***************************************************************** 11/16/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.270 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: New York Times: Connecting the Energy Dots - Dot Earth - 2 US: Daily Campus: Nuclear Fission Deserves Its Day In The Sun - 3 BBC NEWS: China's bid for world domination NUCLEAR REACTORS 4 The Hindu: Left not to allow N-deal operationalisation without appro 5 US: LegalNewsline: Six AGs write NRC 6 The Calgary Sun: U.S. critics slam nuclear projects 7 US: NRC: NRC Issues Fy 2007 Performance and Accountability Report 8 Platts: Lithuania aims to sign Ignalina pact before Christmas 9 US: Rutland Herald: NRC: Petition was premature action 10 IHT: Asian countries cautiously promote nuclear power, plan massive 11 US: baltimoresun.com: CEG seeks Md. permit to build 3rd reactor -- 12 US: Brattleboro Reformer: VY closing funds not available until 2032 13 US: BBJ: New reactor sought for Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant - 14 US: NRC: Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Supplementary Notice of 15 US: Reuters: Five US states seek nuclear relicensing changes | 16 US: Vermont Public Radio: Vermont joins states seeking changes to nu 17 US: Vermont Public Radio: Vermont Yankee decommissioning funds insuf 18 US: Vermont Public Radio: Massachusetts nuke workers question Vermon 19 US: JS Online: Accord excludes nuclear energy 20 US: Dothan Eagle: Farley says it is taking action to correct safety 21 US: NRC: Past, Present, and Future: Reflections on the State of the 22 The Telegraph: Left budges, but keeps N-veto NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 US: [DU-WATCH] Articles on detoxing body from radiation NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 24 Pahrump Valley Times: Chief engineer defends Yucca design 25 msnbc.com: Did Richardson Lie About Yucca? - 26 msnbc.com: Richardson Camp Responds On Yucca - First Read - 27 Business Gazette: Germany to pay some Thorp costs 28 US: NEWS.com.au: Australia awash with uranium | 29 US: Rocky Mountain News: State aims to join fight over radioactive w 30 US: cbs4denver.com: State Sides With Waste Biz On Radioactive Waste 31 US: Gallup Independent: Energy Corridor Draft EIS available - 32 US: Gazette.com: Ruling against radioactive waste is unlawful, mill 33 US: Gallup Independent - Udall: Navajo ?cancer-free? before uranium PEACE 34 IAF Training for Iran Strike with Mini-Nukes 35 Iran: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Circulates Latest Report 36 Nov 17 Protests Planned to Oppose Missile Defense 37 IPS-English IRAN: Nuke Watchdog Report No Brake on Sanctions 38 [NYTr] Iran Disputes Referral to Security Cncl of Nuclear Pgm 39 [NYTr] The Man Who Bombed Hiroshima 40 AFP: Russia abandons key Cold War arms treaty 41 Guardian Unlimited: Brazil Eyes Nuclear Sub to Defend Oil US DEPT. OF ENERGY 42 DOE: Secretary Bodman Addresses Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas 43 DOE: Energy Secretary Bodman in Turkey to Highlight Importance of 44 DOE: Turkish-U.S. Business Council 45 Hanford News: State, feds pause negotiations over Hanford cleanup ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 New York Times: Connecting the Energy Dots - Dot Earth - Climate Change and Sustainability - November 16, 2007, 8:27 am By Andrew C. Revkin Andrew C. Revkin’s search for his mountaintop coal sources. (Credit: Appalachian Voices) One of the biggest challenges for anyone seeking to change energy habits is the invisibility of power sources. Just plug something in and it works, whether the electricity comes from an antiquated boiler heated with coal stripped from a mountaintop, or from a nuclear reactor, or a windmill or a dam. Now some environmental campaigners are trying to reveal hidden connections using the Web, with the hope that awareness will change consumer’s habits or prompt them to press power providers to clean up. In the last few days, three online tools have been launched, showing links between utilities and Appalachian mountaintop coal mines, a list of proposed coal-burning plants and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from thousands of power plants and utilities around the world. The global database, charting emissions from 50,000 plants owned by 4,000 companies, is called Carbon Monitoring for Action, with maps and search tools at carma.org. The site, created by the nonprofit Center for Global Development, is billed as “the world’s best place for power-plant voyeurism.” Plants are color coded (red is bad) based on the amount carbon dioxide emissions created per unit of electricity. On the map, China is nearly hidden by a cluster of red balloons. The Sierra Club has created a New Coal Plant Tracker, a state-by-state guide to where new coal-burning power plants are planned, indicating the efficiency of the design, the anticipated amount of electricity and carbon dioxide emissions, and other information. Finally, the nonprofit group Appalachian Voices has created ilovemountains.org/myconnection, which allows visitors to type in a ZIP code and find out if their utility sells electricity produced with coal mined from mountaintops in that region. On Google Maps, lines connect the dots from your utility to coal-burning power plants (which are usually owned by another company) and then on to the coalfields from which the fuel was extracted. In my case, I punched in my ZIP, 10524, and up came the Danskammer Generating Station, a coal-burning plant down the Hudson River, owned by Dynergy Power, which sells electricity to Central Hudson, my utility. A red line on a Google map runs southwest to a surface mine in Yolyn, West Virginia. Power providers are likely to echo John Maserjian, a spokesman for Central Hudson, who said he couldn’t see how the group could justify drawing such lines given that the utility buys its power from the grid through the New York Independent System Operator, not from individual plants. But Mary Anne Hitt, the executive director of the anti-mining group, which is based in Boone, N.C., was unmoved. She did acknowledge that there was no way to quantify just how much of the electricity I was buying came from mountaintop coal. But she said the lines connecting utilities to mines are derived using four government databases: one that connects ZIP codes to power grids, one that shows which power plants are on each power grid, one that tracks coal transactions to power plants (every power plant that has transactions with a coal mine appears in that table), and a fourth that identifies the operators of the mines. “While Central Hudson may not technically buy power from specific power plants, they are buying it from a grid that is fed by coal plants using mountaintop removal coal,” she said. Where does your electricity come from? ***************************************************************** 2 Daily Campus: Nuclear Fission Deserves Its Day In The Sun - Commentary Bryan Murphy Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Commentary What would you think if you were told that there was a green energy source, available immediately, time-tested and proven safe, that was entirely carbon-neutral, cost-competitive with coal and endorsed by leading thinkers and green advocates worldwide, including Greenpeace co-founder, Patrick Moore? Let's sweeten the deal - let's say that this hypothetical miracle energy was only in the infancy of its technological life-cycle, and had nothing to do except grow cheaper, safer and more efficient; let's say this perfect green energy could be produced entirely from American raw materials, thus assuring American energy independence. Let's say that this minor miracle is nuclear energy. Forget Anita Hill, carbs and protein, Neanderthals and Betamax - never has a thing been more unfairly maligned than nuclear energy. Considered the de-facto energy of the future during the '50s, '60s and '70s, nuclear energy figuratively exploded until 1979, when Three Mile Island literally melted. The construction of nuclear generators in the United States all but ceased, as nuclear power became a national bogeyman. The funny thing about Three Mile Island, though, is that it was a textbook example of nuclear safeguards done right. The worst possible thing that can go wrong at a nuclear reactor went wrong at Three Mile Island - the reactor core suffered a critical meltdown. Yet, the radioactive waste was held safely inside the plant by the containment buildings constructed over all U.S. nuclear generators specifically to deal with such meltdowns. No one was killed or even injured, and the surrounding area was exposed to a level of radioactivity equal to - gasp! - one-third of a medical X-ray. This was the tragedy which merited the condemnation of an industry? There is an incredible perception that nuclear energy is the be-all and end-all of risk and waste, when nothing could be further from the truth. Nuclear energy emits no carbon dioxide. A reactor meltdown physically cannot produce the sort of apocalyptic explosion and fall-out which haunts the mass consciousness. Nuclear fission produces about 15-20 percent of America's electricity, yet there has not been a single fatality attributable to nuclear power in the last 40 years. In comparison, fossil energy is extremely dangerous and staggeringly dirty. The heavy metals, carcinogens, and aerial pollutants released by coal-burning power plants are thought to lead to the premature deaths of 15,000 Americans per year, according to a Harvard study. Fifty-two hundred coal miners perished in horrific accidents last year in China alone, and American coal plants produce 100 million tons of solid waste annually - waste which is laced with mercury and other poisons. The ultimate fun fact? A coal-burning power plant, compared to a nuclear power plant, releases more than 10,000 percent the amount of radioactive material into the air. While nuclear energy is extremely clean, it is not cleaner than, say, wind and solar power. The difference is that nuclear energy is cost-competitive. Using European Union numbers, wind energy can cost up to 15 cents per kilowatt hour, far exceeding coal's 3.4 to 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Nuclear energy, in comparison, costs 4.0-5.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Of course, four cents is still more than 3.4 cents. But those numbers betray a critical inequality in current regulations of energy producers: nuclear power plants have to account for every atom of radiation and every pound of uranium and plutonium which goes into and out of their generators. In comparison, coal and gas-burning power plants have had, for centuries, free reign to spew countless millions of tons of pollution into the atmosphere. Those who burn fossil-fuel deserve to be forced to absorb the costs of their emissions in the same way that nuclear power plants are. The European Union commissioned a study to put a Euro value on the costs accrued to society in terms of negative health and environmental impacts. Nuclear energy averages .4 Euro cents per kilowatt hour in such "externality" costs. Meanwhile, gas clocks in at 1.3-2.3 Euro cents per kilowatt hour in external costs, while coal is an astronomical 4.1-7.3 Euro cents per kilowatt hour. These numbers, incidentally, do not even take global warming into account. If your eyes glazed over during that barrage of numbers, just know this: if fossil-fuel power plants were forced to absorb the cost of their own negative externalities in the way that nuclear power plants are, the price of energy generated from coal would double, and power from gas would cost 30 percent more. In such a scenario, nuclear energy would be the vastly cheaper energy source. Wahhabism, Communism and science are the final three reasons to adopt nuclear energy. Much ado has been made about the nothing that is an assault upon a nuclear power plant. Even if a terrorist could breach the containment walls of a generator - several feet of steel-reinforced concrete - modern reactors are built to be able to shut down instantly. Compare such a "terrorist threat" to the very real reality that we funnel billions of dollars of oil money per year into the hands of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran. Uranium can be mined and refined exclusively within American borders, cutting off a large part of our dependency on dubious foreign allies. Here's where science comes in: the farcical fact is that America is chugging along with many of the same generators we built in the '50s, due to the prohibitive regulator difficulty of constructing new plants in this country. Yet the 103 nuclear plants currently operating in the U.S., even chugging along with first-generation technology, have managed to up their efficiency in the last 40 years by 50 percent. Even so, America's plants are a shadow of their European and Asian cousins in terms of cost per kilowatt hour and safety. Some European and Asian plants, for example, use each pound of uranium multiple times, decreasing radioactive waste emissions while increasing cost and energy efficiency. There is no reason America cannot use this same technology. We have more to lose than almost anyone from energy dependence, and yet we are doing less than most to combat it. Nuclear energy deserves to be a greater part of America's energy package, and would be, if people were willing to take a critical look at the facts and disregard decades of scare-tactics and propaganda spewed by misinformed environmental advocates. Weekly Columnist Bryan Murphy is a 3rd-semester economics major. His column runs on Fridays. He can be reached at Bryan.Murphy@UConn.edu. ***************************************************************** 3 BBC NEWS: China's bid for world domination Last Updated: Saturday, 17 November 2007, 00:23 GMT ANALYSIS By Mike Baker What defines a global "superpower"? In the past, it was the size of national armies or possession of nuclear weapons. But now there is a more important (and peaceful) benchmark: the size and prestige of university systems. And, while the US is still the global higher education "superpower", China will soon be knocking it off top spot if current trends continue. This week, an international audience gathered in London for the Worldwide Universities Network conference, was given a dramatic insight into just how rapidly China is moving through the field in the higher education race. China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the USA and India combined It should be a wake-up call to universities and governments around the world. Moreover, it should be a sobering warning to those who decry the relatively modest ambitions of the British government to aim for 50% of young people having some experience of higher education. Consider some of the facts. China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the US and India combined. Of course, this is partly a matter of the sheer size of its population. But it is not just that. The rate of university expansion has been beyond anything anyone in the West can easily imagine. University enrolments in China have reportedly risen from under 10% of young people in 1999 to over 21% in 2006, a phenomenally fast expansion. Surging ahead And this is not just a matter of packing in numbers on undergraduate courses. As recently as 1996, China produced just 5,000 PhD students a year. That was only about half the number in the UK, Japan or India. Since then, China has overtaken every other country in the world except the US in terms of the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded. The numbers have risen to 34,000 in 2006 and, based on current enrolments, this will surge past 50,000 a year in just three or four years, at which point it will overtake the current world leader, the US. This has been done by a conscious policy of investment in higher education. According to Dr John Turek, director of IBM's China Technology Institute, China was spending just 1% of GDP on higher education in 1998. Now the target figure for 2007 is 4%. The Worldwide Universities' Network conference heard many of the facts about China's expansion from Professor Wei Yang, president of Zhejiang University, one of the country's largest with annual revenue of 440 million US dollars. The importance of higher education to economic success is now increasingly recognised around the world His message about China's rapid growth in undergraduate and postgraduate numbers, not to mention research projects and citations, will certainly remind British universities that it is a risky policy to rely too heavily on the fees from Chinese students coming to study here. China remains the largest provider of overseas students to British campuses but it is now clear that the much lower costs, and rising prestige, of Chinese universities will make this a tougher market in future. As David Eastwood, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, told the conference: "We cannot assume that students will continue to come to the UK just because they always have". Cost is only part of the calculation. The UK and the US lead on overseas student recruitment, yet they are amongst the most expensive places in the world to study. So it seems fair to assume that quality remains the key. And, for now, Britain can still rely on the top class ratings of its best universities. In the latest THES-QS world university rankings, the UK takes four of the top 10 places (Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, London, and University College London). But as world competition increases, the UK takes only another four (Edinburgh, King's College, London, Manchester and Bristol) of the next 40 places. Global approach Meanwhile China now has three universities in the top 100 plus another two if you include Hong Kong. Across Asia as a whole, the number of universities in the top 100 has risen to 13. The importance of higher education to economic success is now increasingly recognised around the world. The recent Leitch Review, commissioned by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor, warned that UK skills levels are no longer world class. The UK is in danger of slipping back. The latest OECD figures showed that in 2000 the UK was third in the world for the proportion of young people graduating from bachelor degrees. Nottingham University has tapped into the Chinese market and opened a campus there Of course, the "superpower" analogy falls down in one important respect. While there is clearly an element of competition between individual universities, and national systems, the reality is that collaboration and co-operation are equally important for the health of universities. To succeed, universities now need to be global in their approach. Some 70% of the top 200 ranked universities increased the proportion of both their international students and their international staff, according to the THES-QS figures. It is estimated there are now about 2.8 million internationally mobile students. The trend for students to study abroad is growing. The numbers are up by over 50% since 1999. British universities will need to have a genuinely international outlook, and the higher education system needs to keep growing, if we are to remain leading players on the world stage. Being a genuinely global university does not mean packing in more and more overseas students just to benefit from the relatively high fees they pay; there are already signs that a growing number of international students feel they are not getting value for money at UK universities. It does mean collaborating on international research projects, taking a genuinely global view of academic issues, and fully integrating domestic and overseas students and faculty. The UK cannot, because of its size, be the world's higher education "superpower", but it could continue to punch well above its weight. But it is going to have to train even harder to stay in the ring. So what do you think? Are you concerned that the reputation of British universities could be superseded by Chinese universities? * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 4 The Hindu: Left not to allow N-deal operationalisation without approval Friday, November 16, 2007 : 1815 Hrs Moga (Punjab) (PTI): The Left parties have allowed the UPA government to hold negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but would not let the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal without the approval of the UPA-Left Coordination Committee, the CPI has said. The UPA government was only given go-ahead for dialogue with the IAEA and asked to apprise the UPA-Left Committee and get its approval before moving forward, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters here on Thursday night. He made it clear that the government would not be allowed to operationalise the 123 Agreement in the present from without taking the Left into confidence. Talking about Nandigram issue, the CPI leader was strongly critical of "anti-Left" parties like Trinamool Congress and NDA for "exploting" the situation there. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 5 LegalNewsline: Six AGs write NRC Friday, November 16, 2007 by John O'Brien Cuomo WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The attorneys general of six states say the Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs to consider new safety concerns like terrorism and earthquakes when rrelicensing nuclear power plants. In a letter to NRC Chairman Dale Klein, the group says the reforms are necessary in a post-9-11 world. "The tragedy that befell our nation on Sept. 11, 2001 demonstrated the utter folly of ignoring the impact of national security issues on nuclear plant safety," the letter says. "The release of radioactive material into the air and water after the recent earthquake in Japan - forcing the emergency shutdown of the world's largest nuclear plant - demonstrates the vulnerability of nuclear plants to natural forces." New York's Andrew Cuomo, Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal, Illinois' Lisa Madigan, Kentucky's Greg Stumbo, Delaware's Beau Biden III and Vermont's William Sorrell all signed the letter. Cuomo says a U.S. Geological survey indicated a "significant" chance of an earthquake hitting the New York metropolitan area. It would be more powerful than earthquakes that hit the western part of the country because the rocky nature in the East transmits more powerful shockwaves, he said. "The NRC's failure to address safety issues including updating its review of seismic activity in the relicensing of nuclear power plants is irresponsible," Cuomo said. Currently, the NRC considers age-related structural degradation of fixed, non-moving components like reactor cores, containment systems, pipes and electrical cables. Cuomo says it does not look at other factors that may help avoid a catastrophe, such as surrounding population attack, susceptibility to a terrorist attack, adequate emergency warning and evacuation plans and seismic issues. Cuomo has long been opposed to the relicensing of Indian Point Power Plant, located on the Hudson River. He has noted that two of the hijacked planes during 9-11 flew over the plant. Others feel it shutting the plant will put an energy strain on New York City. © 2007 LegalNewsLine.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 6 The Calgary Sun: U.S. critics slam nuclear projects Fri, November 16, 2007 UPDATED: 2007-11-16 03:58:39 MST By BILL KAUFMANN, SUN MEDIA Alberta's flirtation with nuclear reactors has attracted America's most prominent detractors of the energy source, who have come to the province to deliver warnings on its environmental and economic costs. U.S. environmentalists are horrified by the province's eco-record and plans to build atomic reactors at Peace River and Whitecourt, said Paul Gunter of the Washington D.C.-based group Beyond Nuclear. "We're just aghast Albertans would make this an environmental sacrifice zone," said Gunter, who spoke last night at SAIT. Gunter, who's actively opposed nuclear energy since 1975, said a dismal history of radioactive leaks, waste storage and fiscal failure should be enough to sour Albertans on its merits. CANOE home | We welcome your feedback. Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 NRC: NRC Issues Fy 2007 Performance and Accountability Report News Release - 2007-152 - 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 issued its Performance and Accountability Report for FY 2007 that shows the agency has again achieved its safety and security performance goals over the past 12 months. The agency continues to position its resources and organization to maintain strong oversight of existing nuclear facilities and to review applications for new nuclear power reactors, license renewals for existing facilities, and a potential license application for a high-level waste repository. "This report clearly demonstrates that the NRC's financial and performance data are reliable and complete and that the agency has prudently managed the funds entrusted to it by the American public," said Chairman Dale Klein. The NRC implemented a number of internal control improvements, eliminated a long-standing material weakness relating to the fee-billing process, and evaluated its internal controls, including those relating to financial reporting and the agency’s financial management systems as required by the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act. The report notes that there is reasonable assurance that the NRC is in compliance with the Act and has developed a corrective action plan to eliminate a material weakness associated with information technology security. The agency is also in the process of integrating and modernizing its financial systems to enhance controls, reporting, and decision-making. The NRC continues its high-quality service to the public to enable the use and management of radioactive materials and nuclear fuel for beneficial civilian purposes in a manner that protects public health and safety and the environment, and promotes the security of the Nation. The Performance and Accountability Report is available in the lower left-hand corner of the NRC's Web site at: www.nrc.gov 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 16, 2007 ***************************************************************** 8 Platts: Lithuania aims to sign Ignalina pact before Christmas 2007-11-14 Stockholm (Platts)--14Nov2007 Lithuania hopes to sign an agreement on partnership in a new Ignalina plant before Christmas, the Baltic country's president, Valdas Adamkus, said at a press conference in Stockholm November 14. Negotiations among Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland have been stalled over ownership percentages in the plant and signing ceremonies have been twice postponed. Adamkus said "we are ironing out the issues," and added that he is confident the project will proceed. Lithuania hopes to sign an agreement on partnership in a new Ignalina plant before Christmas, the Baltic country's president, Valdas Adamkus, said at a press conference in Stockholm November 14. Negotiations among Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland have been stalled over ownership percentages in the plant and signing ceremonies have been twice postponed. Adamkus said "we are ironing out the issues," and added that he is confident the project will proceed. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 9 Rutland Herald: NRC: Petition was premature action November 16, 2007 A petition to intervene in the move by Entergy Nuclear to consolidate its northeast nuclear plants under one management by unionized workers at the Pilgrim nuclear plant was premature, according to a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The petition filed by Local 369 of the Utility Workers Union of America said it opposed the consolidation because of unspecified safety problems at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is also owned by Entergy Nuclear. Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC, said the petition filed in September by Local 369 was "turned back" by the NRC since the window for comment hadn't yet been opened. He said the union would be free to ask to intervene once the formal comment period was open. The Pilgrim workers stated this summer that it didn't want to be formally associated with the same management at Vermont Yankee, claiming it would have "an adverse effect both on (Pilgrim) employees represented by Local 369 and on citizens living in the communities surrounding the plant." The petition, which was filed in September, came after two highly publicized incidents at Vermont Yankee — the partial collapse of a cooling tower at the plant and the emergency shutdown of the reactor due to a valve problem. State and federal inspectors laid the blame of both problems to lack of maintenance. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group held a press conference Thursday to discuss the union petition, which was first reported this summer. James Moore, a VPIRG spokesman, said that the union petition was more proof that serious problems existed at the plant. Earlier this week, Gov. James Douglas changed his mind and agreed with Vermont's three-man congressional delegation that Vermont Yankee needed an in-depth inspection, a so-called independent safety assessment, before federal and state regulators agreed to extend the reactor's operating license another 20 years. Gary Sullivan, the president of Local 369, failed to return telephone calls Thursday. © 2007 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 10 IHT: Asian countries cautiously promote nuclear power, plan massive tree-planting - International Herald Tribune The Associated Press Published: November 16, 2007 MANILA, Philippines: Asian countries, along with Australia, would cautiously promote nuclear power and embark on a massive tree-planting campaign to battle global warming. Such plans to ease climate change are among steps outlined in three declarations to be issued at next week's summit in Singapore of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six economic powerhouses led by China, Japan, India and Australia. The 16 countries, which belong to a bloc called the East Asia Summit, harbor conflicting views and differ in capability to deal with the problem. The draft declarations, copies of which were obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, represent efforts to bridge those gaps. The countries would call on the international community "to urgently act to address the growth of global green gas emissions" and support the use of "civilian nuclear power in a manner ensuring nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation," according to the East Asia Summit declaration. In a separate declaration, ASEAN would pledge to establish "a regional nuclear safety regime" to ensure nuclear energy programs could not be tapped by rogue groups to produce weapons. Nuclear weapons are banned in Southeast Asia; ASEAN has a treaty that bans the production and storage of nuclear weapons in the region. East Asian countries would also adopt an "aspirational goal" of expanding their combined forest cover by at least 15 million hectares (37 million acres) by 2020 and fight deforestation. Developing countries would be given financial assistant to help them fight global warming. Joint studies would also be launched to assess East Asia's vulnerability to climate change. The East Asia Summit declaration reaffirms support to the United Nations as the prime forum for a global agreement on climate change. But it acknowledged that not all countries in the bloc support the U.N.-backed Kyoto Protocol, which set targets for industrialized nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases but largely exempted developing ones. Australia, along with the United States, have refused to sign Kyoto, calling it unfair. They have tried to find an alternative that would include China and India, who like the U.S. are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. China, Indonesia and other developing countries back Kyoto because it primarily holds richer countries responsible for cutting emission and providing money and technology to help poorer nations clean up. The East Asian declaration would call on member countries to actively take part in forging a new climate change blueprint to replace Kyoto, which expires in 2012. Indonesia will host a conference on a successor to Kyoto next month. It would call on member countries to work to reduce by at least 25 percent their energy intensity — the amount of energy needed to produce a dollar of gross domestic product — by 2030. Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 11 baltimoresun.com: CEG seeks Md. permit to build 3rd reactor -- No plans yet to add Calvert Cliffs unit By Paul Adams | Sun reporter November 16, 2007 Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group's nuclear development arm said yesterday that it has asked state regulators for a permit to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Lusby, though the company maintains it has not yet decided to go ahead with the project. UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Constellation and Electricite de France SA, applied to the Maryland Public Service Commission for what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The PSC will coordinate a multiagency review of the project's potential impact on the environment and state infrastructure, among other things. Constellation wants to build a 1,600-megawatt reactor based on a French design that could cost more than $4 billion to construct. One megawatt is roughly enough to power 1,000 average homes. The company contends nuclear energy, which does not emit polluting greenhouse gases, is essential to the state's effort to meet growing energy needs without increasing carbon emissions. Getting state approval is just one step in a larger regulatory review that will take place primarily at the federal level with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. UniStar in July became the first in 30 years to file a partial application with the NRC to build a nuclear plant. The joint venture is vying to lead a revival of the nuclear industry, which has been dormant since the 1978 Three Mile Island accident curtailed interest in nuclear energy. Environmentalists contend little has changed in the years since to assuage their concerns about nuclear waste, cost and safety. Michael J. Wallace, executive vice president of Constellation, said UniStar expects to submit a full application to the NRC by late December or early January. It has asked state officials to sign off by Dec. 2008. The project is slated to be the first of a handful of plants UniStar plans to build for Constellation and other utility buyers nationwide. "We need this certainly to build the plant," Wallace said of the state review. "It's one more precondition to the company eventually making a decision as to whether to build." Though simpler and less time consuming, the state permit process could prove just as critical to the project's future. Company officials will use it to gauge political and regulatory support for new nuclear plants in Maryland. The move comes at a time when Constellation is under scrutiny by state officials who are examining whether its utility subsidiary, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., should be separated from the company as part of regulatory reform efforts. Some environmentalists and the Maryland Public Interest Research Group have come out in opposition to a third reactor, saying it will burden ratepayers with high-cost energy and pose a safety threat. But the project has won support from the Calvert County Board of Commissioners, which has also offered a package of tax incentives. Broader financial considerations remain a potential obstacle at the federal level. The company has said it will need a well-funded package of federal loan guarantees and tax incentives in order to win financing from lenders. The Energy Department signed off on the loan program in October, but Congress must provide the funding. paul.adams@baltsun.com Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun ***************************************************************** 12 Brattleboro Reformer: VY closing funds not available until 2032 BRATTLEBORO, VT By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff Friday, November 16 BRATTLEBORO -- If Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is closed in 2012, it could be up to 60 years before it is dismantled and its parts and waste are carted away for disposal. That's because it won't be until 2032 that the plant's decommissioning fund will have accrued enough money to pay for the cleanup. If and when a national repository for nuclear waste is finally opened, whether at Yucca Mountain in Nevada or elsewhere, will also affect the timeline for cleaning up the site. Currently, there is $416 million in the decommissioning fund. The funds started accruing when the utilities that ran the plant prior to Entergy's purchase deposited a lump sum in a bank account set up for the decommissioning. When Entergy bought the plant in 2002, the fund had $304 million in it. The total estimated cost for the plant's dismantling is $800 million. But, warned Arnie Gundersen, a former nuclear industry insider, state taxpayers should be concerned over a number of issues related to the decommissioning, including the possibility that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee could declare bankruptcy in 2012 if it doesn't receive approval to extend the plant's operating license to 2032, leaving the state to pay for the clean up. "With Vermont's small population base, neither its taxpayers nor its ratepayers can afford to make up the anticipated financial shortfall in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning fund," wrote Gundersen and his wife in a 14-page report assembled after reviewing documents submitted to Vermont's Department of Public Service in August. "Bankruptcy is extremely unlikely," said Stephen Wark, spokesman for the Department of Public Service. "This isn't a car payment you can walk away from. There are many potential safeguards to prevent that from happening." Though Entergy spokesman Dave McElwee said he is not an expert on bankruptcy law, he agreed with Wark. Gundersen also contended that the fund not having enough money to pay for decommissioning in 2012 may be the biggest reason Entergy wants to extend its operating license to 2032. "I suspect they are going to use this to keep running for another 20 years," he said. Even though the decommissioning fund "never was designed for the plant to be shut down in 2012," responded Wark, "it is not the primary force that is driving the desire for relicensing. Entergy wants to get the plant relicensed because it's good for business and they believe it's good for Vermont." But, he added, "to assume it's going to be relicensed as a foregone conclusion is a mistake." There are still many levels of review, including the possibility of an independent safety assessment, that Entergy has to go through prior to receiving an extension. The Vermont Legislature and the Public Service Board also have to sign off on the extension. Another major concern for the Gundersens were conclusions reached in a report on the dismantling of the plant conducted by TLG Services, which specializes in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and was purchased by Entergy in 2000. According to the Gundersens, the report is a generic report on the costs involved and is not site specific for Yankee. "While this approach is routinely applied throughout the industry, it can be quite problematic for utilities and ratepayers because it does not apply site-specific variables," they wrote. "In this case, we believe this is quite detrimental to an accurate assessment of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Site, thereby placing a huge burden upon all Vermonters." That is simply not true, said McElwee. The TLG report is site specific and takes into account all conditions at Vermont Yankee. "It was done specifically for us," he said. As far as TLG Services' independence from its parent corporation, said McElwee, "it is a premier company for doing decommissioning studies. It was before Entergy bought it and continues to do it for most if not all the industry." What also should be of concern to Vermonters, wrote the Gundersens, is the fact that nowhere in the TLG report is mentioned additional costs related to an increase in power output recently granted to the plant. The Gundersens contend the uprate would be responsible for a 4 percent increase in decommissioning costs, or at least $30 million, depending on what decommissioning plan is chosen. The uprate also increases the amount of fuel the plant's boiling water reactor consumes, increasing the amount of radioactive waste left on site. "We did not see any documents or tables that contained breakout values for either the incremental fuel storage or for the additional radioactivity deposited throughout the plant as a result of the uprate," wrote the Gundersens. Again, McElwee disputed the Gundersens' conclusions. "The fund growth over that 20-year period far outweighs the incremental increase from the uprate. The only thing you would really see at the time of decommissioning is additional spent fuel which is the responsibility of the Department of Energy." The Gundersens wrote that Entergy's formula for determining the rate of return on the investments that are used to complete the fund are too optimistic. Even so, said Wark, if the decommissioning costs more than what the fund provides for, Entergy would be responsible for making up the difference and until a national repository for nuclear waste is opened, Entergy is also responsible for the costs of on-site storage. According to the TLG report, wrote the Gundersens, it will cost $4.5 million per year for almost 20 years to store and monitor spent nuclear fuel on the site. A significant portion of this $4.5 million per year cost estimate will be for the spent fuel that will be generated as a result of the uprate, they wrote. "That's all part of the decommissioning fund and has been accounted for," said McElwee. If the plant were to shut down in 2012, it would be placed into what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calls "Safstore," shorthand for safe storage, for up to 60 years or until the fund has accrued enough money to cover the costs of decommissioning. Under Safstore, most of the plant would remain in its current configuration, though not producing electricity, with the spent fuel cooling system remaining operational. This should not be a surprise to anyone who has followed the news in the last five years, said McElwee. "When the plant was sold to Entergy in 2002 and again when we went back to the PSB for dry cask (approval), the Safstore method was talked about quite openly." The Public Service Board demanded Entergy demonstrate it had the financial capability to pay for the storage of fuel on site for up to 70 years, he said. "We were able to show we have adequate funds to do that," said McElwee. "Do we expect to store the waste on site for an additional 70 years? No, I don't think so." If Yankee is shut down in 2012, he said, Entergy has guaranteed it has $60 million to maintain the plant until the decommissioning fund has reached adequate levels. The Department of Public Service is conducting a study of what the decommissioning might mean for the state and its ratepayers, to be released sometime next year, said Wark. "We want to make sure Vermont has the power it needs for the next 20 years and that it is safe and reliable." The report will take into account all costs related to clean up, including the effects of uprate, he said. Once the plant is decommissioned, the site must be turned into a "green site," said Wark, safe for all human activities. Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273. ***************************************************************** 13 BBJ: New reactor sought for Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant - Baltimore Business Journal: Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 2:02 PM EST Baltimore Business Journal - by Sue Schultz Staff UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture of Constellation Energy Group and the EDF Group, has filed an official application with the state to build a new nuclear power reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant. In June, Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) and the EDF Group, an energy producer in Europe, announced a new venture and interest in building a new reactor at the Southern Maryland site. Although UniStar hasn't made a decision to move forward with the project, it has filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission, the state agency that oversees the utility industry. "A third reactor at our high-performing Calvert Cliffs site offers the potential for an economic and environmentally sound means to provide additional base-load electricity to meet anticipated growth, both regionally and within the state of Maryland," Michael Wallace, executive vice president of Constellation Energy and chairman of UniStar New Energy, said in a statement Thursday. Under the application, various state agencies will have the opportunity to study the environmental impacts of the new reactor and make recommendations on the project, according to Greg Carmean, executive director of the PSC. He said the commission could issue a ruling on the application by December 2008. The company would also need to file a formal application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Contact the Editor Need Assistance? More Latest News © 2007 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Supplementary Notice of Hearing and Opportunity To Petition for Leave To Intervene on an Early Site Permit for the VOGTLE ESP Site FR Doc E7-22413 [Federal Register: November 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 221)] [Notices] [Page 64686-64687] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16no07-160] [[Page 64686]] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 52-011] This proceeding concerns the application dated August 14, 2006, filed by Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the Applicant), pursuant to subpart A of 10 CFR part 52 for an early site permit (ESP). The ESP application seeks approval for use of the existing Vogtle Electric Generating Plant site near Waynesboro, Georgia, for the possible construction of two new nuclear reactors. On October 12, 2006, a notice of hearing and opportunity for leave to intervene was published by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) in the Federal Register (71 FR 60195) in this proceeding. That notice specified that the Director, Office of Nuclear Regulator Regulation, NRC, will propose findings on issues pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as Amended (NEPA). The notice also specified the scope of the hearing to be conducted by the designated Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) and provided an opportunity for persons whose interests may be affected by the proceeding to petition for leave to intervene. In response to the notice of hearing and opportunity to petition for leave to intervene, on December 11, 2006, the Center for a Sustainable Coast, Savannah Riverkeeper, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Atlanta Women's Action for New Directions, and Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (collectively the Joint Petitioners) filed a timely request for hearing and petition to intervene contesting the SNC ESP application. On December 13, 2006, the Commission referred the petition to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel to conduct any subsequent adjudication. On December 15, 2006, the Chief of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel designated, for the purpose of conducting the proceeding, the following Board, G. Paul Bollwerk, III (Chair), Dr. Nicholas G. Trikouros, and Dr. James Jackson (71 FR 77071; December 22, 2006). In a March 12, 2007, issuance, finding that each of the Joint Petitioners had established the requisite standing to intervene in this proceeding and that they had submitted two admissible contentions concerning the SNC ESP application, the Board admitted them as parties to this proceeding. See Southern Nuclear Operating Co. (Early Site Permit for Vogtle ESP Site), LBP-07-3, 65 NRC 237 (2006). On August 16, 2007, SNC submitted to the NRC a supplement to its ESP application requesting authorization to engage in selected construction activities as defined by 10 CFR 50.10. As described by SNC, these activities would generally involve the ``placement of engineered backfill and preparation of the Nuclear Island foundation base slab forms and reinforcing steel.'' In light of the request for this additional authorization, the Commission herein supplements the findings and considerations set forth in the original notice of hearing on October 12, 2006, as follows: The NRC staff will complete a detailed technical review of the application, including the supplement requesting authority to perform selected construction activities as defined by 10 CFR 50.10, and will document its findings in a safety evaluation report (SER) and an environmental impact statement (EIS). In addition, the Commission will refer a copy of the application to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) in accordance with 10 CFR 52.23, and the ACRS will report on those portions of the application that concern safety. In addition to the findings set forth in the initial notice of hearing, upon receipt of the ACRS report and completion of the NRC staff's SER and EIS, the Director, Office of New Reactors, NRC, will propose findings on the following additional issues: Supplementary Issues Pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended (1) Whether the applicable standards and requirements of the Act, and the Commission's regulations applicable to the activities for which the Applicant seeks authorization have been met (Safety Issue 3); (2) whether the Applicant is technically qualified to engage in the activities authorized (Safety Issue 4); and (3) whether issuance of the ESP, granting the Applicant's requested authorization, will provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection to public health and safety and will not be inimical to the common defense and security (Safety Issue 5). Supplementary Issue Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as Amended Whether, in accordance with the requirements of subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, the ESP should authorize the Applicant to conduct the requested construction activities. If, as related to the additional issues outlined above, the hearing is contested as defined by 10 CFR 2.4, the Board, in addition to the directions in the original notice of hearing, will consider Safety Issues 3, 4, and 5 and the issue pursuant to NEPA set forth above. If, as to the additional issues outlined above, the hearing is not a contested proceeding as defined in 10 CFR 2.4, the Board, in addition to the direction given in the original notice of hearing, will determine without conducting a de novo review: Whether the application and the record of the proceeding contain sufficient information, and the review of the application by the Commission's staff has been adequate to support affirmative findings on Safety Issues 3, 4, and 5, as proposed to be made by the Director, Office of New Reactors; and whether the review conducted by the Commission staff pursuant to NEPA has been adequate. Regardless of whether the proceeding is contested or uncontested, the Board, in addition to complying with the provisions of the original notice of hearing, will: (1) Determine whether the requirements of section 102(2)(A), (C), and (E) of NEPA and subpart A of 10 CFR part 51 have been met, with respect to the activities to be authorized; (2) independently consider the balance among the conflicting factors with respect to the activities to be authorized which is contained in the record of the proceeding, with a view to determining the appropriate action to be taken; and (3) determine whether the redress plan submitted by the Applicant will adequately redress the activities to be authorized. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309, any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding and who desires to participate as a party with respect to the supplementary issues must file a written petition for leave to intervene and must specify the contentions which the person seeks to have litigated in the hearing. A petition for leave to intervene shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of the proceeding, provided however parties that have already been admitted to the proceeding not need address the factors enumerated in 10 CFR 2.309(d)(1)-(2). If [[Page 64687]] not already a party to the proceeding, the petition must specifically state: (1) The name, address and telephone number of the petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the petitioner's property, financial or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued in the proceeding on the petitioner's interest. Each contention must contain a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. A petitioner must also provide the following information with respect to each contention: (1) A brief explanation of the basis for the contention; (2) a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinions which support the petitioner's position on the issue and on which the petitioner intends to rely at hearing, together with references to the specific sources and documents on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its position on the issue; and (3) sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. This information must include references to specific portions of the application (including the applicant's environmental report and safety report) that the petitioner disputes and the supporting reasons for each dispute, or, if the petitioner believes that the application fails to contain information on a relevant matter as required by law, the identification of each failure and the supporting reasons for the petitioner's belief. For each contention, the petition must demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is within the scope of this proceeding and that the issue raised in the contention is material to the findings the NRC must make to support the action that is involved in this proceeding. A petitioner who fails to satisfy these requirements with respect to at least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party. A petition for leave to intervene must be filed in accordance with the December 15, 2006, issuance of the Chief of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel establishing procedures for submitting documents using the NRC Electronic Information Exchange or E-Submittal process. The accession number for the issuance is ML063520200. The issuance is also available through the NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp. If any new participant to this proceeding believes they are unable to participate in this proceeding utilizing the electronic document formatting and/or filing processes outlined in the December 15, 2006, issuance, they may file a request for an exemption from the Licensing Board in conjunction with its first filing in this proceeding. Pursuant to the December 15, 2006, issuance, the provisions of 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) and (3) of the Commission's proposed rule on electronic document filing and formatting shall govern such an exemption request (70 FR 74950, 74960; December 16, 2005). Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the provider of the service. All such petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Non-timely filings will not be entertained absent a determination by the Board that the petition should be granted based upon a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(i)-(viii). This supplementary notice does not affect the status of any person previously admitted as a party to this proceeding or provide any additional opportunity to any person to intervene on the basis of, or to raise matters encompassed within, the issues specified for hearing in the original notice of hearing published in the Federal Register on October 12, 2006 (71 FR 60195). A copy of the SNC ESP application is available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records are accessible from the Agency- wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The accession number for the application is ML071710055. The accession number for the August 16, 2007, supplement to the application is ML072330242. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC Public Document Room staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, (301) 415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The application is also available to local residents at the Burke County Library in Waynesboro, Georgia, and is available on the NRC Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/esp/vogtle.html. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of November 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. E7-22413 Filed 11-15-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 15 Reuters: Five US states seek nuclear relicensing changes | Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:48pm EST HOUSTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday called on federal nuclear regulators to give more consideration to safety issues when deciding whether to extend an operating licenses for aging nuclear reactors. In a letter from Cuomo and five other attorneys general sent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Cuomo said the panel should take more seriously threats of terrorism and earthquakes that could endanger the public. "The NRC's failure to address safety issues including updating its review of seismic activity in the relicensing of nuclear power plants is irresponsible," Cuomo said. Cuomo cited an earthquake earlier this year that shut down the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan. The letter was also signed by Attorneys General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Beau Biden III of Delaware, Lisa Madigan of Illinois, Gregory B. Stumbo of Kentucky and William H. Sorrell of Vermont, according to a statement from Cuomo's office. Cuomo has raised questions about the NRC's relicensing process as it relates to an application filed by Entergy Corp. (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in April seeking a 20-year extension of the license for the 2,044-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power station, located in Westchester County, about 45 miles north of New York City. The station has two units which entered service in 1973 and 1976. The NRC uses the license renewal process, which provides for public participation, to determine how an operator will manage the aging of a reactor. It is a two-step process including safety and environmental reviews. Local politicians and community groups have tried for years to shut Indian Point and oppose the application to renew the plant's licenses. Indian Point can generate about 25 percent of the power used in Westchester County and New York City. "The Indian Point relicensing process must consider all the possible threats to this plant, whether it's an earthquake, a terrorist attack or the fact that it is located in one of the most populated areas in the nation," said Westchester County Executive Andy Spano, in the statement. The NRC has extended the licenses for units at 24 nuclear power plants. Another 10 applications are currently under review and more filings are expected over the next few years, according to the NRC Web site. (Reporting by Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Christian Wiessner) ***************************************************************** 16 Vermont Public Radio: Vermont joins states seeking changes to nuke relicensing Friday November 16, 2007 WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) Vermont has joined five other states in asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consider the threat of terrorism and earthquakes when nuclear plants apply to have their licenses renewed. Under the NRC's current rules, only environmental concerns and the effects of aging on a nuclear plant are taken into account when a plant seeks a 20-year renewal of its license to operate. In a letter yesterday to NRC Chairman Dale Klein, the states' attorneys general said the commission should also consider the population density around a plant and the adequacy of evacuation plans. The two Indian Point plants in Buchanan, New York, are now up for relicensing and Vermont Yankee is seeking to extend its license for 20 years beyond the scheduled expiration in 2012. © Copyright 2007, Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ***************************************************************** 17 Vermont Public Radio: Vermont Yankee decommissioning funds insufficient Friday November 16, 2007 John Dillon Montpelier, Vt. (Host) The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant does not have enough money to dismantle and remove the reactor when its license expires in five years. But Yankee executives and state officials say they're not concerned. They say the plant can be safely closed and protected for decades, until the there's enough money to pay for a full decommissioning. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) Vermont Yankee's license expires in 2012. And lawmakers in southern Vermont want to know if there's enough money set aside to take the plant apart and dispose of it safely. Senator Peter Shumlin represents Windham County. (Shumlin) The notion that that plant, after it's shutdown, has to sit there for 50 or perhaps 60 years in order for them to build up enough money to take it away is both frightening and absolutely shocking to most of us. (Dillon) David McElwee is a nuclear energy engineer for Entergy Vermont Yankee. He says there isn't enough money now for decommissioning in 2012. And he said Entergy has not added any money to the $431 million decommissioning fund since it bought the plant five years ago. (McElwee) Only if it was required to meet minimum NRC requirements would Entergy have to put money into the fund. (Dillon) McElwee says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows plants to be mothballed for decades prior to actual decommissioning. The process is called Safe Store. McElwee says there are two advantages to Safe Store. First, it allows the decommissioning fund to grow over time. And second, the radioactive material on site becomes less dangerous. (McElwee) So Safe Store allows for less worker exposure because materials decay over time, and less cost to dispose of them because they'll be less material to be disposed of as radioactive waste. (Dillon) Officials at the Public Service Department - which represents ratepayers - are not worried about the decommissioning fund. Steve Wark is a department spokesman. He says the fund was not intended to pay for full decommissioning when the plant's original license expires. He said the fund should have enough money a decade later - by 2022. (Wark) That said, if for some reason 2012 is the date where Vermont Yankee no longer operates, the Safe Store method is a completely feasible way of dealing with the waste. (Dillon) The NRC allows a plant to be in the Safe Store mode for up to 60 years. But the prospect of delayed decommissioning does not please Shumlin. He says the federal government's failure to site a high level nuclear waste dump already means that Yankee will have to store radioactive waste on site for decades to come. (Shumlin) It's a shock to us to learn that we may also be stuck with an aging plant that's been shutdown ... It's a pretty upsetting concept to hear that Entergy assumes that we all understand that we may have the carcass sitting there because we don't have the money to take it away. (Dillon) Shumlin and other lawmakers have asked state auditor Tom Salmon to investigate the decommissioning issue. Salmon said he is just in the initial stages of gathering information. For VPR News, I'm John Dillon in Montpelier. © Copyright 2007, VPR ***************************************************************** 18 Vermont Public Radio: Massachusetts nuke workers question Vermont Yankee operation Friday November 16, 2007 MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Vermont Public Interest Research Group says workers at a Massachusetts nuclear plant don't want to be associated with the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant because of concerns about how it is run. Meanwhile, the Douglas administration has joined the state's congressional delegation in calling for an independent safety assessment of the Vernon reactor. VPIRG says the union representing workers at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station near Plymouth, Mass., has asked to participate in Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearings about whether Entergy Nuclear should be allowed to transfer ownership of the plant and five others, including Vermont Yankee, to a new company. Attorneys for the union say the proposed transaction could threaten the workers' career prospects if Pilgrim operations are viewed as similar to Vermont Yankee's. An Entergy spokesman says he suspects the complaint is related to upcoming labor negotiations. © Copyright 2007, Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ***************************************************************** 19 JS Online: Accord excludes nuclear energy Doyle says it's 'too controversial' for regional plan By THOMAS CONTENT tcontent@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 15, 2007 Nuclear power, which generates no greenhouse gas emissions, was deemed too divisive to include in an energy and climate-change platform that 11 Midwestern governors endorsed Thursday. Energy Summit Photo/Gary Porter Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signs a regional accord Thursday at the Pfister Hotel to cut emissions linked to global warming. Other signers included (from left) Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and Govs. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Mike Rounds of South Dakota. Recent Coverage 11/12/07: Emissions pact wins backing Climate policy experts have said that a range of policies is needed to address rising greenhouse gas emissions. The policies include a major investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as a surge in nuclear and other forms of power generation such as ultra-clean coal-fired power plants that would bury underground the carbon dioxide produced from burning coal. But nuclear power was "too controversial" to include in the regional plan, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said. Also absent: regulations that would regulate emissions of global warming gases from vehicle tailpipes. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, a Republican, said additional nuclear power would make the most sense - except that it wasn't a policy he could endorse because there is no national plan to deal with radioactive waste from reactors. In Wisconsin, Doyle has opposed repeal of a state law that bars construction of reactors in the state. But the Democrat stressed Thursday that he told his global warming task force "nothing should be off the table" as the group, made up of representatives of utilities, environmental organizations and businesses, formulates its recommendations. A bill to lift the ban has won the support of the Republican-controlled Assembly. A task force subcommittee has recommended that Wisconsin consider lifting the ban, though that panel was "sharply divided," a report to the task force says. Wait and see, Doyle says Nearly a dozen new reactors have been proposed across the nation, most of them in the South. Doyle said Wisconsin would do well to wait and learn from the experience of reactor construction in other states before committing to build another plant. Armond Cohen, executive director of the Clean Air Task Force, said the Midwestern platform was far more detailed than similar plans governors have crafted in other regions, although it doesn't address nuclear power or regulating auto manufacturers. The Midwestern governors have set so many ambitious targets that they risk leaving themselves open to criticism if not every policy is enacted by the deadlines that have been set, said Cohen, whose group lobbies for cleaner-burning power plants. The accord did the right thing by emphasizing next-generation clean-coal plants, he said. Given rising demand for energy, some have called for tripling the amount of power the world generates from nuclear power over the coming decades. "Is it doable? Maybe," Cohen said. "But the point is, it doesn't get you where you need to be. The fossil-fuel system is going to be the backbone of our energy sector for the next several decades." Governors of every Midwestern state except Missouri endorsed the platform. It includes planks aimed at boosting the supply of renewable power from wind turbines and solar panels, as well as renewable fuels such as ethanol that would be made from non-food products such as wood chips, timber or switchgrass. 'Breaking logjam' In addition, six of the 12 governors signed a greenhouse gas accord that would set up a cap-and-trade system to reduce the gases over the coming decades. The governors haven't agreed yet on how much emissions will be lowered, but several states are developing plans to cut emissions 60% to 80%. Environmental groups hailed the agreement as significant because it would put the Midwest in a position to capitalize on its strength in renewable energy, such as wind and biofuels, as movement builds to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. "The Midwest is now breaking the logjam when it comes to changing global-warming policy in this country," said Howard Learner, director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Congress will take notice that states that rely heavily on coal are ready to reduce emissions, he said That includes Illinois, where Gov. Rod Blagojevich this week made the "difficult" decision to sign on to the accord, Learner said; the task was tougher for Blagojevich than for most Midwestern governors because Illinois is a coal-mining state with coal-mining jobs and 60 coal-fired power plants. Work now turns to groups that plan to hatch proposals for renewable energy, transmission-line planning and other studies. Over the next year, the states also plan to work to design a regional cap-and-trade system for carbon dioxide emissions. "A lot of the hard work is yet to come," said Keith Reopelle, program director at Clean Wisconsin. Organizers of the event said it was inconceivable that a region so dependent on the auto industry would sign on to an accord that would force tough greenhouse-gas and gas-mileage standards on automakers. Proposals to do so have been enacted in California, Vermont and several other states. But with cars and light trucks being the second-largest source of emissions after power plants, backers seeking more investment in mass transit and smart growth said the plan didn't go far enough. "If the governors aren't targeting reversing the steady growth in the amount of driving people do across the Midwest, then that's a hole in their plan big enough to drive lots of cars and trucks through," said Steve Filmanowicz, spokesman for the Chicago-based Congress for the New Urbanism, which former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist runs. The plan to reduce greenhouse gases is on a "collision course" with Doyle's plan to widen southeastern Wisconsin highways, Filmanowicz said. Careers at the Journal Sentinel © 2005-2007, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. | ***************************************************************** 20 Dothan Eagle: Farley says it is taking action to correct safety issues - Friday, Nov 16, 2007 - 06:01 AM By Lance Griffin Farley Nuclear Plant officials have told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they are taking the necessary steps to avoid another breaker failure like the one that triggered additional NRC oversight last month. In a fax sent to the NRC Wednesday, Farley officials said they will be adding an additional step to the inspection of breakers that operate in several critical safety applications at the plant. “This is an example of Farley being proactive,” said NRC spokesman Ken Clark. Farley has been under extra NRC oversight since last month when it determined breaker failures at the plant constituted a substantial safety concern. The breaker manufacturer, AREVA, informed Farley on Oct. 3 of this year that there could be a defect in the design of the breakers. Specifically, the defect may revolve around a clip that may not have been properly installed in the breaker. If the clip becomes dislodged, it could prevent the breaker from tripping and triggering important safety equipment. While Farley personnel have always inspected the breakers to identify loose nuts and bolts, rings and other hardware, Farley will now inspect the pins prior to installation to make sure they are installed properly. Those inspections have already been implemented. “Of course circuit breakers or valves have to operate as designed when called upon,” Clark said. “If they don’t, it doesn’t mean there will be a major disaster, but it means you will have operating problems.” Clark said that while the breaker problem may have stemmed from a design defect, the NRC has not received widespread reports of problems with breakers manufactured by AREVA. The NRC also announced Thursday a public meeting will be held Monday to discuss the recent breaker failures. The meeting will be held at 11 a.m. in the commission chambers of the Houston County Administrative Building. Copyright © 2007 Media General, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: Past, Present, and Future: Reflections on the State of the Nuclear Renaissance Speech - 07-050 - OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: Public Affairs Web Site PDF Version Remarks Prepared for NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein "Past, Present, and Future: Reflections on the State of the Nuclear Renaissance" INPO Atlanta, GA November 15, 2007 Good afternoon. I appreciate the invitation to speak to you today. I have a lot a tell you. I do not mean that my speech will be excessively long; it won't be. What I mean is that I have some substantial and important things I need to say to you. Some of what I need to discuss with you is negative. Of course, pointing out the negative is part of my job as a regulator. But I should also mention that there is good news. In fact, those of you who are optimists could say that the glass is half-full. This counterpoint, in fact, leads me to the theme of my remarks, which is: contrast. The contrast between the things that are going well, and where we need to be better. The contrast between perception and reality. And the contrast between the past and the present. I want to say a brief word about each of those, but not necessarily in that order. Let's look at the contrast between past and present first. Certainly things are very different today than, say, thirty years ago when the building of new nuclear power plants ground to a halt. During the "stagflation" of the late 1970s, demand for energy was predicted to level off. The NRC had only recently been created, and—frankly—was not a very efficient or predictable regulator, in my view. And the only problem people had with "carbon" was that the stuff rubbed off on your fingers when you made "carbon copies" in the typewriter. The prospects for nuclear power did not appear bright. Today, of course, the situation is very different—as all of you know very well. Even within the last year, we have seen dramatic changes. Brown's Ferry Unit 1 was re-started; and the President of the United States personally attended the ribbon-cutting. Construction resumed at Watts Bar Unit 2. The NRC issued three license renewals this year, with 10 more under review; while 13 power uprates are under review, with one already issued this year. We are expecting applications for several new uranium mining operations; and if the Department of Energy follows through on what it has said, we could be receiving an application for Yucca Mountain next year. In addition, of course, the first COL applications—for NRG in Texas and Bellefonte in Alabama—have been submitted. And we are preparing for quite a few more. These are not the signs of a stagnant industry. To the contrary, these are signs of expansion and growth. The NRC is probably the busiest we have been in our history. And that points us away from the past and the present, into the future. However, I don't work on Wall Street, so I am not in the business of predicting the future. I would rather focus on the here and now. You have probably heard the saying, "If we do our jobs in the present, the future will take care of itself." I think that's true. So let me turn to the contrast between what we are doing, and what we should be doing. Or rather, let's frame it in terms of some things that should not be happening. We should not have cooling towers collapsing, corrosion of safety-system piping, or security guards sleeping. Not to mention sirens that don't work, emergency diesels that won't run, safety- related valves that don't work, safety-related breakers that don't work, and ECCS sump suction lines full of duct tape. In addition to these items, we currently have a site that is already in column four, with three more that could move into column four within the next 18 months. This is not a good situation.            Now, when I said "we" a moment ago, I really did mean that all of us need to improve. I think you are all aware of our agency's embarrassment over the GAO sting involving materials licenses given to a bogus company. Obviously, the NRC is not exempt from error or failure.             We need to be doing a better job in a number of areas, including communications. We also need to improve our information systems, and make information publicly available and transparent. And we need to upgrade our technology and business practices more generally. As I have told the staff several times: We should strive to hold ourselves to the same standards we expect from our licensees. Now, you and I know that from the perspective of risk-informed analysis, most of the items I listed were not matters of significant safety risk. But, let me stress, that doesn't matter, for several reasons. First, carelessness in small things may lead to carelessness about bigger things. In the early 1980s, the sociologist James Q. Wilson pioneered the so-called "broken windows" theory of law-enforcement. The idea was that when small signs of disorder or decay—such as vandalism, graffiti, or even excessive littering—are allowed to persist, it leads to bigger crimes, because people assume that the neighborhood does not have any standards, and that no one is enforcing the law. It is a theory that was actually put into practice in several major cities, and led to major reductions in crimes. One lesson we can take from that is: Perception leads to reality. If the public believes that standards at nuclear plants are not being enforced, it leads to an erosion of public confidence in the whole nuclear energy industry. On the other hand, when industry does its job, it leads to public confidence in nuclear power more broadly—which lends credence to the work of the NRC. And when we, in turn, hold the utilities to a high standard of safety and security, it enhances confidence in the job you are doing. Last week I spoke to a delegation of Japanese government officials and utility executives from the Japanese nuclear power industry. I think some of you may be with us today. One of the things I mentioned is that nuclear utilities and regulators from both of our countries need to do a much better job of communicating with the public when an incident occurs at a nuclear facility. At the time of the Kashiwazaki earthquake, I am not sure that the public was given the accurate and timely information it needed to understand the risk and safety issues. In many cases, when there is an incident at a nuclear facility, the headlines in the newspapers should read, "All safety systems worked." But, as we know, this important fact is often not made clear. And often—though not always—this is because no one had laid the communications groundwork ahead of time to make it clear. The NRC needs to do better in this regard, as well. For example, I don't think we have done a great job explaining to people—especially on Capitol Hill—the difference between today's Reactor Oversight Process and the Independent Safety Assessment that was done away with years ago—why we made that change, and how the ROP is a greatly superior, internationally recognized approach for promoting safety. So we need to be better at explaining these facts, and these incidents. Of course, it would also make things easier if there were fewer incidents that required explanation. Another reason all this is important is that the United States is at the forefront of the global nuclear expansion. People all over the world are paying close attention to what we do. Now, I have mentioned this often, and at times people have responded by saying, "Well, so what? Let others watch us, if they want. That doesn't make us responsible for the rest of the world." Well, that is true, except for this significant fact: The rest of the world is not just watching the U.S. nuclear renaissance; they are participating in it! Whether it be major components, minor parts supplied by sub-vendors, reactor designs, manpower, software, or other elements, a new reactor today depends on a supply chain that is truly global in scope. This wasn't necessarily the case, say, 20 years ago. But I think that it has become clear that it simply isn't possible to obtain all the necessary components domestically. Just consider that the number of N-stamps held by U.S. companies today is about a fifth of what it was in 1980. So the safety of both new and existing reactors in the United States simply can't be separated from what is happening internationally. That is what I mean when I say that "A nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere." I hope that you will consider helping by expanding your international outreach efforts. In fact, this is such a good idea, I would even say, don't stop with extending cooperation and communication around the world, try it here at home. What I mean is, as the nuclear resurgence gets under way, I hope you engage in more collaboration and sharing of information among yourselves. If we are serious about the need for greater standardization in the future—and I think we all know this must happen—we need to share information within the nuclear industry. If there is some way you can get together and critique or "red-team" each other's COL applications—to ensure completeness, accuracy, and quality—it will streamline the process for us, promote the goal of standardization, and lead to enhanced safety for the future fleet. Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude my remarks on two personal notes. The first concerns human resources—which is a big issue for all of us. As both industry and government seek to locate and train the next generation of employees, let's remember to work on expanding the talent pool as much as possible. The NRC has a very aggressive recruitment effort to expand the diversity of our workforce, with the result that 60 percent of our new hires in FY2007 are women and minorities. I also know from direct experience while I was at the Pentagon that our men and women in uniform are highly dedicated and professional. And regardless of the differing opinions people may have on various political questions, I think we can all agree that America owes a great debt of gratitude to those who have been disabled while serving their nation. So as we seek out the best and brightest, and seek to reflect the diversity of society at large, let's not overlook the nation's disabled veterans. My final point is more of a personal reflection. It was just about this time last year that the NRC was facing a budget impasse, as Congress contemplated passing a year-long Continuing Resolution. And while some things change, some things stay the same, because we are facing that same situation again, and it reminds me how much I miss Ed McGaffigan. Ed was invaluable in working with me, making numerous trips to the Hill, arguing the case for the agency, and getting us our full funding. Many of you knew him. It wasn't just Ed's technical competence that made him special, but also his willingness to fight battles on behalf of the agency, whether it was setting the record straight on the GAO sting and the RTR study, or explaining the critical work we do to members of Congress. NRC speeches are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when speeches are posted to NRC's Web site. November 16, 2007 ***************************************************************** 22 The Telegraph: Left budges, but keeps N-veto Calcutta : Nation | Saturday, November 17, 2007 | Advertise with us - Russia excuse for yes to talks RADHIKA RAMASESHAN New Delhi, Nov. 16: The Left today allowed the Centre to hold talks with atomic watchdog IAEA for an India-specific safeguards agreement but not to finalise the pact. The CPM and the CPI dismissed suggestions of a ?climbdown? by saying they wanted the talks for nuclear co-operation with Russia and not the US, but the argument had few takers. However, the Left retained its veto power. The UPA agreed at a meeting of the nuclear panel that the government would get back to the Left with the ?outcome? of the IAEA talks before taking any further step. Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, the meeting?s convener, said the panel?s findings would be taken into account before the text of the treaty was signed. ?We agreed to the IAEA talks in the context of Russia. We asked the government why it couldn?t sign a nuclear agreement with Russia and were informed that the safeguards agreement was a pre-requisite,? CPI secretary and panel member D. Raja said. ?Therefore, if the agreement opens the doors to do business with countries other than the US, it is worth pursuing.? Delhi and Moscow recently put off an agreement on the sale of four nuclear reactors for Kudankulam until the Nuclear Suppliers Group cleared the Indo-US nuclear deal. The RSP and the Forward Bloc were sceptical of the Russia argument. When the four parties met before the panel sat, the smaller Left Front allies asked the CPM why it had changed its mind on the IAEA talks and whether its only concern was Russia. They also voiced annoyance at not being consulted. ?There was no proper answer,? an RSP leader said. The CPM and the CPI, however, assured the smaller parties in ?no uncertain terms? that the Indo-US deal would not ?materialise, come what may?, the RSP member said. ?As far as we are concerned, the net result matters — and that is that the deal will not be operationalised.? At the Left Front meeting, however, leaders expressed concern over what might happen if and when the communists vetoed the deal. ?Suppose we say ?no? to the IAEA outcome. The government will suffer a further loss of face. The Congress could then seriously consider an election,? a Left source said. The Congress was not rejoicing over today?s decision. ?It?s a step forward,? a panel member said, but rejected Raja?s argument de-linking the IAEA talks from the 123 Agreement. Clause 6(b) of the agreement, he said, required India to negotiate with the atomic agency. PTI quoted national security adviser M.K. Narayanan as saying: ?The Prime Minister called me up and I should think his mood is upbeat.? Copyright © 2006 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | ***************************************************************** 23 [DU-WATCH] Articles on detoxing body from radiation Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:00:48 -0600 (CST) I have no way of verifying the accuracy these articles, or if radiation detoxification is possible, but I am including all that I have found about radiation detoxification, in the hopes that it may be helpful to someone that has been exposed to it. Please send me additional information that you may have, or results of using these methods, so that I can share it with others. Most important points on radiation detoxification: strict diet of brown rice, miso and tamari soy soup, wakame, kombu and other seaweed, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt. He also prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets since they suppress the immune system. sea vegetables contain substances that bind radioactive particles and escort them out of the body [DU-WATCH] Articles on detoxing body from radiation Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:00:48 -0600 (CST) I have no way of verifying the accuracy these articles, or if radiation detoxification is possible, but I am including all that I have found about radiation detoxification, in the hopes that it may be helpful to someone that has been exposed to it. Please send me additional information that you may have, or results of using these methods, so that I can share it with others. Most important points on radiation detoxification: strict diet of brown rice, miso and tamari soy soup, wakame, kombu and other seaweed, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt. He also prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets since they suppress the immune system. sea vegetables contain substances that bind radioactive particles and escort them out of the body In Chernobyl, for instance, spirulina was used to help save many children from radiation poisoning. By taking 5 grams of spirulina a day for 45 days, the Institute of Radiation Medicine in Minsk even proved that children on this protocol experienced enhanced immune systems, T-cell counts and reduced radioactivity. Chlorella algae, a known immune system builder and heavy metal detoxifier, has also shown radioprotective effects. Basically, an anti-radiation diet should focus on the following foods: 1. Miso soup 2. Spirulina, chlorella and the algaes 3. Brassica vegetables and high beta carotene vegetables 4. Beans and lentils 5. Potassium, calcium and mineral rich foods 6. High nucleotide content foods to assist cellular repair including _ spirulina, chlorella, algae, yeast, sardines,liver, anchovies and mackerel 7. Cod liver oil and olive oil 8. Avoid sugars and sweets and wheat 9. A good multivitamin/multimineral supplement In short, yeasts, beta glucans, bee pollen and various forms of ginseng have all been shown to bolster the immune system after radiation incidents. Those particular foods include beet juice, liver extract, spleen extract, and shark alkyglycerols. Most oncologists don't know that shark liver oil, with alkyglycerols, can help platelet counts rebound in days. In areas contaminated by depleted uranium dusts, it therefore makes sense to switch to drinking slightly alkaline water and to favor a non-acidic diet to assist in this detoxification. Any of the heavy metal detoxifiers, such as miso soup, chlorella, spirulina and seaweeds, are also commonsense warranted. One homeopathic, in particular, is URANIUM NITRICUM (nitrate of uranium) which homeopaths suggest should be used in cases of depleted uranium exposure or uranium poisoning. ======================================================================== (http://www.wisdomstore.us/survivalism-writings.html.0.html) _http://www.radiationdetox.com/depleted-uranium.htm_ (http://www.radiationdetox.com/depleted-uranium.htm) How to Detox Your Body of Depleted Uranium Residues, the Effects of Radiation, and Radioactive Contamination It's sad but true that there are thousands of scientific references and medical studies out there on the fact that radiation and radioactivity can harm you, yet despite millions of dollars spent by the government to study radiation, virtually nothing is available about a detoxification diet or nutritional supplements you might use if you are exposed to radioactive contamination. Here's some of the information we do know from the only book in the world on the topic. Keep this information in the back of your mind as it may one day help save you or someone you know. Most people are aware taking potassium iodide (KI) or potassium iodate (KIO3) tablets will help block your thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine should there ever be a dirty bomb explosion or nuclear power plant mishap such as the Three Mile Island incident. In 1999, another such accident happened in Tokaimura, Japan where several individuals died from radiation exposure in a fuel processing facility. What people don't recognize is that potassium iodide or iodate tablets only protect the thyroid gland and do not provide protection from any other radiation exposure, so taking them should not give you a false sense of security. It's important to detox your body after radioactive exposure! One question is, what do you do if KI or KIO3 tablets aren't available during an emergency? Interestingly enough, according to research by Ken Miller, health physicist at the Hershey Medical Center, he found that an adult could get a blocking dose of stable iodine by painting 8 ml of a 2 percent tincture of Iodine on the abdomen or forearm approximately 2 hours prior to I-131 contamination. Potassium iodine tablets are best, but if they're not available this is the next best thing. An entirely different problem arises after you've been exposed to radioactive contamination because now you have to get rid of any radioactive particles you may have ingested through the air you breathed, water you drank, or food you ate. Some people suggest Epson salt, Clorox or clay baths to remove any residues on your skin and to leach out any heavy metals you may have absorbed, but the big worry is internal contamination. To gain some insights into what to do, we have to turn to the story of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. At the time of the atomic bombing, Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D. was Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis's Hospital in Nagasaki and he fed his staff and patients a strict diet of brown rice, miso and tamari soy soup, wakame, kombu and other seaweed, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt. He also prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets since they suppress the immune system. By imposing this diet on his staff and patients, no one succumbed to radiation poisoning whereas the occupants of hospitals located much further away from the blast incident suffered severe radiation fatalities. Much of this positive result has to do with the fact that the sea vegetables contain substances that bind radioactive particles and escort them out of the body. This is why seaweed sales usually skyrocket after radiation disasters, and why various seaweeds and algae are typically used to treat radiation victims. In Chernobyl, for instance, spirulina was used to help save many children from radiation poisoning. By taking 5 grams of spirulina a day for 45 days, the Institute of Radiation Medicine in Minsk even proved that children on this protocol experienced enhanced immune systems, T-cell counts and reduced radioactivity. Israeli scientists have since treated Chernobyl children with doses of natural beta carotene from Dunaliella algae and proved that it helped normalize their blood chemistry. Chlorella algae, a known immune system builder and heavy metal detoxifier, has also shown radioprotective effects. Because they bind heavy metals, algae should therefore be consumed after exposure to any type of radioactive contamination. In 1968 a group of Canadian researchers at McGill University of Montreal, headed by Dr. Stanley Skoryna, actually set out to devise a method to counteract the effects of nuclear fallout. The key finding from their studies was that sea vegetables contained a polysaccharide substance, called sodium alginate, which selectively bound radioactive strontium and eliminated it from the body. Sodium alginate is found in many seaweeds, especially kelp, and since that time the Russians have been seriously researching the use of their own kelps from Vladivlostok, from which they have isolated the polysaccharide U-Fucoidan, which is another radioactive detoxifier. Because miso soup was so effective in helping prevent radiation sickness, the Japanese have also done research identifying the presence of an active ingredient called zybicolin, discovered in 1972, which acts as a binding agent to also detoxify and eliminate radioactive elements (such as strontium) and other pollutants from the body The kelps and algaes aren't the only natural foods with radio-detoxifying effects. In terms of fluids to drink, black and green tea have shown radioprotective effects whether consumed either before or after exposure to radiation. This anti-radiation effect was observed in several Japanese studies, and studies from China also suggest that the ingredients in tea are radioactive antagonists. In short, after any sort of radioactive exposure you want to be eating seaweeds and algaes along with almost any type of commercial heavy metal chelating formula to bind radioactive particles and help escort them out of the body. Whether you're worried about depleted uranium, plutonium or other isotopes, this is the wise thing to do which can possibly help, and certainly won't hurt. Many nutritional supplements have been developed for the purpose of detoxifying heavy metals, most of which contain the algaes and plant fibers and other binding substances. Basically, an anti-radiation diet should focus on the following foods: 1. Miso soup 2. Spirulina, chlorella and the algaes 3. Brassica vegetables and high beta carotene vegetables 4. Beans and lentils 5. Potassium, calcium and mineral rich foods 6. High nucleotide content foods to assist cellular repair including _ spirulina, chlorella, algae, yeast, sardines,liver, anchovies and mackerel 7. Cod liver oil and olive oil 8. Avoid sugars and sweets and wheat 9. A good multivitamin/multimineral supplement Yet another benefit of the sea vegetables rarely discussed is their high mineral content, which is a bonus in the case of radioactive exposure. Consuming natural iodine, such as in the seaweeds, helps prevent the uptake of iodine-131 while iron inhibits the absorption of plutonium-238 and plutonium-239. Vitamin B-12 inhibits cobalt-60 uptake (used in nuclear medicine), zinc inhibits zinc-65 uptake and sulfur is preventative for sulfur-35 (a product of nuclear reactors) incorporation by the body. Since nuclear workers are potentially exposed to radioactive sulfur, this means that workers in the atomic power industry need a higher content of sulfur in their diet. MSM supplements provide a source of dietary sulfur, but thiol supplements such as cysteine, lipoic acid and glutathione serve double-duty in this area because they help detoxify the body and attack all sorts of other health problems as well. The immune system is usually hit hard after radiation exposure, and a number of steps can be taken to help prevent opportunistic infections after a radioactive incident. Though the full dimensions of the protective mechanism is still unknown, Siberian ginseng is one form of ginseng that exerts a definite radioprotective effect and has been demonstrated to lessen the side effects of radiation. It was widely distributed by the Soviet Union to those exposed Chernobyl radiation and is commonly used to help cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Consuming Reishi mushrooms is another proven way to bolster your immune system after radiation exposure and helps reduce the damage from radiation. It's been used to decrease radiation sickness in animals and help them recover faster after potentially deadly exposure. Panax ginseng has prevented hemorrhaging after radiation exposure, prevents bone marrow death and stimulates blood cell formation, so it's another supplement to add to one's protocol. In short, yeasts, beta glucans, bee pollen and various forms of ginseng have all been shown to bolster the immune system after radiation incidents. In terms of radiation burns, aloe vera has a proven ability to treat serious radiation burns and offers other radioprotective effects, and can easily be grown in your house. The amino acid L-Glutamine can be used to help repair the intestine in case of the gastrointestinal syndrome usually suffered due to radiation exposure, and a variety of substances can help rebuild blood cells to prevent hematopoietic syndrome. Those particular foods include beet juice, liver extract, spleen extract, and shark alkyglycerols. Most oncologists don't know that shark liver oil, with alkyglycerols, can help platelet counts rebound in days. Depleted uranium is currently in the journalistic spotlight because US weapons are made from this material, and after being fired leave a legacy of depleted uranium dust in the environment, which anyone can absorb. Because the kidneys are usually the first organs to show chemical damage upon uranium exposure, military manuals suggest doses or infusions of sodium bicarbonate to help alkalinize the urine if this happens. This makes the uranyl ion less kidney-toxic and promotes excretion of the nontoxic uranium carbonate complex. In areas contaminated by depleted uranium dusts, it therefore makes sense to switch to drinking slightly alkaline water and to favor a non-acidic diet to assist in this detoxification. Any of the heavy metal detoxifiers, such as miso soup, chlorella, spirulina and seaweeds, are also commonsense warranted. Another thing you can do is use homeopathics for radiation exposure. People commonly argue over whether homeopathics work or not, but if you assume the position that they produce no results whatsoever then you must also assume that they certainly won't hurt you, which means the only loss from using them is a few dollars. Frankly, there are countless cases and double-blind studies where homeopathic tinctures do provoke physical healing effects in the body. Therefore they are a viable adjunct treatment option. One homeopathic, in particular, is URANIUM NITRICUM (nitrate of uranium) which homeopaths suggest should be used in cases of depleted uranium exposure or uranium poisoning. Not just soldiers or civilians exposed to battlefield dusts, but uranium miners and radiation workers may find it quite useful. While we've discussed just a few of the many supplements and protocols you can use to help detox the body of the lingering results of radioactive contamination, including the residues of depleted uranium, the last thing that might be of interest is that there is a plant that is a natural geiger counter. The spiderwort plant is so sensitive to changes in radiation levels (its petals change color upon exposure) that it's often used as a natural radiation detector (dosimeter), just as they use canaries in mines as detectors of poisonous gas. Some people like knowing that they have an ongoing monitoring system for radiation in the environment, and this is just another tip available in "How to Neutralize the Harmful Effects of Radiation or Radioactive Exposure." Source: _http://www.radiationdetox.com/depleted-uranium.htm_ (http://www.radiationdetox.com/depleted-uranium.htm) ============================================================== Chelated Chromium is often given by IV to help rid the body of heavy metals... Kelp with iodine has long been used for thyroid health...iodine is given to those exposed to radiation in the military... Zinc naturally binds such contaminents so that they can pass through the body without being absorbed readily... Burdock root has been studied recently for the claims about helping with circulation health...and those claims have been confirmed in those studies... Milk Thistle is a natural agent to keep heavy metals from damaging the liver and kidneys... Many folks who have had problems with such contaminents find themselves also dealing with diabetes...nopales...prickley pear cactus has been used to regulate blood sugar and has proven to even reduce the need for any medicines as the body chemistry regains balance... ==================================================================== I had leukemia related to a very high exposure to radiation on a submarine...and I am but one of thousands of folks who have used the following...many with medical approval or suggestion... Chelated Chromium is often given by IV to help rid the body of heavy metals... Kelp with iodine has long been used for thyroid health...iodine is given to those exposed to radiation in the military... Zinc naturally binds such contaminents so that they can pass through the body without being absorbed readily... Burdock root has been studied recently for the claims about helping with circulation health...and those claims have been confirmed in those studies... Milk Thistle is a natural agent to keep heavy metals from damaging the liver and kidneys... Many folks who have had problems with such contaminents find themselves also dealing with diabetes...nopales...prickley pear cactus has been used to regulate blood sugar and has proven to even reduce the need for any medicines as the body chemistry regains balance... Most of today's medicines are a result of taking long time cures known to Indigenous cultures or using healing properties of plants and then turning them into chemical representations of those same things and filing a patent so that huge profits can be derived from those who are ill and need those meds...but believe me...it doesn't take away from the effectiveness of the natural remedies and cures...I am on a group which has alot of info about these things and also a link for another group with recipes for overall better health...here is the link should you wish to join and do some research on the group...also you can do a search at _news.google.com_ (http://news.google.com/) by recent date for the most current articles regarding studies and effectiveness of the items I mentioned... _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeAmericanVoiceForHealth_ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeAmericanVoiceForHealth) Mike Price Disabled Navy Veteran Wolf Clan Saco Tribe Abenaki Nation Links to radiation treatments from Mike: _http://www.ngwrc.http_ (http://www.ngwrc.org/) <_http://www.ngwrc.http_ (http://www.ngwrc.org/) > _http://www.miltoxprhttp://_ (http://www.miltoxproj.org/) <_http://www.miltoxprhttp://_ (http://www.miltoxproj.org/) > _http://www.garynullhttp://www.garyhttp://www.http://www.garyhtt_ (http://www.garynull.com/Documents/Gulf%20War/gulfwartherapy.htm) <_http://www.garynullhttp://www.garyhttp://www.http://www.garyhtt_ (http://www.garynull.com/Documents/Gulf%20War/gulfwartherapy.htm) > _http://www.hiddenwahttp://_ (http://www.hiddenwars.org/) <_http://www.hiddenwahttp://_ (http://www.hiddenwars.org/) > _http://www.theoilfahttp://ww_ (http://www.theoilfactor.com/) <_http://www.theoilfahttp://ww_ (http://www.theoilfactor.com/) > _http://www.skewsme.http://www.skhttp://www.s_ (http://www.skewsme.com/depleted_uranium.html) <_http://www.skewsme.http://www.skhttp://www.s_ (http://www.skewsme.com/depleted_uranium.html) > _http://www.nuclearfhttp://wwhttp://wwhttp://www.nuclhttp://www.nuclhttp:/ ted-uranium/ted-uranium/ted-uranited-uranium/ted-urani_ (http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/depleted-uranium/staff-report-ve terans-affairs_1994-12-08.htm) <_http://www.nuclearfhttp://wwhttp://wwhttp://www.nuclhttp://www.nuclhttp: eted-uranium/eted-uranium/eted-uraneted-uranium/eted-uran_ (http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/depleted-uranium/staff-report -veterans-affairs_1994-12-08.htm) > _http://www.lef.http://www.lefhttp://wwwhttp://wwwhttp_ (http://www.lef.org/protocols/abstracts/abstr-156.html) <_http://www.lef.http://www.lefhttp://wwwhttp://wwwhttp_ (http://www.lef.org/protocols/abstracts/abstr-156.html) > ======================================================================== DR CLARK IS BEING SUED FOR CURING PEOPLE. I think a lot of us downwind of the nuclear plants would live healthy if we followed her advise. The testimonials are overwhelming and the cures are based on her observations from a higher awareness. She has to be doing something right to be sued by the US FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. I don't think they sue the bad guys. _http://www.drclark.com_ (http://www.drclark.com/) _http://www.quackwatch.com/02ConsumerProtection/FTCActions/clarkcomplaint.html _ (http://www.quackwatch.com/02ConsumerProtection/FTCActions/clarkcomplaint.html) ====================================================================== _Natural Treatments Offer Hope To People Affected By DU (or other Radiation) (Sep. 27, 2006)_ (http://educate-yourself.org/cn/naturaltreatmentforradiation27sep06.shtml) http://educate-yourself.org/cn/naturaltreatmentforradiation27sep06.shtml (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm) ======================================================================= Natural Treatments Offer Hope To People Affected By DU (or other Radiation) By Gayle Eversole, DHom, PhD, MH, NP, ND, The Leaflady _www.Leaflady.org_ (http://www.leaflady.org/) _http://educate-yourself.org/lte/naturaltreatmentforradiation27sep06.shtml_ (http://educate-yourself.org/lte/naturaltreatmentforradiation27sep06.shtml) September 27, 2006 Natural Treatments Offer Hope To People Affected By DU (or other Radiation) (Sep. 27, 2006) _http://www.rense.com/general73/natrual.htm_ (http://www.rense.com/general73/natrual.htm) Folks who are in the midst of the fields of exposure may be helped by taking kelp or iodine tablets daily in an effort to protect endocrine and immune function. Kelp and Iodine are controversial, but many holistic physicians are using this type of treatment. Some researchers, however, advise that kelp can contain fluoride, so it may be a 'Catch 22'. The benefit may outweigh the risk is this situation. Water soluble iodine or natural nutritional protein bound iodine tablets are generally more effective and safer than Potassium Iodide. Diabetes in this case may develop from loss of function of the thyroid gland, which in turn effects function of all other endocrine glands, including the pancreas. High quality digestive enzymes and other natural pancreatic support may be helpful. Dry Skin Brushing follow with a 30 minute tub of hot water with 4 to 5 pounds of pure sea salt and 1-2 cups of miso broth added. Drink 1-cup miso broth while soaking for thirty minutes, Finish with a cool shower. Sea salt and Baking soda baths: 50/50 mix - is helpful to re-balance the body after exposure to radiation. Some treatments can be adapted for use in the field. Red Clover and Chaparral Tea helps cleanse the blood, and it seems to benefit lymphoma type reactions. Dandelion herb helps the liver and kidneys. It is high in minerals and especially vitamin A. Any help to these organs of elimination is beneficial. Dandelion root is especially helpful to keep blood sugar balanced. Eleuthero or what is called Siberian ginseng helps support the adrenal glands. Other help for these glands are vitamin C and bee pollen. These glands are the 'fight or flight' center of your body and are often exhausted in stress. Alfalfa and spirulina may also be good to use for general support. Five Flower Remedy and Yarrow Environmental Formula are flower essence remedies that help in anxiety and panic (Five Flower) and environmental over exposure (YES). Thyroid testing is an important diagnostic tool. Sadly most physicians do not order the correct set of tests to thoroughly evaluate thyroid function. This panel should at least be - ultrasensitive TSH, Free T3 and Free T4. One cannot accurately 'infer' the T3 level from TSH and T4 as many doctors claim. If immune dis-orders such as lupus and others are suspected then a reverse T3 is necessary (rT3). The current range for TSH, since 2003, is 0.3 - 3.2. The optimal rage is 1.5 to 2. If the reading is high you tend to have low thyroid, if opposite you tend to have hyperthyroid. Home kits for thyroid evaluations are available through my office. Avoid any products containing aspartame, acesulfame K and sucralose. Please know that each individual responds to this type of environmental trauma differently. For the best results it is important to treat each person accordingly, and in relation to their symptoms. Please refer to these web pages for more information - _www.leaflady.org/veterans.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/veterans.htm) _www.leaflady.org/cancer.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/cancer.htm) _www.leaflady.org/Diabetic_Health.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/Diabetic_Health.htm) _www.leaflady.org/immune_system_health.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/immune_system_health.htm) _www.leaflady.org/usefulness_of_iodine.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/usefulness_of_iodine.htm) _www.leaflady.org/xrays.htm_ (http://www.leaflady.org/xrays.htm) By Gayle Eversole, DHom, PhD, MH, NP, ND The Leaflady For more information on the usefullness of Iodine, go here: _http://leaflady.org/usefulness_of_iodine.htm_ (http://leaflady.org/usefulness_of_iodine.htm) =========================================================================== Good news! To counteract the recent bad news I am delving into finding more choices for exposures to depleted uranium. First of all there are already studies out there on several different choices for fighting back against depleted uranium exposure. So like I said before ignore the dire warnings that there is no hope for DU exposures that came from the MD of that last report. Some of these studies focus on chealators and I too still think PCA- RX would affectively deal with DU. But for people who still have mercury amalgams in their mouths it could cause more harm. (as noted before it could continue to pull mercury out of the affixed amalgam) Other chelators have their own risk involved and must be used under the direction of a doctor highly trained to administer them. Not to say they are not good choices. I am saying they must be administered by someone who uses the right chelator and knows exactly what they are doing. But that is not a good choices for everyone because it can cost into the thousands with insurance companies rarely ever paying a dime. That's ok, we have better choices that cost MUCH less and there is no need for a doctor to administer them or to pay a hefty price to a supplement provider. These are choices that everyone can afford and that is the kind of choice I always seek out. Now to the choice for dealing with DU poisoning. Ready? It's Sodium Citrate otherwise known as citric acid. Citric acid is found in common fruits. It is highly concentrated in lemons, limes, and grapefruits. Also found in oranges. Squeezing a lemon or lime into your pure water can give you a good amount of citric acid. Can you believe how simple that is? I was thrilled to find this study and see we had a good choice affordable to all people. What was fascinating about this connection to fruit juices and DU was the direct link to many alternative cancer therapies that also involve drinking a LOT of freshly prepared fruit juices to kill cancer cells. At first some of that did not make sense to me for healing mainly due to the high natural sugar content of some of the fruits. But the only way to get the purest forms of the natural enzymes and all of the benefits of fruit juice is to drink it right after it is prepared. Few people know that once fruit juice (or any liquid like milk,etc) is pasteurized those beneficial properties are destroyed. Some even say that if we do not drink freshly made juice within the first 30 minutes that it loses a great deal of it's healing properties like the natural enzymes that are extremely important for healing. So it appears as if even buying organic juices that are in cartons is really a waste of money if we are seeking all the benefits we could have gained from fruit juices. For even organic juices that I have seen are indeed pasteurized. Now for other choices to address the exposures of DU. Few know that when they tested the atomic bomb (Manhattan Project in the 1940's) they discovered that DU will adhere to cotton clothing and it was hard to remove from it. Laundry detergents would not remove it and this is vital for those who are exposed and in high risk areas. If you have family in the Middle East (in the military or business), or in Europe like I do, this information could be vital for them too. I want to also note that people in Utah, Chicago, and New York tested at higher DU levels then other areas. The longer that clothes contaminated with DU remain next to the skin the higher the concentrations of DU in their bloodstream. If the person is sweating, and their pores are open -like we would see people doing in the hot climates of the Middle East, the concentrations of the DU is even higher. That is why it is vital to not wear the same clothing in contaminated areas for long term periods and even more vital to know how to get it out before wearing the garments again. What do we use to get it out of our clothes? Ready for this? Cheap, and easy to obtain, baking soda will remove DU from clothing! Isn't that great! A choice everyone can afford and easily find. For many people like us who already use baking soda and vinegar to enhance cleaning in our clothes we will already be affectively dealing with that issue. About 6 ounces of baking soda in 2 gallons of water is what is suggested. They also warn that certain oils and lotions meant to make products absorb deeper into the skin are also dangerous when exposed to DU. That made sense to me. We already discussed the issue of chemical filled beauty products and how the added ingredients that pull those toxins further into our system made them more dangerous. But I wonder about products containing citric acids in them? Many organic products use forms of these acids as a natural preservative. What about aloe based products? Aloe is well noted to affectively heal skin wounds caused by radiation exposures like x-rays. If the aloe product used citric acid as a preservative I would think it would also be a good protective barrier. Wouldn't that affectively block it? I do not know but it's good Food for thought. Many people also sprinkle baking soda in their carpets instead of using toxic chemical filled scents that only mask the odors. I wonder if doing that could be affectively helping the vacuum filter out DU particles trapped in a home? I wonder if the baking soda would help city water that has DU in it too? Either way it wouldn't hurt to throw in some baking soda when we wash our pets to ensure we can get DU off of them too and if we are using it in our laundry then it would enter the city water supply. We could look at it like a gift to our community. When I came across this information I had to share it. We have enough to be terrified with. The only way to combat fear of the unknown is to have choices to combat it. If we are ever exposed ( or if we are currently being exposed) there will be less fear if we know what we can do. Also note that it is equally important to understand how DU most affects the kidneys and bones at minimum exposures. I would say that it would not be a bad idea to start a preventative program anyway. Drinking a few glasses of fresh water with citrus fruits squeezed in every day could help to keep the kidneys flushed and affectively deal with DU exposures at the same time. The benefits of grapefruit cannot be underestimated either. It's natural anti-parasitic properties alone could be thwarting many issues inside that would never materialize to full blown illnesses on such a regimen. The extra bonus of the citric acid revealed in this study was that it showed cellular regeneration and tubular regeneration in the animals of the studies. That is true healing anyway you look at it. Not unlike the cellular healing abilities of aloe this could also be quite an affective healing tool to add to daily life. Below you will see the source for the original study conducted on animals that were treated with citric acid before and after exposure to lethal doses of uranium. Has this study been conducted on humans? not that I could find. Like I said it can't hurt to just add this to our diet. Citric acid has many healing properties to it so this is not like added a dangerous substance to a daily program. It IS a choice and that is what we need far more of. Effect of sodium citrate on uranium poisoning in dogs. GE Gustafson, S Koletsky and AH Free, , 416-423, 1944. This study showed that sodium citrate administered either intravenously (230 mg/kg) or by oral gastric intubation (1.15 g/kg)gave dramatic protection from uranium poisoning. All 7 dogs given sodium citrate orally and all 3 given sodium citrate intravenously survived a lethal dose of uranyl nitrate (i.v.), whereas 5 of the 10 dogs not receiving sodium citrate died within 10 days from uremia and the other 5 were put to death at various times between 2.5 and 7 days. for kidney histology. Renal lesions in citrate treated animals were much less severe and recovery was rapid compared to animals receiving uranyl nitrate only. ______________________________________________________________________ The stimulating influence of sodium citrate on cellular regeneration and repair in the kidney injured by uranium nitrate. Donnelly, G.L. and Holman, R.L. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics75, 11-17, 1942. Dogs given 5 mg uranyl nitrate alone showed acute signs of toxicity and 12 of 13 dogs died between 9 and 13 days after uranium treatment. When 230 mg sodium citrate was given (i.v.) each day for 5 d prior and 5 d after U treatment, only 1 dog died and survivors showed little, if any signs of intoxication from the same dose of U. There was also significant tubular regeneration in the citrate treated animals. ______________________________________________________________________ Maximum permissible amounts of natural uranium in the body, air and drinking water based on human experimental data. Bernard, S.R. Health Physics 1, 288-305, 1958. Eight terminally ill brain tumor patients (age 26 to 63) were injected with uranium compounds (uranyl or uranium tetrachloride) - six were comatose prior to injection. The amount injected (i.v.) ranged from 4 to 50 mg U. Uranyl was cleared rapidly in the urine (69 percent in first day). Autopsies revealed uranyl ion migrates mainly to kidney and bones, whereas U(IV) goes mainly to liver and bones, with similar U burdens in kidneys and bones. This study was intended for the purpose of producing useful data on humans with regard to maximum permissible concentrations. The author states that the kidneys become the critical organ for toxic effects of uranium that limits exposure, rather than the radiation damage, although it is not clear how this conclusion was drawn. This paper was from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This is the source for all three studies above: _http://myweb.brooklyn.liu.edu/lawrence/duproject/lit_sum.htm#10_ (http://myweb.brooklyn.liu.edu/lawrence/duproject/lit_sum.htm#10) ] ============================================================================ What are practical protective measures for exposed individuals? During the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb in the early 1940s, many scientists investigated the toxic properties of uranium. They found that uranium oxides stick very well to cotton cloth, but did not wash out with soap or laundry detergent [34]. The uranium would wash out with a 2% solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Clothing can become contaminated with DU dust and normal laundering will not remove it. Those at risk of DU dust exposure should have their clothing washed with baking soda (about 6 ounces of baking soda in 2 gallons of water). Other studies done in the 1940s found that some uranium compounds could be absorbed through the skin (of lab animals) [34]. More recent studies done in the late 1980s and 1990s found that even relatively insoluble uranium oxide could damage skin cells when applied daily for a month, resulting in the skin becoming thinner and more permeable [35]. If the uranium oxides dissolve, they are more easily absorbed [36, 37], and certain oils and lotions may cause the uranium to be absorbed through the skin more quickly. Some uranium oxides can dissolve in sweat, making it easier for them to be absorbed. If clothing is highly contaminated with DU dust, and if it remains in contact with sweaty skin for long periods of time, there could be significant amounts dissolved and absorbed through the skin. Therefore, it is important to get the clothing clean and free of uranium contamination. Source of this information: _http://www.idust.net/Docs/Lawrence002.htm_ (http://www.idust.net/Docs/Lawrence002.htm) ============================================================================ _http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Estgvisie/VISIE/decontaminate1.html_ (http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/VISIE/decontaminate1.html) DEPLETED URANIUM DECONTAMINATION Mainpage Uranium exposure assessment It is known already for several years the "Gulfwar syndrome" and more recently the "Balkan syndrome" are caused by the use of several toxic agents. These toxic substances are mainly adminstered by medical personnel in the form of vaccines mixed with mercury, drugs and sprays against nerve gas en several kinds of parasites. It is doubtful these medics achieve this wide range of protection. The immune system is forced to response to too many vaccines and drugs and ends up in a mess. Of course this is known to the medical staff so the soldiers are used as guinea pigs in a macabre experiment. The main toxine is adminstered by the military itself to its own personnel: depleted uranium dust. This substance radiates the body from the inside. The local peoples are even more the vicitims of this dust: they have to live in a contaminated neighbourhood. Dr Len Dietz has calculated the amount of alpha radiation from one tiny dust particle which can be inhaled easily deep in the lung and can stay there for several years. Only that one small particle with a diameter of 2.5 micron of this highly concentrated metal oxide generates an alpha radiation of 1000 times the ICRP limits (170 REM/Y) locally in the lung tissue. (ICRP = International Commission for Radiological Protection) The measurements of the Canadian chemist dr. Hari Sharma tell us: the half-life of DU in the human body is more than 9 years because in the urine of British Gulfwar vets the amount of uranium is 100 times the average concentration. This is caused by the inhaled DU particles trapped in bone-, lung- brain- and lymphetissue. These DU particles in the lung, lymphe nodes, bone and brain release by ongoing corrosion smaller uranium particles which can be measured in the urine and stool. These uranium particles are still billions of uranium atoms tied together. These alpha radiating particles can travel through the whole body and trap in an organ or a particular tissue. Those particles are not found in nature: they are man-made. 24 hours a day these particles release alpha particles which damage the nucleus of the neighbouring cells. Uranium is stored in practically every tissue or organ in the human body. After ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium people are slowly getting sick by the radiation. The body tries to get rid of this heavy metal by detoxifying actions of the liver, Most uranium is excreted in the gut, but is reuptaken again. Some uranium leaves the body via the urine and can be measured by isotopic separtation: TI - MS If you are poisoned by DU you should be decontaminatet from DU. You should see uranium as the same as any other heavy metal like lead, mercury, cadmium a.s.o. Only uranium is also radioactive. Uranium and other heavy metals are seen by the body as nutrition. Heavy metals atoms are build in the bone and cells like calcium atoms. Uranium might end up in the bone marrow where it radiates the stem cells, the precursors of the complete range of blood cells: lymphocytes, monocytes, bloodplatelets, red blood cells. Therefore it is very urgent to force the depleted uranium atoms out of the body. This is a process which will take several years. Most likely it will never reach zero level, but can be kept as low as reasonable achevable (ALARA) by taking vitamins, chelating agents and minirals. Decontamination from DU It will be translated a.s.a.p. There are some substances which are helpful force the uranium out of the cells. 1. Chlorophyl present in a.o. young grasses like wheat grass and algae like spirulina. Pure chlorophyl is sold in bottles, tablets and pouwder. Chlorophyl ties the heavy metal atom by exchange it with a magnesium atom. present in a.o. joung grasses and algae like chlorella and spirulina (in de handel in flessen van een halve liter (Vita producten) en in poedervorm (Spirulina, tarwegras, Green Magma etc.) elke dag een scheut of theelepel in (bron)water). Bindt zware metalen: d.m.v. uitwisseling van het magnesiumatoom in het chlorofyl molecuul tegen een heavy metal atoom. 2. Ginkgo Biloba en/of superoxide dismuthase (sod) Twee maal per dag 50 milligram. Werkt oxidatie tegen: sterke antioxidatieve werking. 3. Multivitamin 1 tablet per dag. Bevat volledige reeks vitaminen en mineralen als aanvulling op het tekort dat is ontstaan door chronische heavy metal vergiftiging. (U kunt een multi-vitamine nemen van Solgar, Biotics, Orthica of ander serieus merk) 4. Selenium, dit is een essentikel sporen element, een van de eigenschappen is dat het methionine en cysteine stimuleert zich te binden aan kwik als een onoplosbare en goed uit te scheiden verbinding. Essentieel voor de heavy metal ontgiftiging van b.v. de hersenen. Wees in het begin voorzichting met Selenium, zie hierover de Selenium(klik hier) documentatie. 5. Acidophilus + bifidus 500 mg per dag. Zorgt voor gezonde darmflora. 6. Zink. Per dag 50 milligram. Kwik verdringt het zink uit het lichaam en het is daarom belangrijk voor extra zinkopname te zorgen. Zink is van belang voor enzymproduktie (zink zit ook in de meeste multivitaminen, maar vaak in een te lage dosering). Zeer veel belangrijke functies in het menselijk organisme zijn afhankelijk van zink. 7. Magnesium. Dagelijks 500 tot 700 milligram (zit ook in lage doseringen in de meeste goede multivitaminen) Als je niet veel melkprodukten neemt moet je ook apart extra calcium gebruiken, anders krijg je een verstoring van de mg/ca - balans. 8. Alkavital (Orthica) een halve theelepel per dag oplossen in water: dit maakt uw lichaam (en speeksel) alkalisch . U kunt ook brandnetelthee drinken om minder zuur te worden Het bevordert bovendien dat het U238 gemakkelijker het lichaam verlaat. 9. Vitamin C ls calciumascorbaat, dus geen ascorbinezuur als u nog vullingen heeft. 1 gram vit. C per dag, verdeeld over de dag in kleinere hoeveelheden. Vitamine C zorgt voor uitscheiding van U238 door het verbeteren van decelstofwisseling. 10.Vitamine B6. Dagelijks 50 tot 200 milligram. (zit in de meeste multivitamines) 11.Vitamine B5. Dagelijks 100 tot 400 milligram.(zit in sommige multi's) 12.Vitamine E. Dagelijks 100 tot 400 IE. (zit ook in de meeste multivitamines) 13.Anderhalve liter bronwater per dag om extra via de nieren af te voeren, nog beter is om af en toe een week alleen gedestilleerd water te drinken. 14. Other good products are: Koreander (Eng : Cilantro), knoflook preparaten o.a. Bdrlauch, chlorella (algen), actieve koolstof dus Norit e.d.. Het beste is eerst een half jaar met chlorella,Bdrlauch en of knoflook te ontgiften en na dat half jaar Koreander toe te voegen om het hersenweefsel te ontgiften. Hans de Jonge Mainpage EDTA, DMPS and DMSA are the FAST detoxifiers. There is a range of adverse effects if it is not taken properly. The best method is to take a small amount (100 mg) orally. The danger is kidney poisoning because too much heavy metal ions are passing by. Test parameters to test before/after DMPS for side-effects : 1.Creatinine Clearance, urine albumin and protein levels 2.Urine and blood amylase, protease and lipase, fecal fats 3.Gastroscopy 4.Liver function/glutathione/sulfation 5.Neutrophil count ( decreases massively ) 6.T4/T8-count and ratio, CD26/Ta1 autoreactivity panel 7.C3/C4-counts 8.Immunoglobulin levels 9.Autoimmune neural myelin sheath antimyelin IgM 10.AntiThyroid ab's 11.AntiLiver ab's 12.antiKidney ab's ( brush membrane, tubular ... ) 13.magnesium, zinc, chromium levels 14.Nerve Conduction studies 15.Balance test etc etc etc. That is just a little starter what can go wrong with DMPS and what to monitor at least. IMPO, DMPS should never be the first choice of chelation, and even less so as an IV. Orally in small doses like 100 mg max I have told that I might accept it, keeping the backfire risks down. IV DMPS has so sad side-effect profile and in any case, it is just plain playing with fire, when most of the physicians administering it STILL DO NOT DO THEIR homework well enuff. All I can say is that I hope you belong to the lucky 80 % that do not get damaged bad ( those with good sulfoxidation, strong mineral storages, no sulfa-allergies, stomach made of steel, low poisoning levels ( little redistribution effects ) and good B6/folate/b12 status ... Very Good Luck, Ray =========================================================================== This may help remove mercury. I grow and eat a lot coriander, just love it. Ivan. Here is a recipe for mercury chelation that was sent to me by a lady in Kennewick Washington. It appears to work for other metals also. Alpha lipoic acid can also be considered for mercury and other heavy metals chelation. This is from an article found in the newsletter "Alternative" dated June, 1998. A Dr. Yoshiaki Omura discovered almost by accident that the leaves of the coriander plant can accelerate the excretion of mercury, lead and aluminum from the body. He performed a study in which three amalgam fillings were removed from an individual using all the precautions available to prevent absorption of the mercury from the amalgam. Significant amounts were later found in the individual's lungs, kidneys, endocrine organs, liver and heart. There was no mercury in these tissues prior to the amalgam removal. Remarkably, without the help of any chelation agents, cilantro was able to remove the mercury in two to three weeks. (Acupunct Electrother Res 96;21(2):133-60) Recipe for Cilantro Pesto (Make that "Chelation Pesto") 1 Clove garlic 1/2 cup almonds, cashews, or other nuts 1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves 2 tablespoons lemon juice 6 tablespoons olive oil Put the cilantro and olive oil in blender and process until the cilantro is chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process to a lumpy paste. (You may need to add a touch of hot water and scrape the sides of the blender.) You can change the consistency by altering the amount of olive oil and lemon juice, but keep the 3:1 ratio of oil to juice. (It freezes well, so you can make several batches at once. He recommends a couple of teaspoons a day for two to three weeks once or twice a year. ============================================================================= (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm) Technology's Curse : Diet for the Atomic Age (Hardcover) _http://www.amazon.com/Technologys-Curse-Diet-Atomic-Age/dp/0941683265/ref=sr_ 1_1/103-9407239-5857440?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186369668&sr=1-1_ (http://www.amazon.com/Technologys-Curse-Diet-Atomic-Age/dp/0941683265/ref=sr_1_1/103-9407239 -5857440?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186369668&sr=1-1) ============================================================================= Removing DU from the human body Posted by: "Moriyah" _moriyah@moriyah.com_ (mailto:moriyah@moriyah.com) Removing DU from the human body is only possible using Ionized Water, which has a high concentration of Positively Charged Oxygen and Negatively Charged Hydrogen(OH- rather than H2O), in conjunction with a full spectrum of Ionic or Colloidal Minerals, SBO's, Pre Biotics and Pro Biotics. End of story. Everything else is just mediation, remediation or worse. Fact is, the world is awash in DU and it is only going to get a million, million times worse. All terms above can be googled for extensive information and support services. Diet for the Atomic Age is a great book on Selective Mineral Uptake. DU is simply a radioactive mineral. Armed Forces serving in Fire Zones need that book. They also need to be educating themselves in what to do now as well as later. They are getting, or have got already, DU in their bodies. The horse is already out of the barn and it is a little late to close the barn door. You can't stop the war machine. Preventive and recuperative action on an individual, personal level is the only choice. Personal responsibility is required. Ignore the naysayers. The VA might give you a big check, eventually, but not before most of you are dead. The Creator of the Universe, whose name is Yahweh, made your body to cleanse itself given the proper nutrients. Stop talking and start doing what you can while you still can. Moriyah ========================================================================= Tracy <_tracyjones23@yahoo.com_ (mailto:tracyjones23@yahoo.com) > wrote: Radiation remedies: DETOXIFICATION OF RADIATION is characterized by nausea, nervousness, and a feeling of extreme sensitivity in the body. Radiation-poisoning can come from medication, medical testing, Xrays, fluorescent lighting, television, computer monitors, laser printers, irradiated food, microwaves, scanners and industrial pollution Eating avocados with oranges, or with melons facilitates the body's ability to throw off stored radiation. If a person has had barium, eating raw meat with plenty of beef fat helps detoxify it. For individuals who have taken radioactive medication, drinking raw milk with unheated honey helps detoxify it. See Radiation burn, page 238. (We Want To Live, Aajonus Vonderplanitz, pg 198) (Ginseng. The Ginseng Book, Fulder, Ph.D, pg 80) IV Vitamin C daily. (Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C, Smith, M.D., pg 37) Tracy Also a very important remedy that was used in ancient times: water-soluble gold. One more remedy includes Willard Water. (Aqua Vitae, Jacobsen, pg 49) Tracy ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] ***************************************************************** 24 Pahrump Valley Times: Chief engineer defends Yucca design Nov. 16, 2007 BY STEVE TETREAULT Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The Yucca Mountain chief engineer on Wednesday defended the Energy Department's level of design for the radioactive waste site, saying the project does not need to map "the last nut or bolt" in order to show whether it is safe. Critics have seized on comments by DOE officials that designs for the proposed Nevada repository for used nuclear fuel will be 35 to 40 percent complete when DOE applies for a construction license next summer. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has asked the Senate environment committee to prevent DOE from filing an application "that does not contain final designs for all the proposed Yucca Mountain facilities." Speaking to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory board on Wednesday, DOE official Paul Harrington said the department is forming blueprints to a level where the repository's safety can be judged, and it would not add anything to go farther at this time. Harrington, director of the Office of Chief Engineer on the Nevada project, said DOE has not detailed "all the warehouses, the administration building, the parking lots, the heavy equipment maintenance facility, but 100 percent design represents that." Many parts of the site and the details of how they might be built "have no bearing on identification of what the facility is or what its operating basis for a safety case is," Harrington said in response to a question on the matter. NRC officials also have expressed surprise at DOE's comments about Yucca blueprints, and have asked for an explanation. Harrington said officials from the agencies will discuss the issue at a management meeting next month. Cortez Masto asked Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to take action on the design matter. webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 25 msnbc.com: Did Richardson Lie About Yucca? - Did Richardson Lie About Yucca? Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:22 PM by Chuck Todd From NBC's Chuck Todd Nevada's political guru, Jon Ralston, flashes via email this missive on Richardson regarding Yucca Mountain. Richardson: "All my life I opposed the site" Ralston: "Need I tell everyone, again, this is a flat-out lie. I am still waiting for his campaign to produce one statement from Richardson when he was DOE secretary that shows he was against the dump as he moved it along, testified before Congress that it was progressing and did not answer Nevada governors' requests to disqualify it when he could." More Ralston: "Truth is: All his life he supported Yucca Mountain.... until he ran for president." © 2007 MSNBC.com ***************************************************************** 26 msnbc.com: Richardson Camp Responds On Yucca - First Read - Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:40 PM by Chuck Todd From NBC's Chuck Todd The Richardson campaign takes issue with Jon Ralston's claims that the New Mexico governor is a flip-flopper on Yucca. From The Richardson campaign: "Richardson has a lengthy and clear track record of strongly opposing nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain. As Energy Secretary he consistently promised to let science, not politics, determine whether Yucca Mountain is suitable for a permanent repository. He refused to let the project move forward unless and until the science showed it was safe. Among other issues, he was concerned about water saturation in the area. In February 2000, he supported President Clinton's threat to veto a bill that would have pushed the project forward." *** UPDATE *** Richardson campaign also passes along "a quote from Richard Bryan, a former Nevada governor and senator during Richardson's tenure as energy secretary." "In the 12 years I was in Washington, D.C., from a Nevada perspective, he was the best energy secretary we had," Bryan said. "He was faithful to the policies of the Clinton administration." © 2007 MSNBC.com ***************************************************************** 27 Business Gazette: Germany to pay some Thorp costs SOME of the costs of Sellafield’s Thorp plant will be paid by Germany. The decision comes after the company won on two out of three counts in a costly six-month High Court battle with its German customers over invoices for work at Thorp. Sellafield started the lawsuit in 2004 against three German customers of its Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant. According to the UK Nuclear Facilities Review, Mr Justice Briggs divided the case, which centred on the non-payment of invoices by the German customers, into three issues and found in favour of BNG Sellafield on two. On the third, which related to a 1,000 tonne additional contract being signed in 1989, the judge found in favour of the German firms. The companies are due back in court when decisions will be made about fines and costs of the case, likely to run into millions of pounds. Thorp was closed in 2005 after a leak. A ruptured pipe had been leaking for up to eight months before discovery and during that time acid containing 20 tonnes of uranium and 353lb of plutonium leaked into a sump. BNG has already been fined £500,000 with costs over the leak and the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency deducted £2 million of fees from the company for the same incident. While the plant was shut, BNG continued to invoice the customers for costs of repairs, as allowed in the cost-plus contract. But by this stage the customers were disputing which costs could legitimately be passed on to them and questioned the basis of parts of the contract. But the way the contracts were crafted meant the Germans have been left liable to pay the invoices. 17 November 2007 © 1995-2007 CN Group. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 28 NEWS.com.au: Australia awash with uranium | NEWS.com.au Business By Cameron England November 17, 2007 12:00am AUSTRALIA'S reputation as the world's richest uranium prospect has been confirmed with the CSIRO upping the nation's resource by more than a third. The nation's chief geoscientific body this week announced that Australia's uranium resources had increased from 714,000 tonnes to 953,000 tonnes in the year to August. And the report concluded that if areas deemed inaccessible -- such as remote Queensland and Western Australia -- and inferred resources are factored into the calculation the amount balloons from 1.22 million to 1.53 million tonnes. According to a report from the CSIRO's Geoscience Australia, mineable uranium resources increased 33.5 per cent in the eight months to August. "At the end of 2006, Australia's reasonably assured resources recoverable at costs of less than US$40/kg ... were estimated to be 709,000 tonnes, which represents 36 per cent of world resources in this category," the GA report says. Olympic Dam full of yellowcake And it says Australia also had an additional 502,000 tonnes in inferred resources that are able to be recoverable for less than US$80/kg, which it says "is by far the world's largest resources in this category". "These inferred resources are mainly in the south eastern part of the Olympic Dam deposit, where current drilling is defining large tonnages of additional resources," the report states. Olympic Dam is a jewel in BHP's crown -- worth more than $6 billion. GA said Olympic Dam alone contained almost 18 per cent of the world's total uranium resources recoverable at less than $US80 per kg. "Other countries with large resources include Kazakhstan with 14 per cent, Canada with 13 per cent, Niger with 7 per cent and South Africa with 7 per cent," it says. Australian mineral exploration spending in 2006 rose by 29 per cent to a record $1463.9 million. "While gold remained the predominant target in calendar year 2006 its share of total spending fell again to 29 per cent," the report states. "Gold exploration spending totalled $429.8 million in the year, an increase of almost $45 million." Base metals also enjoyed strong growth, investment rising by $105.7 million to $426.1 million. "The growth in base metals was driven by substantial increases in zinc-lead-silver exploration which more than doubled to $100.7 million and copper which rose by 68 per cent to $177.5 million," according to the report. NEWS.com.au Network Copyright 2007 News Limited. All times AEDT (GMT +11). ***************************************************************** 29 Rocky Mountain News: State aims to join fight over radioactive waste The new-look RockyMountainNews.com By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact) Friday, November 16, 2007 The state is jumping back into the controversy over whether a waste facility at Last Chance should be allowed to accept low-level, naturally occurring radioactive waste. Adams County had sued Clean Harbors Deer Trail LLC, operators of the disposal site, saying that it was operating illegally because it hadn't gotten approval from the county to store the radioactive waste. On Thursday, the state of Colorado filed a motion to declare itself a co-defendant with Clean Harbors, as a way to better fight the lawsuit and convince the courts that the facility at Last Chance is safe and legal. Adams County officials said Thursday that they would "vigorously oppose" the state's attempt to join the lawsuit, and will go to the state Supreme Court and beyond to keep the county from becoming a dumping ground for the waste. The state licensed Clean Harbors in 2005 to accept naturally occurring low-level radioactive waste. That includes the radium mixed into some of Denver's older streets and traces of radiation screened out of water, along with chemicals, metals and organisms, at water-treatment plants. © 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 30 cbs4denver.com: State Sides With Waste Biz On Radioactive Waste Nov 16, 2007 5:16 am US/Mountain By P. Solomon Banda, AP Writer (AP) DENVER A company locked in a legal battle with Adams County over permission to dump low-level radioactive waste at a landfill near Last Chance was joined in its fight by the state health department, officials announced Thursday. The attorney general's office, representing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, filed a motion Wednesday seeking to be a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Adams County. The county's lawsuit filed in April seeks fines against Clean Harbors Deer Trail LLC for alleged violations at its hazardous waste landfill. Howard Kenison, an attorney representing Adams County, said they will oppose the state's effort to join the lawsuit. "We are actually quite surprised that the state would intervene," Kenison said. The state health department in 2005 altered its hazardous waste permit for the company's landfill and granted Clean Harbors a radioactive materials license for the site nearly 80 miles east of Denver. Two lawsuits filed by Adams County challenging the state's actions were dismissed by judges and those dismissals were upheld last month by the Colorado Court of Appeals. In a filing seeking to become a defendant in Adams County's latest lawsuit, the attorney general cites the appellate court's ruling that tossed out the other two lawsuits. The courts said the county is a subordinate agency of the state when it comes to issuing hazardous waste permits. Kenison said the county will challenge that finding. William J. Geary, executive vice president and general counsel of Clean Harbors, praised the attorney general's move to intervene. He said the landfill underwent a rigorous state licensing process. Geary said the permit allowed Clean Harbors to accept the same material allowed at a site near a growing residential population in Bennett, also in Adams County. "The county's action is baffling and legally indefensible," he said. Clean Harbors had filed a lawsuit, claiming the county's opposition to dumping radioactive waste at the site was hurting its business. That lawsuit was dismissed last month. Waste the company expects to accept at the landfill includes radium-tainted material from Denver, much of it left over from radium production in the city in the early 20th century and later used as fill dirt for streets and other construction projects. The company also plans to accept some low-level radioactive material from water treatment plants. © MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 Gallup Independent: Energy Corridor Draft EIS available - RECA needs some common-sense changes. By Kathy Helms Dine Bureau Friday, November 16, 2007 WINDOW ROCK - It's time Congress rolled up its sleeves and made necessary amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act so that it assists the Navajo people in a better way, according to Keith Killian with the firm of Killian, Guthro and Jensen in Durango. Speaking at last week's Uranium Roundtable in Washington, Killian outlined changes proposed by the Navajo Nation to fix the act, including allowing the use of affidavits to establish residency, allowing the combination of work history between miners, millers and ore haulers, and expanding the list of compensable diseases for miners. Other recommendations are to broaden the act to add core drillers - not now included - and to compensate on-site nuclear test participants and downwinders equally with uranium workers, plus give them medical benefits, which they do not have. Additional changes would expand the covered downwind counties to include portions of New Mexico and extend the timeframe of coverage beyond 1971 to include Post-71 miners. Regarding the use of affidavits, Killian said currently under 20CFR affidavits may be used only to substantiate the claimant's uranium mining employment history. "Right now you cannot use an affidavit to prove a downwind claim. You can use it to prove mining, but you can't use it to prove hours of work for millers or ore haulers, and of course, core drillers aren't even included. On-site participants and downwinders can't use it," he said. An allowance for the combination of work history also is needed, he explained. "The Department of Justice has recently changed the way they interpret this regulation. The current regulation is the following: 'Any claim that does not meet all of the criteria for even one category that is set forth in Paragraph A of this section must be denied.' "If you buy that regulation as it's written, if you are a miner with 11 months of mining and you also have 11 months of mill-working and have a diagnosis of renal cancer, there's no way you can qualify. Why is that? Because if you're a miner, renal cancer is not covered, and even if you have a total of 22 months and you only need to qualify a year, you're going to be denied," he said. An expanded list of compensable diseases is needed, he said, because in 1990, when RECA was enacted, it only provided for protection for miners. In 2000, it included millers and ore transporters. "In 2000, the act said that if you have kidney cancer or chronic renal disease, and you're a miller or ore hauler, you get compensated. If you have the same disease and you're a miner, you don't get compensated. "Now, these miners drank (mine) water. We have countless stories of them doing that. It can cause kidney problems and cancers. "If you're an ore transporter and you transport the ore from the mine and you have a kidney disease, you get compensated. If you're a miner, you don't. It doesn't make sense. We can fix that," Killian said, adding that the list also should be expanded for miners to include renal cancer and kidney disease. Core drillers should be included, he said, because they were "constantly exposed to dust clouds and radon daughters" while taking core samples for uranium. "You can have the same diseases a miner, miller or ore hauler have, yet you're not eligible for compensation. We can fix that." Regarding downwinders and on-site nuclear test site participants, Killian said, "Let's say you're the widow of a man who was exposed to downwind radiation in southern Utah. As a result, your husband has died. You're entitled to $50,000 vs. $150,000 if he had been a miner - the same thing with on-site participants. Let's treat on-site participants and downwinders the same way as far as compensation as we do the uranium workers." Additionally, a downwinder with lung cancer or one of the other qualifying cancers is not entitled to health treatment. "Why is that?" Killian asked. "If you're exposed to radiation just like the millers, and you're on your deathbed, you're not entitled to health care. Can't we fix that or consider fixing that?" He also made a case for expanding the list of covered downwind counties. "Right now, if you're in specified counties in the state of Nevada, the state of Utah, or the state of Arizona, and you're exposed to nuclear test site radiation from Nevada Test Site, you would qualify. "But let's say, Congressman Udall, you live in central New Mexico and you're exposed to fallout from the Trinity test - one of the dirtiest ones ever exploded - you're not qualified for downwind. The dosimetry maps show there was a great deal of contamination in central New Mexico," Killian said. Though the maps indicate "a great deal of radiation" from fallout trailing from Santa Fe to Roswell, residents are not entitled to compensation, he said. "If you happened to be on-site for the Trinity test, you would be compensated, but if you're downwind from that test site, you can't be compensated." Dosimetry maps from Nevada Test Site done in the 1950s show that fallout traveled over Utah and on to Colorado, but Colorado is not covered, Killian said. Similarly, the maps show that Idaho and Montana were heavily irradiated, yet they too, are not included. Legislation is pending to add them as downwind states. Downwind counties currently compensated are in portions of Nevada, Utah and Arizona. "If you happen to live in Window Rock and you've been exposed to compensable cancers, you can qualify. But if your sister lives across the border in New Mexico, you don't qualify. That's kind of hard because the Navajo Nation is in both states," he said. Gerard W. Fischer of U.S. Department of Justice said that since the first roundtable in 2004, he has seen an increase in RECA compensable cases. "Before we started this process, the Navajo claims were about 50 percent approval, 50 percent denial, depending on the year," he said. Currently, "We're at about 68 percent approval. We're incredibly proud of that." Five or 10 years ago, "RECA was really the only show in town," Fischer said. Over that time, the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Act was added. "We have people coming into RECA who really should be going into the Department of Labor program" because they don't fit the RECA criteria, he said. Another argument for RECA change, according to Fischer, is "The downwinder area on the Navajo Nation doesn't cover the entire Navajo Nation. Part of New Mexico is not covered. We get a lot of claimants who apply for benefits, they've lived and worked their entire lives on the Navajo Nation, but they're not going to qualify unless there's a change in the act." ***************************************************************** 32 Gazette.com: Ruling against radioactive waste is unlawful, mill argues | cotter, state, department - By ED SEALOVER THE GAZETTE November 16, 2007 - 7:43PM DENVER -- An attorney for a Cañon City uranium mill argued Friday that the state’s denial of its application to import radioactive waste from out of state was arbitrary and should be overturned. A district court judge heard oral arguments in Cotter Corp’s lawsuit against the state and Colorado Citizens against ToxicWaste Inc., a Fremont County group that has opposed the company’s plans. District Judge Christina Habas said she expects to issue a decision before the end of the month. Cotter sued the state and the activists in February, one month after the Department of Public Health and Environment determined that Cotter could not import 470,000 tons of radioactive soil from the Maywood Superfund Site in New Jersey and dispose of it at its 2,500-acre mill. The mill, which opened in 1958, processes uranium-bearing ore and produces yellowcake, the first step in the production of fuel pellets for the nuclear-energy industry. The Department of Public Health and Environment ruled that though Cotter had met regulations for providing adequate financial warranties and minimizing danger to public health and safety, importing the soil from New Jersey could harm the area socially and economically. It earlier had OK’d Cotter’s request to continue operating the mill and disposing materials from other Cotter facilities at it. Cotter attorney John Watson argued that the department has no written regulations on how it assesses socioeconomic harm or on how much weight that must be given against other factors in considering applications. Allowing the state such open-ended means to reject an application could lead to the government doing so any time a group brings busloads of protestors to a public meeting and pressures officials as CCAT did, Watson said. “If this decision is upheld, your honor, the department has a pocket veto,” Watson told Habas. “It’s labeled: ‘We don’t want it in our backyard.’” Senior Assistant Attorney General Jerry Goad responded that while socioeconomic harm is not quantified under department regulations, neither are other requirements such as minimizing public health risks. Colorado courts have recognized that some issues are not subject to definitive regulations and look only for standards of reasonableness, he said. Goad noted also that the decision to reject the application was backed later by a state hearing officer. Cotter has argued that the New Jersey soils are less dangerous than some of the waste it processes at the site now. However, Goad noted that the waste Cotter processes now comes from Cotter company plants, and soil from the New Jersey site is from an unknown entity. Travis Stills, acting as an attorney for the citizens’ group, added that even if Habas agrees with Cotter, she can not award them the necessary permit but can only send the application back to the department for further consideration. The fight has dragged on since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Cotter the Maywood disposal contract in 2002. Contact the writer: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com. Publish your stuff Welcome, Please Log In To login please enter your username and password in the form below and click on the login button. Username Password Remember me Become a member | Forgot Password? | Resend Email Confirmation Username Email Resend Email Enter the username and email address for your account to resend you your confirmation email: Username Email Search: Site Web powered by * Classifieds * Find a Home * Find a Job * Find a Car * ColoradoSprings.com * Movie Guide * Local Business Listings * Webmaster * * Privacy * Terms of Service/User Agreement * Contact Us * About Us * Site Map ***************************************************************** 33 Gallup Independent - Udall: Navajo ?cancer-free? before uranium November 15, 2007: Everytt Begay walks past a row of signs leaning against a fence that keeps people out of the proposed mining site in Crownpoint. More than 30 protestors showed up at the site to voice their concerns to officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Hydro Resources Incorporated. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent] By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau WINDOW ROCK ? The good news is that Navajo cancer rates are below the national average. The bad news is that there essentially was no cancer on the Navajo Nation before uranium mining, Rep. Tom Udall said. About 250,000 Navajos are served by Indian Health Service, according to Dr. Douglas Peter, director for Navajo Indian Health Service, including former uranium workers, downwinders, and those that live near abandoned mines. ?We live with them, we work with them, and we?re there to provide the best health care we can to them,? Peter told a group of congressional leaders last week during a Uranium Roundtable conducted by Tom Udall, D-N.M., in Washington. ?There?s a lot known about the health effects? from uranium, Peter said, including published studies from post-Chernobyl, post-Three Mile Island, Hiroshima, and historical studies in the United States. Yet, scientific studies unique to Navajo to discover overall effects ?would be difficult because the numbers are not sufficient enough to draw conclusions,? he said. While Navajo cancer rates are all below the U.S. rate overall, ?I believe Navajo rates of lung cancer would be essentially zero without the history of uranium mining,? he said. Udall, whose father brought the original legal cases that connected radon and lung cancer, told Peter, ?One of the most powerful arguments the lawyers had in court was the Navajo population was basically a cancer-free population. While the increase in Navajo cancer is still below the national average, Udall said, ?that increase is due to outside forces on the Navajo Reservation. That?s important for us to understand. ... They were a cancer-free population until they came into contact with the industrial forces of our society.? Peter agreed, saying, ?Obviously the presence of smoking among Navajos is far lower than the U.S. population. As I stated, there would be essentially no lung cancer had there not been uranium mining among Navajos at this point in time, given what we know of the history from then till present. I won?t get into the other types of cancer.? He said he concurred with recent testimony on the health effects among Navajo provided by Dr. Doug Brugge at an Oversight and Government Reform hearing chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman. ?There remains much to be examined in concert with other federal agencies and working with the Nation,? Peter said. ?You can look at those living within a certain number of miles of waste sites, or more specific, you can look at all of those who may have ingested unregulated water, but then you have to determine the amount of ingestion. Those who live within certain miles of former milling sites, those living within certain miles of the 1,300 abandoned mine sites, they?re potential candidates for studies,? Peter said. According to Brugge, associate professor in the department of public health and family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, ?There has been too little research on the health impacts of uranium mining in Navajo communities.? The one study under way, conducted by Dr. Johnnye Lewis of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, will mostly address kidney disease and not birth defects or cancer, Brugge said. ?I am deeply saddened by the fact that so little has been accomplished over those decades to eliminate the health hazards faced by the enormous quantities of uranium waste on the Navajo reservation. ?Clearly, uranium ore is a toxic brew of numerous nasty hazardous materials. Uranium, itself highly toxic, gives rise to a series of other radioactive decay elements that are found in raw, natural ore. Most significant among these are radium and thorium, both of which are highly radioactive,? Brugge said. During testimony before Waxman?s committee, Brugge said that when radium decays it produces radon gas, a potent toxicant. ?Because it is a gas that becomes airborne, when radon decays it transforms into a series of highly radioactive ?radon daughters? that can lodge in the lungs.? The primary heavy metal toxicants in uranium ore include uranium itself and arsenic, as well as vanadium and manganese. During the first phase of processing uranium, most of the uranium is removed, leaving behind mill tailings which retain most of the other toxic contaminants from the ore, he said. The milling of uranium is an industrial process that involves crushing and grinding of the rock and the addition of acids and organic solvents to facilitate concentration and removal of the uranium. ?Hence, uranium mill tailings and mill tailings effluent are not only highly radioactive, but they are acutely hazardous,? he said. The health effects of uranium and its associated radioactive decay products and heavy metals that rise to the level of proven or near-proven causal links include: * Radon, which causes lung cancer, ?and in fact, it is the primary source of lung cancer among Navajo uranium miners,? Brugge said. * Uranium, which as a heavy metal causes damage to the kidneys and birth defects; * Radium, which causes bone cancer, cancer of the nasal sinuses and mastoid air cells and leukemia; and * Arsenic, which causes lung and skin cancer, as well as neurotoxicity, hyperpigmentation and hyperkeratosis of the skin. ?There may also be many other negative health effects from exposure to uranium and its byproducts. In short, there is a clear causal link between uranium exposure and human health. The Navajos continually exposed to uranium and its byproducts even today face grave threats to their health,? Brugge said. He also referred to the tailings spill in the Navajo community of Churchrock, saying it remains the largest industrial release of radioactive wastes in the history of the United States. ?In 1979, only months after the Three Mile Island release, a dam holding back a tailings lagoon maintained by United Nuclear Corporation failed, sending 94 million gallons of radioactive and acidic wastewater and 1,100 tons of toxic and radioactive mill waste into the Puerco River. ?This release, which was substantially larger than the release at TMI, flowed into a low-income, largely Native American community. This incident has been virtually ignored in the press and scientific literature. ?For the people in Churchrock and other Navajo communities contaminated for decades with uranium ore tailings there are no ?good? options, too much harm has already been done. But there are ways that we can gradually make things better so that maybe the children and the grandchildren of the Navajo uranium miners are not still grappling with this toxic legacy,? Brugge said. A good start would be to provide sufficient resources to secure or remove contamination at these hazardous waste sites and to do so in a manner that prevents additional exposure to nearby residents. ?Congress must fund the Navajo Nation and federal health agencies to provide resources for health studies among the tens of thousands of Navajo community members who still live next to abandoned mines and/or who were exposed to uranium from the contaminated dusts brought home by their working relatives. ?As terrible as the health effects that we know arise from toxins in uranium tailings, there are almost certainly additional ways that the health of Navajo people living near uranium mill and mine waste has been affected. If we are to understand the full extent of this injustice, we will also need additional health studies,? he said. Thursday November 15, 2007 Selected Stories: All contents property of the Gallup Independent. Any duplication or republication requires consent of the Gallup Independent. Please send the Gallup Independent feedback on this website and the paper in general. Send questions or comments to gallpind@cia-g.com ***************************************************************** 34 IAF Training for Iran Strike with Mini-Nukes Resent-Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:41:47 -0600 (CST) Original source URL: http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=28758&language=en IAF Train Intensively for Iran Strike with Mini-Nukes Readers Number : 25922 10/11/2007 The Israel Air Force is training for a tactical nuclear strike on Iranian nuclear production facilities. The IAF is practicing for a mission to destroy key Iranian facilities, at least one with low-yield nuclear munitions, the Times of London reported. Citing "several Israeli sources," the Times said that two IAF squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using a combination of precision laser bombs and low-yield nuclear "bunker-busters". The Times report was supplemented by one from Fox News. The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb, the Times said. Under the plans, the report said, conventional laser-guided bombs would open shafts into the targets. Then the "mini-nukes" would then be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout. "As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished," said one of the sources. Israeli intelligence recently announced that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons by 2009. Meir Dagan, head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, also believes that the Iranians will have a complete nuclear device by 2009. Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran believed to be central to Iran's nuclear program, the Times reported: Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium enrichment; A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan, and a heavy water reactor at Arak. Ephraim Sneh, the former deputy Israeli defense minister, said last month: "The time is approaching when Israel and the international community will have to decide whether to take military action against Iran." But he lamented that "At the end of the day it is always down to the Jews to deal with the problem." The United States has described a strike against Iranian targets as a "last resort", leading Israelis to believe that it will be left to the IAF to strike. The Times, citing Israeli sources, said Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets. The report said that the air force squadrons are based at Hatzerim in the Negev desert and Tel Nof, south of Tel Aviv, under the personal supervision of Major General Eliezer Shkedy, commander of the Israeli Air Force, training to use Israel's arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons on the mission. The Israelis believe that Iran's expected retaliation "would be constrained by fear of an Israeli second strike." The leak of a possible nuclear option by Israel may be intentional, US analysts have said. "In the cold war, we made it clear to the Russians that it was a virtual certainty that nukes would fly and fly early," said an American defense source. "Israel may be adopting the same tactics: 'You produce a weapon; you die'." Visitors Comments Israeilie strike is same as US strike and must be treated by Iran and full blown war machine must act. 11/10/2007 6:46:00 PM Samhas | USA IRAN MUST MAKE IT CLEAR TO USA THAT ISRAELEI STRIKE IS EXACTLY SAME AS USA STRIKING THE ISLAMIC REPUIBLIC. Iran must make efforts to mobilise the Muslim world as well, saudies, Pakistanians, Malaiyasians and others, even though they are US agents. Propaganda 11/11/2007 1:40:00 PM Ganda | EU This so called " Israeli" preparation for an attack is nothing more than psychological warfare... The Jews know that they can only attack the mighty Iran with the consent from their master- USA...They don't have enough fuel to do an imminent attack... Iran needs to be in a constant "high alert" status...Hopefully, Iran has agents in the Zionist estate- to keep an eye on their military movements... israels US Nukes 11/11/2007 11:01:00 PM theo | USA Any sane person would know the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. The zionists control the US- why do you think ALL aspiring 'presidetial candidates' have already sworn allegience to Israel? Because if they don't they won't be elected. In violation of international law the US has helped Israel acquire nukes. In violation of US law we continue to pay billions in tribute to a rogue nuclear country. Cheney is once again ignoring intelligence that does not agree with his preconceptions of Iran just as was done in Iraq. Israel is making Palestine the new Warsaw ghetto- liquidation is almost complete. The economic collapse of the US is at hand- they desperately need another fake 'war' to keep the dead dollar afloat and finish looting the country. There was a good reason God banished the Israelites in the past and it seems they haven't learned anything-time for it to happen again! Disgusting... 11/11/2007 11:14:00 PM Jake | USA Damn, am I sick of hearing about the US bombing Iran....It's sickening, we have no right to attack a sovereign nation. Even IF Iran had even ONE nuclear weapon, what's the harm? Israel has THREE HUNDRED of them, and we have TEN THOUSAND!! You could say that the "hard-line" leadership in Iran (certainly no more hard-line than Dubya) is suicidal and would use it no matter how we or Israel would retaliate, but most of Iran's general populace certainly aren't. Who are the terrorists? 11/11/2007 11:30:00 PM Mr. Roto | UK I am confused. Who are the terrorists? -- -------------------------------------------------------- Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org How We the People can change the world: http://governourselves.blogspot.com/ Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Moderator: rkm@quaylargo.com (comments welcome) ***************************************************************** 35 Iran: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Circulates Latest Report Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:00:24 -0500 IRAN: UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG CHIEF CIRCULATES LATEST REPORT New York, Nov 16 2007 7:00PM The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog has circulated his latest report regarding the nuclear programme of Iran to the agency’s Board of Governors. The report covers developments since International Atomic Energy Agency (<"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/iranreport1107.html">IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei issued his last report on 30 August. The 35-member Board of Governors of the IAEA will consider the report at its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place at its Vienna headquarters next Thursday. Last month Mr. ElBaradei told a General Assembly plenary meeting that Iran’s “active cooperation and transparency” are key to resolving the outstanding issues on the country’s nuclear ambitions. “If the Agency were able to provide credible assurance about the peaceful nature of Iran’s past and currently nuclear programme, this would go a long way towards building confidence, and could create the conditions for a comprehensive and durable solution,” he said. “Such a solution would assure the international community about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, while enabling Iran to make full use of nuclear technology for economic and social development.” Iran’s nuclear programme has been a matter of international concern since the discovery in 2003 that it had concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Last December, the Security Council adopted a resolution banning trade with Iran in all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to the country's enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. It tightened the measures in March, banning arms sales and expanding the freeze on assets. 2007-11-16 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ _______________________________ To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/ ***************************************************************** 36 Nov 17 Protests Planned to Oppose Missile Defense Resent-Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:47:24 -0600 (CST) NOVEMBER 17 PROTESTS PLANNED TO OPPOSE MISSILE DEFENSE The people in Poland and the Czech Republic are increasingly agitated as the Bush administration presses forward with plans to deploy "missile defense" systems in their countries. It took these citizens many years to get rid of the Soviet occupation and now they see their right-wing governments cutting deals with Bush to allow the U.S. to become the new military occupier in their country. On November 17 there will be a national demonstration in Prague, Czech Republic denouncing plans for deployment of the U.S. radar base. Czech citizens are demanding the right to a national referendum as 68% of the people there are opposed to the U.S. radar facility that will make them a target as tensions increase between the U.S. and Russia. The Union of Security Forces of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic will join the national demonstration for Democracy that will take place in Prague. The Union comprises hundreds of policemen, firemen, customs officers, prison guards, judiciary security personnel and former workers of Czech public security forces. This is evidence that the opposition to the U.S. radar is spreading deep into Czech culture. Solidarity protests are planned in many cities including Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcellona, Athens, Budapest, Paris, New York and Buenos Aires. Others around the world are sending letters to Czech embassies in their country. I faxed a letter on behalf of the Global Network last night to the Czech embassy in Washington outlining our support for the November 17 protest in Prague. Our best wishes to our friends in Poland and the Czech Republic. We stand with you all the way. Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 652 Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 443-9502 http://www.space4peace.org globalnet@mindspring.com http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog) http://www.myspace.com/brucekgagnon (MySpace profile) ***************************************************************** 37 IPS-English IRAN: Nuke Watchdog Report No Brake on Sanctions Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:12:39 -0800 Khody Akhavi WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (IPS) - The United Nations atomic watchdog issued a report Thursday saying that Iran had been generally truthful about key aspects of its past nuclear activities, but warned that knowledge of Tehran's programme was ”diminishing”. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran continued to enrich uranium contrary to the decisions of the U.N. Security Council, and that Tehran's cooperation with the agency had been ”reactive rather than proactive”. In response, the White House lashed out by saying that Iran's continued ”defiance” of the international community and its failure to halt uranium enrichment justified Washington's push for a third round of U.N. sanctions against the country. ”The Iranians only respond to pressure, and when they feel like they're cornered they're going to try to make some really sort of surface-level concessions to the international community, give the appearance of trying to cooperate,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Mitch McCormack, at a department press briefing Thursday. McCormack said that Iran had only provided ”partial answers” about their past activities. ”I don't think the world is prepared to give Iran partial credit on the test of... whether or not they're developing nuclear weapons,” he said. Iran maintains that the IAEA report shows that allegations of an Iranian covert nuclear programme are baseless, and that new sanctions would amount to an ”illegal action”, according to the country's new chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili. Asked about Iran's reaction if more U.N. sanctions were imposed, Jalili said: ”It is unlikely... but if it happens it will have an impact on the modality that taken place (with the IAEA) for cooperation and solving issues.” ”If Iran wanted to abandon its rights under sanctions, we could have done it in the past. The Iranian nation will not abandon its right under such a threat,” he said, according Reuters. In October, Jalili replaced Ali Larijani as secretary of Iran's National Security Council and hence chief nuclear negotiator. Jalili is seen as having closer ideological links to current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than the more pragmatic Larijani, who is a political rival to the president. The 10-page report, made available to IPS, focuses on the history of Iran's nuclear history, its attempts to revitalise its programme during the 1980s, and its decision to acquire uranium enrichment technology on the black market. While the report's language appears to give a mixed evaluation of Iran's transparency on the issues, there was ”consistency” between what Tehran revealed and what the IAEA found in its investigation. And it appears that Iranian officials are attempting to portray the report as a political victory that vindicates Iran in the face of U.S.-led pressure. ”The report has once again proven that Iran has constantly told the truth about the peaceful nature of its nuclear programmes,” said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ”All accusations by the West have been neutralised (by the IAEA report) and as far as we are concerned, the dossier should be closed.” But analysts contend that the IAEA report leaves critical questions unanswered and that Iran's continued ambiguity -- in particular about its increasingly hidden centrifuge programme -- is ”not sufficient” to delay action on a third U.N. sanctions resolution. ”The stage appears to be set for a continued tug-of-war between the IAEA and Iran, and to an even greater extent between Iran and the United States, France, Britain and Germany,” said David Albright and Jacquiline Shire of the Institute for Science and International Security, in a statement. In a November article for the Arms Control Association, Albright and Shire wrote that with weakened IAEA inspections, ”the invisible or black areas of Iran's gas centrifuge programme are growing.” Iran could ostensibly remedy the ambiguities by adopting the Additional Protocols of the Non-nuclear Proliferation Treaty and provide assurances of the true scope of its programme, which Tehran maintains is purely for civilian energy purposes. The Additional Protocols, signed in 1993, boost the IAEA's ability to detect undeclared nuclear activities, including clandestine projects with no connection to the civil fuel cycle. While a signatory to the treaty, Iran has not signed the protocols. ”It will be critical over the coming period not to lose sight of why, on proliferation grounds, Iran should be discouraged as strongly as possible from maintaining an enrichment program,” said Albright and Shire. ”Simply put, the history of Iran's efforts, the current scale of the enrichment programme, and Iran's determination to continue enriching uranium in the face of overwhelming international economic and political opposition, raise serious questions about its intentions.” Another report by European Union chief Javiar Solana, expected at the end of November, is seen as crucial to establishing consensus among the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council to ramp up sanctions or return to talks aimed at suspending Iranian enrichment. Russia and China -- with strong trading ties to Iran -- hold two votes. Since June last year, Solana has been trying to convince Iran to resume talks on suspending uranium enrichment in exchange for a package of political and economic incentives. Last week, Iran said it accelerated enrichment activities by fully running 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear plant in Natanz. Experts say it would likely take more than 50,000 centrifuges to fuel a reactor. ***** + POLITICS-US: Cheney Tried to Stifle Dissent in Iran NIE (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39978) + POLITICS-IRAN: Row Over Nuclear Negotiator's Firing Worsens (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39835) + Nuclear Ambitions (http://ipsnews.net/new_focus/nuclear/index.asp) (END/IPS/WD/MM/IP/NU/IR/KS/KS/07) = 11170017 ORP002 NNNN ***************************************************************** 38 [NYTr] Iran Disputes Referral to Security Cncl of Nuclear Pgm Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:44:30 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Iran Questions Nuclear Check by UN Teheran, Nov 16 (Prensa Latina) Iran's Supreme National Security Council considers that taking its country's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council is a deceitful move, based on false accusations and facts. The secretary of that organization, Said Yalili, said in press conference that idea was brought to light after the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on the Iranian nuclear program. Iran will always be willing to discuss that issue, and, C3 even though it is always politicized, the international body should only analyze it within the technical, juridical framework, C3 he sustained. Yalili also reiterated his country is ready to exchange nuclear information with other countries, in line with the Non-proliferation Treaty, according to IRNA news agency. The US and its western allies accuse Iran of developing nuclear energy with military goals, a pretext used to keep pushing the UN Security Council. In previous statements, Yalili condemned the doble standard of Washington and some western countries, and called it an unconstructive move. hr dig ycv mf PL-12 * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 39 [NYTr] The Man Who Bombed Hiroshima Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:07:32 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Consortium News - Nov 15, 2007 http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/111507a.html The Man Who Bombed Hiroshima By Anthony Gregory The man who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima passed away last week at the age of 92. Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. did not die from war wounds or violently at the hands of other people, years before his time. He died in hospice care, in a bed, from heart problems and strokes. In stark contrast, the more than 100,000 civilians who were killed at Hiroshima 62 years ago were burnt, melted, vaporized, in an apocalyptic act of warfare. Many died painful deaths over a period of days or weeks. Others saw family members consumed by flames. Most were far younger than Tibbets was when he finally died. Thousands were children. Is now the wrong time to discuss this? Tibbets called it a bdamn big insultb when a Smithsonian exhibit commemorating Hiroshimabs fiftieth anniversary attempted to capture some of the suffering. If he didnbt think that was the right time for such reflection, then perhaps now is as good as any. Although he was offended to see the victims remembered, he had said that he meant no insult himself when he reenacted the bombing in Texas in 1976, complete with mushroom cloud. He said he slept fine every night. He consistently affirmed hebd do it all over again. People disagree on whether the nuking was a war crime. The 1946 Strategic Bombing Survey determined it had been unnecessary to the winning of the war. We know that Japan, demoralized from having dozens of cities obliterated in fire bombings, was extending peace feelers. bThe Japanese were ready to surrender,b said Dwight Eisenhower, who as a general during that war believed the atom bomb was bcompletely unnecessary.b Admiral William D. Leahy, General Douglas MacArthur, and many other high officials at the time agreed. Japan wanted only to keep its emperor. Understandably, the nation feared the consequences of the unconditional surrender that Truman and the Allies demanded. They had reason to fear brutalities exceeding the very harsh treatment of Germany under the Versailles Treaty after World War I, which had come after a mere conditional surrender. Some have tried to rewrite history and have said that to win the war without nuclear weapons, the U.S. would have had to invade and suffer intolerable losses, that the atomic bomb bsaved a million lives.b But there is no reason to doubt that Japanbs cause was lost by mid-1945beven without an invasion. Practically every major city was destroyed. The people were blockaded and starving. Then, perhaps as a show of strength to Stalin, the U.S. government nuked two of Japanbs remaining cities, introducing nuclear warfare to the world, and ultimately, allowed the Japanese to keep their emperor anyway. Robert McNamara, who worked with Curtis LeMay in planning the pre-Hiroshima fire bombings of Japan, admitted in recent years that he and LeMay were acting as bwar criminals.b Does this term apply to Tibbets? We know Tibbets did not shy away from personal responsibility. He proudly took credit for planning the nuclear attack. This raises uncomfortable questions: If your government orders you to slaughter tens of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children, to whom and to what do you owe your loyalty? If youbre willing to take credit for your supposed acts of wartime heroism, should you also be ready to accept blame if it turns out you committed an atrocity? Some might say itbs insensitive to ask now whether Tibbets was a war criminal. Indeed, there is no need to condemn this man upon his passing. Even if he was guilty of a war crime, he is now beyond the reaches of human justice. But it remains crucial for us to consider the implications of what he did. It is important to our sense of individual responsibility in a world where, especially in times of war, people think mainly in terms of the collective. It is this fallacy in moral reasoning that leads otherwise decent people to commit unspeakable barbarities against their fellow man. We must not lose track of the individualbs role, even in the chaos of war. For whatever we think of Tibbets, it is the refusal to view people as individuals, the branding of everyone as merely an expendable part of a larger group, which brought about the atomic bombings and so many other horrors of World War II. [Anthony Gregory, a research analyst at The Independent Institute, writes for various Web sites, including LewRockwell.com, Future of Freedom Foundation, and the Rational Review.] * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 40 AFP: Russia abandons key Cold War arms treaty 18 hours ago MOSCOW (AFP) — The Russian senate voted Friday to abandon a key Cold War treaty limiting conventional military forces across Europe, a move strongly criticised in the West and by NATO. The unanimous vote in the Federation Council, or senate, confirmed last week's decision in the lower house, the State Duma, to suspend compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty from December 12. General Yury Baluyevsky, Russia's chief of the general staff, said the move was "the correct, logical step from the political and military point of view," ITAR-TASS news agency reported. NATO has criticised Russia's withdrawal from the 1990 CFE, which places strict limitations on deployment of tanks and other hardware across Europe. President Vladimir Putin ordered the moratorium on July 13 amid a row over US plans to install an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe. Technically, Russia could still return to the CFE if Putin reversed parliament's decision, state-run RIA Novosti news agency said. The treaty's demise highlights deteriorating relations between Moscow and countries of the Atlantic alliance as Putin's administration pushes to reassert Russia on the international stage. "This will be an indicator of Russia's seriousness in its uncompromising stand on ensuring its defensive capabilities, including in answer to US plans to put anti-missile defences in eastern Europe," State Duma deputy Leonid Slutsky told ITAR-TASS. In other moves contributing to Cold War-style tensions, Putin and other top Russian officials this year have renewed long-distance strategic bomber patrols, as well as threatened to retarget nuclear missiles at European cities, and to withdraw from other bedrock disarmament treaties. Moscow says the CFE is not working because an updated version agreed on in 1999 has been ratified by Russia, but not by NATO countries. NATO members, led by the United States, say they cannot ratify the pact because of Russia's military presence in ex-Soviet Georgia and Moldova. Although Russia this week handed over a third Soviet-era base to the pro-Western Georgian authorities, there is controversy over a fourth. Russia says that base has been decommissioned, but Georgian officials are unable to inspect the facility, which is in the Russian-backed separatist Abkhazia region. Adding to bad blood between Moscow and the West is growing unease with wide-ranging limitations imposed by Putin on democratic reforms and what critics call Russia's aggressive use of massive energy resources. Moscow accuses the United States of interfering in Russia's backyard and attempting to rule the world as the sole superpower. Riding a tide of petrodollars and growing influence on key international issues such as the Iranian nuclear programme and the status of Kosovo, Russia's authorities are in no mood to compromise. Speaking about the decision to quit the CFE, Baluyevsky said: "The US and NATO political leadership hoped that Russia would flinch at the last moment and not take the decision about introducing a moratorium," RIA Novosti reported. Copyright © 2007 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ***************************************************************** 41 Guardian Unlimited: Brazil Eyes Nuclear Sub to Defend Oil Friday November 16, 2007 5:46 PM By ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press Writer SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - This month's discovery of a monster offshore oil reserve justifies Brazil's plan to build a nuclear submarine because it would be used to protect the find, the defense minister said. ``When you have a large natural source of wealth discovered in the Atlantic, it's obvious you need the means to protect it,'' Nelson Jobim said Thursday at a defense conference in Rio de Janeiro. Jobim said Brazil must safeguard the Tupi field and its 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil reserves from other nations and from ``actions that could come from the area of terror,'' the government's Agencia Brasil news service reported. Brazil has been talking about building a nuclear submarine for decades, but the project got a boost in July when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced $540 million in funding for uranium enrichment and the sub program. Jobim said earlier this month that he wants to come up with an outline within three months to build a submarine for about $1.2 billion, the Agencia Estado news service reported. Brazil has no South American enemies and has not experienced terrorist attacks, although U.S. government reports have sporadically raised suspicions that the nation's Triple Border region near Argentina and Paraguay is a fundraising source for radical Islamic groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The Brazilian navy's nuclear program, begun in 1979, has already mastered part of the uranium enrichment process. But it lags in developing and constructing a submarine reactor entirely from Brazilian technology. Silva has frequently touted nuclear power as a way to diversify energy sources and meet growing demand in South America's largest nation and economy. His government moved in June to restart work on a long-planned third nuclear power plant that has been stalled since the 1980s by lack of funds. Jobim on Thursday ridiculed the idea that Brazil's uranium enrichment program would ever be used to make a nuclear bomb. ``That's total nonsense,'' he said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 42 DOE: Secretary Bodman Addresses Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas Exhibition November 16, 2007 Holds Bilateral Discussion with President of Turkmenistan on Opening of Markets, Increased Investment, and Multiple Trade Routes ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN – U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today held bilateral energy discussions with the President of Turkmenistan and other senior Turkmenistan officials and delivered remarks to the Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas Exhibition. Secretary Bodman highlighted the role of international investment in developing Turkmenistan’s vast resources and expanding infrastructure. He also discussed the importance of establishing a stable and transparent regulatory framework to open markets to foreign investment. Secretary Bodman is the highest-ranking U.S. Administration official to visit Turkmenistan in recent years, and his visit ushers in a new era of energy cooperation with President Berdymukhamedov and his government. “The United States extends friendship and cooperation to the Turkmen government and its people. A transparent, market-oriented investment climate will ensure quality partners to responsibly develop their resources,” Secretary Bodman said. “The United States will be a long-term partner with Turkmenistan as they develop their oil and gas reserves and supply the global marketplace with energy that will benefit their citizens and grow their economy.” Secretary Bodman met with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at Turkmenistan’s Presidential Palace and welcomed his recent remarks in New York. Secretary Bodman highlighted the importance of increasing regional cooperation, encouraging the right types of private investment, and opening new export routes to international markets. Secretary Bodman also met with Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Rashit Meredov; Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers for Oil and Gas Tachberdy Tagiyev, and Turkmenistan’s State Agency for Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources Head Bayrammyrat Myradov. Turkmenistan is the second stop on Secretary Bodman’s five-nation trip to Europe and Central Asia, which began earlier this week in Rome, Italy where Secretary Bodman spoke to the 20th World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum, signed an energy research and development agreement with Italy’s Minister for Economic Development and welcomed Italy to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Secretary Bodman will next 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 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 43 DOE: Energy Secretary Bodman in Turkey to Highlight Importance of Expanding Oil and Gas Supply and Infrastructure November 16, 2007 ISTANBUL, TURKEY – U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today highlighted the significance of improving U.S.-Turkish business relationships, enhancing investment opportunities in the energy sector, and increasing the diversity of energy supply, suppliers and transportation routes to improve energy security and promote economic growth. “Turkey is an important energy gateway between the East and the West,” Secretary Bodman said. “Fostering an environment that promotes investment opportunities as well as diversity of energy supply and suppliers through the global market, in a fair and transparent manner, is essential as our two nations work to grow our economies and increase energy security. We look forward to our continued cooperation with Turkey, particularly as we exchange ideas and technologies that will help meet the world’s growing energy needs in an environmentally responsible way.” As part of Secretary Bodman’s two-day visit to Turkey, he held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler. They spoke about the need for new supplies, new suppliers and new supply routes in Caspian region. They also discussed the expanded role for nuclear energy in Turkey and Secretary Bodman encouraged Minster Guler to consider Turkey’s potential membership in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). GNEP is an international framework aimed at expanding clean, safe, reliable civilian nuclear power in a way that deals responsibly with waste in a proliferation resistant manner. Secretary Bodman also spoke to the American Business Roundtable; met with the Chairman of the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority Okay Cakiroglu; and will tour the Bosporus Vessel Tracking System. Turkey was the third stop in Secretary Bodman’s nine-day, five-nation visit to Europe and Central Asia. The Secretary first visited Rome, Italy, where he spoke to the 20th World Energy Congress Ministerial Forum, and then traveled to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where he addressed the Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas Exhibit (TIOGE), and then met with the President and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan. From Turkey, Secretary Bodman will travel to Greece to meet with his Greek counterparts and celebrate the opening of the Turkey-Greece Inter-connector pipeline, a critical link between the gas suppliers of central Asia and the consumers of Europe. The Secretary will conclude his trip in London, where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with senior English officials and deliver remarks to the British American Business Inc. Media contact(s): Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 44 DOE: Turkish-U.S. Business Council November 16, 2007 Remarks as Prepared for Secretary Bodman Thank you Minister Guler for the introduction. And let me say how very much I appreciated your remarks just now. I also want to extend my personal greetings to Mr. Sahenk and to the members of the Turkish-U.S. Business Council’s Executive Committee for sponsoring this lunch. We have many things to talk about this afternoon. Since leaving the United States, I was in Rome for the World Energy Congress and have been to Turkmenistan for the 12th Annual Turkmenistan Industrial Oil and Gas Exhibition. What I said to them is the same as I am going to say to you. From the standpoint of the global economy and our shared need for its continued growth, we must become very serious about global energy security. Back in the United States, the President and I have been aggressively promoting energy security as a central part of our national and economic security considerations. And it’s true: the United States must have access to the energy it needs to fuel our production lines, power our cars and buses, heat our homes, and care for our citizens. But the United States is no different than Turkey, or China, or India, or France, or Brazil or almost any country in the world; all of them need access to clean, reliable and affordable sources of energy. Because of the robust economic growth around the world especially in places like China and India the global demand for energy is expected to increase dramatically and at a rapid pace over the next 25 years. By 2030 the global demand for electricity alone is expected to double. At the same time, we are experiencing very tight energy markets, with too much of our energy supplies coming from politically troubled parts of the world. And so every nation must come to grips with the need to increase its own energy security. And when they do, they will begin to see that the need to increase energy security is a global problem that calls for a global solution. I, for one, remain convinced that an open and competitive market is the most efficient way to address questions of supply, demand and price. What, in my judgment, we need to do is embark on a new era of global cooperation that drives a global diversification of energy supplies and energy suppliers. We need to accelerate the development of advanced technologies that will power our future. We need to develop clean coal technology in order to use the world’s vast coal resources in an environmentally friendly manner. And we need to promote a greater reliance on alternative and renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, geothermal energy and very importantly clean, safe, reliable nuclear power. It also means that we need to promote energy efficiency around the world. When I speak on energy-related issues in the United States, I often point out that, in an economy the size of ours, the most abundant source of new energy available to us is the energy we currently waste everyday. The U.S. has doubled its energy efficiency since the 1980s, but we need to do more. And so we are taking dramatic steps to develop new, clean energy and energy efficient technologies that will provide timely solutions to the problems of the future. At the Department of Energy, we are investing in the entire innovation cycle from the universities to laboratories to the marketplace. We’ve invested $37 billion in clean energy technology and instituted tax incentives to get these out into the marketplace. And this is an area where I think your efforts to improve Turkish-U.S. business relationships and to enhance investment opportunities can play an important role. For example, I know that the Council has been aggressive in its support for the U.S.-Turkish Clean Energy Conference. I am committed to seeing it occur at the earliest possible time, perhaps this January. In fact, Ambassador Wilson and I discussed as much when he was in Washington last week. The Clean Energy Conference between our two countries will do much to facilitate the exchange of ideas and technologies that will enhance our two country’s energy security as well as this region’s. It is undeniable that Turkey is evolving into a vital energy transit hub. Turkey is an important energy gateway between the East and the West. I was present when the first oil entered the Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline in 2005 and, on Sunday, I will witness the opening ceremony of the Turkey-Greece Interconnector, a groundbreaking, independent pipeline sending Caspian gas to Europe. The United States is, throughout the region, as well as in Turkey, working to enhance energy security, increase energy supplies, and diversify energy transportation routes. And we will support Turkey, which is a strong and dependable ally, in its role as a major oil and gas transit route in a market governed by fair and transparent rules. Turkey has energy needs of its own. I am encouraged by your recent efforts to develop a new legal framework for civil nuclear power. I will be speaking with representatives of the Turkish government including, of course, Minister Guler about joining President Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, an international framework for facilitating the worldwide expansion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in a safe and secure manner. The GNEP Statement of Principals establishes, among other things, the common goal of creating reliable fuel services that will provide a viable and economic alternative to the spread of sensitive nuclear technologies. The partnership seeks to take advantage of the best available fuel cycle approaches to recycle spent nuclear fuel to reduce the amount of waste and tap its unused energy. The Partnership now has 17 members…Italy joined on Tuesday. Turkey attended the second GNEP ministerial in Vienna as an observer and I hope will see the benefits of becoming a full member at some point in the near future. There are abundant opportunities for Turkey to develop clean energy initiatives, to increase its use of solar and wind power, to establish a viable, cost-effective biofuels industry and to develop the infrastructure it will need to meet its own future energy challenges in an environmentally responsible way. As a former businessman myself, I see significant investment opportunities in clean energy. Before I conclude, I want to make certain that no one leaves here doubting the importance the United States places on our strategic relationship with Turkey. You are our ally and our partner. We value Turkey’s regional leadership role, its role in transiting oil and gas from Eurasian nations to Europe and the rest of the world. Equally important is the value we place on Turkey’s support for the war on terror. The PKK is an enemy of Turkey, an enemy of Iraq, and an enemy of the United States. President Bush and Prime Minister Erdogan met last week and discussed how Turkey and the United States can work together to eliminate PKK terrorism, beginning with increased intelligence-sharing. We will continue to work with the government of Iraq against the PKK and call on Iraqi authorities to fulfill their public comments in this regard. The United States and Turkey are longtime friends. Ours is a special relationship, one I hope my visit here will help to strengthen. Together, we can help show the way to a secure energy future to this vital region of the world. And I believe that we will. Thank you. Location: Istanbul, Turkey Media contact(s): Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 45 Hanford News: State, feds pause negotiations over Hanford cleanup This story was published Friday, November 16th, 2007 By Shannon Dininny, Associated Press Writer YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - State and federal officials entered formal negotiations in May over long-stalled projects to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation. Both sides say they've made progress, even as they've paused to gather public comments about proposed delays to ridding the nation's most contaminated nuclear site of waste. The last meeting between all of the parties was Oct. 22. They've had several public comment sessions and meetings with interested stakeholders since, and more comment is likely at four meetings scheduled later this month and in early December. However, none of those involved will say when they're likely to embark on negotiations again. "We made a decision, because of how critical the issues were, that we would take a time out and go out and talk to stakeholders, tribes and interest groups about where we've gotten so far," said Jane Hedges, nuclear waste program manager for the Washington state Department of Ecology. "We have some technical places where we agree, and we wanted to hear what people had to say about them." The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site, with cleanup costs expected to top $60 billion. The 1989 Tri-Party Agreement, a pact signed by the Washington state Department of Ecology, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy, which manages Hanford, provides the framework for cleanup and establishes deadlines. The document has seen numerous changes over the years, but the latest discussions contain some of the most significant deadline changes proposed since its creation. Among them is the schedule for the vitrification plant, which is being designed to convert millions of gallons of radioactive waste into glasslike logs for permanent disposal. Long considered the cornerstone of Hanford cleanup, the project lags eight years behind schedule and is billions of dollars over budget. The current price tag is $12.2 billion, and the operating date is 2019, far beyond the mandated 2011. The three parties entered negotiations when it became apparent that other key deadlines linked to the plant would not be met. Related to the plant is a project to retrieve waste that will be processed there. About 53 million gallons of radioactive brew sits in 177 underground tanks, some of which are known to have leaked into the aquifer, threatening the nearby Columbia River. The new deadlines, as proposed in the negotiations, would delay tank waste cleanup by 24 years to 2052. Under the current Tri-Party Agreement, the entire Hanford site was to be cleaned up by 2035. State officials have said they're willing to accept the 2019 start date for the plant - they hardly have a choice after technical problems, a seismic review and escalating costs slowed construction - but want something in return. However, a delay in tank cleanup shouldn't be another concession, said Susan Leckband, chair of the Hanford Advisory Board, an independent, nonpartisan group with representatives from tribes, Washington and Oregon agencies and conservation groups. And an eight-year delay with the plant doesn't equate to a 24-year delay in tank cleanup. "These tanks are past their design life now and will be decades past their design life then," she said. "No one expects that they won't leak between now and then." The board also raised concerns that the Energy Department's upcoming proposed budgets fall short of paying for the work to be done to stay in compliance with the cleanup deal. The agency's Richland Office alone anticipates a budget shortfall of as much as $5 billion over the 10-year period beginning in fiscal year 2009, the board wrote in a letter to the Energy Department, Ecology Department and EPA. Delays to the Tri-Party Agreement milestones "should be based only on technical achievability not budget," the board wrote in another letter. In recent years, Hanford has received about $2 billion each year toward cleanup - one-third of the federal government's entire budget for nuclear cleanup nationally, though the agency oversees nuclear cleanup in 14 states. "Certainly, budget is an issue," said Nick Ceto, EPA's Hanford program manager, declining to comment further. But Ceto said the public insight to the negotiations will be helpful moving forward. Regulators have garnered praise for some of their demands that remain under negotiation: heightened groundwater cleanup and a new "life cycle" report, which the Energy Department would be required to create by next fall to outline all Hanford cleanup work. Hedges said the new report would list all of the work to be done, along with cost and schedule, to help provide a better picture of the Hanford cleanup. In addition, she said, it could be a tool for elected officials choosing to pay for the cleanup. "It's hard to describe to Congress and the public what this big elephant is that we're taking big bites out of," Hedges said. "That's the idea of it, that we would have this tool that would tell the story of what it will take to clean up all of Hanford." © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************