***************************************************************** 10/10/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.238 ***************************************************************** 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 NUCLEAR REACTORS 1 The Hindu: "It will be wise for Cong not to discuss with IAEA" 2 US: The Times Leader: Energy conserving/educating touted 3 US: Herald News: Nuclear station to recharge 4 REGNUM: Lithuania asks for prolonging functioning of Ignalina NPP - 5 Comment is free: A waste of energy 6 US: toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse witness set to testify against trio 7 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Global warming report gives grim outlook for 8 US: York Dispatch - NRC: Sleeping guards a habit at Peach Bottom 9 Greenpeace UK: Looking back at the Windscale nuclear disaster, 50 ye 10 US: WTAE Pittsburgh: Radioactive Groundwater Found At Beaver Valley 11 US: NRC: FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Biweekly Notice; Application 12 US: SOLANCONEWS.com: NRC, Exelon Discuss Peach Bottom Security at Pu 13 Reuters: Two German n-plants not to reopen before '08-paper 14 Reuters: Italy repeats: no to nuclear | Science | 15 US: Reuters: SCE Calif. San Onofre 3 reactor remains shut - NRC 16 US: Daily Herald: Facing tough energy choices 17 US: Dothan Eagle: Farley shutdown still under investigation 18 WNN: New UK nuclear "in nation's best interests" 19 The Telegraph: Gujarat cover for N-pause 20 The Telegraph: Voices rise in US against N-deal 21 The Telegraph: Nuke boss beckons, Delhi shy 22 WNN: UKAEA works on Windscale 23 EW: Lithuania, Poland delay signing atomic plant accord until Novemb NUCLEAR SECURITY 24 US: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Nuclear boomerang? - NUCLEAR SAFETY 25 [DU-WATCH] Breaking news on US and radiological weapons 26 US: NRC: Notice of Intent To Establish Independent External Review P 27 UPI: Italian soldiers' cancer cause unclear - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 28 Las Vegas SUN: Craig Walton: 1934 - 2007 29 StatesmanJournal.com: Former interior secretary on mission to preser 30 Deseret Morning News: Yucca Mountain is a loser 31 US: GE: NRC reviewing application for new uranium recovery facility 32 ReviewJournal.com: LETTERS: DOE's ambitions could kill Yucca PEACE 33 BBC NEWS: Sarkozy hails talks with Putin 34 International Herald Tribune: Keep the nuclear option, Staying true 35 Reuters: U.S., Russia seem no closer on missile defense 36 US: Guardian Unlimited: US Can't Quickly ID Nuclear Material 37 Guardian Unlimited: Fox calls for action to tackle nuclear prolifera US DEPT. OF ENERGY 38 The State: Groups petition to halt plutonium-to-S.C. plan 39 Charlotte Observer: 2 groups oppose plan to send more plutonium to S 40 DOE: U.S. Secretaries Bodman and Spellings Visit T.C. Williams High 41 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12: uranium warhead parts should be good 42 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12 plant prepares for layoffs 43 lamonitor.com: Plutonium Facility paused for safety 44 lamonitor.com: Woman withdraws appeal to lab settlement 45 WCBD: Savannah River nuke plant fight - 46 KVII: Funding for Pantex 47 Oak Ridger: Y-12 layoffs? Draft plan work begins - 48 NAS: Project: Development and Implementation of a Cleanup Technology 49 LocalNews8: Folks Will Hear "Booms" On Friday ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 The Hindu: "It will be wise for Cong not to discuss with IAEA" Wednesday, October 10, 2007 : 1700 Hrs New Delhi (PTI): A "wise" decision by Congress leadership not to discuss the Indo-US nuclear deal with the IAEA till the UPA-Left committee comes out with its findings would avoid mid-term polls, a Left leader said on Wednesday. "We are against the agreement, opposed to talks or discussions with IAEA. Political decisions we have taken is that if you go ahead, we have to withdraw," RSP Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Abani Roy said. Noting that political parties of all hue do not want elections at this moment, he said to avoid the elections, it would be "wise" for the Congress not to discuss the matter with the IAEA and not to go ahead with the agreement. "We are men of words and there is no need to explain anything further," he said, adding it was time the Congress leadership took a political decision of postponing the matter. He suggested that it would not be proper to go ahead with any discussion with the IAEA till the joint mechanism completes its task and comes out with its findings. Roy's warning to the Congress has come at a time when several non-Congress parties in the UPA are reportedly pressing for a go-slow on the issue. On Tuesday, the crisis facing the government following the rift with the Left eased after the two sides agreed to hold more talks to break the impasse on October 22. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 2 The Times Leader: Energy conserving/educating touted Wilkes-Barre News | timesleader.com - Public’s involvement is key, say state industry workers. By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com Staff Writer Doug Biden, Electric Power Generation Association; Bryce Shriver, PPL Nuclear Development; and Dr. Jack Brenizer, PSU’s nuclear engineering program, attended Tuesday’s discussion on energy. Fred Adams / the Times Leader Times Leader Photo Store SALEM TWP. – Forget ethanol; forget the nuclear renaissance; forget renewable technologies, like wind and solar. Yes, according to industry members, they’re all well on their way in Pennsylvania, but the lowest of the low-hanging fruits on the future-of-energy tree are things most consumers ignore: education, energy efficiency and conservation. Addressing 11 members of the state House Republican Policy Committee during a discussion on energy Tuesday, industry workers touted their respective sectors, but several also noted people can easily save energy and money by using efficient appliances and vehicles with electric motors. “We also need more in the way of demonstration and consumer education,” said Dennis Buffington, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Penn State. “I think that’s the biggest problem we have today,” concurred Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, who co-chaired the meeting with Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake. The meeting was held at the visitors’ center for the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, which was apt because nuclear represents much of the power industry’s recent past in Pennsylvania and stands to play a dominant role in its future. Nuclear accounts for 21 percent of the state’s production capacity, but produces 35 percent of its electricity, according to Doug Biden of the Electric Power Generation Association. In conjunction with coal, nine reactors at five nuclear plants – about 9,229 megawatts of capacity – create the state’s power-generation backbone. That makes Pennsylvania second nationally in nuclear capacity only to Illinois’ 11,379 megawatts, third in total generation to Texas and Florida and first in net exportation of electricity – 70 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006, Biden said. And while companies like PPL are considering increasing their nuclear capacity, that could die quickly if legislators stick their noses into the market system. “A key component is regulatory certainty,” including predictable costs and schedules, said Bryce Shriver, who heads PPL’s nuclear arm. “If we would enact legislation that would return to rate caps, it’s very unlikely that PPL would proceed with additional nuclear capacity.” Even if nuclear capacity were to be increased, another problem would be finding trade-workers to build plants and qualified engineers to run them, according to Jack Brenizer, who chairs the nuclear engineering program at Penn State. “Most of us in the industry are very concerned about manpower,” he said. Just 324 nuclear engineers graduated in 2006, and half of them entered grad school rather than the work force. Though renewables account for 6 percent of the state’s capacity and generate just 3 percent of its energy, according to Biden, wind is the fastest-growing energy resource. Renewable energy is now “big business,” said Eric Thumma of Iberdrola Renewable Energies USA, a subsidiary of the Spanish-owned wind utility. Pennsylvania is “well positioned” to lead because it has some wind resources and is close to high-demand areas. While barely on the industry’s radar, “there’s just no comparison” in the energy production ratio between ethanol from corn and that from fodder beets, said Sweet Valley farmer LaRue Sutliff. He would know – he spent years gaining a federal grant in the early 1980s, only to see a petroleum price-drop make his idea unviable. Still, he enjoyed Boback’s support. “She’s got her heels dug in on this, and I appreciate that,” he said. “The waste you don’t have to worry about storing in Yucca Mountain. You store it in the belly of that cattle” and after that, onto fields.” On the business side, the state should provide matching funds for start-ups that raise $1 million, suggested John Nikoloff of the Pennsylvania Energy Resources Group, a clean-energy consulting firm. They could also use a distribution system to match the ramped-up production, including a targeted rail program, he said. “Every six months’ delay means other states are going to start attracting these companies,” he said. While Nikoloff mentioned returning to wood-burning stoves, Scott Singer, a biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, suggested burning pelletized biomass instead. It would keep native grasses and soils on fields, reduce oil dependency, eliminate the low-density problem inherent in transporting plant matter and give farmers a way to add value to products. “That improves the rural economic greatly,” he said. “This will come in as a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels.” However, he warned that pelletizing the residual waste from corn production could cause soil erosion and water pollution. Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418. © Copyright 2007 The Times Leader. All Rights Reserved. Times Leader 15 N. Main Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711 (570) 829-7101 or (800) 427-8649 ***************************************************************** 3 Herald News: Nuclear station to recharge HeraldNewsOnline.com Member of the Sun-Times News Group October 10, 2007 By CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN Staff Writer BRAIDWOOD -- The Braidwood Generating Station is middle-aged. About 1,700 additional workers will spend time at the Braidwood Generating Station during the work outage, according to Exelon officials. Throughout its lifespan, the nuclear power station's two units have been shut down about every 18 months for refueling and maintenance. That is what's happening now to Unit 1, which shut down at 11 p.m. Sept. 30 for several weeks of work. About 1,700 additional workers will spend time at the nuclear power station during the work outage, Dempsey said. They come from all over the country. Some are Exelon employees. Others are members of local building and trade unions. "They stay all over the area in hotels or campers from here all the way to Joliet, Morris and Gardner," Dempsey said. The outage was scheduled for October because this is supposed to be a time when air-conditioners are winding down and heaters haven't been cranked up yet, Dempsey said. "There is less of a demand for electricity," he said. During the outage, about one-third of the reactor's fuel will be replaced. Also, workers will perform more than 11,000 inspections. Additional maintenance includes refurbishing turbines, cleaning and welds stabilization. "The Braidwood team has put in a great deal of effort over the past year to prepare for this outage," Tom Coutu, vice president of the Braidwood site, said in a press release. "The scope of work being performed during this outage is more than we have in most outages. Our main goal is the safe and error-free performance by the outage team to ensure no one gets injured and that the unit can be returned to safe and reliable service during its next operating cycle." Unit 2 will continue to operate and provide power during the Unit 1 outage. According to the company, the station's two nuclear energy units can produce a total of more than 2,300 megawatts at full power, which is enough electricity to power more than 2 million homes. The nuclear power station produces power when atoms are split in the uranium core. The split atoms collide and produce heat. The heat causes steam and the steam turns a turbine that is connected to a generator, Dempsey explained. The generator produces the electricity. Unit 1 went online in July 1988, and Unit 2 went online in October of that year. Licenses for the two units expire in 2026 and 2027, respectively. "If we want to, down the road, we can apply for an extension," Dempsey said. This year's refueling and maintenance project has nothing to do with the station's past accidental release of tritium, a radioactive isotope that is a by-product of the nuclear power production process, Dempsey said. The leaks occurred in "blow down" lines that took tritium tainted water to the Kankakee River. The tritium leaks have been part of a separate remediation program. Reporter Cindy Wojdyla Cain may be reached at (815) 729-6044 or at ccain@scn1.com © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group | Terms of Use • Privacy ***************************************************************** 4 REGNUM: Lithuania asks for prolonging functioning of Ignalina NPP - Russian News - 09:40:32 ¤ October 11, 2007 Vilnius Energy Security Conference 2007 has opened today in Lithuania. As a REGNUM correspondent informs, at the morning session the Lithuanian side posed a question to international experts of prolonging functioning of the Ignalina NPP till a new nuclear power plant is constructed. The question of prolonging Ignalina functioning was asked by Lithuanian MP Julius Veselka. In his speech, the MP pointed out that after 2009, when the Ignalina NPP is scheduled to be closed, Lithuania will fully depend on Russia. Meanwhile, international experts were exactly discussing Lithuania’s dependence on Russia. According to Veselka, ?closure of the NPP is a mistake, …it is a political decision? but not ?concern about security,? and Ignalina’s threat to Europe is a myth, the MP believes. Lithuanian Economic Minister Vytas Navitskas partially supported the MP. International experts, the group including US Under Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, London City Law School, London City University Professor Alan Riley and others, differed in their opinions during the discussion, but, as some of them believe, the question can be discussed. Now, a new project of constructing an NPP with capacity of 3,200-3,400 megawatt is under development in Lithuania. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are to take part in the project. However, according to expert estimations, the new energy reactor can appear in 2015 only. At the same time, under a demand of the European Union, in 2009, Lithuania is to suspend functioning of its last, the second nuclear reactor at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/897265.html 15:23 10/10/2007 REGNUM » News » Lithuania asks for prolonging… © 1999-2007 REGNUM News Agency ***************************************************************** 5 Comment is free: A waste of energy guardian.co.uk/commentisfree > Sara Parkin The government's consultation on nuclear power has asked all the wrong questions, with potentially devastating effects for the environment. October 10, 2007 12:30 PM | Printable version Greenpeace has already forced the government to restart its consultation on the future of nuclear power after catching it trying to short-cut the process. Even so, the whole thing remains a scam. At the Labour party conference two weeks ago, the secretary of state for business, John Hutton, told a meeting organised by the Nuclear Industry Association that "nuclear was vital to plug the UK's energy gap", although the consultation doesn't close until today. I went along to one of the consultation events last week to find the room stacked with nuclear lobbyists, and only three out of more than 50 voices challenging Mr Hutton's assertion. Even the chair was a voluble partisan. My friends report similar experiences around the country. So what is going on? Electricity privatisation in 1989 exposed the too-costly-to-contemplate side of nuclear, two accidents in Germany this June maintain safety doubts, and waste remains a major problem; only a few techie loose ends remain, a nuclear man said last week, making it four straight decades that nuclear men have spun me the same yarn. How long do they need? At the start of my consultation event, the government man made two statements. First, he said the role of nuclear is being considered in the context of a rising energy demand between now and 2050. And second, he said: "If nuclear goes ahead it will be because nothing has moved into its place." These are extraordinary statements when you consider that saying "yes" to nuclear will not only scotch all chances of doing anything serious about climate change, but also ensure the deadest of dead hands on UK innovation and economic prospects. What is going on here is big politics in defence of big centralised energy generation. Consequently the wrong questions are being asked, and the opportunity costs of getting the answer wrong are potentially devastating for both the environment and the economy. For starters, one dollar invested in energy efficiency buys over 10 times more CO2 emission reduction than it does with nuclear. It also sends a vital signal to the market. A future planned around less energy generated (from whatever source) is a necessary driver towards an economy based on low-carbon goods and services. There is little innovation in nuclear, but masses in end-use efficiencies and new low-carbon products and processes. Energy efficiency and renewables could definitely "fill the gap" in a future of falling energy demand. The waste in the way we use energy and raw materials is shameful and unnecessary. But both industries remain disaggregated and underdeveloped, starved of a coherent policy framework and sensible investment. For example, smart devices (like one for white goods that helps smooth out demand and reduce the need for extra generation at peak times) struggle to succeed in markets regulated in favour of big generation. A "yes" to nuclear now, therefore, is a "no" to modernising the grid to make it fit for local generation and efficiency, both essential to hitting CO2 reduction goals which, as Gordon Brown recognised in Bournemouth, will be greater than 60% by 2050. It is also a "no" to UK as a serious participant in the blossoming global markets for energy efficiency, renewable technologies, and low-carbon goods and services of all kinds - an economic transformation deservedly called the second industrial revolution. In 2005 Gordon Brown told EU energy and environment ministers that people want not energy per se, but the services of energy - affordable, secure, access to low-carbon heat, power and light. How to get those services is the question that serial energy consultations have failed to ask. Nuclear is not even part of the question, never mind the answer. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007. Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396 Registered office: Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3 3GG ***************************************************************** 6 toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse witness set to testify against trio Article published Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Engineer to discuss coverup accusation By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER One of the key witnesses in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against three former Davis-Besse engineers is expected to testify today about the government's theory that he and the trio were part of a coverup that jeopardized northern Ohio's safety in the fall of 2001. Prasoon Goyal, 61, of Toledo, who took the stand late yesterday, is a former senior design engineer who avoided prosecution by agreeing to cooperate with the Justice Department in its case against the other three. Prosecutors said when the indictments were issued in 2006, Mr. Goyal and the three defendants - David Geisen, Rodney N. Cook, and Andrew Siemaszko - intentionally deceived the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the dangerous state of the plant's old reactor head in the fall of 2001, when it was leaking boric acid from its reactor. When the plant was shut down in early 2002, the NRC learned so much acid had leaked and burned through the plant's reactor lid that it nearly burst - an event that would have allowed radioactive steam to form in containment for the first time since half of Three Mile Island Unit 2's reactor melted in 1979. The accusation of a coverup was based on the results of a two-year grand jury inquiry. Mr. Goyal agreed to a one-year ban on employment in the nuclear industry in exchange for his testimony. He has not returned to Davis-Besse, where he had worked since 1986. Mr. Geisen and Mr. Cook are being tried first. Mr. Siemaszko's trial is to follow. All three face up to five years in prison and separate $250,000 fines if convicted. Earlier yesterday, an NRC metallurgical engineer, James A. Davis, who was part of the agency's augmented inspection team that was sent to the plant within hours after the near-rupture was discovered, testified that cracks in the old reactor head's most problematic nozzle likely started about 1990 - six years before any sizable leakage was documented and 12 years before the lid nearly blew. Mr. Davis made a point of saying he was testifying as an independent witness and not as an NRC employee. He said the nuclear industry and his agency have long settled on the average crack growth rate for reactor-head nozzles at 4 millimeters a year. At that rate, it would have taken at least four years for a crack in one of those nozzles to develop a leak. Testimony last week revealed evidence of leaking as of 1996. There are 69 such nozzles implanted in the reactor heads of pressurized-water reactors like Davis-Besse's. They are made of a metal alloy that was found in France during the late 1980s to be susceptible to vertical cracks after years of high-temperature, high-pressure operation. At 605 degrees, Davis-Besse was America's hottest-operating nuclear plant. In 2001, the stakes were raised when the NRC learned that several U.S. reactor heads, especially Davis-Besse's, were susceptible to a more dangerous form of nozzle cracks, one that could form a circular pattern and pop off like champagne corks under an operating reactor's extreme pressure of 2,200 pounds per square inch. Under that scenario, a flash of radioactive steam could form. Mr. Davis testified that the cavity in Davis-Besse's reactor head - 5 inches wide, 7 inches long, and 6 1/2 inches deep - could not have been missed during FirstEnergy Corp.'s previous inspection in 2000 if the utility had done a credible job of inspecting the device. Defense attorneys referred to a recent FirstEnergy consultant report, which claimed the bulk of damage could have occurred unbeknownst to anyone during the last three weeks before shutdown. FirstEnergy is using that report to support its claim for a $200 million insurance payment on the grounds that the near-rupture might have been a fluke. But prosecutors yesterday presented more evidence of a systematic, ongoing breakdown within the utility. Greg Gibbs, a onetime Davis-Besse quality-assurance director and engineering director who left the plant in 1994, said he was disappointed after coming back as a consultant in 2001 to learn the utility never acted upon his insistence for larger holes in the reactor head's service structure to be used for inspections and cleaning. A Blade investigation in 2002 showed that FirstEnergy vetoed a work order during the early 1990s for larger inspection ports, known as "mouse holes," to save $250,000, even after being encouraged to do the modification by officials at a plant in Crystal River, Fla., with a similar design. The modification, which officials have said could have headed off Davis-Besse's problems, was done after the old reactor head nearly burst in 2002. Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079. © 2007 The Blade. By using this service, you accept the terms of our privacy statement and our visitor agreement. Please read them. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 7 Salt Lake Tribune: Global warming report gives grim outlook for state Utah in the hot seat Governor's panel offers suggestions for action The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 10/09/2007 09:40:42 PM MDT Posted: 9:43 PM- Utah is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than the rest of the nation. The state is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet. And if nothing changes, prolonged, extreme droughts and heat waves are virtually assured. The grim findings released Tuesday in the final report from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change are bad news for coming generations. But they also underpin scores of suggestions for an action plan to shrink the state's carbon footprint, a goal the governor intends to pursue. And that's the hard part. "Obviously we can't go out and do 70 things at once," said Dianne Nielson, Huntsman's energy policy adviser. But with 200 options regarding energy supply, conservation, transportation, land use and building, the report provides a framework for legislation and rule changes - especially combined with an energy efficiency strategy and renewable energy initiative to be announced later this month. Huntsman commissioned the report on Aug. 25, 2006, with the specific instruction that it include a scientific report that was not subject to the same debate as the rest of the issues the council undertook. The report's eight authors include researchers from the University of Utah, Utah State University, Brigham Young University and the state Department of Natural Resources. It states without reservation that global warming is a fact and that human activity is responsible for most of the climate change that has occurred for the past half-century. The findings for Utah in particular note that: +The average temperature during the past decade was higher than observed during any other comparable period during the past century and about 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 100-year average. +The state is expected to warm more than the average for the entire globe, bringing fewer frosts, longer growing seasons and more heat waves. +Greenhouse gas emissions at or above current levels will result in a decline in mountain snowpack and the threat of severe and prolonged droughts. +Emissions in Utah amounted to nearly 80 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2005, about 1 percent of the nation's total. Each Utah resident contributes about 29 tons annually, slightly higher than the national average of 27.5 tons. +Gross carbon dioxide emissions in Utah are rising at a faster rate than the rest of the country. Statewide, emissions increased 40 percent between 1990 and 2005, compared to 16 percent nationwide. +The main source of Utah's greenhouse gases is electricity use (37 percent), followed by transportation (25 percent) and all residential, commercial and industrial fossil fuel use combined (18 percent). The findings led the advisory council to put energy development and use at the top of its list of priorities along with fire management, open space preservation, public education, climate adaptation, building efficiency and aggressive mass-transit strategies. But the short deadline meant setting aside cost-benefit analyses of any specific policies, said Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy and a member of the advisory panel. "There have to be policies that go forward, " she said. " "It's still really nebulous and you have to figure out how to draft legislation." Nielson agreed. "Whatever the focus is, if there's more legislation or more authority required, we'll have those discussions," she said, promising the level of across-the-board participation that the council made possible. Utah Mining Association director David Litvin, also an advisory council member, said that despite the array of policy attitudes on the council there was not any attempt to define one option being more desirable than others. "We need all of it: coal, nuclear; we need oil, we need gas, hydro, geothermal," he said. "The mining community in Utah is prepared to work in a cooperative way . . . to ensure we have an effective policy in the state." ***************************************************************** 8 York Dispatch - NRC: Sleeping guards a habit at Peach Bottom CHARLES SCHILLINGER The York Dispatch Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 01:29:27 PM EDT Sleeping on the job at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station had become an acceptable habit among a group of 10 security officers in the last seven months, said the federal agency charged with inspecting the power station. But others speaking at a Tuesday evening public meeting held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Peach Bottom's operator, Exelon, is accountable for the behavior among the guards, since security officers were forced to remain alert for long shifts in a poor working environment. The NRC also said security supervisors responded inadequately to reports of misconduct, and in some instances, discouraged others from making further reports. It is "totally unacceptable" that guards were sleeping on the job, said Samuel Collins, the head of the NRC for the Northeast. But that people had been dissuaded from reporting the problem was more troubling, he added. "The program relies on these issues being self-reported, reported within the organization or noticed by individuals," Collins said. "It shakes me to think that you (Exelon) don't know these issues are ongoing, but in fact they are." Despite the admonishments, the investigation found security at the plant had not been severely degraded because there were multiple layers to the plant's defense system, Collins said. The agency launched the investigation last month after watching video taken of guards sleeping in the "ready room" at the plant. A New York television station obtained the video taken by a fellow guard and reported it to the agency and the firm that provides security to Peach Bottom, Wackenhut Corp. Since then, 10 guards have been placed on administrative leave, an NRC official said. Exelon confirmed that the Wackenhut supervisor who discouraged that the sleeping be reported had also been placed on leave. "The health and safety of the public is our highest priority," said Ronald DeGregorio, senior vice president of mid-Atlantic operations for Exelon. "We believe that we let you down in this regard. Inattentive behavior is not acceptable, and we are outraged by this incident." A Wackenhut spokesman, Marc Shapiro, said he was not prepared to comment on the meeting, because it had not received information on what was said. The company would consider a statement at a later time, he said. After reviewing the video, Exelon fired Wackenhut and said it planned to take over management of the security of Peach Bottom. Wackenhut, for the time being, is still providing security as it transitions out of the role. Exelon has not determined whether it will end the security firm's contracts at the company's other nuclear power plants. DeGregorio said Wackenhut primarily provides the supervision and management of the security force. "And that's where the shortcomings were," he said. "In Exelon, we know that we do well in that regard, so we're eliminating the contractor." But others said shortcomings could also be found with Exelon's management, and the NRC. Gene Fitzgerald lives in Maryland, just south of Delta, and formerly worked in the nuclear industry. He said firing the handful of guards sleeping on the job and then changing the name of the security force from Wackenhut to Exelon won't solve the problems. "We pay good tax dollars for people to perform, and if they're not performing then heads, starting at the top, start falling down," Fitzgerald said. "You change the name to Exelon, you get rid of Wackenhut ... but you have to rely on the same people (supervising)." Checking own procedures: The NRC is also investigating its own processes for identifying problems, acknowledging it received a letter in March about security concerns from a former plant employee, but failed to find a problem. The agency placed some blame on Exelon for failing to catch the guards sleeping on duty, and for not providing better conditions in the "ready room." The ready room is a staging area for security, where guards sit and wait for incidents to occur. If an emergency happens, officers in the room are expected to be able to respond quickly. But the agency said it had inadequate air conditioning and lacked tools to keep guards occupied -- such as computers or radios -- used at other plants to keep guards alert. John Jasinski, the previously anonymous author of the March letter first alerting the NRC to the security issues, painted a bleaker picture of that environment. "I don't hear an awful lot of the (investigation) results suggesting that these officers were working in conditions that were a great deal of the problem," Jasinski said. "These employees are working in rooms that are 83 degrees, working 12-hour shifts, working substantial overtime at times, and they're working a shift schedule that may be troublesome." Amenities added: Exelon has since changed the setup of the ready room, said company spokeswoman April Schilpp. It has also added a radio and a DVD player for officers to use. Officers will also no longer spend entire 12-hour shifts in the ready room. The company is also considering adding surveillance video to several areas to monitor employees, said DeGregorio. Jasinski said he feared the agency and Exelon were targeting the officers, and not giving management its fair share of blame. "Instead of doing 'root-cause analyses' ... and doing all these things that sound good in a presentation -- it's real simple, the guys were sleeping," he said. "We all know there's a lot more to the circumstances that led them to falling asleep on duty than they're just bad people, because I tell you right now, I've worked with them. They're not bad people." Eric Epstein, chairman of the local watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert, said he also fears the security guards will be scapegoats. "The workers aren't the problem; it's the management that's the problem. And I want you (the NRC) to acknowledge it, identify it and correct it. That's my plea," he said. The NRC has not decided on enforcement actions for the individual guards or the company, but is expected to do so by the end of October. Collins said shutting down the plant, as had been done in 1987 when operators in Peach Bottom's plant control room were found sleeping, is off the table. -- Reach Charles Schil linger at 505-5431 or cschillinger@yorkdispatch.com. © 2005-2007 Copyright The York Dispatch ***************************************************************** 9 Greenpeace UK: Looking back at the Windscale nuclear disaster, 50 years on | Posted by bex on 10 October 2007. Today is the official end of the government's nuclear consultation; (more on that coming soon). It's also the 50th anniversary of the world's second biggest nuclear disaster - at Windscale, now known as Sellafield, in West Cumbria. Jean McSorley, a nuclear consultant, has written about the disaster in today's Guardian. It's powerful stuff, so I'm posting an extract here: "I opened the gag-port and there it was - a fire at the face of the reactor. I thought: 'Oh dear, now we are in a pickle.'" Those were the words of the late Arthur Wilson, the instrument technician who discovered the Windscale fire on October 10 1957, in No 1 of the twin plutonium piles. It signalled the beginning of the world's second biggest nuclear reactor accident. ... Testimony from those who fought the fire provides an insight into the personal risks taken - and the gamble that was taken - to put out the fire. Tom Touhy, deputy manager of the Windscale works (now known as Sellafield), supervised the battle with the blaze. He described an attempt by workers to isolate the graphite and fuel that was on fire. This entailed opening ports at the front of the reactor and using steel rods to try to push the fuel out of the back of the pile itself into a separate holding area. The attempt failed. The rods dripped molten uranium on to the floor on which the men were standing. They then faced the dilemma of whether to cut off the air, cutting ventilation and perhaps also risking the reactor heating up even more, or starving the fire of oxygen. Cutting off the air and carbon dioxide was dismissed as too risky, so only one option was left: water. "If you mix steam and graphite you make a gas that is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can explode violently, so it is not a very nice mix," Touhy said later. ... What wasn't widely known at the time was that radioactive contamination from the fire had also been monitored as far away as south-east England and even on mainland Europe. Nor was it known that a canister of the now notorious polonium-210, used in nuclear weapons, had also burned in the fire. ... What the secrecy and reassurances about the health effects could not do was to remove the growing doubts about the risks of nuclear technology - the military and civil links, and the political cover-ups that take precedence over the public's right to know. That first nuclear alarm that sounded in the public consciousness still resonates today. ***************************************************************** 10 WTAE Pittsburgh: Radioactive Groundwater Found At Beaver Valley Plant - * Video: Radioactive Groundwater Found At Beaver Valley Plant UPDATED: 5:16 pm EDT October 10, 2007 SHIPPINGPORT, Pa. -- Low-levels of radioactive groundwater have been detected at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport. The plant's operator, FirstEnergy, said the problem is not a threat to the public. Both company officials and government regulators emphasize the radioactive material was found in groundwater from only one monitoring well on the company site. They said it's well below any level that would pose a danger to public health or safety. The nuclear power station found nearly 12,000 Pico curies per liter of ground water in samples from one monitoring well on its own property. It's from tritium, which is radioactive hydrogen. "Even though it does not create a health risk or environmental risk, it is an indicator that we might have a system leak or a pipe leak," said plant supervisor Mike Banko. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the level is very low and not a danger. There's been no trace anywhere else, they said. "We actually think we have found the pipe that was leaking," said Banko. "It actually was a valve. And it's already been fixed." The NRC said the level is 60 percent under its standard, and about half below the Environmental Protection Agency's standard. If you drank water at the EPA standard daily for a year, it would equal half the radiation of getting an X-ray. "It's a concern considering that I'm going through my second bout of cancer right now," said local resident Ron Burris. Since the 1950s, Burris has lived in his home near both the nuclear and the coal power plants. "There has been no medical doctor say that it was actually caused by the power plant or either power plant," said Burris. "But, I don't know. A lot of people here have cancer." "Folks should not be concerned," said Banko. "It is a very weak, weak radiation source." Copyright 2007 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This © 2007, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 NRC: FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Biweekly Notice; Application for Amendment to the Facility Operating License Involving Proposed No Significant Hazards Considerations; Correction FR Doc E7-19946 [Federal Register: October 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 195)] [Notices] [Page 57606] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10oc07-116] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-331] AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of amendment request; Correction. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This document corrects a notice appearing in the Federal Register on September 25, 2007 (72 FR 54472), that incorrectly referenced the licensee as Detroit Edison Company. This action is necessary to correct the erroneous reference. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl D. Feintuch, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone (301) 415-3079, e-mail: KDF@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On page 54472, in the second column, in the third complete paragraph, first line, the Notice is corrected to read from ``Detroit Edison Company'' to ``FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC.'' Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of October 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Karl D. Feintuch, Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing. [FR Doc. E7-19946 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 12 SOLANCONEWS.com: NRC, Exelon Discuss Peach Bottom Security at Public Meeting October 10, 2007 By Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman DELTA -- Intolerable. Inexcusable. That's how both sides described the situation at Peach Bottom. Last night the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) met with Exelon officials in a public format to release their findings following an investigation after a New York media showed a video last month of guards sleeping in the ready room at the atomic power station. Without the video, the NRC conceded, there might not be any proof of security guards at Peach Bottom being inattentive. "We have confirmed that multiple security guards were inattentive on multiple occasions," said Marsha Gamberoni, Director, Division of Reactor Safety for the NRC. The investigation revealed that 10 officers on four different occasions were inattentive while at the plant. between March and August 2007. The NRC interviewed 38 security personnel during their investigation. The security guards in the videos had not exceeded the NRC work hour requirements. The investigation also revealed that managerial problems. Management, according to the NRC, failed to effectively communicate and reinforce station attentiveness expectations. Security supervisors failed to address concerns that were brought up by workers like John Jasinski. In March, Jasinski, the former Director of Security at the plant, wrote a letter detailing his concern over sleeping guards. He said last night that he was never even contacted about it until after the video was made public last month. The video, obtained by WCBS-TV in New York, was provided to the NRC on September 10, at which tie the NRC began "an enhanced oversight" of Peach Bottom's security. The NRC began an AIT - Augmented Inspection Team - on September 21. Once the video was made public, Exelon launched an immediate investigation, according to Site Vice President Joseph Grimes. Wackenhut Security's contract with Peach Bottom was terminated. Wackenhut's contracts with other plants are being reviewed as well. Grimes conceded that Exelon security managers did not challenge Wackenhut and that "the remoteness of security areas adds to the inattentiveness." He said he was "very disappointed" that the complaints were not acted on earlier. These issues and concerns of inattentiveness were brought up numerous times over the last several years, pointed out Benjamin Herskowitz, a former Peach Bottom employee and self proclaimed whistle-blower. "The guards fear no actions," said Herskowitz. Exelon will create a spin-off company, its own security company. The Exelon Security Organization will assume security at the plant. "We rotate people in and out of that site. Things have to change," said former employee Gene Fitzgerald. "You can change the name but it's the same people." "The workers are not the problem," said Eric Epstein, chairman of Three Mile Island Alert. Epstein said the problem lies in the management and suggested NRC take a more proactive attitude with the power plants. As a result of the AIT, Exelon has shared lessons learned with the industry and the NRC has issued a security advisory concerning inattentive security officer behavior to the industry. Exelon now has 30 days, from October 4, to respond in writing detailing actions taken and proposed changes. SolancoNews.com is a division of Online Community News ISSN 1554-5415 © 2003-2007 ***************************************************************** 13 Reuters: Two German n-plants not to reopen before '08-paper Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:43pm BST BERLIN, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The northern German nuclear plants at Kruemmel and Brunsbuettel will remain offline at least until the end of this year, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Schleswig Holstein Social Minister Gitta Trauernicht told the Hamburger Abendblatt that both plants were still undergoing checks after a fire in a transformer substation at Kruemmel in June, which caused a short circuit at Brunsbuettel as well. "After the incidents in June at both reactors, many notifiable events have taken place which we are still investigating," Trauernicht was quoted as saying. "We expect the final results at the start of 2008 at the earliest. It could take much longer." Trauernicht is responsible for security at the state's nuclear power plants. Kruemmel has a 1,400 megawatt reactor while Brunsbuettel's has capacity of 806 megawatts. The fire prompted new nuclear safety concerns and led to top managers at operator Vattenfall (VTTG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) stepping down. Vattenfall declined to comment on the report. (Additional reporting by Peter Dinkloh in Frankfurt) (Writing by Madeline Chambers, Berlin Newsroom, +49 30 2888 5230, madeline.chambers@reuters.com) © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Reuters: Italy repeats: no to nuclear | Science | Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:35am EDT MILAN (Reuters) - Italy will not reverse its Chernobyl-era ban on nuclear power, its government said on Wednesday. Instead it urged power companies to focus on renewable energy as part of an effort to combat global climate change. Calls for a Italian nuclear renaissance have intensified as, with scant domestic energy sources, it seeks to diversify its supplies and trim dependence on fuel imports "Given that the results of a popular referendum of 1987 cannot be cancelled with a stroke of pen, a nuclear choice is neither safe nor convenient in the short-term," said Alfonso Gianni, undersecretary at the Economic Development Ministry. Gianni was delivering a statement to the lower chamber of parliament, and cited concerns about high costs of constructing nuclear plants and their decommissioning as well as waste management. The only exception should be made for a scientific research in a new generation of nuclear reactors -- in which Italian energy groups participate by joining projects abroad, he said. Gianni said he was surprised by the head of Milan's utility AEM, Giuliano Zuccoli, who earlier on Wednesday called for an immediate restart of one nuclear power station, in northern Italy, and the construction of three new plants. Supporters of nuclear say it would help to reduce emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) and dependence on costly fossil fuel imports, thus trimming Italian electricity prices, among the highest in Europe. Italy imports about 80-90 percent of fossil fuels it needs. "We need to dismantle a legend that nuclear energy is expensive and we should let everyone know that plants are safe," Zuccoli told an energy conference. But Gianni said nuclear energy raises a complex of environmental problems as well as risks of non-peaceful use. "The main road is the development of renewable energy, in particular, photovoltaic," he said. Italy has approved changes to a law aimed to boost photovoltaic energy which transforms sunlight into power, prompting analysts to forecast that sunny Italy may become Europe's new frontier for solar energy. ***************************************************************** 15 Reuters: SCE Calif. San Onofre 3 reactor remains shut - NRC Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:26pm EDT LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Southern California Edison's 1,080-megawatt Unit 3 at the San Onofre nuclear power remained shut for a second day and has not restarted, as was erroneously reported by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a daily report earlier on Wednesday, an NRC spokesman said. SCE, a subsidiary of Edison International (EIX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), took the unit off line on Tuesday for a maintenance outage. SCE has not said when the unit would return to service. The outage is not a refueling, an NRC official said. The NRC listed San Onofre 3 as being at full power on Wednesday morning but NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said that report was wrong and the unit remains shut. © Reuters2007All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 16 Daily Herald: Facing tough energy choices Wednesday, October 10, 2007 IN OUR VIEW Keeping the electric lights on in Utah County will require a delicate balancing act. Richard Walje of Rocky Mountain Power has estimated that our growing county's need for power will eventually require the construction of the equivalent of six or seven 535-megawatt natural-gas-fired plants like Vineyard's Lake Side Power Plant. That's a problem, but there are problems with all sources of power. Exploring and drilling for natural gas and oil can hammer wildlands. Do you want to see derricks in your favorite retreat in Diamond Fork or in the Strawberry valley? According to experts, drilling can lead to the release of pollutants into Earth, air or water -- benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, methane, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, chemical additives, salts, metals, hydrocarbons, radioactive materials, acids, metals, ethylene glycol, corrosion inhibitors and dozens of others. Sometimes these substances pollute lakes or aquifers. Utahns' concerns should be heightened as plans are being drawn for gas leases in six national parks in Utah, in areas such as Book Cliffs and Strawberry. Other options? About 75 percent of Utah's power needs are generated by coal-fired plants. But these are fairly obvious sources of pollution. Three conservation organizations recently appealed a federal decision allowing a Uintah County coal-fired power plant to expand. The organizations say the Bonanza plant would dump nearly 2 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually. Regardless whether you believe that man contributes materially to global warming, it's still not a great idea to belch garbage into our thin atmosphere. If not global warming, pollutants will surely lead to other problems one day. On a day when the pollution in Utah County is so bad that you're advised to stay indoors, you might well agree. The Crandall Canyon Mine disaster further reminds us of the human cost of mining coal. Well, how about nuclear power plants? They don't emit greenhouse gases. Ooops. Not in Utah. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has said he opposes a nuclear power plant in this state until there's technology to safely handle radioactive waste on site. That may take a long while. Huntsman assisted Utah's fight to stop a stockpile for tons of spent nuclear fuel at the Goshute reservation about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. And we certainly don't want Utah to become the nation's nuclear dump even if we learn to handle waste from our own reactors. Alternate sources, anyone? Sorry, but today fossil fuels meet about 80 percent of global energy demand; biofuels, wind and solar energy supply less than 1 percent. It will be awhile before alternative sources make a dent. Many hold out high hopes for sun power. "Utah has abundant renewable resources, and anyone who stands outside on a hot day in July knows that," said Sara Baldwin of Utah Clean Energy, for the recent Utah Solar Tour. We'd love to see our sunny state become an energy exporter. We applaud people like Peter Allen for equipping his Orem home with solar panels and a wind turbine to display for the tour. But, we note, his setup cost at least $15,000. That underlines the reality that solar power remains a fledgling technology. Speaking of fledglings, what about wind power? There, too, some environmentalists -- who you'd think would be friendly -- are busily asserting that the towering turbines kill birds. Other decry how a row of turbines mars the landscape. In Massachusetts, a wind farm off Cape Cod plans to erect 130 wind turbines, each looming 440 feet above Nantucket Sound. Normally, liberal denizens of the Bay State howl that turbines would blight a dozen historic sites, not to mention the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port. OK, biofuels, then. Right now presidential candidates are traipsing through Iowa, trying to outdo each other in extolling the wonders of ethanol. Surely it's a coincidence that the state is known for corn-growing. But we recently got an earful about corn from Rolling Stone magazine, which did a big piece on "The Ethanol Scam: One of America's Biggest Political Boondoggles." The magazine wrote that ethanol isn't cleaner or cheaper than gasoline, though its subsidies total half its pump price. "Our current ethanol production represents only 3.5 percent of our gasoline consumption -- yet it consumes 20 percent of the entire U.S. corn crop, causing the price of corn to double in the last two years and raising the threat of hunger in the Third World," the magazine reported. The point is not to sort out all the competing claims in one editorial. The point is that Utah is going to need more power, soon. As a community we'll have to make some tough choices, and every choice has a down side. Utahns need to become educated on the alternatives. We believe Utah can balance these competing interests with some compromises and creativity. And we need to start now. Copyright © 2007 Daily Herald and Lee Enterprises | Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 17 Dothan Eagle: Farley shutdown still under investigation Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007 - 06:08 AM By Lance Griffin Farley Nuclear Plant personnel are still trying to determine how testing on one of the plant’s nuclear reactors triggered a shutdown on another last week. Company spokesman Jeremy Pate said an investigation is still continuing into an automatic shutdown of the plant’s Unit 2 reactor last Wednesday afternoon. Pate said the shutdown occurred while a routine test related to Unit 1 in the plant’s switch yard caused a coolant system for Unit 2 to go off line, resulting in the unit’s automatic shutdown. Pate said it is unclear why that happened. Farley has 60 days from the date of the incident to file a licensee event report with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The report must contain the details of the shutdown, the cause, and corrective steps taken or planned to assure the same incident doesn’t happen again. Pate said Unit 2 reached 100 percent power early Sunday afternoon and is fully operational. Unit 1 remained shut down Tuesday due to a planned outage. While Farley’s 2006 performance reviews by the NRC indicated the plant “operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives”, the plant suffered two separate electrical breaker failures last month, causing the NRCto investigate the cause. An improperly operating valve related to a heat removal system was also discovered during testing in April 2006 and January 2007. Dothan Eagle Copyright © 2007 Media General, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 18 WNN: New UK nuclear "in nation's best interests" NUCLEAR POLICIES 10 October 2007 Today was the last opportunity for the UK public to comment on the government's 'provisional view' that nuclear power should remain a viable option. The country's Nuclear Industry Association made its submission today on behalf of its 140 members most of whom would have also offered their own views. The NIA's chief executive, Keith Parker, said "We strongly believe new nuclear is essential to helping to deliver ambitious carbon reduction targets and ensure affordable, stably-priced supply. Nuclear must be part of that solution." Building a new nuclear plant has never been prohibited by UK law, but would be impractical under old planning procedures and without clear political support, which has been lacking for many years. In 2006 then prime minister Tony Blair said he wished to amend procedures to 'facilitate' new nuclear power in the interests of energy security and climate change concerns. Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, holds the same view. The last plant to be built in the country was the Sizewell B pressurized water reactor, commissioned in 1995. If no new nuclear power plants are built before 2023 it will be the last in operation with some 32 retired gas-cooled units at various stages of decommissioning. Since 1956 nuclear power has provided up to 25% of UK electricity, the figure today is 19%. In addition, several large coal-fired power stations are to be shut down on environmental grounds. In all, about one third of the UK's power plants need to be replaced, with supplies expected to fall short from around 2016. The NIA, as well as the generating companies that want to build like EdF and EOn say a new UK nuclear plant could operate by 2017. Parker concluded his statement by saying, "Nuclear is low-carbon and helps maintain diversity, and hence security of the UK's electricity supply. We firmly believe this is in the nation's best interests." A new streamlined planning and licensing process for nuclear power plants was proposed in the energy white paper of 23 May, together with the separate consultation on it and the subject of nuclear power. The consultation was the second in a series, the first having been challenged by Greenpeace and subsequently ruled to be flawed. The government is expected to respond to the public comments before the end of the year. Further information Nuclear Industry Association ***************************************************************** 19 The Telegraph: Gujarat cover for N-pause Calcutta : Frontpage | Thursday, October 11, 2007 | Advertise with us RASHEED KIDWAI Sonia. (PTI) New Delhi, Oct. 10: The Gujarat elections on December 11 and 16 have given both the Congress and the Left some room for manoeuvre and an opportunity to decide how far they should push each other on the nuclear deal. Gujarat is the state that brought the Congress and the Left together after the 2002 riots, eventually paving the way for the formation of the UPA to keep communalism at bay. The dominant view in the Congress is that the leadership would press ahead with the nuclear deal and risk snap polls if Narendra Modi was humbled. However, a defeat is expected to drive the ?secular? forces into one another?s arms, in which case the deal could be put in cold storage. Opinion is divided on whether the government can afford to wait till the Gujarat results are out — December 23 — to decide on the nuclear deal or whether elections in a state where Modi is still the biggest factor could be considered a test case for the rest of the country. But such is the keenness to avoid discussing early polls that the Gujarat elections have become a talking point in the UPA. Sonia Gandhi is also reportedly averse to the idea of abruptly snapping ties with the Left and looking for support from unpredictable pressure groups. ?She still values the Left as a long-term ally. The Left has at least been trying to sort out differences with the Congress through talks for months but others like Mayavati or Jayalalithaa would have taken a minute to pull the plug,? a minister close to Sonia said. The mood at 24 Akbar Road (the Congress headquarters) is upbeat. Senior ministers exuded confidence that Sonia would be able to blend her policy of ?economic Right and social Left? to extend the UPA?s lease of life. For the first time, the pro-deal lobby within the UPA cited China?s example — that it took 13 years to negotiate a similar deal. A minister said: ?Both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are alive to the fact that the UPA came into being for a greater good. The survival of the UPA and the deal hinges upon it.? The Delhi mood could be gauged from the fact that a number of key players had begun packing bags while others focused on preparations for Id and the Pujas. The Prime Minister will travel to South Africa and Nigeria on October 14 while Sonia will start her China visit on October 26. Pranab Mukherjee, who has been shuttling between the Left and the UPA, is going to Russia tonight and A.K. Antony, another negotiator, will follow him on October 17. Copyright © 2006 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us ***************************************************************** 20 The Telegraph: Voices rise in US against N-deal Calcutta : Nation | Thursday, October 11, 2007 | K.P. NAYAR Washington, Oct. 10: While India?s politicians are quarrelling over the nuclear deal, US legislators opposed to it have made their first move to take advantage of the situation and put the clock back on Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation. A resolution now under consideration by the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs wants the US to immediately freeze any attempt by Washington to change the rules of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in favour of India. The resolution, of which the full House was notified last week, says NSG guidelines should not be changed until the Bush administration has ?answered all outstanding questions raised by Congress regarding apparent inconsistencies? between the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement subsequently negotiated between New Delhi and Washington. The resolution also expresses concern over the differing interpretations of the deal by the White House and the UPA government and seeks to stop its operationalisation pending a satisfactory conclusion ?with the Government of India (of) all differences of interpretation of the provisions in the nuclear cooperation agreement?. If the resolution, which has been referred to the committee on foreign affairs, moves forward, it will add fuel to the political fire in India arising from the opposition to the deal from the Left parties, the BJP and others. The resolution rattled the state department enough to prompt its spokesperson yesterday to say on record that ?we are going to keep working with not only those two representatives (who are co-sponsors of the resolution) but others in the Congress to move forward on this deal?. Sean McCormack said those who have given notice of the resolution ?are important voices and they have raised some issues. And we want to... engage them to be able to reassure them of the importance of this deal, not only for the US government but for our non-proliferation efforts worldwide?. The resolution has equally unnerved Indian officials and supporters of the deal within the Indian-American community here because one of its co-sponsors is Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She is not only not anti-Indian, but until recently, she was co-chair of the India Caucus on Capitol Hill. Her seeming betrayal of the India Caucus?s efforts to see the nuclear deal through comes close on the heels of a revelation by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton had told him the deal was a ?sellout? of US interests and that Democrats would junk it if they were voted to power in 2008. It is not unlikely that the resolution may be killed by the House Committee, but that requires mobilising supporters of the deal here. The controversy in India about the deal has made that effort more challenging than before. The sponsor of the resolution, Democrat Howard Berman, has cleverly tabled it as a ?sense of the House? measure. It will be non-binding. Because it is non-binding, it may attract the support of legislators who are sitting on the fence because they value Indo-US relations in its totality, even though they have reservations about the deal. Such support and its adoption will then embolden the opponents of the nuclear deal to make another attempt to kill it. The resolution says the Bush administration ?should not support a proposed exemption for India in the NSG guidelines that is not consistent with the Hyde Act?. It also calls for ?the immediate termination of all nuclear commerce by NSG member states if India detonates a nuclear explosive device or if the IAEA has determined that India has violated its international safeguards commitments?. Opponents of the deal had hitherto demanded such measures by the US. Clearly, they are now widening their targets to include 45 member-states of the NSG who control global nuclear commerce. The resolution also calls for restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing activities by India. Copyright © 2006 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | ***************************************************************** 21 The Telegraph: Nuke boss beckons, Delhi shy Calcutta : Nation Thursday, October 11, 2007 | OUR BUREAU New Delhi, Oct. 10: The International Atomic Energy Agency seems ready to tie the knot with India, but Delhi remains hesitant about crossing the Left?s Lakshman rekha. When Pranab Mukherjee met IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei this evening, the Indian foreign minister ?explained? the nuclear deal to his guest. However, Mukherjee was unable to give ElBaradei any commitment on if and when Delhi would go to the IAEA to negotiate a safeguards agreement. ElBaradei was being more than courteous when he told waiting reporters that he wanted India to finally emerge from the restrictions on nuclear commerce. ?As a friend of India, I would like to see India making full use of nuclear energy to enable it to sustain its 10 per cent growth rate,?? he said. ?Mukherjee explained the 123 Agreement to me.?? He said an India-specific agreement would not require protracted negotiations as the country already had four such agreements with the IAEA on safeguarded reactors. Copyright © 2006 The Telegraph. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | ***************************************************************** 22 WNN: UKAEA works on Windscale WASTE & RECYCLING 10 October 2007 Half a century has passed since the UK's only nuclear accident at the military plutonium-producing Windscale piles. The UKAEA is currently planning to cut into the damaged reactor to remove highly-radioactive debris. The charge face of pile 1 (Image: UKAEA) The first of the two reactor piles at the military facility was damaged beyond repair by a fire that officially began on 10 October 1957. After many hours it was finally extinguished by flooding with water. Most of the radionuclides released from burning nuclear fuel were caught by filters on the top of the pile's chimney, but some escaped and travelled in a plume across Britain. The other reactor pile was not operated after the accident, which was at the time the world's worst. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the piles and chimneys were sealed, had their filters removed and redundant equipment taken away. The highly radioactive used nuclear fuel and isotope cartridges were removed from Pile 2, but some in Pile 1 had been badly damaged by the fire. Between 1980 and 1999 much work was undertaken to put the pile 1 in a safe condition for further decommissioning. Very high levels of radioactivity surrounding the damaged nuclear fuel make it difficult to examine, and methods to remove it by remote control have had to be developed on extremely pessimistic assumptions. However, with the plant in a safe condition state custodian UKAEA has been able to develop the advanced techniques it needs to eventually demolish the building. Today, the core of Pile 1 still contains about 10% of its nuclear fuel. UKAEA plan to cut through the top of the reactor's reinforced concrete cap and shield to deploy tools and manipulators on both sides of the horizontal fuel rods and remove the damaged fuel and isotope cartridges. Shutdown and control rods will be removed from both piles and reactor internal materials will be removed remotely. The graphite blocks that form the pile itself will be removed in bulk where possible. After the reactor core is removed, the remaining internal surfaces of the reactor will be removed or decontaminated prior to final demolition of the biological shield. Further information UKAEA The Windscale accident The Windscale piles shortly after construction (Image: UKAEA) In the aftermath of World War II, the British government saw the development of a nuclear deterrent as vital and an ambitious plan was launched to test a weapon by 1952. The Windscale piles, built on the coast of Cumbria in north-western England, were built to produce plutonium for the weapons program at a time when nuclear materials production was in its infancy. In 1952 scientists operating the piles noticed unexpected temperature rises in both Windscale reactors caused by pockets of so-called Wigner energy becoming trapped in the lattice of the core. To release the energy and continue operation, an annealing process involving gradually heating the core above normal temperatures was developed, but this process became more difficult over time and was not fully understood. Damaged nuclear fuel in pile 1 (Image: UKAEA) Pile 1's ninth annealing operation began on 7 October 1957 but got out of control as Wigner energy caused runaway heating. By 10 October a fire was observed in the nuclear fuel channels. Filters on the tops of the facility's cooling chimneys prevented most of the radioactive materials released from escaping, but nevertheless a large amount travelled across Britain and northern Europe. After many hours, the fire was brought under control by flooding the core with water and turning off cooling fans to starve the fire of oxygen. Pile 2 was then closed down also. No-one was directly hurt by the accident, but many studies since 1957 have attempted to evaluate the impact of the radioactive plume on the environment, with a wide range of estimates of extra cancer cases and cancer deaths. However, all estimates are dogged by uncertainty because of the difficulty in determining precise effects. Indeed, a newly published study, based on meteorological data, suggests that the plume may have extended further eastwards than previously thought. ***************************************************************** 23 EW: Lithuania, Poland delay signing atomic plant accord until November Europe World Posted : Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:33:03 GMT Author : DPA Category : Europe (World) Vilnius - Lithuania and Poland have postponed signing an agreement on a new nuclear power plant at least until November, Lithuania's Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said on Wednesday. "Energy companies are currently negotiating the terms and the agreement between government leaders may be signed in November," he said. Last week, Kirkilas said he hoped the agreement would be signed this week during the international security forum held in the Lithuanian capital. However, last week after Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak threatened that his country might stall the bilateral energy projects if it had not received what it wanted. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are planning to build a 3,200 to 3,400-megawatt-capacity nuclear power plant near Ignalina in Lithuania to offset their dependence on Russian energy sources. It is the second time the final step in the agreement on the construction of the new nuclear power plant has been delayed because of Poland's problems. In July, a government crisis in Poland prevented Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynskifrom travelling to Vilnius to sign an accord. This time, Kaczynski is battling for power against the opposition before October 21 parliamentary elections. Lithuanian media reported that Ukraine and possibly Belarus may be interested in participating in this project. Poland is unhappy with Lithuania's controversial bid to control a larger 34-per-cent stake in the future Ignalina nuclear power station. The remaining Baltic region partners in the venture, Estonia, Latvia and Poland, would each hold a 22-per-cent stake. Poland has not yet made a final choice on whether to participate in the project. The new power plant is also to replace the existing nuclear power facility that is due for a shutdown in 2009 as part of Lithuania's 2004 EU entry agreement. Copyright, respective author or news agency (c) 2007 Earthtimes.org, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Nuclear boomerang? - Wednesday, October 10, 2007 A worldwide renaissance in nuclear power might cut fossil fuel emissions and help avert catastrophic climate change. But as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's ill-fated "Atoms for Peace" program illustrated, headlong pursuit of atomic energy can also spread dangerous technology and sow seeds of nuclear proliferation worldwide. The security risks posed by scattered radiological weapons components are well known. Less appreciated are the possible boomerang effects of a crash course to address global warming through nuclear power. According to former CIA Director John Deutch and colleagues, "The prospects for nuclear energy to play a larger role in our energy future would be devastated by any nuclear-weapons incident associated with the nuclear power fuel cycle anywhere in the world." Deutch's insights punctuate the need to consider nuclear proliferation and global warming as tandem issues that interlock in ways that are just now coming into view. Through a conference on "Securing Our Survival: Meeting the Threats of Nuclear Weapons and Global Warming" on Friday and Saturday, the University of Pittsburgh's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies will explore how the policy challenges of atomic weaponry and climate change interact. The conference is free and open to the public but advance registration is necessary (call 412-624-7396). Gordon R. Mitchell Oakland The writer is an associate professor of communication at Pitt. Tribune-Review Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 25 [DU-WATCH] Breaking news on US and radiological weapons Resent-Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:21:28 -0500 (CDT) Doug Rokke, Ph.D., Major (ret.) USAR, was the inside whistle blower on the US use of radiological weapons against the people of Iraq and - by their being exposed to these weapons - US soldiers and their families. Now, the AP reports on US plans to develop and use radioactive weapons for assassination and contamination of "populated or otherwise critical areas for long periods of time." Following the report, Rokke comments on continued use of radioactive weapons by the US and notably by Israel against Palestinians and the people of Lebanon. (See the link below to the photo of an Israeli army soldier loading his tank with a US-supplied uranium weapon during Israel's war against Hezbollah in July, 2006.) - Charles Jenks, traprockpeace.org U.S. Considered Radiological Weapon By ROBERT BURNS [October 9, 2007] WASHINGTON (AP) In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the U.S. Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate "important individuals" such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by The Associated Press. Approved at the highest levels of the Army in 1948, the effort was a well-hidden part of the military's pursuit of a "new concept of warfare" using radioactive materials from atomic bombmaking to contaminate swaths of enemy land or to target military bases, factories or troop formations. Military historians who have researched the broader radiological warfare program said in interviews that they had never before seen evidence that it included pursuit of an assassination weapon. Targeting public figures in such attacks is not unheard of; just last year an unknown assailant used a tiny amount of radioactive polonium-210 to kill Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London. No targeted individuals are mentioned in references to the assassination weapon in the government documents declassified in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP in 1995. The decades-old records were released recently to the AP, heavily censored by the government to remove specifics about radiological warfare agents and other details. The censorship reflects concern that the potential for using radioactive poisons as a weapon is more than a historic footnote; it is believed to be sought by present-day terrorists bent on attacking U.S. targets. The documents give no indication whether a radiological weapon for targeting high-ranking individuals was ever used or even developed by the United States. They leave unclear how far the Army project went. One memo from December 1948 outlined the project and another memo that month indicated it was under way. The main sections of several subsequent progress reports in 1949 were removed by censors before release to the AP. The broader effort on offensive uses of radiological warfare apparently died by about 1954, at least in part because of the Defense Department's conviction that nuclear weapons were a better bet. Whether the work migrated to another agency such as the CIA is unclear. The project was given final approval in November 1948 and began the following month, just one year after the CIA's creation in 1947. It was a turbulent time on the international scene. In August 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb, and two months later Mao Zedong's communists triumphed in China's civil war. As U.S. scientists developed the atomic bomb during World War II, it was recognized that radioactive agents used or created in the manufacturing process had lethal potential. The government's first public report on the bomb project, published in 1945, noted that radioactive fission products from a uranium-fueled reactor could be extracted and used "like a particularly vicious form of poison gas." Among the documents released to the AP an Army memo dated Dec. 16, 1948, and labeled secret described a crash program to develop a variety of military uses for radioactive materials. Work on a "subversive weapon for attack of individuals or small groups" was listed as a secondary priority, to be confined to feasibility studies and experiments. The top priorities listed were: _ 1 Weapons to contaminate "populated or otherwise critical areas for long periods of time." _ 2 Munitions combining high explosives with radioactive material "to accomplish physical damage and radioactive contamination simultaneously." _ 3 Air and-or surface weapons that would spread contamination across an area to be evacuated, thereby rendering it unusable by enemy forces. The stated goal was to produce a prototype for the No. 1 and No. 2 priority weapons by Dec. 31, 1950. The 4th ranked priority was "munitions for attack on individuals" using radioactive agents for which there is "no means of therapy." "This class of munitions is proposed for use by secret agents or subversive units for lethal attacks against small groups of important individuals, e.g., during meetings of civilian or military leaders," it said. Assassination of foreign figures by agents of the U.S. government was not explicitly outlawed until President Gerald R. Ford signed an executive order in 1976 in response to revelations that the CIA had plotted in the 1960s to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro, including by poisoning. The Dec. 16, 1948, memo said a lethal attack against individuals using radiological material should be done in a way that makes it impossible to trace the U.S. government's involvement, a concept known as "plausible deniability" that is central to U.S. covert actions. "The source of the munition, the fact that an attack has been made, and the kind of attack should not be determinable, if possible," it said. "The munition should be inconspicuous and readily transportable." Radioactive agents were thought to be ideal for this use, the document said, because of their high toxicity and the fact that the targeted individuals could not smell, taste or otherwise sense the attack. "It should be possible, for example, to develop a very small munition which could function unnoticeably and which would set up an invisible, yet highly lethal concentration in a room, with the effects noticeable only well after the time of attack," it said. "The time for lethal effects could, it is believed, be controlled within limits by the amount of radioactive agent dispersed. The toxicities are such that should relatively high concentrations be required for early lethal effects, on a weight basis, even such concentrations may be found practicable." Tom Bielefeld, a Harvard physicist who has studied radiological weapons issues, said that while he had never heard of this project, its technical aims sounded feasible. Bielefeld noted that polonium, the radioactive agent used to kill Litvinenko in November 2006, has just the kind of features that would be suitable for the lethal mission described in the Dec. 16 memo. Barton Bernstein, a Stanford history professor who has done extensive research on the U.S. military's radiological warfare efforts, said he did not believe this aspect had previously come to light. "This is one of those items that surprises us but should not shock us, because in the Cold War all kinds of ways of killing people, in all kinds of manners inhumane, barbaric and even worse were periodically contemplated at high levels in the American government in what was seen as a just war against a hated and hateful enemy," Bernstein said. The project was run by the Army Chemical Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Alden H. Waitt, and supervised by a now-defunct agency called the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. The project's first chief was Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, the Army's head of the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bombs. The radiological project was approved by Groves' successor, Maj. Gen. Kenneth D. Nichols. The released documents were in files of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project held by the National Archives. Among the officials copied in on the Dec. 16 memo were Herbert Scoville, Jr., then the technical director of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project and later the CIA's deputy director for research, and Samuel T. Cohen, a physicist with RAND Corp. who had worked on the Manhattan Project. The initial go-ahead for the Army to pursue its radiological weapons project was given in May 1948, a point in U.S. history, following the successful use of two atomic bombs against Japan to end World War II, when the military was eager to explore the implications of atomic science for the future of warfare. In a July 1948 memo outlining the program's intent, before specifics had received final approval, a key focus was on long-lasting contamination of large land areas where residents would be told that unless the areas were abandoned they probably would die from radiation within one to 10 years. "It is thought that this is a new concept of warfare, with results that cannot be predicted," it said. Hosted by Copyright ) 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens Requiring Immediate Action By President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD. Major, retired, U.S. Army former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project July 23, 2007 I have served our nation in the military since 1967 during Vietnam, during Desert Storm, during planning for OEF / OIF, and during many other operations. As an Army officer I was tasked by name by General Schwartzkopf to clean up the friendly fire mess caused by uranium munitions during Desert Storm. Consequently, based on my-our team reports I was recalled to active duty as the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project director to develop congressionally and Pentagon mandated but currently ignored Depleted uranium munitions operations training, currently ignored U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 specifying environmental remediation procedures, and currently ignored soldier common task training - Task number: 031-503-1017 RESPOND TO DEPLETED URANIUM/LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS (DULLRAM) HAZARDS, STP 21-1- SMCT: Soldiers Manual of Common Tasks, Headquarters Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.. Consequently I became exposed, ill, and now fight along with over 400,000 other ill, wounded, and injured veterans - http://www1.va.gov/rac-gwvi/docs/GWVIS_May2007.pdf - to obtain prompt and effective medical care from the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs. Therefore I must provide this call for action my story to ensure that all military personnel and their families know of the adverse health risks, environmental problems, and mandatory but ignored actions associated with the use of uranium weapons. What I have learned, observed, and recommend to be completed follows: The delivery of at least 100 GBU 28 bunker busters bombs containing depleted uranium warheads by the United States and their use by Israel against Lebanese targets has resulted in additional radioactive and chemical toxic contamination with consequent adverse health and environmental effects throughout the middle east. Israeli tank gunners are also using depleted uranium tank rounds as photographs verify. [see photo link below] Today, U.S., British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions- America's and England's own "dirty bombs" while U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and British Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse health and environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, and/or use of uranium munitions to avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material - depleted uranium. The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity. Consequently the citizens of the world and all governments must force cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination. U.S. and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their own regulations, orders, and directives that require United States Department of Defense officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to "all" exposed individuals. Reference: Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties, DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93, Medical Management of Army personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command 29 April 2004, and section 2-5 of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48. Israeli officials must not do so now. They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive Contamination as required by Army Regulation- AR 700-48: "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002) and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin- TB 9-1300-278: "Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, And Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions Or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., JULY 1996). Specifically section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation-AR 700-48 dated September 16, 2002 requires that: (1) "Military personnel "identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE" (radiologically contaminated equipment). (2) "Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible." (3) "Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment" and (4) "All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed, packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48" (Note: Maximum exposure limits are specified in Appendix F). DOD leaders are not showing the DU training tapes to military personnel. These three video tapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged Equipment Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR 77 Radiac Set" are essential to understanding the hazards from the use of uranium weapons and management of uranium weapons contamination. DOD leaders must show these tapes to all military personnel involved in the use of uranium weapons and the consequent management of uranium contamination. The previous and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of industrial, medical, research facility radioactive materials have resulted in unacceptable exposures. Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 and should include releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations. The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan but includes facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested including Vieques; Puerto Rico; Colonie, New York; Concord, MA; Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Therefore medical care must be provided by the United States Department of Defense officials to all individuals affected by the manufacturing, testing, and/or use of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also must be completed without further delay. I am amazed that fifteen years after was I asked to clean up the initial DU mess from Gulf War 1 and over ten years since I finished the depleted uranium project that United States Department of Defense officials and others still attempt to justify uranium munitions use while ignoring mandatory requirements. I am dismayed that Department of Defense and Department of Energy officials and representatives continue personal attacks aimed to silence or discredit those of us who are demanding that medical care be provided to all DU casualties and that environmental remediation is completed in compliance with U.S. Army Regulation 700-48. But beyond the ignored mandatory actions the willful dispersal of tons of solid radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium munitions is illegal - http:// www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf - and just does not even pass the common sense test and according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS, is a dirty bomb. DHS issued "dirty bomb" response guidelines, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ aces/fr-cont.html , on January 3, 2006 for incidents within the United States but ignore DOD use of uranium weapons and existing DOD regulations. These guidelines specifically state that: "Characteristics of RDD and IND Incidents: A radiological incident is defined as an event or series of events, deliberate or accidental, leading to the release, or potential release, into the environment of radioactive material in sufficient quantity to warrant consideration of protective actions. Use of an RDD or IND is an act of terror that produces a radiological incident." Thus the use of uranium munitions is "an act or terror" as defined by DHS. Finally continued compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos Memorandum that was issued to ensure continued use of uranium munitions can not be justified. In conclusion: the President of the United States- George W. Bush, the Prime Minister of Great Britain-Tony Blair, and the Prime Minister of Israel Olmert must acknowledge and accept responsibility for willful use of illegal uranium munitions- their own "dirty bombs"- resulting in adverse health and environmental effects. President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert should order: 1. medical care for all casualties, 2. thorough environmental remediation, 3. immediate cessation of retaliation against all of us who demand compliance with medical care and environmental remediation requirements, 4. and stop the already illegal the use (UN finding) of depleted uranium munitions. References- these references are copies the actual regulations and orders and other pertinent official documents: http://www.traprockpeace.org/twomemos.html http://www.traprockpeace.org/depleted_uranium_regs.html http://www.traprockpeace.org/rokke_du_3_ques.html http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html http://www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html http://cryptome.org/dhs010306.txt Photo by David Silverman (Getty Images ) Image 71440735 http:// editorial.gettyimages.com See also http://www.traprockpeace.org/keith_baverstock_23june05.htm and generally for resources on DU: http://www.traprockpeace.org/depleted_uranium.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! 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Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 26 NRC: Notice of Intent To Establish Independent External Review Panel To Identify Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Material Licensing Program FR Doc E7-19943 [Federal Register: October 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 195)] [Notices] [Page 57600] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10oc07-111] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: This notice is to announce the NRC intends to establish a new advisory committee. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is chartering a new advisory committee. This action is being taken in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, after consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration. The committee, designated as the Independent External Review Panel to Identify Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Material Licensing Program is being tasked to respond to the NRC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommendation (OIG-07-A- 12), ``* * * that the Executive Director for Operations convene an independent panel of experts external to the agency to identify agency vulnerabilities concerning NRC's material licensing and tracking programs and validate the agency's ongoing byproduct material security efforts.'' The OIG report also stated, ``Such an assessment should necessarily include examination of the management, operational, and technical security controls and the extent to which these controls are: (1) Implemented correctly, (2) operating as intended, and (3) producing the desired outcome with respect to mitigating security vulnerabilities.'' In responding to this recommendation, the panel will include in its review an assessment of the existing and potential security vulnerabilities related to NRC's specific, import, export and general license programs. The panel is to also evaluate the apparent good-faith presumption that pervades the NRC licensing process (See Recommendation S-1 in the Action Plan). The panel is expected to develop an agenda and plan for the review; this plan will include, as a minimum, assessment of pre-licensing guidance, licensing procedures, the licensing process, possession limits on licenses, and license reviewer training and oversight. The panel will document each significant issue identified and make appropriate recommendations and propose corrective actions. The panel is being asked to complete and submit a report with recommendations to the Director of the Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs by January 31, 2008. In addition to documenting its recommendations and the bases for those recommendations, the panel will be asked to document other options that were considered and the reasons for not adopting them. For Further Information Please Contact: Aaron McCraw (301-415-1277) ATM@NRC.GOV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Dated: October 3, 2007. Andrew L. Bates, Federal Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E7-19943 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 27 UPI: Italian soldiers' cancer cause unclear - UPI.com Published: 10, 2007 at 1:36 AM ROME, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Whether Italian soldiers are being felled by cancer from depleted uranium remains a matter of debate, a top government official said Tuesday. Defense Minister Arturo Parisi told a legislative investigative panel that despite studies, the question of whether the radioactive material, used to coat shells and bullets to make them more effective, is poisoning Italy's military personnel remains an "area of complete uncertainty," ANSA reported. When rounds with depleted uranium are fired, they release radioactive dust, which some say is to blame for cancer among soldiers. Parisi said 255 soldiers serving in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq or Lebanon between 1996 and 2006 later developed cancer, while there were 1,427 cases among soldiers serving in Italy during that period, the Italian news agency said. "We are moving in an extremely limited sector of human understanding, where the precise link between cause and effect has yet to be ascertained," Parisi said. But Parliament Member Tana de Zuleta questioned the ministry's methodology. "I fear the minister's figures refer only to the number of soldiers who fell ill while in active service, and failed to take account of those who had left the military," said de Zuleta said. © Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form. ***************************************************************** 28 Las Vegas SUN: Craig Walton: 1934 - 2007 Today: October 10, 2007 at 8:13:16 PDT UNLV professor was 'voice of ethics' By Mary Manning Las Vegas Sun Craig Walton, UNLV's emeritus ethics professor and president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, praised Secretary of State Ross Miller's decision in March to learn more about a legal defense fund set up for Gov. Jim Gibbons. The governor had failed to report $169,000 the fund collected last year on his Jan. 16 financial disclosure, and Miller wanted to know why. "It ought to be wide open and out in the public view," Walton said. "Everybody is well served by an open process, including the governor." Walton thought ethics courses at all levels of education could help people end corruption among public officials, whether it was county commissioners trading votes for money or judges seeming to play favorites in the courtroom. Walton, 72, died Monday from complications of surgery at a local hospital, his family said. Jim Rogers, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education and Walton's longtime friend, said Walton was the voice of ethics in Nevada. "He was a stickler for what was right and wrong. He was concerned about his community," Rogers said. In October 1984 Walton began planning the Institute for Ethics and Policy Studies at UNLV, which opened two years later. Before his retirement in 2004, he pushed to incorporate ethics throughout UNLV's curriculum and continued to work on developing a training program for K-12 teachers to help them address ethics in the classroom. An international scholar on the philosophy of David Hume and Thomas Hobbes, Walton taught at UNLV for 33 years. He stridently opposed the use of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump and championed public lands for public use. Walton, who was born on Dec. 6, 1934, in Los Angeles and was an Air Force navigator, earned his doctorate in philosophy at Claremont (Calif.) Graduate University in 1965. He taught philosophy at the University of Southern California and Northern Illinois University before arriving at UNLV in 1976. In 1988 UNLV awarded him the Barrick Distinguished Scholar Award. Walton used his own hands to build a home in Las Vegas and a cabin in southwestern Utah. A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 27 at Lamb of God Lutheran Church, 6220 N. Jones Blvd. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Davis Funeral Home and Memorial Park on Eastern Avenue. Walton is survived by his wife, Vera; children Matthew Andersen of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Ruth Devlin, Peter Andersen, Richard Walton, Ben Andersen and Kerry Livengood, all of Las Vegas; and nine grandchildren. Mary Manning can be reached at 259-4065 or at manning@lasvegassun.com . All contents © 1996 - 2007 Las Vegas Sun, Inc. ***************************************************************** 29 StatesmanJournal.com: Former interior secretary on mission to preserve public lands (pronuclear and pro yucca) Opinion - Wednesday, October 10, 2007 By DIANA MARRERO Gannett News Service WASHINGTON — Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has joined actor Edward Norton and other land conservationists on a campaign to protect wild and scenic lands out West. The two recently announced creation of the National Conservation System Foundation to raise awareness of the threats facing these lands and ways people can help shield them from destruction. Babbitt, who worked to get these lands designated as conservation areas under former President Clinton, recently spoke with Gannett News Service about protecting 26 million acres of national monuments, historic trails and wilderness areas that dot the West. He also answers questions about global warming and the environment. Question: What are some of the biggest threats to public lands today? Answer: The reckless process by which lands are being opened up to marginal oil and gas development. The oil and gas prospecting is taking place in a lot of very inappropriate places. Q: What about threats to lands within the National Landscape Conservation System? A: The leasing of lands in some of the archaeologically sensitive areas. It’s just tragic to see the threats and the destruction of really fabulous cliff dwellings, Anasazi ruins. The lands in the system generally call for management plans in which these decisions are made and evaluated. Many of the plans are very inadequate. The control of off-road vehicles is a major issue in all of these plans. They can be terribly destructive of archaeological resources, of biological resources. Q: Why should Americans care about protecting these lands? A: That’s like asking a Frenchman why should we protect Notre Dame Cathedral. America’s cathedrals and America’s heritage are our national landscape. That’s our heritage. Q: What do you hope to accomplish through the foundation. A: The really important piece now ... is getting public support to work with local communities. The West is urbanizing so fast. People see the changes, the demands on the land. They’re really now starting to think we could wind up destroying the very values that brought us here in the first place, that make this such a distinctive area. How we move to protect these landscapes is complex. Therefore, we really need a strong, vigorous dialogue at the local and state level. Q: What are your favorite national monuments or wilderness areas? A: I would say that my two favorites are the Missouri River Breaks and the Vermillion Cliffs. The Missouri Breaks is where I made friends with Steve Ambrose. He wrote a fabulous book about Lewis and Clark, “Undaunted Courage.” We spent time together on the river. It was so awesome to be drifting through the White cliffs in a canoe with Steve Ambrose reading aloud the journals of Lewis and Clark as they floated through the breaks. The Vermillion Cliffs are right in my own back yard. It is a true desert landscape. You can stand up there and can look for 100 miles in every direction. There’s a sense of openness and space. Q: How would you characterize the state of the nation’s environmental protections? A: This administration has been reckless in the way it’s gone about reducing protections for public lands, opening them up to road building, timber cutting and drilling for oil and gas. What is really interesting as this administration comes to an end ... there’s really a flowering at the grass roots in reaction to this policy in Washington. Q: What should be done about global warming? A: It is the most urgent problem of our time. We must have an international treaty to reduce emissions in carbon dioxide. Once we have the next presidential election, it will happen. Washington is not responding but out in the American land, people understand this. We must have a mandatory emission control. Q: Should the U.S. continue its effort to develop a nuclear repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev., given this renewed interest in developing nuclear energy? A: We need a repository system irrespective of what we do with nuclear energy. We have to gather it together and store it. I think Yucca Mountain is the most obvious choice. We’ve been at it for 20 years. Contact reporter Diana Marrero at dmarrero@gns.gannett.com. Copyright ©2007 StatesmanJournal.com All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 Deseret Morning News: Yucca Mountain is a loser Deseret Morning News editorial Published: October 10, 2007 Leave it to Washington bureaucrats to look at the momentum building toward the construction of more nuclear power plants and see only one solution ? doubling the size of the proposed repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. They might as well propose the construction of a perpetual-motion machine. In truth, the only thing in the world that seems to generate its own perpetual motion is the political debate over Yucca Mountain, which already is nearly a decade past its scheduled opening date. The projected price tag recently shot up to $77 billion. That's real money, even for the U.S. government, and especially during a time of war. Oh yes, and that fellow from Nevada, Harry Reid, remains the Senate majority leader, and he hates the idea. That makes final congressional approval of Yucca about as likely as seeing a unicorn leap through the halls on Capitol Hill. Even in this Halloween season, no one will be able to conjure up that kind of trick, regardless of the treat. The answer, of course, is for Congress to provide some sort of incentive toward the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods. Only then will nuclear power, already the safest and cleanest of all viable energy sources, be embraceable. The Yucca option has so many downsides, from the need to transport highly radioactive waste nationwide to prohibitive costs and a never-ending need for more space, that it isn't likely ever to open for business; nor should it. The momentum toward nuclear energy is unmistakable. At the moment, it is felt most in China, India and Russia, where new plants are being considered. Already, the price of uranium has soared to levels approaching those of the mid-1970s. Here in Utah, old claims are being reopened. Uranium mines once again hold the promise of making a few people quite rich. Despite the cries of environmentalists, a lot of people realize that nuclear power is a way to generate a great deal of affordable energy without contributing to global warming. Other clean alternatives, such as solar or wind-generated power, have not yet developed to the point where they are viable. But if the spent fuel rods generated by nuclear plants were reprocessed, the amount of waste requiring long-term storage would be greatly reduced. Likewise the amount of energy generated by endless debates in Washington over whether to spend billions on Yucca Mountain. © 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 31 GE: NRC reviewing application for new uranium recovery facility (10/10/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com By Katherine McIntire Peters kpeters@govexec.com October 10, 2007 The U.S. subsidiary of a Canadian mining company last week sought permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the first uranium production facility in the United States in nearly 20 years. The application by Oklahoma-based Energy Metals Corp. to construct and operate a uranium recovery facility at a ranch in Wyoming is just the first of more than a dozen expected over the next three years, including two more next month, said NRC spokesman David McIntyre. The application indicates "the nuclear renaissance is real," said NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein in a statement. The heavy metal is key to nuclear power because reactors split uranium atoms to produce heat that turns water into steam, which drives a generator to produce electricity. Because nuclear power does not produce greenhouse gases and other pollutants that contribute to global warming and acid rain, there has been a resurgence of interest in the industry. Power company executives, buoyed by tax incentives in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, have said they will seek licenses to build more than 30 new reactors in the coming years. But fueling those and other reactors expected to be built around the world will require more uranium. In addition to requests for new facilities, the NRC anticipates that previously licensed facilities will request permission to resume or expand operations. The increase in applications poses a serious management challenge for the NRC, said McIntyre. "We have told industry that if the applications all come in at once, it's going to be a real logjam. Also, we need quality applications, as complete and technically accurate as possible." The agency is now reviewing the Energy Metals application for environmental and safety factors, a process that will take about 90 days, McIntyre said. Uranium can be extracted through open pit or underground mining, or through a process called in situ recovery, which is what Energy Metals proposes to do. This process involves injecting a leaching agent through wells into underground ore deposits to dissolve the uranium. The leaching solution is then pumped to the surface and processed to separate the uranium. The in situ recovery process is much less disruptive to the surface, but precautions must be taken to ensure that underground drinking water supplies are not affected. Typically, water in the immediate vicinity of areas where there are high concentrations of uranium ore already is unsuitable for drinking. If the NRC accepts Energy Metals' application, the agency will publish a notice in the Federal Register and the public may petition the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board for a hearing. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Wyoming will have to approve the plan as well. The entire approval process could take a couple of years, McIntyre said. Neal Froneman, president and chief operating officer of Toronto-based Uranium One Inc., Energy Metals Inc.'s parent company, said the application "is a landmark event. We look forward to becoming a leading uranium producer in the world's largest nuclear power generating market." (C) 2007 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ***************************************************************** 32 ReviewJournal.com: LETTERS: DOE's ambitions could kill Yucca Opinion - Oct. 10, 2007 To the editor: So, the Energy Department wants to double the storage capacity at Yucca Mountain (Review-Journal, Friday). How can you double the capacity of something you haven't got? The DOE hasn't yet obtained approval to build a repository at Yucca Mountain and is already asking Congress to double the capacity. Doesn't that nullify the Environmental Impact Statement for the 70,000 metric-ton facility? Actually, the DOE might have just shot itself in the foot. Interest in the repository is waning on Capitol Hill anyway, and the thought of doubling the size and doubling the expense will drive the last nails in the facility's coffin. Ron Bourgoin ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. Golden goose Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media, LLC Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 33 BBC NEWS: Sarkozy hails talks with Putin Last Updated: Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 08:47 GMT 09:47 UK It is Mr Sarkozy's first bilateral summit with Mr Putin French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he bridged differences with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the Iranian nuclear stand-off. "Our positions moved much closer," he said after talks at Mr Putin's dacha near Moscow, but did not elaborate. Russian officials made no public mention of progress. The two leaders are to hold more talks shortly. Last week, Mr Sarkozy accused Moscow of "complicating" the world's problems. He said that Russia "should understand that big countries have not only rights, but also responsibilities". Kosovo status "I really felt a convergence (over Iran)," Mr Sarkozy told reporters after more than three hours of the informal talks at Mr Putin's dacha in Novo Ogaryovo on Tuesday evening. Tehran denies Western accusations that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon. Mr Sarkozy also said the two leaders had made progress in ironing out their differences over the issue of Kosovo's future status. Russia is fiercely opposed to independence for Serbia's breakaway province, while France - along with other Western nations - supports it. Mr Sarkozy said Mr Putin wanted to avoid closing "the door on a solution". "We saw a path which could eventually allow us to bring our views closer," he said. Mr Sarkozy and Mr Putin are meeting again on Wednesday. They are expected to discuss possible collaboration between the European aerospace firm, EADS, and its Russian counterpart, UAC, on the construction of a new passenger jet, as well as the partnership between the energy giants, France's Total and Russia's Gazprom. The two leaders will then hold a joint news conference. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 34 International Herald Tribune: Keep the nuclear option, Staying true in Holland - Published: October 10, 2007 Ivo Daalder and John Holum ("It's time to junk them," Views, Oct. 6) ignore several important roles that America's nuclear weapons continue to play in today's world. First, strategic weapons are needed to deter China's nuclear arsenal, which is growing in quantity and sophistication in its ability to strike the United States. Second, the remaining U.S. tactical nuclear weapons are needed to deter an adversary from using chemical or biological weapons in a conflict. Third, the U.S. nuclear umbrella continues to provide vital non-proliferation benefits by helping key allies like Japan and Germany remain non-nuclear powers. I agree that the United States could reduce its nuclear stockpile to 1,000 operationally deployed nuclear weapons, if Russia agreed to go down to the same level. But there is no way "to ease the road to their elimination." In addition to the points above, could we have confidence that Vladimir Putin's Russia would not keep some nuclear weapons hidden in its vast territory? David Shilling, Paris The United States does not yet live in a world in which it is possible or reasonable to foresee a timely abandonment of the nuclear option. We can no more rid ourselves of nuclear weapons than we can do away with guns. It is foolish to think that nations like Russia or China would abandon their nuclear weapons just because the United States chose to. So long as America's values and those of China and Russia are in conflict the most that can and should be done is ensure that in this world, where nuclear weapons must exist, the opportunities for their use are kept to a bare minimum. Let us be pragmatic, not wistful; rational, not emotional; realistic, not delusional. America's domestic and foreign security policies should not be held hostage to wishful thinking. Jeremy Slavin, Baltimore Staying true in Holland Regarding the news article "The pious heart of Dutch conservatism," (Sept. 30): I wish to commend the Dutch town of Urk for remaining "one of Europe's most God-fearing places" and for resisting modern secular trends. It can serve as a model for the rejuvenation of Europe. Western lawyers and politicians have for some time embraced the theory of moral relativism, which allows for tolerance to degenerate into indifference with no reference to permanent values. While the rationalistic philosophy embraced by the West is, to some extent, necessary and proper, it cannot address certain questions - like that regarding the origin of rationality itself. Hence, it is incomplete and can recover its health only through re-establishing contact with its roots. The salvation of Europe lies in its ability to put aside its Enlightenment mentality and to pursue more vigorously its Christian roots. Paul Kokoski Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 35 Reuters: U.S., Russia seem no closer on missile defense Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:57pm EDT By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia appear no closer to resolving their differences on contentious issues such as missile defense, Iran and Kosovo as two top U.S. officials head to Moscow this week for high-level talks. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates meet their Russian counterparts on Friday for talks expected to focus on how they might cooperate on a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will take part in the so-called "2+2" meeting. The discussions are also expected to cover how to persuade Iran to give up its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, Russia's threat to suspend its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and what might succeed the START nuclear arms reduction treaty, which expires in 2009. Sen. Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican and a highly influential voice on U.S. foreign policy, on Monday said the talks offer the Bush administration and the Kremlin "the last, best opportunity to lay the foundation for bold initiatives" before presidential elections in both countries next year. U.S.-Russian relations have deteriorated over the last six years amid disagreements about the Iraq war, independence for Kosovo, how harshly to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and U.S. concerns about the Kremlin's centralization of power and the erosion of democratic norms in Russia more generally. In comments over the last week, neither side has shown any signs of budging from their fundamental positions on missile defense, a cornerstone of the Bush administration's national security policy that Russia has strenuously resisted. Russia objects to U.S. plans to place 10 interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic to protect against missile attacks from countries such as Iran, arguing this could upset the strategic balance and threaten its security. Continued... ***************************************************************** 36 Guardian Unlimited: US Can't Quickly ID Nuclear Material Wednesday October 10, 2007 10:31 PM By EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - If terrorists use nuclear weapons to attack the U.S., Americans immediately would want to know who is responsible. But the nation is ill equipped now to quickly track down the make and origin of nuclear materials. It could take months to analyze and identify nuclear material, officials said Wednesday - too long in today's threat environment. Security officials say a nuclear attack by terrorists is the No. 1 threat facing the U.S., and one key to preventing such a strike is to define the nature and source of a nuclear device. ``I think the jury is out in terms of how fast we're ever going to be able to do this,'' said Vayl Oxford, the Homeland Security Department's top counterproliferation official. In the past year, the government has paid greater attention to the importance of nuclear forensics, a subject not previously given high priority, Oxford said. Oxford and other nuclear experts in the government testified before a House subcommittee about how the departments of Energy, Homeland Security, State and Justice, as well as national laboratories, are working on the issue. Reaching agreements with other countries to share sensitive information about their nuclear materials is a priority, said Steven Aoki, a counterterrorism official at the Energy Department. Congress is considering a bill that would ask the president for agreements with other countries to share information on the makings of their nuclear materials. Maintaining a database with this information would help identify nuclear material before or after an attack and serve as a deterrent to nations that continue to produce these weapons. ``Highly capable forensics and attribution would enable this nation to stop follow-on attacks and serve to deter states that may assist nuclear terrorists,'' said Michael K. Evenson, associate director for operations at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. While the Bush administration and lawmakers may recognize the importance of tracing nuclear materials back to their origins, fewer people are entering the field of nuclear forensics, said Carol Burns of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most of the experts are older than 50 and there are few radiological chemists left who have analyzed debris from a nuclear explosion, Burns said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 37 Guardian Unlimited: Fox calls for action to tackle nuclear proliferation Hélčne Mulholland Wednesday October 10, 2007 Liam Fox today gave a stark warning of the nuclear terrorist threat as he criticised the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) for fuelling the problem. The shadow defence secretary called for a "more proactive policy" to deal with the terrorist threat facing the 21st century as he outlined "the clear and present threat not only to our security but to our entire way of life". In a public lecture at Kings College, London, Mr Fox said he wanted to give "a little jolt to the system" to get things moving to stave off nuclear proliferation, which he said was "virtually inevitable" under current international policy. "The system as far as I can see is not working," he said. "We need a more proactive policy than we have now." He made the case for persuading all nuclear states to lock down all weapons and nuclear material "in a much higher secure state than has occurred up until now". Dr Fox said: "Here we face a major problem in that the provisions of the NPT allow the development of civil nuclear power whose technology can easily be used to develop weapons grade nuclear materials." He added: "The time is surely coming for us to revisit the NPT, especially article IV. Unless the international community develops new controls and ownership of both nuclear fuels and spent fuels and unless there are clear economic incentives for countries to accept this new authority, with the major powers willing to effectively police it, then we are asking for trouble." This must include keeping under greater security nuclear materials which could be used to make "weapons of mass disruption", namely dirty bombs made up of the dispersal of nuclear materials by traditional explosives. Dr Fox criticised Russia for being unwilling to move the issue "up the agenda", despite the fact that re-usable materials lay in former Soviet states . Russia and the US would have to lead the move, both in terms of leadership and funding to put dangerous materials out of harm's way, Dr Fox told the audience. Dr Fox, who recently visited Tehran, said the international community must ensure that no new nuclear weapon states emerge. "The diminishing cost of nuclear technology means that poorer and often less stable and dangerous states can achieve a disproportionate destructive power for their investment. "The possibility opens up not only of nuclear terror unleashed by nation state but of nuclear terror by proxy with terrorist groups funded and supplied by nation state in the knowledge that the attackers have no return address and thus, traditional deterrence will not apply." Dr Fox also used a question-and-answer session to criticise the wholesale effort to impose democracy on "broken states" such as Iraq and Afghanistan, which had seen global insecurity increase. Pointing to the incremental democracy that emerged in Britain over centuries, Dr Fox said the best way to help change in undemocratic Arab states was to introduce institutional changes first, and let democracy bed down over time. He said: "We would do very well to look at our own history before trying to change other societies." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 38 The State: Groups petition to halt plutonium-to-S.C. plan 10/10/2007 C. Grant Jackson Two groups that oppose an Energy Department plan to send more plutonium to South Carolina for processing have filed a petition with a federal licensing board, hoping to halt construction of a plant at the Savannah River nuclear complex. The Energy Department said last month it plans to send plutonium in Washington state and at research laboratories in New Mexico and California to the Savannah River complex near Aiken to improve security and reduce storage costs. The groups against the proposal, Nuclear Watch South and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said the new plans should require the plant to be redesigned. About 400 people are building the facility, which is expected to employ about 800 when it opens in 2016. ? Program launched to find skilled workers The state Department of Commerce and Gov. Mark Sanford have announced a new skills certification program that officials say will help match up South Carolina workers and employers. Deputy Commerce Secretary Peggy Torrey says that the Career Readiness Certificate is based on WorkKeys, a program that helps assess workers’ practical skill levels in a variety of areas. Torrey says 40 other states use the WorkKeys program. Commerce spokeswoman Kara Borie also says that the certificate helps prospective businesses thinking about relocating to South Carolina learn about the available employee base. ? 3 percent sales and use tax to end Nov. 1 Beginning Nov. 1, the tax for most unprepared foods and groceries will be eliminated for South Carolina’s shoppers. Recent legislation signed by Gov. Mark Sanford does away with the 3 percent state sales and use tax, making the tax exemption that was once available only to food stamp recipients available to all. For a listing of foods that qualify for the state and use-tax exemption, check the S.C. Department of Revenue’s Web site at www.sctax.org. ***************************************************************** 39 Charlotte Observer: 2 groups oppose plan to send more plutonium to S.C. 10/09/2007 | The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Two groups that oppose an Energy Department plan to send more plutonium to South Carolina for processing have filed a petition with a federal licensing board, hoping to halt construction of a plant at the Savannah River nuclear complex. The Energy Department said last month it plans to send plutonium in Washington state and at research laboratories in New Mexico and California to the Savannah River complex near Aiken to improve security and reduce storage costs. The plan calls for the plutonium to be either converted into a mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX, for use at commercial nuclear power plants or be encased in glass logs for eventual transfer to the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository being planned in Nevada. MOX plant construction began Aug. 1. The groups against the proposal, Nuclear Watch South and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said the new plans should require the MOX plant to be redesigned. That would in turn require more environmental studies, the groups said. Federal officials disagreed. "We are disappointed that this group continues to make frivolous and unsupported claims about this important nonproliferation project that will not only get rid of nuclear waste material but also bring local jobs to the community," said Julianne Smith, a spokeswoman for National Nuclear Security Administration, which is overseeing the MOX facility construction. About 400 people are building the facility, which is expected to employ about 800 when it opens in 2016. The plant still needs an operating license, which is under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Nuclear Watch South and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League filed the petition with the licensing board Friday hoping to stop construction, said Nuclear Watch coordinator Glenn Carroll. ***************************************************************** 40 DOE: U.S. Secretaries Bodman and Spellings Visit T.C. Williams High School October 10, 2007 U.S. Secretaries Bodman and Spellings Visit T.C. Williams High School Underscore need for more energy efficiency in our nation’s schools and increased rigor to prepare students for college and the competitive workforce WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today visited T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., to tour the school’s new energy efficient campus and classrooms, highlighting the importance of wise energy use and echoing President Bush’s call for increased rigor in our nation’s schools under No Child Left Behind. Speaking with faculty and students, the Secretaries underscored the need to prepare America’s next generation of leaders with a strong math and science foundation to ensure America remains at the forefront of innovation for years to come. Following a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities, Secretaries Bodman and Spellings engaged with students conducting experiments in a school chemistry laboratory. They emphasized the need to increase investment in research and development of energy technologies, strengthen science and math education, and encourage entrepreneurship and technology discovery -- the goals of President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative launched in 2006. Investing in our next generation of scientists, engineers and educators will help secure America’s ability to compete in the 21st century global marketplace. During today’s visit, Secretary Bodman highlighted the launch of the new Get Smart about Energy! K-12 Energy Lessons and Activities software, a curriculum enhancement tool for K-12 students containing 300 hands-on classroom activities. All lessons are aligned with the National Science Education Standards and focus on Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy. Secretary Bodman discussed with the students, noting the importance of equipping today’s students with the knowledge and resources to become our future workforce of scientists, engineers and researchers who develop cutting-edge energy technologies. “By using energy efficiently, students can help us access the cheapest, most abundant, cleanest source of “new” energy: the energy that we waste everyday,” Secretary Bodman said. “And equipping them with the scientific and mathematical knowledge necessary to compete in the global marketplace is vital to our Nation's economic growth and competitive edge.” Speaking with T.C. Williams faculty and students, Secretary Spellings underscored the importance of reauthorizing No Child Left Behind this year and strengthening the law on behalf of students. Secretary Spellings pointed to progress made under the law, particularly in the early grades, as evidenced by promising math and reading results released by The Nation’s Report Card last week. She also noted that work must be done to improve accountability and performance, advocating the need for increased rigor in high schools to prepare students to succeed. In urging Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind this year, President Bush proposed ways to challenge high school students through such as expanding availability of Advanced Placement courses, linking high school classes to college and workforce demands to prepare them for college and the 21st century competitive global marketplace. “At a time when less than half of high school graduates are prepared for college-level math and science, it’s time to increase expectations and improve the way these subjects are taught our nation’s classrooms. Solid math and science skills are becoming increasingly essential in the new knowledge economy – so it’s time to ramp up the rigor and challenge our students to succeed,” Secretary Spellings said. Learn more about President Bush’s proposals for No Child Left Behind. Read more information on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Get Smart about Energy! K-12 Energy Lessons and Activities software. Media contact(s): Energy: Andrew Beck, (202) 586-4940 Education: Rebecca Neale, (202) 401-1576 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 41 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12: uranium warhead parts should be good for decades : By Frank Munger (Contact) Wednesday, October 10, 2007 The National Nuclear Security Administration last week announced that the first W88 warhead with a replacement plutonium pit had been certified for use in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The W88 warheads are deployed on the Navy's Trident II missiles. The announcement was a big deal in the weapons complex because it showed the United States had reestablished the capability for producing plutonium parts for the primary stage of nuclear warheads. Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico took over the job that once belonged to the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado, which stopped production in 1989 and has since been closed and cleaned up. The bottom line is the government wants to make sure the weapons will work as originally designed if indeed they should ever be used. There have been a bunch of reports about plutonium parts during the past year, including a study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that indicated the nuclear components may age better and last longer than previously thought. Plutonium is an extraordinarily complex metallic element - the most complex of them all, according to some accounts - and it remains something of a mystery even at this stage in the nuclear age. Anyway, these reports prompted me to gather more info regarding the enriched uranium that's a focal point of weapons-making in Oak Ridge. The Y-12 National Security Complex is the nation's repository for highly enriched uranium, and Y-12 workers build and take apart secondaries - the second stage of nuclear warheads - containing HEU. Following the announcement on the rebuilt W88 primary, I asked if Y-12 was rebuilding secondaries for the same warhead family. The short answer was no. According to an e-mail response from Steven Wyatt, a federal spokesman in Oak Ridge, "Y-12 built the secondaries that are still in service as part of this weapon system in the late 1980s and early 1990s." In other words, they don't need to be replaced - at least not yet. That begs the question, of course, about how long each warhead part lasts before it has to be replaced and the relative aging characteristics of the uranium and plutonium and other warhead materials. The government isn't keen, as you might expect, on detailed briefings, but over a couple of months Y-12 did provide some responses regarding the aging of uranium parts. The aging process varies according to the type of weapon and every weapon is different, but "most uranium components can be expected to last for many decades," the NNSA staff at Y-12 said in response to questions. "Unlike plutonium components that age primarily due to internal radioactive decay that causes changes throughout the material, uranium aging is principally due to various types of corrosion," the response via e-mail said. Although systems were designed to minimize the corrosion, the longer lifetime of weapons - no longer replaced with new weapons as they were during the Cold War - has increased the concerns about aging and prompted additional studies at the Oak Ridge plant. "The Y-12 effort on uranium aging has contributed to the development of several new tools and methods which are used to understand and predict the corrosion process and can be applied to each weapon type," the NNSA response said. "A suite of advanced diagnostic tests have been deployed at Y-12 to evaluate the condition of uranium components returned from nuclear weapons for early identification of any changes that could lead to future problems." The NNSA said more collaborations between the Oak Ridge plant and the weapons design laboratories are needed to reduce uncertainties about aging and to maintain confidence in the U.S. deterrent. Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 42 Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12 plant prepares for layoffs Restructuring plan being developed because of budget uncertainties By Frank Munger (Contact) Wednesday, October 10, 2007 OAK RIDGE — A work force-restructuring plan is being developed at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, federal officials announced Tuesday. The announcement apparently is a legal step to prepare for layoffs at the Oak Ridge plant. BWXT Y-12, the government’s main contractor, last month warned its employees that job reductions — and possibly layoffs — might be necessary because of budget uncertainties for fiscal 2008. BWXT employs about 4,500 workers. The fiscal year began Oct. 1, and federal facilities currently are spending at levels mandated by a “continuing resolution” because Congress has not yet passed a budget for 2008. The plan announced Tuesday is required under Section 3161 of the National Defense Authorization Act whenever there’s a likely shakeup of the work force at one of the government’s nuclear defense facilities. The plan will “mitigate the impact of any potential work force reductions among contractor employees” at Y-12, its satellite facilities and the surrounding communities, the National Nuclear Security Administration said in statement released to the news media. The NNSA is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy that oversees the nuclear weapons complex. Federal and contractor officials would not address how many Y-12 jobs might be at stake. Steve Jones, an official with the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, said union officials hadn’t been notified of any layoffs. “All they’ve told us is the budget is short this year, and of course we have to draw our own conclusions,” Jones said. Y-12 is planning for operations at the lower end of the proposed budgets in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, according to a statement attributed to George Dials, the president and chief executive officer of BWXT Y-12. Dials said the management team has taken steps to assess the potential impacts, but he did not say what those impacts were. He also said BWXT has taken aggressive actions to control spending at Y-12, including reduced overtime, travel and procurements. “This budget situation will not affect Y-12’s ability to remain compliant and able to safely and securely complete its missions,” Dials’ statement said. The draft work force-restructuring plan is available online for review and public comment. One of the objectives is to give 120 days notice prior to “involuntary separation” of employees, the draft plan said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 43 lamonitor.com: Plutonium Facility paused for safety The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor During the third week in September, officials at the Plutonium Facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory put a hold on all movements of fissile material, except for a few routine processes, a laboratory official said. Two weeks earlier, according to a report by a site representative of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), LANL first began restricting activities based on uncertainties about criticality safety, the possibility that an unlikely set of circumstances might converge and cause a chain reaction. The Plutonium facility is in a highly restricted area of the laboratory, known as Technical Area 55. A lab official said Tuesday that there was never any danger to employees, the public or the environment. "Some questions that came out of a routine criticality safety review led the laboratory to temporarily suspend some but not all of the plutonium operations, to do a comprehensive review and confirm the adequacy of safety controls centered around storage of nuclear material at TA-55," said laboratory spokesperson Kevin Roark. "This is preventive and precautionary only, and did not constitute a shutdown of TA-55." The issue was raised by Jim Williams, a reporter at KUNM radio in Albuquerque. The Los Alamos Study Group, a disarmament group, quickly compiled a history of information about criticality events, with a focus on LANL and ongoing DNFSB documentation over the last 14 months (www.lasg.org/criticality .htm). The DNFSB site report of Aug. 31 that preceded the partial suspension at TA-55 said, "The roughly 20 existing critical safety evaluations (CSEs) for the TA-55 vault are convoluted, occasionally contradictory and heavily reliant on judgment; these are among 300 CSEs that LANL has identified as missing, technically deficient or having some other problem that LANL has committed to address during the next few years." The weekly site reports by the DNFSB are the only independent window on safety issues related to nuclear processes within the laboratory. The reports are reviewed for classification issues and then normally posted by the board about three weeks after the date submitted. The Sept. 21 report, describing the circumstances of the partial hold, has yet to be posted. A call to E.J. Eggenberger, chairman of the safety board on Tuesday was not returned. In its report to Congress in February this year, the board included nuclear criticality safety among its priorities for the previous year at LANL, "the DOE weapons laboratory with the largest number of defense nuclear facilities and weapons related activities." A letter by Eggenberger to Linton Brooks, former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), on Sept. 22, 2006, cited improvements since Oct. 2005, when a criticality review team found LANL's Nuclear Criticality Safety program was "noncompliant with several requirements of the American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society Series 8 standards on nuclear criticality safety." The letter called, among other things for quick and effective resolution of criticality deficiencies. On July 2, 2007, the laboratory celebrated delivery of its first replacement pit, or plutonium trigger, the main project at the Plutonium Facility. On Sept. 27, the NNSA announced that the pit had been successfully incorporated in a W88 nuclear warhead and certified for use in the nuclear weapons stockpile. Roark said the laboratory and Technical Area 55 had completed its goal for this year, to manufacture 10 "diamond-stamped" pits, ready to be used as replacements. In fact, he said, eleven were produced and are in the pipeline to replace pits from additional W88 warheads at Pantex. The partial suspension occurred at the close of business on Friday, Sept. 21, Roark said, in conjunction with other routine maintenance activities. "We began resuming some operations on the following Thursday, Sept. 27, and additional operations almost daily," Roark said. "We do not expect this to be long or to impact the pit manufacturing schedule." © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 44 lamonitor.com: Woman withdraws appeal to lab settlement The Online News Source for Los Alamos MONITOR STAFF REPORT A Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who objected to a class action lawsuit against the lab's former manager has withdrawn her appeal. The move clears one legal matter that has delayed payouts to thousands of lab employees from a $16.4 million settlement, according to attorneys in the case. The payouts are now projected to begin as soon as the end of the year. The employees alleged that the University of California, which ran the laboratory from 1943 until last year, discriminated against women and Hispanics in pay, promotions and educational opportunities. The settlement was finalized by a federal judge this summer. Lab employee Laurie Quon appealed the settlement last month, threatening to postpone the payouts by several years. She argued that it would give excessive payouts to women who initiated the lawsuit. She also asserted that the agreement, which releases the lab from future discrimination claims, is too broad. Documents filed in the case indicate that Quon withdrew the appeal after it was agreed that her attorneys would be paid $75,000 in fees. "Our hope is that things are on the road to being wrapped up," her attorney, George Geran, said this week. John Bienvenu, a lawyer representing workers in the case, said an administrator is processing claims for the 3,222 employees involved. The employees will be notified by mail on whether their claims were accepted. A labor economist then will calculate how much each employee is due before checks are sent out, which could happen by the end of the year, Bienvenu said. Meanwhile, one of the former lab workers who initiated the lawsuit in 2003 has filed a similar complaint after opting out of the class action settlement. Veronique Longmire's lawsuit, filed in August, names the University of California and the lab's new manager, Los Alamos National Security, as defendants. Longmire said she opted out of the class action lawsuit because it did not adjust salaries for female employees to fix what she believes are built-in inequities. The Associated Press contributed to this story. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 45 WCBD: Savannah River nuke plant fight - News - Charleston, SC Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007 - 04:31 AM By Associated Press Two groups that oppose an Energy Department plan to send more plutonium to South Carolina for processing have filed a petition with a federal licensing board in hopes of halting construction of a plant. The plant being built at the Savannah River nuclear complex near Aiken would convert the plutonium into a mixed-oxide fuel for use at commercial nuclear power plants. The Energy Department said last month it plans to send plutonium in Washington state and at research laboratories in New Mexico and California to the Savannah River complex near Aiken to improve security and reduce storage costs. Nuclear Watch South and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League say the new plans should require the mixed-oxide fuel plant to be redesigned. Federal officials dispute the groups' claims, calling them frivolous and unsupported. NBC: Corporate Information | Jobs | Schedule | MSNBC | NBC Nightly © Copyright 2007 Media General, Inc. | Terms & Conditions ***************************************************************** 46 KVII: Funding for Pantex Posted: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 12:43 p.m. Funding for Pantex is another story that ProNews 7 has been following. You might remember that congress has not yet passed a budget this year that will keep Pantex funded.  Tuesday the DOE, the NNSA and Pantex announced that they have begun work on a draft workforce restructuring plan.  This will figure the impact of any possible workforce reductions at the plant. This is actually just required by law anytime there could be a workforce restructuring.  ProNews 7 did check with two different sources who say they really don't think Pantex will be impacted by this in anyway. ***************************************************************** 47 Oak Ridger: Y-12 layoffs? Draft plan work begins - Story last updated at 12:01 am on 10/10/2007 By: From Staff Reports | from staff reports Officials of the Department of Energy, the Y-12 Site Office, and the National Nuclear Security Administration announced Tuesday that they have begun work on a draft workforce restructuring plan. The plan could be one of the first steps taken if officials decide to layoff workers. The draft plan is being developed consistent with Section 3161 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, according to an NNSA news release. The plan is required whenever workforce restructuring may occur at a DOE defense nuclear facility. “The Section 3161 Plan will mitigate the impact of any potential workforce reductions among contractor employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex, its satellite facilities, and the surrounding communities, and will be developed in consultation with affected stakeholders.” “It will set forth the Department’s approach for responding to the changing missions and contractor structure at the Y-12 National Security Complex and its satellite facilities for Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond.” The plan is available on the Y-12 Web site, www.yso.doe.gov, for public comment through Oct. 19. Comments can be submitted electronically to 3161 Plan Comments@yso.doe.gov. The draft will be finalized at the end of this comment period. | © 2004 The Oak Ridger | Conditions of Use ***************************************************************** 48 NAS: Project: Development and Implementation of a Cleanup Technology Roadmap for DOE's Office of Environmental Management Project Title: PIN: NRSB-O-06-03-A Major Unit: Division on Earth and Life Studies Sub Unit: Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board RSO: Crowley, Kevin Subject/Focus Area: Environmental Issue Project Scope A National Academies committee will provide technical and strategic advice to the DOE-EM's Office of Engineering and Technology to support the development and implementation of its cleanup technology roadmap. Specifically, the study will identify: o Principal science and technology gaps and their priorities for the cleanup program based on previous National Academies reports, updated and extended to reflect current site conditions and EM priorities and input form key external groups, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Environmental Protection Agency, and state regulatory agencies. o Strategic opportunities to leverage research and development from other DOE programs (e.g., in the Office of Science, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and the National Nuclear Security Administration), other federal agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency), universities, and the private sector. o Core capabilities at the national laboratories that will be needed to address EM's long-term, high-risk cleanup challenges, especially at the four laboratories located at the large DOE sites (Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Savannah River National Laboratory). o The infrastructure at these national laboratories and at EM sites that should be maintained to support research, development, and bench and pilot scale demonstrations of technologies for the EM cleanup program, especially in radiochemistry. The committee will provide findings and recommendations, as appropriate, to EM on maintenance of core capabilities and infrastructure at national laboratories and EM sites to address its long-term, high-risk cleanup challenges. The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The approximate start date for the project is February 1, 2007. A report is expected to be released at the end of the project in approximately 16 months. Project Duration: 16 months Provide FEEDBACK on this project. Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry or to schedule an appointment to view project materials available to the public. Committee Membership Meetings Meeting 1 - 03/12/2007 Meeting 2 - 06/13/2007 Meeting 3 - 08/27/2007 Meeting 4 - 10/31/2007 Meeting 5 - 01/08/2008 Reports Reports having no URL can be seen at the Public Access Records Office Email: info@nas.edu ***************************************************************** 49 LocalNews8: Folks Will Hear "Booms" On Friday Folks in Mud Lake and Terreton, brace yourselves for the final explosive blast to demolish the remaining portion of Hot Shop facility at INL Site's Test Area North. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho Cleanup Project, demolition teams will be detonating explosives some time Friday to take down the walls and roof of the building -- and if you live close, you may hear the 'boom.' Last month, the team used multiple blasts to cut archways into the 7-foot-thick high-density steel-reinforced concrete walls, in preparation for the final blast this week. The "Hot Shop" was built in 1954 to support research related to the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion project. Originally designed to handle remote work on highly radioactive components of nuclear-powered jet engines after each test, it was put to many other nuclear safety and accident research uses over the years. The Hot Shop is the last major facility to be demolished at Test Area North as part of the Idaho Cleanup Project. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KIFI. 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: *****************************************************************