns, are assessing [political] risks, thinking, 'If I say this, I've got 70 percent-plus here,' as opposed to actually developing a policy and courageously telling these various groups, 'Here's where I stand,' " Graham said. The Yucca Mountain matter is even more politically loaded this campaign season, because Nevada has moved up its caucuses, raising the influence of the state in the presidential nomination process. Democratic candidates are likely to face questions about Yucca when they meet in Las Vegas for a nationally televised debate tomorrow night. And the West is emerging as a key general election battleground, further increasing Nevada's importance. "It's a very major issue for Nevadans. I think the message is, don't come to Nevada unless you're willing to address it," said Lydia Ball, regional representative of the Sierra Club in Nevada. GOP candidates have been largely silent on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, but Democrats have overwhelmingly been critical of the idea. Edwards, a Democratic former US senator from North Carolina, voted in 2000 and again in 2002 to advance the plan to put a national nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain, which is in rural Nevada. But last month, Edwards - who is hoping his prolabor credentials will result in a strong showing in Nevada, where unions are politically powerful - said he is now against the idea. Edwards said he had become convinced that the Yucca Mountain facility could contaminate the ground water. Further, he said, transportation of nuclear waste to Nevada presents a national security threat during "a time of terrorism." Richardson, now governor of New Mexico, also was content to let Yucca Mountain advance as a nuclear waste site when he was energy secretary. But while campaigning in Nevada, Richardson said he now favors opening Yucca Mountain as a national laboratory, instead of as a dump for the country's nuclear waste. In Iowa, the energy test comes down to one word: ethanol. And Clinton, a New York Democrat who voted against ethanol early in her Senate career, sought to mend fences with Iowans last week, saying she now supports the product. "I voted on behalf of my constituents," Clinton said in Iowa, explaining that the cost of transporting the product to New York would be burdensome to Empire State residents. But now that New York has ethanol plants, "I happily support corn ethanol, all forms of ethanol, research for cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel," she said. Environmentalists are wary of ethanol because of the land use and energy required to produce it, said Nick Berning of Friends of the Earth. One issue that has virtually united the Democratic candidates is raising the average level of fuel economy for cars and trucks. All support the 35 miles-per-gallon standard set in the Senate energy bill, which is likely to come before the full Congress early next month. And many, including Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, have advocated going beyond that standard. Republicans - except Senator John McCain of Arizona, who supports higher fuel standards - have barely mentioned the issue. © Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 36 London Times: The sheer futility and huge cost of Trident | Nigel Griffiths - November 15, 2007 There are no circumstances where we would use a nuclear bomb; the money would be better spent on combating rising sea levels On Tuesday Oliver Kamm defended the Trident programme as our badge to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. I take a different view. I believe the cost of this badge is too high a price to pay, that there are no circumstances where I can conceive we would use a nuclear bomb, that funding Trident will drain resources from our frontline troops and that we shall need billions of pounds to combat rising sea levels in the UK. I write as someone who admires the role played by our servicemen and women. My father served with pride in 85 Squadron fighting Hitler's Luftwaffe and I chaired an NGO rebuilding homes in Kosovo, so I know the debt we owe our frontline troops who restore peace. When I read the White Paper The future of the UK's Nuclear Deterrent, I concluded that it had no future. For I can foresee no circumstances where this country or its territories would be threatened by a nuclear weapons state, where we would retaliate with a nuclear strike, or where the threat of a nuclear strike by the UK would shape their actions. For all the posturing of the US against Iran and North Korea, not even George Bush is suggesting that a nuclear weapon will be used against those regimes or their people. Background To imagine that Trident will not lead to a squeeze on funding our frontline troops is naive. The sad truth is that Trident funding is already diverting nearly 9 per cent of the MoD budget away from necessities such as hardened troop carriers and essential equipment such as roadside bomb-jamming devices. Thousands of soldiers were not supplied with enhanced combat body armour because of delays in procurement. While the focus may be on big “Royal Enclosure” projects such as Trident, it seems the MoD had problems securing body armour costing less than £200 a time. My final fear concerns the predictions of Al Gore. I believe that within the next two decades ice-caps and glaciers will melt far more quickly, raising sea levels and forcing us to shore up our coastal towns and low-lying areas. Some will not be saveable. So billions will be needed to rebuild homes on higher ground in Britain. At that stage, the public will expect our Government to cancel other costly projects. Trident should be at the top of this list. * Have your say sorry, but your arguments are poor... you write "For all the posturing of the US against Iran and North Korea, not even George Bush is suggesting that a nuclear weapon will be used against those regimes or their people." Really? 1) There has been many talks of using Bunker Buster nuclear weapons to PREVENT Iran from getting nuclear weapons 2) In case Iran gets nuclear weapons and uses them do you still think the west won't want to retaliate? And do you think it is such an unlikely scenario the west shouldn't be prepared for? When Hitler had his V2 he didn't hesitate for a second to fire them on London... Sorry, but with countries like Iran only months away from getting the Bomb the world is becoming more dangerous, not more safe... nir, Jerusalem, Israel Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. © Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69. ***************************************************************** 37 The Herald:Russia issues threat over US missile sites Scotland's Leading Quality Daily Newspaper Web Issue 2992 November 15 2007 Vladimir Isachenkov, Moscow A senior general warned yesterday that Russia could send short-range missiles to Belarus as part of efforts to counter planned US missile defence sites in Europe, Russian news reports said. Col-Gen Vladimir Zaritsky, the chief of artillery and rocket forces for the Russian Ground Troops, said that "any action meets a counteraction, and this is the case with elements of the US missile defence in Poland and the Czech Republic," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Russia has fiercely opposed US plans for 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. President Vladimir Putin and other officials have warned that Russia could target the planned US defence sites in Europe with its missiles. Putin has dismissed US claims the sites were intended to provide protection from a missile threat from Iran and has said they would weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent. Zaritsky was responding to his Belarusian counterpart, who said Russia could provide Belarus with its new short-range Iskander missiles, which are believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. AP © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 38 Asia Times Online: US eyes Pakistan's nuclear arsenal Nov 15, 2007 By Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI - Benazir Bhutto, just weeks after returning from years of exile to take part in the United States-sponsored master plan for her to share power with President General Pervez Musharraf, has launched a scathing attack on the general, demanding that he step down unconditionally. "It is time for him to go. He must quit as president," the former premier was quoted as saying on Tuesday from behind the barbed wire that is keeping her under house arrest at her residence in Lahore. The remarkable falling out between Bhutto and Musharraf since he declared a state of emergency nearly two weeks ago on the surface dashes all US hopes for a stable democratic government in Pakistan amenable to Washington's dictates in the "war on terror". Yet the seemingly calamitous developments - which have provoked widespread demonstrations against Musharraf's government - might in fact still fit into the US's grand scheme for the embattled country: to gain control of its nuclear weapons so they do not fall into the hands of Islamist fanatics. Contacts close to the power circles in Pakistan told Asia Times Online that there is a feeling that the US is prepared to take "hurricane" measures to ensure the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal. The thinking goes that by changing horses and supporting Bhutto, the US could exploit the current unrest by dictating new terms to Pakistan in the "war on terror" and coerce it into allowing the US to safeguard its nuclear stockpile. US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is due to travel to Pakistan this week to meet with senior officials and call for free and fair elections, echoing Bhutto's stance. Islamabad is acutely aware of US concerns, and has taken the trouble to reassure Washington. "There were so many messages from the West through the media as well as directly that Pakistani weapons could be seized by Islamic extremists that our Foreign Office clarified [to the US] that our nuclear installations are so safe that they cannot even be monitored by American satellite, let alone that somebody sitting in a place like Tora Bora [in Afghanistan] could guess where they are," a contact told Asia Times Online. Indeed, the US belief that it could in some way get its hands on Pakistan's "red" nuclear buttons, by exploiting unrest for which it is partly responsible, sends alarm bells ringing in Islamabad. Enter, therefore, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom Musharraf is expected to meet "soon" in Riyadh for what the official Pakistani media describe as "important discussions". Musharraf aims to convey to the West - and to the US in particular - through King Abdullah that the Americans would never be allowed to fill any vacuum in Pakistan. Rather, chaos will play directly into the hands of the very militants and extremists the West fears so much and who have ever-growing bases just hours from the capital in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. In a similar manner, King Abdullah's recent groundbreaking visit to Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican was also aimed at warning the West of the dangers of its policies towards the Middle East and the Islamic world. King Abdullah is no fundamentalist, but culturally he is deeply aware of the Arab tribal Islamic ethos in terms of which opponents are made aware of each other's ideas. The monarch expressed his view to the pope that the Judeo-Christian frame of mind over the past 150 years has been a major stumbling block to world peace - especially in the Middle East - and the institution of the Catholic Church is supportive of it. He elaborated that Muslim ruling elites are as a result becoming marginalized from their people and thus the masses could not be controlled. He clearly warned the pope to advise Western leaders that their policies would create an explosive situation in Palestine in the very near future and nobody, not even he (Abdullah), would be able to control it. Musharraf's meeting with Abdullah is a major milestone as it provides the opportunity for Washington to be persuaded against following a policy that pits Musharraf against Bhutto so that space is created for the Americans to meddle. Bhutto makes a move Following her call on Tuesday for Musharraf to step down, Bhutto spoke to cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and leaders of the opposition and even to the premier Islamic party, Jamaat-i-Islami, to sound them out on building a national opposition alliance with her Pakistan People's Party to oust Musharraf. Bhutto has previously called for Musharraf to step down as chief of the army, but she has never before insisted that he should not even be tolerated as a civilian president. A senior leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami told Asia Times Online that Bhutto was not simply making half-hearted efforts, she was very serious and committed to forming an opposition alliance to end the rule that Musharraf began when he staged a coup in October 1999. The tiger that the US is riding is becoming harder to dismount. Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com (Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.) © Copyright 1999 - 2007 Asia Times Online (Holdings), Ltd. ***************************************************************** 39 Asia Times Online: Iran, Pakistan dump India on pipeline Nov 15, 2007 By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI - Even as New Delhi grapples with domestic leftwing opposition to the India-United States civilian nuclear deal, Iran and Pakistan have finalized their section of a US$7.5 billion gas pipeline that Washington opposes. India, Pakistan and Iran are the original partners of the 2,700-kilometer IPI "peace" pipeline that they wanted to complete by 2012 to transfer Iranian natural gas from its South Pars field to India via Pakistan. But, it is apparent now that New Delhi has been dumped, for the time being at least. Last week, Iran's deputy minister in charge of the pipeline, Hojatollah Ganimifard, was quoted by the Iranian Oil Ministry's news service Shana as saying, "The content of the peace pipeline contract has been finalized and all the points prepared by the two sides' legal experts have been re-read and agreed by the two sides [Iran and Pakistan]." He said the two sides would ink the contract in December "without a third partner". And this week, Mokhtar Ahmad, advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, was quoted as saying, "As we expected, the text of the peace pipeline has been made ready for the signing by the two states' heads." Pakistan said that any excess gas that would have been destined for India could be transferred to China. Both Tehran and Islamabad have blamed India of delaying progress of the IPI at the behest of Washington, which does not want nations to deal with Iran due to its bid to pursue an independent nuclear program. Among the issues that New Delhi has raised on the IPI include security guarantees, transit fees it must pay to Pakistan and a price revision clause on which Tehran insists. New Delhi also did not take part in what was meant to be a tripartite conference in Tehran, saying that it needed to sort out bilateral issues with Pakistan first. There is a thought that New Delhi feels it can afford to let the IPI slip due to the discovery of huge gas reserves on India's eastern coast, the Krishna-Godavari basin, that private sector behemoth Reliance Industries plans to begin selling soon. New Delhi has also been unhappy with Tehran reopening price negotiations to a separate liquefied natural gas (LNG)deal signed earlier. India has been looking at Qatar, Algeria and Russia instead to serve its LNG needs. As an alternative, India is also seriously looking at the prospects of taking natural gas from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan and Pakistan, due to the heavy doses of tax breaks that have been proposed to push this $3.5 billion pipeline project that is supported by the US. Although publicly New Delhi has maintained that it stands by the IPI pipeline, the reality is going to be different. "The final deal [on IPI] is not going to happen in the near future as the project is no longer just about energy security, it's more about India's strategic position in the global community," a Foreign Ministry official told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. "The project is in the radar of the Prime Minister's Office and unless there is a clear signal from there, it is unlikely that India's Petroleum Ministry will agree to any final arrangement," he added. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, during a recent visit to India, is believed to have recommended that Delhi not go ahead with the project. And subsequently Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David McCormick told reporters that the US hoped India would not move forward with the pipeline. He said "it would not be the right path during a time the world should be imposing greater discipline on its interactions with Iran". He added that India should meet its energy needs through the nuclear deal with the US that is now stalled in the Indian Parliament. Russia left out There are official and media indications that progress in India-Russia nuclear cooperation has also been deliberately delayed, as New Delhi does not want to upset the US. It was expected that the highlight of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia this week would be a far-reaching civilian nuclear agreement, with Moscow to help India build four reactors to produce electricity. But the deal has been deferred as Washington apparently would not have stood for India deepening its nuclear engagement with Russia at a time when the India-US nuclear pact is stalled. If ratified by India and then by the international Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), the latter agreement will allow US companies lucrative access to India's civilian nuclear development programs. India's official stand is that the NSG still has to debate India's global nuclear status, but this has not prevented New Delhi from dealing with Russia on nuclear matters in the past. Meanwhile, Washington has also made it clear that Indian private sector major Essar Steel's plans to enter the US's iron and steel sector with a $1.6 billion steel plant in Minnesota will be stymied if the company goes ahead with building a refinery in Iran. Recently, pension funds from the US, including Calpers (California Public Employees' Retirement System), wrote to global oil companies, including Indian state-explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the Essar Group, cautioning them about investing in Iran. The funds have indicated that future international sanctions may jeopardize such operations involving Iran, which is an indicator of stronger US action in the pipeline against Iran. Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist. (Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.) ***************************************************************** 40 UPI: Russia considers deploying new missiles - UPI.com Published: Nov. 14, 2007 at 3:22 PM MOSCOW, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Russia is considering deploying its new short-range missile system to Eastern Europe to counter a planned U.S. missile shield, a leading general said. Russia scrapped its previous missile system under the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the United States eliminating intermediate- and short-range missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew from the INF treaty in 2007 stating it no longer served Russian interests. A leading Russian general suggested the move countered U.S. intent to develop a missile shield in Eastern Europe. "Any action triggers a counteraction, the same is true for the deployment of the U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland," Col. Gen. Vladimir Zaritsky said in RIA Novosti Wednesday. Itar-Tass cited Zaritsky as stating the new 250-mile-range Iskander system will re-arm five missile brigades by 2016. The Iskander system is said to be capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. © 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 Russia-InfoCentre: Siemens gained access to Russian nuclear reactors 14.11.2007 The Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) and Siemens have signed a cooperation agreement. The German Company intends to participate in construction of atomic facilities in the Russian Federation and abroad. Rosatom’s specialists have already examined safety of Siemens’s control system at Kalininskaya NPS in Russia and Tyanvan NPS in China. One of the top-priority goals is modernization of active power generating units. Besides, within the framework of the agreement the Russian enterprises may receive new technologies from the German party. source: www.rbcdaily.ru © Garant-InfoCentre, 2004-2007. All rights reserved and protected by the copyright law. Copyright to the content of the Site www.russia-ic.com, including, but not limited to, text, photos, graphic designs, is owned by Garant-InfoCentre. No part of the content may be used without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. About Russia-ic. ***************************************************************** 42 Guardian Unlimited: Russia May Deploy Missiles in Belarus Wednesday November 14, 2007 3:16 PM By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - A senior general warned Wednesday that Russia could deploy short-range missiles to Belarus as part of efforts to counter the planned deployment of U.S. missile defense sites in Europe, Russian news reports said. Col.-Gen. Vladimir Zaritsky, the chief of artillery and rocket forces for the Russian Ground Troops, said that ``any action meets a counteraction, and this is the case with elements of the U.S. missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic,'' the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. The U.S. plan would install a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland - both former Soviet satellites that are now NATO members. It is part of a wider missile shield involving defenses in California and Alaska that the United States says are to defend against any long-range missile attack from countries such as North Korea or Iran. Russia strongly opposes the idea, saying Iran is decades away from developing missile technology that could threaten Europe or North America, and it says the U.S. bases will undermine Russia's own missile deterrent force. President Vladimir Putin and other officials have warned that Russia could target the planned U.S. defense sites in Europe with its missiles. Zaritsky was responding to his Belarusian counterpart who said that Russia could provide Belarus with its new short-range Iskander missiles. ``Why not? Given adequate conditions and an adequate Belarusian opposition,'' Zaritsky said. The Iskander is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, a pariah in the West for his relentless crackdown on dissent and free media, has relied on Russia's support and the two nations have developed close political and military ties. Iskander's current version has a range of 190 miles; a new version equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking targets at a distance of 310 miles has been tested earlier this year, ITAR-Tass said. Zaritsky said the upgraded version would become operational in 2009. The deployment of Iskander missiles in Belarus, which borders Poland, would likely put planned U.S. missile defenses there within range; a site in the Czech Republic would likely be out of reach. Russian news reports also quoted Zaritsky as saying that Iskander's range could be extended beyond 310 miles if Moscow decides to opt out of a Cold War-era treaty that banned intermediate-range missiles. Putin and other officials have warned that Russia could pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a landmark document signed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan in 1987 that banned the entire class of medium-range missiles. ``Iskander complies fully with conditions of the INF Treaty, but if a political decision is made to withdraw from the treaty, we will improve its capability, including range,'' Zaritsky said. ``Whatever the Motherland has to say.'' The statements from Zaritsky follows the Russian parliament's vote last week to suspend Moscow's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a key arms control treaty limiting the deployment of tank, aircraft and other heavy conventional weapons across the continent. Putin announced the intention to halt its obligations under the treaty pointing at NATO's failure to ratify its amended version. The legislation still needs approval in the upper house, which is a virtual certainty, before it goes to Putin for his signature. It would take effect Dec. 12. Tensions over the U.S. missile defense plans and arms control agreements have strained Russia's ties with the West, drawing comparisons with Cold War times. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 43 Telegraph: Russia piles pressure on EU over missile shield - By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow Last Updated: 2:47am GMT 15/11/2007 Iskander missiles could be deployed in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad Russia threatened to site short-range nuclear missiles in a second location on the European Union's border yesterday if the United States refuses to abandon plans to erect a missile defence shield. In what appeared to be a fresh attempt to divide the West, a senior army general said that Iskander missiles could be deployed in Belarus if US proposals to place 10 interceptor missiles and a radar in Poland and the Czech Republic go ahead. "Any action meets a counter-action, and this is the case with elements of the US missile defence in Poland and the Czech Republic," said Gen Vladimir Zaritsky, the chief of artillery and rocket forces for Russia's ground troops. In itself, the warning is unlikely to alarm Western governments. Nato brushed off the suggestion yesterday. "Any discussion of targeting Western Europe with missiles, from any party, is a) anachronistic; b) unwelcome and c) unhelpful," said James Appathurai, a Nato spokesman in Brussels. Russia, which insists that the missile shield is a plot to undermine its nuclear deterrents, has already said that Iskander missiles could be deployed in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, which lies in EU territory. President Vladimir Putin has also threatened to retrain Russia's nuclear arsenal on targets within Europe. The creation of a second launch pad in Belarus, however, would allow Russia to place "tactical and psychological" pressure on neighbouring Poland, where public support for the proposed shield is low. Analysts say that Mr Putin hopes to turn Europeans against the project by making it clear that they - rather than the Americans - would suffer the consequence of any nuclear confrontation. Washington claims that the shield is aimed not at Russia but at states such as Iran which it accuses of seeking to develop nuclear weapons that could one day strike the West. The United States has embarked on a charm offensive to win Mr Putin's support. Senior American delegations visit Moscow regularly, while President George W Bush plied Mr Putin with lobster at an unprecedented summit in Kennebunkport, Maine, over the summer. But Washington has shown little sign of accepting Russian proposals to relocate the shields and the Kremlin appears to be losing patience. Mr Putin has already said that Russia could pull out of a Cold War treaty forbidding it from building intermediate-range nuclear missiles capable of hitting Europe. The Iskander missile has a range of 190 miles, although a new version with a 310-mile range is due to enter production in 2009. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2007 | Terms & ***************************************************************** 44 Daily Mail: Military vehicle carrying nuclear warheads got lost on way from Scotland to Reading By SARAH BRUCE - More by this author » Last updated at 17:49pm on 14th November 2007 Comments A high-security delivery of nuclear warheads to the south of England turned to farce when vehicles in the MOD convoy got lost on Scotland's roads. Three military trucks, each of which can carry two of the plutonium and uranium weapons, left the Royal Navy Armament Depot at Coulport, Argyll, under cover of darkness on Monday night. Escorted and heavily protected by MOD police, Marines, a safety truck and fire engine, the convoy was headed for an Atomics Weapons Establishment at Burghfield near Reading. But according to campaigners who followed the journey through Scotland, at least one of the vehicles took a wrong turning and ended up miles away from where they should have been. Potentially, the blunder meant crucial decontamination equipment on board the safety truck was up to half an hour away from the warheads, without a police escort, on minor roads near Stirling. Anna-Linnea Rundberg, who followed the convoy, said: "These horrific warheads should not be transported on our roads at all. "The risks, including the admitted risk of a nuclear explosion in a serious crash or as the result of a terrorist attack, are simply too high. "However, the very least we should be able to expect is that they keep such journeys to a minimum by taking the correct route and that they keep all the safety equipment with the convoy." The convoy's journey started at Coulport - eight miles from Faslane - at about 10pm on Monday night, when the vehicles left the base where Britain's nuclear weapons are stored and maintained. The convoy was split into two groups - the front group contained three military trucks equipped for carrying nuclear weapons and explosives, police escort, Royal Marines and a fire engine. The second part of the convoy, travelling a mile or so behind, consisted of a support truck, a coach and a tow truck. The support truck contains spare parts and tools to deal with mechanical problems - and also, vitally, the decontamination unit in case of an accident or fire which releases nuclear material. Miss Rundberg and friend Adam Conway, both in their 20s and members of campaign and monitoring group Nukewatch, were alerted to the movement of the warheads, and began following the convoy. They trailed the vehicles from Balloch onto the M9 on the outskirts of Stirling, where the drivers were due a rest stop. However, instead of following the quickest route, the safety truck continued south down the M9 for several miles before making an about-turn at a double roundabout and heading back into the city. Mr Conway, 28, explained: "The vehicles are quite spread out on the motorway and it was dark and foggy, so we couldn't see whether the front part of the convoy was still there. "But even if it was just up ahead, it means the whole nuclear convoy was wandering about unnecessarily. "I think it's more likely that they were separated - and that should never happen. The support vehicle should never be separated from the warheads for more than a couple of miles. "Even just an ordinary crash, especially with any sort of fire involved, would need the decontamination gear - the smoke could contain particles, the water used to put the fire out could become contaminated, or there could be gases released. "There are only two possible scenarios here and both exposed the public to totally unnecessary risk." The warheads require to be checked every so often and batch samples are taken from Coulport to Burghfield and returned to Coulport after servicing. This particular convoy was following the "live run" route to Burghfield, suggesting it was loaded with nuclear matter, and not merely on an "empty" training run. After its apparently unplanned detour of about 25 miles, the safety truck stopped for a rest at Springkerse Industrial Estate in Stirling, before continuing its journey to Burghfield, where the convoy arrived on Tuesday evening. The MOD yesterday refused to comment on any aspect of the incident, but the campaigners' reports further stirred up a political storm over the Trident issue in Scotland. First Minister Alex Salmond has always made it clear that he is against nuclear missiles being housed in Scotland. And the anti-nuclear lobby was further fuelled by a seven-year MOD "incident list" uncovered earlier this year, showing 67 separate accidents, safety faults and failures in the nuclear convoys. Green Party leader Robin Harper said: "I think this highlights our concerns. "Although this may have been a relatively minor incident, things can and do go wrong. "It's not just the fact of a possibility of terrorist attack, but more that accidents do happen and always will. "On a simple risk analysis, we would say that this type of material shouldn't be on Scottish roads." ©2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd · Terms & Conditions · Privacy ***************************************************************** 45 AFP: Top US diplomat to visit Pakistan to seek end to turmoil - by Lachlan Carmichael Tue Nov 13, 4:51 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US diplomat John Negroponte will travel to Pakistan this week to urge an end to emergency rule, becoming the most senior US official to visit since the turmoil erupted, a spokesman said Tuesday. Negroponte will meet senior Pakistani officials when he arrives at the end of the week to press President Pervez Musharraf to lift the state of emergency imposed on November 3, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. Casey told reporters he expected Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state and number two in the State Department, to echo demands for a return to constitutional rule made by President George W. Bush and others. "We continue to want to see elections move forward, and move forward in a free, fair and transparent manner," Casey said. "We want to see the emergency decree lifted." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday that Bush "thinks we need to lift the emergency rule in order to have free and fair elections." Musharraf must also shed his army uniform "since the president (Bush) thinks you can't be both president and the chief of the army," Perino said. Casey did not confirm whether Negroponte would meet Musharraf when he visits Islamabad following his current tour of Africa. In an interview with The New York Times, Musharraf rejected calls by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to rescind emergency rule. "I totally disagree with her," Musharraf was quoted as saying. "The emergency is to ensure elections go in an undisturbed manner." He said Sunday that parliamentary elections would be held by January 9. The US government argues that the push for democracy is the best way to ensure stability in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed Muslim country that is a frontline US ally in the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Casey dismissed the idea that Negroponte is a special envoy, after The New York Times said Bush was sending a special envoy to personally tell Musharraf that Washington wants emergency rule lifted ahead of January elections. The newspaper, citing unnamed administration officials, did not identify the envoy or indicate when the emissary would travel. Publicly the Bush administration continues to support Musharraf, seen as the best deterrent against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. "Nobody is ready to cut him off at the knees yet," an unnamed US official told the Times. But many administration members worry that Musharaff's moves are eroding his support so badly that he could be forced to surrender power, the official told the Times. The United States and Britain had quietly supported power-sharing talks between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, the former premier and Musharraf political rival, in a bid to unite two pro-Western leaders in the battle against militants. The White House called Tuesday called for dialogue among feuding political figures but Bhutto, whose party is the largest opposition group in Pakistan, called on Musharraf to quit as president and vowed never to serve under him. Bhutto also called on the international community to "stop backing the man whose dictatorship threatens to engulf this nuclear-armed state in chaos." Casey said it was unlikely that Negroponte, who is only scheduled to visit Islamabad, would see Bhutto, who is now under house arrest in the city of Lahore, while gently calling for her release. "Clearly we want to see her be able to move freely and conduct her activities as she sees fit," he added. Casey also called for curbs to be removed on independent media and for the release of other opposition politicians. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 46 AFP: US has no good option in a Pakistan nuclear 'nightmare' - by Lachlan Carmichael Wed Nov 14, 1:56 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US armed forces are virtually powerless to prevent Pakistan's nuclear arsenal from falling into Islamist hands if the political crisis in Islamabad spins out of control, analysts warned. Instead, they said, Washington can do little but help to resolve the crisis and preserve its strong ties with Pakistan's pro-Western military elite, whether or not General Pervez Musharraf stays in power. "There's no good military option at all," Daniel Markey, a former US government policy planner for South Asia, told AFP on Tuesday in Washington. It would be an "incredibly ugly scenario," he said, for US forces to try to find and secure the nuclear sites in the event of an Islamist takeover because they lack the intelligence needed to do so in such a large country. "Having some certainty of finding them is just, I think, out of the realm of reality," said Markey, a former State Department official who is now at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank. Averting such a "nightmare scenario," he added, "means having a good working relationship" with the army, as has been the case for years. "We shouldn't kid ourselves that we can work with Pakistan without working with their army and that doesn't mean we have to back a dictator." If the US government decides to drop Musharraf, he warned, it will have to be careful to avoid burning ties with the institution he heads. "That's the difficult balancing act." Musharraf's deputy in the army, General Ashfaq Kiyani, would be his obvious successor but the analyst said it is not certain that such a transition would go smoothly, even though he has reasonably good ties with Washington. Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 bloodless coup and who became a frontline US ally in the war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks, insists there is nothing to worry about. In an interview Tuesday with Fox News radio, Musharraf said Pakistan's nuclear weapons are under "total custodial controls," citing security measures in place since 2000. "We created a strategic planning division and we have a national command authority which is overall organization institution into development and employment of strategic assets," he said. Pakistan has amassed an estimated 50 nuclear weapons since detonating its first atomic devices in May 1998. Leonard Spector, deputy director of the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, doubted there was much of a military option. "The idea that somehow we're going to step in, I think that's a very remote possibility," Spector said from his office in Washington. And for now, he said, the US government is probably seeking reassurance from Musharraf that his chain of command is in order or that it endures if there is an orderly transfer of power. "Only if there's a complete breakdown in society, would there be an issue. Even then, I think you'll find a cadre, a very loyal military who protect the assets because it's the patrimony of the country," he said. Andrew Koch, a defense and security analyst with the consulting firm Scribe Strategies and Advisors, said Pakistan's atomic weapons are for now in the hards of a "very professional, pro-Western elite" operating a secure network. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which are making inroads in northwestern Pakistan, would have trouble seizing materiel in a raid because the fissile weapons cores are held separate from the weapons, he said. "You'd have to knock down two facilities to get both parts," he added. The military personnel involved in the nuclear program are also closely vetted for sympathies with the Islamists, he added. However, he said some scientists associated with the nuclear program are suspected of harboring extremist sentiments and could leak secrets to terrorists or anti-Western regimes, even if they do not smuggle out weapons. Such a risk would increase the longer political instability lasts, he said. The reputation of Pakistan, the world's only known nuclear-armed Muslim country, has been tarnished with the sale of atomic secrets on a global black market headed by its disgraced chief nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan confessed in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. He was pardoned by Musharraf but remains under virtual house arrest in Islamabad. In the longer term, Koch feared that Pakistan's professional military class could be compromised if the country becomes increasingly pro-Taliban and anti-Western. In the ultimate "doomsday" or "nightmare" scenario, he feared that the Pakistani military would see its loyalities split if the government falls and Islamists and other factions struggle to fill the void. He said "there's always the ultimate option of trying some sort of raid to snatch the weapons" but this would be difficult because "we don't have absolute certainty we know where all of Pakistan's weapons are kept." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 47 Hanford News: Hanford, PNNL changed economy, paved way for growth This story was published Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer No one could have imagined the change that was in store for the tiny farming communities near the confluence of the Yakima, Columbia and Snake rivers when Lt. Col. Franklin Matthias flew over Dec. 22, 1942. The region's economy was based on farms and small supply and grain shipment towns. Pasco, a railroad town, had 3,900 people. Kennewick, Richland, White Bluffs and Hanford combined had fewer residents. When Matthias looked out the window of a small airplane as it flew along the Columbia River, he saw an area with few people and an abundant water supply. It was the perfect place for a massive, secret World War II construction project to produce plutonium for an atomic bomb. The region would never be the same. The nuclear reservation would be responsible for expanding what might have remained largely a farming economy to include an enclave of scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland with more Ph.D.s than the University of Washington in Seattle. It would lead to the first classes being offered to educate Hanford workers at an institution that now is a four-year university, Washington State University Tri-Cities. The site would draw high-tech firms to the Tri-Cities to win Hanford contracts or to benefit from its well-educated work force. Researchers already here would start their own companies, developing products such as new cancer treatments and new medical imaging systems. The nuclear reservation also would provide steady jobs with above-average benefits and paychecks to three generations of workers, and counting. After World War II, Hanford's future appeared to be in limbo. But two years after Hanford plutonium was used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, the federal government announced a massive expansion of plutonium production at Hanford. The Cold War had begun. Plutonium production or other nuclear work would continue through much of the 1980s. That era also included an important milestone for what is now Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Lab research initially supported Hanford, with science focused on developing nuclear weapons and understanding more about how radionuclides affect health and the environment. But after Battelle took over laboratory operations in 1965, work expanded to include a wide variety of disciplines, and the lab has helped grow 100 private spin-off companies. At Hanford, work took a dramatic turn in 1989 with the end of the Cold War. The workers' new task was to clean up the massive radiological and chemical contamination left by wartime efforts. Some grumbled that there was no future in being "janitors." But once again, few correctly predicted what was to come. In the late '80s, an industrial cleanup that cost $10 million would have been considered huge, said Roy Gephart, author of Hanford - A Conversation about Nuclear Waste and Cleanup. This year alone, nearly $2 billion will be spent on Hanford cleanup. Hanford had "the motherlode of radioactive contamination in the Western Hemisphere" and complex radiological and chemical mixtures, he said. Eighteen years into cleanup, it's certain that more years will be spent cleaning up the nuclear reservation than were spent producing plutonium. Progress is being made. Pumpable liquids have been removed from 149 leak-prone tanks that held millions of gallons of waste underground in central Hanford. Near the river, 2,300 tons of corroding highly radioactive fuel have been removed from leak-prone basins. The Department of Energy is pursuing a plan to go after the worst risks to the environment and also shrink the size of the site to about 75 square miles in central Hanford, both reducing overhead costs and reducing contaminants along the Columbia River, the lifeblood of the Northwest. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 Hanford News: Hanford budget included in continuing resolution This story was published Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 the Herald staff Congress has moved to extend a continuing resolution until Dec. 14 that allows Hanford to operate in the absence of a Department of Energy appropriation for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. In the meantime, Hanford will continue operations at fiscal year 2007 funding levels. The extension of the continuing resolution has been tacked onto the defense appropriations bill approved by Congress and sent to the president. The original continuing resolution that included the Hanford budget would have expired Friday. The House approved a Department of Energy budget for fiscal year 2008, but the Senate version only has been passed out of the Appropriations Committee and has not been considered by the full Senate. Under the 2007 budget, construction at Hanford's vitrification plant would continue at a funding level of $690 million. However the 2008 budget approved by the House would drop that to $590 million. The Senate version would restore funding to $690 million. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 49 Ventura County Star: Future of lab site uncertain : Simi Valley : Some want the land as open space, but they're skeptical of the property's post-cleanup safety By Teresa Rochester (Contact) Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff A deal between Boeing, owner of the Santa Susana Field Lab site, and state regulators would require Boeing to clean the site "to levels acceptable for residential use" and that protect nearby residents. The lay of the land The shaded areas are sections of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory that are owned all or in part by Boeing. Those parcels might be turned into parkland under a complicated deal with state regulators after Boeing cleans up the site, which was used for nuclear and rocket research for decades. For a virtual tour of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site and a photo slide show, log on to VenturaCountyStar.com Site's uses The former site of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory occupies 2,850 acres in the hills of Simi Valley. Boeing Co. owns most of the land, while NASA owns 450 acres. Since 1956, the Field Lab has been used for various research, development and test projects by several U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense and NASA. Deer roam in the shadows of hulking metal skeletons once used as rocket engine test stands, cleaned with chemicals now believed dangerous to people. Nearly 70 bird species live in an area where a nuclear reactor partially melted down. Groves of coastal live oak, southern willow scrub and native grasses cover the 2,850 acres of the hilltop Santa Susana Field Laboratory, where toxic chemicals were burned in an open air pit. The laboratory, plagued with chemical and radioactive contamination from decades as a rocket engine and nuclear test site, is also a place of immense natural beauty. The acreage may become parkland once it is cleaned, as part of a complicated deal between its owner, Boeing Co., and state regulatory agencies. The deal would require Boeing to clean the site to "levels acceptable for residential use and that protect individuals living in the vicinity of the property." Open-space advocates say it would be an important addition to the inventory of preserved land stretching from Santa Clarita to Malibu. At the same time, some residents question if the public will be able to use the land with confidence after it is cleaned up. "It's a critical link, really in terms of linkages," said Joe Edmiston, the executive director of the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy. "If we can add it we'll have hard-wired a wildlife corridor and hiking corridor that's 40 miles." The Field Laboratory was once like a town, with roads snaking around the property and clusters of buildings, some of which have been removed as part of the decade-long cleanup effort at the site. Edmiston envisions camping on the site and maybe an education center for schoolchildren or nature center in the areas where buildings once stood. "It's really kind of a blessing," he said. "I would like to see most of it kept as open space." Cameron Smyth's vision for the land is maintaining it as natural open space. "I don't envision it becoming soccer fields or gymnasiums and softball fields," the Republican assemblyman from Santa Clarita said. Joint powers legislation While the land's future as parkland is still tentative, Smyth has readied legislation for introduction next season that would create a State Park Joint Powers Authority. Members of the JPA would include the state parks department, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the cities of Simi Valley and Los Angeles, and Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The group would be responsible for developing boundaries for the new park. It would also work to include properties adjacent to the Boeing land as part of the park. NASA owns about 450 acres of the Field Laboratory. If it is decided the land is no longer needed, it will be turned over to the U.S. General Services Agency for disposal. As part of the tentative agreement between Boeing Co. and the state, the aerospace company will "facilitate a no-cost acquisition of the NASA property," so it, too, can be preserved as open space. Land would be released for public use in phases after it is cleaned and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control signs off. Some short-term work will be completed by 2017, while a long-term work schedule needs to be in place by that year, a DTSC spokeswoman said. Money also will be needed to get the joint powers authority up and running. Smyth said he is working with the state Finance Department to get funds earmarked for the effort in the coming budget. He said it would be challenging because of the state's projected budget shortfalls, but he was hopeful there would be bipartisan support for the JPA. Mary Wiesbrock, the executive director of Save Open Space, described the Santa Susana Field Laboratory property as a major corridor for wildlife traversing the region. The Agoura Hills resident is a veteran of battles to preserve open space, having played a key role in protecting from development Ahmanson Ranch in Las Virgenes Canyon. But as pleased as Wiesbrock is about the potential for more open space, she is leery about the land's safety. "It's beautiful open space," she said. "It just needs to be cleaned up properly." She is not alone. Dennis Lane of Thousand Oaks is skeptical about the Field Laboratory's future as a park. "From what I know about the contaminants there, I think I'd stay away from it," he said. Boeing's commitment to turn the site over to the state once it is cleaned is contingent on the passage of legislation next year that would void portions of a bill signed into law last month. The law prohibits the transfer or sale of the Field Laboratory until the state toxics department certifies it has been cleaned to stringent standards reserved for federal Superfund sites. But instead of using Superfund standard requirements, Boeing would clean the site to a standard acceptable for suburban residential use. The specifics of the cleanup levels will be part of a binding agreement among Boeing, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the state Resources Agency. DTSC is tasked with overseeing the cleanup of chemical contaminants, and that would not change under the forthcoming agreement. However, the department also would become responsible for signing off on the cleanup of radiological contamination. Residential standard cleanup Jim Pappas, DTSC's project manager for the Field Laboratory, said the department would coordinate with EPA to ensure both the chemical and radiological contamination are cleaned to a suburban residential standard, which is more stringent than what is acceptable for open space. Smyth and Edmiston said they had confidence in the level of cleanup that will be demanded and closely scrutinized by the public. "There is no park professional that is going to put a campground or anything on a place that isn't clean," Edmiston said, adding the cleanup would likely take years. "We have no motivation to want to put anybody in harm's way." If the transformation of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory comes to pass, it would not be the first Cold War era facility to undergo such a change. In Colorado, parts of Rocky Flats, a nuclear weaponry facility, have become a National Wildlife Refuge. There is currently no money to open the former Superfund site to the public. That's fine with watchdogs such as LeRoy Moore. "In my view, it's essentially a local hazard forever because of the long half life of plutonium," said Moore, a consultant with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. "I don't think anyone should go there." The site was cleaned up to a range of risk that is less stringent than that proposed for the Santa Susana Field Lab. Steve Berendzen, the refuge manager with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency hopes to put in trails that would connect the Field Lab property to nearby established trails. In Simi Valley, Diane Bentz, of Save Open Space Santa Susana Mountains, said she would feel confident using the Field Laboratory as a place for recreation. Bentz wouldn't want to live there, she said, but "would I want to go there and hike with my family? Yes I would." Comments Posted by JohnGC on November 14, 2007 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal) Sounds like the future of the lab site is CERTAIN. © 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 50 Knoxville News Sentinel: DOE to extend OR cleanup pact Spokesman: Contract will be revamped and run through 2011 By Frank Munger (Contact) Wednesday, November 14, 2007 OAK RIDGE - The U.S. Department of Energy plans to restructure Bechtel Jacobs Co.'s Oak Ridge cleanup contract and extend it through 2011, a DOE spokesman confirmed Tuesday. Some of the biggest cleanup projects in Oak Ridge have fallen far behind schedule, including the decommissioning of the K-25 uranium-enrichment facility, and that's the primary reason for reworking the contract. DOE and Bechtel Jacobs, the environmental manager since 1998, have been in discussions for months regarding the future work, but DOE had declined to give specifics regarding the contract talks or confirm whether Bechtel Jacobs would continue in its present role. "There are still a lot of details that have to be worked out in coming weeks, but we are proposing a restructuring of the existing contract that would establish a contract 'end date' of Dec. 31, 2011," said John Shewairy DOE's public affairs chief in Oak Ridge. Meanwhile, DOE intends to solicit bids on another cleanup contract for work beyond 2011, but there is no timeline yet for that procurement, Shewairy said. That future contract would include the agency's plans to demolish more than 200 old buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the Integrated Facilities Disposition Program. "That's the direction we're moving in right now," Shewairy said. Under the contract signed in 2003, Bechtel Jacobs and its subcontracting teams were supposed to complete a series of major cleanup projects by Sept. 30, 2008. Those plans went awry, however, because of budget shortfalls and a series of setbacks. The K-25 project was put on hold and redesigned to enhance safety after a worker fell through a floor in early 2006. "We want to address the high-risk work over the next four years," Shewairy said. Bechtel Jacobs reportedly is seeking money for some of the fees lost because of project delays. Shewairy acknowledged that compensation was a part of DOE's ongoing contract discussions with Bechtel Jacobs, but he did not provide details. "There's an enormous amount of work that remains to be done in the finance aspect of this," he said. Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, confirmed that the contract discussions are under way, but he referred additional questions to DOE. Shewairy said the restructured contract would include most work covered by the existing contract and would not add any new projects. One change is that Bechtel Jacobs will not be required to demolish the K-27 building, which is adjacent to the mammoth K-25 complex. "All the high-risk equipment would be out of K-27 (by the end of 2011), and it would be in a safe, stable condition ready to be brought down," Shewairy said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 51 Knoxville News Sentinel: Power restored at Y-12 after equipment failure News Sentinel staff Updated 02:38 p.m., November 14, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Power was out for a large part of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant this morning due to an equipment failure, a plant spokesman said. Bill Wilburn of BWXT Y-12, the government's operating contractor, said power was restored by 11 a.m. and operations had returned to normal by lunchtime. The power outage occurred when a static line fell on top of a 116,000-volt power line, tripping a large breaker in the switchyard, Wilburn said. "There were no injuries or damage to any equipment other than the equipment that failed and the static line," the spokesman said. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. Scripps Newspaper Group — Online © 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 52 Knoxville News Sentinel: Spy story restokes Oak Ridge memories By Frank Munger (Contact) Wednesday, November 14, 2007 The news this week that George Koval - a Soviet spy and possibly one of the most important atomic spies in history - may have worked in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project has generated a buzz of interest locally. It also revived stories from those wartime years and the intense security in place at Oak Ridge and other sites involved in the A-bomb project. Oak Ridge historian Bill Wilcox, a chemist who came to Oak Ridge in 1943 and worked at Y-12 during the war years, shared an anecdote and, in the process, the tenor of the times. While working at Y-12, where he was involved in chemical separations of uranium, Wilcox was summoned one day to an administrative office for unknown reasons. Wilcox doesn't recall the name or title of the plainclothes gentleman he met, but once behind closed doors the man asked the young chemist if he would be willing to provide help to assure that the vital work under way at Oak Ridge continued and succeeded. Being a loyal sort and fully engaged in the wartime effort, Wilcox, of course, said yes. "What we'd like you to do is keep your eyes and ears open for any information that you might come across whereas somebody might be asking prying questions or expressing political concerns that bother you," the man told Wilcox. Wilcox said all Y-12 employees had been sternly instructed not to be too curious about what was going on at the wartime facilities and not to try to get into buildings where they had not been granted access. After completing his discourse, the man handed Wilcox a stack of envelopes and blank three-by-five index cards. The envelopes had been rubber-stamped to be sent to ACME Credit Co., with a Knoxville address. He was told to write the names of any suspicious individuals he encountered on the index card and to mail an envelope once a week, whether he had anything to report or not. Wilcox dutifully mailed an envelope each Friday, but it always contained a blank index card. He said he never had reason to report a co-worker for any indiscretions. "It was a sensible thing to do," Wilcox said. "Everybody was so aware of the sacrifices that were being made by brothers and sisters and cousins overseas. We read about it in the (Knoxville) News-Sentinel every night and in the Journal every morning. Everybody was so involved. We would do everything we could do to help in … that wartime culture." Years later, in the late 1950s, Wilcox was attending one of the early meetings of the 1943 Club - a social group formed by people who came to Oak Ridge to work on the Manhattan Project. Someone stood up during a meeting of about 100 people and told an anecdote remarkably similar to Wilcox's story, and then he asked if anybody else had been recruited in such a way. Wilcox said about a quarter of those present raised their hands. "We all had a big laugh about that," he said. "We were doing that as individuals. We had no idea that anybody else was doing the same thing." --- Although he never reported anyone after being enlisted for help in the counter-espionage effort, Wilcox recalled a time earlier when a worker disappeared after making political comments. "A bunch of us all went to lunch together, and we were talking about mud and girls and all that," Wilcox said. One of the lunch-goers, however, changed the topic, he said. "He started talking about communism and which was better," Wilcox said. "The way I remember it, he was really knocking our approach compared to communism. It was a thing that made us uncomfortable. It was obvious he felt it was a better way to go." Wilcox said he didn't know the guy well and did not report him to authorities. But apparently somebody else did. Soon thereafter, the communist sympathizer was not to be found - at least not in Oak Ridge. "After the fact, we wondered what in the (heck) happened to that guy," Wilcox said. Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 53 Knoxville News Sentinel: ORNL reactor restarted; maintenance work successful Frank Munger, News Sentinel Updated 11:09 a.m., November 14, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Oak Ridge National Laboratory restarted the High Flux Isotope Reactor today for the first time since Oct. 2, when it was shut down for its most significant maintenance operation of the year. Ron Crone, director of ORNL's Research Reactors Division, said lab workers accomplished all of the planned activities during the five-week outage and restarted the reactor on schedule. The reactor was restarted at 10 percent power this morning while workers did some additional surveys of equipment, and Crone said the reactor would probably reach full power - 85 megawatts - by lunchtime. One of the main accomplishments was testing the reactor's new cold source to make sure it was operating as expected and then reinstalling and configuring a neutron guide, which delivers neutrons from the reactor's core to experiment stations. Crone said a series of preventive maintenance tasks were performed on the reactor's electrical systems, and one of the four motors that support the primary pump was sent to TVA's nuclear shop at Muscle Shoals, Ala,, for refurbishment. The High Flux Isotope Reactor is considered one of the world's top research reactors, and combined with the Spallation Neutron Source, an accelerator-based research center a couple of miles away, it makes ORNL the leading site for materials research using neutrons. More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 54 NAS: Project: Development and Implementation of a Cleanup Technology Roadmap for DOE's Office of Environmental Management Project Title: PIN: NRSB-O-06-03-A Major Unit: Division on Earth and Life Studies Sub Unit: Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board RSO: Crowley, Kevin Subject/Focus Area: Environmental Issue Project Scope A National Academies committee will provide technical and strategic advice to the DOE-EM's Office of Engineering and Technology to support the development and implementation of its cleanup technology roadmap. Specifically, the study will identify: o Principal science and technology gaps and their priorities for the cleanup program based on previous National Academies reports, updated and extended to reflect current site conditions and EM priorities and input form key external groups, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Environmental Protection Agency, and state regulatory agencies. o Strategic opportunities to leverage research and development from other DOE programs (e.g., in the Office of Science, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and the National Nuclear Security Administration), other federal agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency), universities, and the private sector. o Core capabilities at the national laboratories that will be needed to address EM's long-term, high-risk cleanup challenges, especially at the four laboratories located at the large DOE sites (Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Savannah River National Laboratory). o The infrastructure at these national laboratories and at EM sites that should be maintained to support research, development, and bench and pilot scale demonstrations of technologies for the EM cleanup program, especially in radiochemistry. The committee will provide findings and recommendations, as appropriate, to EM on maintenance of core capabilities and infrastructure at national laboratories and EM sites to address its long-term, high-risk cleanup challenges. The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The approximate start date for the project is February 1, 2007. A report is expected to be released at the end of the project in approximately 16 months. Project Duration: 16 months Provide FEEDBACK on this project. Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry or to schedule an appointment to view project materials available to the public. Committee Membership Meetings Meeting 1 - 03/12/2007 Meeting 2 - 06/13/2007 Meeting 3 - 08/27/2007 Meeting 4 - 10/31/2007 Meeting 5 - 01/08/2008 Reports Reports having no URL can be seen at the Public Access Records Office Email: info@nas.edu ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************