***************************************************************** 02/01/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.30 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Water found below Yucca heightens concerns 2 Western governors will seek course for future of energy 3 Company sought to extract isotopes for cancer therapy 4 Equipment failure at nuclear plant killed 7,000 fish 5 Yucca backer: Probe a waste 6 9 fined in trespassing at Cook Nuclear Plant 7 SENATE ENERGY BILL SEEKS NUCLEAR, ELECTRIC INCENTIVES 8 SCE&G delays 1,000-MW Summer S.C. nuke restart to March 9 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.05 | 24 - 30 January 2001 10 Uranium mine set to flow [ 01feb01 ] 11 SA MP concerned over site for radioactive waste dump 12 Taiwan seeks to break nuclear gridlock 13 Taiwan President Ready To Mediate Nuclear Dispute 14 Uncertainty hangs in the air after vote 15 Learn the art of balancing power 16 Don't be bullied on nuclear energy 17 Be rational concerning the power plant issue 18 Editorial: A vote for the history books 19 BNFL TO REDUCE HAZARDOUS WASTE STORED AT SELLAFIELD 20 Universities investing in nukes 21 BNFL SHIPMENTS CAUSING PACIFIC FURORE 22 Pakistan 'needs more N-plants' 23 ANGER AT VENUE 24 Letter: KRYPTON TRAPPING PLANT WAS BUILT 25 Murkowski aide to lead energy panel 26 Campaigners fight against waste storage 27 Demonstrators urge Utah to say no to nukes 28 SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL ARRIVES IN SHIZUOKA PORT 29 State to study cancer cases at N-waste site in Tonawanda 30 Senate votes down nuke storage bill NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Y-12 manager to replace some subcontractor employees 2 Opinion - Our View: Right decision on land, for DOE and city 3 Workers find leak in tank 4 Officials alter removal plan for plutonium 5 U.S. expert says use of DU munitions a 'war crime' 6 EPA STUDYING SITE WHERE DEPLETED URANIUM BURIED 7 U.S. Must Prepare for 'Catastrophic' Attack-Study 8 Argonne Develops Anti-Terrorist Nuke Fuel 9 U.N. Doesn't Find Uranium-Ill Link 10 DU MUNITIONS COULD PROVE HAZARDOUS TO NATO 11 Small amount of plutonium found in forest 12 Ministers join demo 13 Again 'no evidence' of uranium cancer 14 France Finds No Link Between DU and Leukemia Cases 15 Italy Reveals Two More Cases of Depleted Uranium 16 HIROSHIMA PEACE STONE GIVEN TO COSTA RICA 17 Remembering the Downwinder 18 Lab Releases Radioactive Material 19 Magazine wisecrack prompts INEEL to analyze snow ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Water found below Yucca heightens concerns February 01, 2001 BY MARY MANNING LAS VEGAS SUN AMARGOSA VALLEY--The 5-mile-long tunnel that provides access to underground study sites at Yucca Mountain is damper than experts overseeing the project realized. Drip cloths hanging in the tunnel's alcove were wet, Energy Department scientist Mark Peters told the independent Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board on Wednesday. If the dampness is an indication of ground water seeping through the mountain, a nuclear waste repository planned for the site could be in jeopardy. However, if the moisture is condensation, the problem is less severe, scientists say. "Soaked?" board member Debra Knopman, a hydrologist and environmental scientist, said. Peters nodded. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied to hold 77,000 tons of commercial and defense nuclear waste. If it passes scientific muster, the mountain could receive the first shipments by 2010. The presence of water in the tunnel is worrisome because ground water can corrode canisters that would hold the waste. If it reaches spent nuclear fuel, the radioactivity could escape. What scientists are trying to determine is whether the dripping is coming from ground water, which is highly corrosive because of its mineral content, or condensation, which is harmless. The U.S. Geological Survey plans to analyze samples for mineral content, John Stuckless, a scientist with the agency, said. DOE scientists have been surprised at finding more water than expected in the mountain, Russ Dyer, DOE's Yucca Mountain project director in Nevada, said. "It is presumptuous to think we know all there is to know," Dyer said. One key study area is the travel of the ground water through the desert rock from ancient volcanic eruptions. If water travels to the repository level 1,000 feet deep within 10,000 years, it could indicate serious problems for the project. The DOE has been looking for fast paths that might be carrying water through the mountain since Los Alamos scientists discovered radioactive chlorine-36, a chemical remnant of atomic bomb blasts in the Pacific Ocean during the 1950s, in the rock, Peters said. The chemical was traced to the Pacific blasts, and was carried eastward by winds. The radiation was discovered almost 1,000 feet deep along earthquake faults. When the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California tried to duplicate the experiment last year, no chlorine-36 was detected. Both laboratories are pursuing the chlorine-36, Peters said. "That's the $10,000 question," he said when board members asked him when the mystery might be solved. The DOE is hoping to have some conclusion by the end of the year, Peters said. The DOE also expects to recommend to the president and Congress by year's end whether to proceed with the repository. The decision, originally scheduled for June, was delayed while the DOE inspector general investigates whether the DOE has a conflict of interest with the contractors. The investigation was launched after the Sun reported Dec. 1 on a memo attached to a draft overview of the project that indicated that the overview could be used to sell the project to Congress. The DOE is required by law to remain unbiased through the selection process. Board members, all appointed by former President Bill Clinton, and area residents challenged the DOE during the two-day meeting at Amargosa Valley, a small farming community 12 miles from Yucca Mountain, to explain how complicated engineering formulas will lead to safe storage of the wastes for thousands of years. Review board Chairman Jared Cohon said that the DOE's ultimate goal was to prove a repository at the mountain would not harm public health. "Public health should stand on its own," Cohon said, referring to the maze of technical reports presented over two days. Merlynn Rose of Pahrump said she wasn't waiting for scientific reassurances about the fate of high-level nuclear waste. "I don't need science to tell me something could blow up," Rose said. Instead of relying on layered metals and packages to contain the waste inside the mountain, Kalynda Tilges, nuclear issues coordinator for the watchdog group Citizen Alert, suggested keeping the spent fuel in dry containers at nuclear reactor sites. "Don't put them in my back yard," she said. "You weren't given permission, " Tilges referred to the 1987 congressional decision to single out Yucca Mountain as the only site to study for the world's first high- level nuclear waste repository. Before that, sites in New England and the Midwest were considered. "The majority of Nevadans don't want the waste here," Tilges said. "We want you out of here. We don't want your project." ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 2 Western governors will seek course for future of energy IdahoStatesman.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2001 By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press IDAHO GOV. DIRK KEMPTHORNE PORTLAND--Faced with the prospect that the breakdown of electricity deregulation in California could drag down the economies of its neighbors, Western governors are gathering in Portland Friday to create a vision for the region's energy future. "While most of the nation's attention has focused on the problems plaguing California, the nation's energy situation is having major impacts in all Western states," said Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who is leading the roundtable on energy policy put on by the Western Governors Association. "It is critical that all the Western governors work as a team, because the economy of the entire West is at stake." The leaders of nine Western states, as well as the Navajo and Fort Mojave tribes, hope to emerge Friday evening with short-term solutions to electricity shortages plaguing the region as well as a long-term plan for coping with increased demand in the future. Newly confirmed U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Curt L. Hebert Jr., chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be taking part. One hot-button issue will be caps on soaring wholesale electricity prices, which are favored by many of the governors, particularly California Gov. Gray Davis, but opposed by the Bush administration. Governors also are likely to be talking about clean new technology, such as the wind farm being developed along the Columbia River, the prospects for building more coal-fired plants, and whether the federal government will be willing to increase research into making coal- fired plants burn cleaner, said Roy Hemmingway, energy adviser to Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. The quickest sources of extra energy are conservation, which has fallen off during the past 10 years of cheap energy, and renewable energy such as wind farms, which can be put on line much faster than natural gas-fired plants, said Ralph Cavanagh, energy program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "A lot of people are coming back to this issue after 20 years," said Cavanagh. "First they think of old dirty options, like coal and nuclear. The world has advanced a bit since then. There is a rich new array of solutions." ***************************************************************** 3 Company sought to extract isotopes for cancer therapy Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:33 p.m. on Thursday, February 1, 2001 BY PAUL PARSON Oak Ridger staff The Department of Energy is seeking a private contractor to extract "promising" radioisotopes for cancer treatment from its stockpile of uranium-233 in Oak Ridge. The radioisotope, bismuth-213, is a decay product of U-233, a legacy material currently stored in Building 3019A at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Researchers believe bismuth-213 shows promise in treating serious forms of cancer, including acute myelogenous leukemia and cancer of the pancreas, kidney and other organs. As opposed to chemotherapy and other forms of treatment, the use of bismuth-213 provides the potential for a type of treatment called radio-immunotherapy, according to a DOE press release. Radio-immunotherapy directs the treatment to the cancer tissue that needs to be destroyed and minimizes impact to surrounding healthy tissues. "The alpha-emitting isotope is linked to monoclonal antibodies, peptides, or other biological agents that can travel directly to the site of the tumor within the body," the press release stated. "Moreover, with radio-immunotherapy, the patient can be treated with much smaller quantities of radioisotopes than other traditional forms of treatment." DOE outlined the private contractors' duties in a draft request for proposals released Wednesday. The duties also include further processing of U-233 to render it safe for long-term, economical storage and preparation of Building 3019A for closure, according to the proposal. Storage and handling of U-233 inventory requires strict safeguards and security controls, according to the proposal. Additionally, the composition of U-233 imposes unique shielding and ventilation requirements. Sales of radioisotopes to treat cancer reportedly increased significantly last year at ORNL, although overall revenue from radioisotopes declined. Demand for actinium-225, the precursor for bismuth-213, rose 34 percent in fiscal year 2000. Revenue for actinium-225 was $151,033 compared to $125,483 in 1999. Locally, Theragenics Corp., the first tenant of the Horizon Center business park, plans to manufacture bismuth-213 when its facility opens. u233seb/ [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 4 Equipment failure at nuclear plant killed 7,000 fish postnet.com | News | GOOD MORNING, ST. LOUIS | Posted: Thursday, February 1, 2001 | 6:05 a.m. Of The Post-Dispatch The emergency shutdown of a nuclear power plant in Clinton, Ill., in mid-December caused the deaths of more than 7,000 fish in a nearby lake, authorities said this week. The mysterious fish kill at Clinton Lake, which was discovered Jan. 22, occurred when an equipment failure at the Clinton Nuclear Power Station caused the release of cold water into the lake. The resulting drop in the lake's temperature--to 35 degrees Farhrenheit from 67 degrees in an estimated five hours--shocked and killed the fish, the power plant reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday. No radiation or chemicals were released in the incident, officials said. During the plant's emergency shutdown, steam that ordinarily would have passed over tubes full of lake water instead went to a large holding tank inside the plant. So the lake water was not warmed as it usually is before being discharged into a canal leading to the lake. The air temperature - in the single digits - contributed to the sudden drop in lake temperature. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources began investigating the kill last week after someone noticed dead fish washing up between the DeWitt Bridge and the Illinois Route 48 bridge over the lake. Authorities believe that the fish had been there for some time, judging from their state of decay, said Tim Schweizer, spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources. The area near the discharge canal is closed to fishing in the winter because fish congregate near the warm water and would provide " easy pickings" rather than sport fishing, Schweizer said. Most of the dead fish were large bottom feeders such as buffalo, catfish or drum. About 470 of the fish were gizzard shad, a small fish often eaten by larger fish. An estimated 15 percent of the fish killed were what are considered sport fish: four species of bass, some crappie and a half dozen bluegill. "It's a significant event," Schweizer said. "A kill of this size is bad news for everybody. But it does not devastate sport fishing at Clinton Lake. Sportfishermen will probably not see an impact." Schweizer said the state probably would seek compensation for the fish from the power plant, which is owned by AmerGen Energy Co. "We'll assign a dollar value for each fish killed and try to determine the value," he said. The report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission met the agency's requirement of giving the details of any reactor shutdown. The company violated no regulations in the incident. The reactor was back in full operation Dec. 22. Reporter Virginia Baldwin Gilbert:\E-mail: vgilbert@post-dispatch.com\ Phone: 314-862-2153 ***************************************************************** 5 Yucca backer: Probe a waste February 01, 2001 BY JEFF GERMAN LAS VEGAS SUN A federal investigation into the Energy Department's possible bias toward the selection of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository is a disservice to the public, a proponent of the dump said Wednesday. "We think it's a waste of the taxpayers' money, but they'll do a thorough job," said Henry Osterhoudt, manager of government and community relations for TRW Environmental Safety Systems Inc., the outgoing chief contractor at Yucca Mountain. Osterhoudt said he understood the Department of Energy's inspector general has sent a dozen or more agents to Las Vegas to examine Yucca Mountain documents compiled by TRW and the DOE. He said he expected the agents to remain in Las Vegas for another month and that his company is not worried about the investigation. Gov. Kenny Guinn, who has set aside $5 million in his budget to fight Yucca Mountain, said this morning that he doesn't share Osterhoudt's opinion. "It's absolutely not a waste of taxpayer money," Guinn said, before leaving for a conference in Portland with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and other Western governors. "He's trying to spin it in his direction." Guinn said he was anxious to see a report on the inspector general's investigation. The probe, which got under way earlier this month, was prompted by a Dec. 1 Sun story suggesting the DOE was collaborating with the nuclear industry to win approval for Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Sun reported that it had obtained a 60-page draft of a DOE overview declaring Yucca Mountain suitable for high-level nuclear waste storage, even though scientific studies haven't been completed. Attached to the draft was a two-page memo that argued the overview could be used to help the nuclear industry sell Yucca Mountain to Congress. Federal laws prohibit the DOE from taking sides in the selection process. Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has disavowed the memo and encouraged the inspector general's investigation. Osterhoudt talked about the inquiry outside a meeting of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which passed by an overwhelming voice vote a resolution opposing Yucca Mountain for the first time ever. The resolution was recommended by the chamber's chairman, William Wells, and its president, Pat Shalmy. "It's the right thing to do," Wells told his fellow board members. Osterhoudt, whose company no longer will be Yucca Mountain's chief contractor after Feb. 12, spoke out against the resolution at the meeting. "We're opposed to the business community taking a political stance on our business," he said afterwards. The one-page resolution refers to the state's key arguments against Yucca Mountain. It describes Southern Nevada as "one of the world's leading tourist destinations" and says millions of visitors might choose to stay away if the valley is seen as unsafe because of the storage of the deadly waste. Just one accident involving the transportation of the waste could "create fears and hysteria" among the public and further harm the multibillion-dollar tourism industry here, the resolution says. The "mere threat of a nuclear waste accident," the resolution adds, also could decrease property values in the country's fastest-growing community. "Whereas, there is no clear scientific consensus that storage of nuclear waste less than 100 miles from Las Vegas will not result in any adverse health impacts to the region in the long term," the measure concludes. "Now therefore be it resolved, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce expresses its strong opposition to the storage of nuclear waste in Nevada." The chamber, which stayed out of the Yucca Mountain fight for nearly 20 years, decided to take its stand as part of Strip executive Stephen Cloobeck's grassroots campaign against the dump. Cloobeck was to hold another organization meeting today. The DOE had been preparing to make a recommendation on Yucca Mountain's suitability in June, but the decision was delayed because of the inspector general's investigation. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 6 9 fined in trespassing at Cook Nuclear Plant SouthBendTribune.com: BY MATTHEW S. GALBRAITH TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER ST. JOSEPH--Trespass is trespass, no matter how noble the cause might be, a judge told a group of demonstrators who were arrested after crossing a police line during a protest at Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant last August. That was the basis of Berrien County Trial Court Judge Angela Pasula finding the nine defendants guilty of criminal trespass and fining them $160 each after a one-day bench trial Tuesday. Pasula agreed with Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Smith that they willfully entered a designated off-limits area near the plant entrance and refused to leave when told they would be arrested. As part of her case, Smith played a videotape in which plant Security Supervisor Herbert Torberg Jr. advised the demonstrators to leave the secure area or face arrest, and county police Lt. Keith Hafer issued a second warning to each protester before the arrests were made. In all, 12 people were arrested at the Aug. 24 protest. Two defendants already pleaded guilty to trespass charges and a third failed to appear in court Tuesday. A bench warrant was issued for him. The protest was sandwiched between the restarts of Cook's two reactors after a safety-related shutdown at the Bridgman plant in September 1997. About 100 people attended the protest, which was held in a designated plant-owned strip of land off Red Arrow Highway. Those who were arrested separated themselves from the rest as the end of the protest neared, locked arms and entered the off-limits area where police were waiting. The trial's outcome was pretty much decided after Pasula made a pretrial ruling that the defendants could not use a "necessity defense," or argue that civil disobedience was necessary because the plant had operated with degraded safety systems prior to the shutdown. Last year, following trespassing arrests at a 1999 rally, some of the same defendants pleaded guilty after Judge Wilbur Schillinger also limited their defense arguments. But they pressed ahead and each took the witness stand, sprinkling in frequent remarks about how they believed Cook still poses a threat to the region's well-being. That drew at least five objections from Smith about the relevance to the trespass charges. The defendants also took advantage of Pasula's offer to speak before sentencing by issuing strong anti-nuclear testimonials and promising to continue protesting. "It was an act of conscience and I had to do it," said Michael Mariotte of Nuclear Energy Information Service in Evanston, Ill., summing up the others' reasons. Bill Schalk, a Cook spokesman who attended the trial, said afterward that plant officials got no joy from the arrests and convictions, but must take steps to protect the plant and surrounding grounds. "They have pretty strong beliefs," Schalk said of the demonstrators, "and we have some pretty strong beliefs, too." The Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, a utility ratepayer advocacy group, was well represented with Executive Director Chris Williams, local organizer Naomi Butorac and canvassers Laura Campbell, Pam Pronio and Kari Uhle among those who were arrested. Roger Voelker, the CAC's South Bend-based organizer, testified on their behalf. Staff writer Matthew S. Galbraith: [*]mgalbraith@sbtinfo.com (219) 235-6359 Contact the southbendtribune.com Web staff. News coverage and editorial content provided by the [*]South Bend Tribune unless otherwise specified. Copyright c 1994-2001 South Bend Tribune ***************************************************************** 7 SENATE ENERGY BILL SEEKS NUCLEAR, ELECTRIC INCENTIVES USA: January 31, 2001 WASHINGTON - A DRAFT SENATE BILL AIMED AT IMPROVING THE NATION'S SUPPLY OF ENERGY SEEKS INCENTIVES FOR NUCLEAR POWER PROVIDERS TO PRODUCE MORE ELECTRICITY, AND WOULD SCRAP DECADES-OLD RULES IN ORDER TO ENSURE GRID RELIABILITY AND GIVE UTILITIES FLEXIBILITY IN THE FAST-CHANGING MARKETPLACE. The nuclear and reliability provisions are a few of the scores of measures included in the draft obtained by Reuters. Legislative 1sources expect the bill to be introduced next week by Sen. Frank Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The plan is seen as a vehicle for implementing many of the energy policies favored by the Bush administration, which claims the current power crisis in California, and continued expensive prices for most fuels, can be at least partially blamed on the lack of a coherent federal plan. In the draft, the energy secretary would be directed to make payments to the owners of existing nuclear plants that produces in excess of the previous year's output. "The amount of such payment shall be 1 mill for each kilowatt-hour produced in excess of the total generation produced over the most recent calendar year prior to the first fiscal year in which payment is sought," the draft said. Payments were subject to amounts made available by Congress, and no power facility could receive more than $2 million in any one calendar year. On reliability, the draft repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) and amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). PURPA mandatory purchase and sale requirements would be terminated, relieving utilities from having to buy power from qualifying facilities currently demanded in the law. The 1935 PUHCA law would be replaced by a new 2001 version. The draft states that changes in regulations covering the natural gas and electric industries forced the changes. "The purposes of this are to eliminate unnecessary regulation, yet continue to provide for consumer protection by facilitating existing rate regulatory authority through improved federal and state commission access to books and records of all companies in a holding company system, while affording companies the flexibility required to compete in the energy markets," the draft said. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 8 SCE&G delays 1,000-MW Summer S.C. nuke restart to March TUESDAY JANUARY 30, 1:03 PM EASTERN TIME NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE& G) said Tuesday it has delayed the restart of the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Summer nuclear plant in South Carolina until March, from original expectations of a restart in late January or early February. ``Repairs to a faulty weld in a pipe in the reactor coolant system at the Summer nuclear station are nearing completion and the plant should return to service in March,'' SCE&G said in a statement. ``We have successfully completed about 90 percent of the welding process and expect all repair and testing to be completed in the next several weeks,'' the company said, adding ``at that time we will have a more definitive date for the restart of the plant.'' The unit, in Parr, S.C., has been idle since October 7, 2000, when inspection during a scheduled maintenance and refueling outage found a cracked weld on a 30-inch diameter pipe in one of the reactor's coolant systems, putting the refueling operation on hold. SCE&G said in early January that the plant ``should return to service in late January or early February.'' SCE&G also said Tuesday it has completed the evaluation of an electrical ground problem in the generator of its 385-MW Cope coal generating station also in S.C., and that the unit should return to service by late March. The energy cost of replacement power during the outages of the facilities is expected to be included as a component of total fuel costs in SCE&G's annual electric fuel cost hearing before the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, scheduled in April of this year, SCE& G said. ``We do not anticipate this causing any significant impact to our customers,'' the company said. SCE&G, based in Columbia, S.C., is a subsidiary of SCANA Corp (NYSE:SCG - news) and operates the Summer power station for a consortium of South Carolina utilities. The plant's owners are SCE&G with 67 percent and the South Carolina Public Service Authority with 33 percent. -- C Reese, New York Power Desk 212-859-1628, fax 212-859-1758, newyork.newsroom@reuters.com ***************************************************************** 9 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.05 | 24 - 30 January 2001 Aweekly summary of international news relevant to uranium and the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.05-1] UK: BNFL WILL SCRAP ITS MAGROX FUEL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME due to escalating costs and regulatory uncertainties about its approval. This decision could mean an earlier closure of the Wylfa and Oldbury Magnox plants, the idea had been to extend the life of these plants using the new fuel. Introducing the new fuel, even if it had been approved, would have meant the plants taking till 2009 at the earliest to break even. 16) [NB01.05-2] THE SECOND SHIPMENT OF MIXED OXIDE (MOX) fuel from France to Japan is scheduled to arrive at the Japanese port of Rokkasho on 20 February, industry officials reported. [NB01.05-3] US: USEC REPORTED THAT APPROXIMATELY 9500 TONNES of its uranium inventory might be affected by the presence of radioactive technetium-99. This would mean that the material would not meet commercial specifications and could be unsalable without substantial reprocessing. (Ux Weekly, 29 January, p3) [NB01.05-4] US: LAWMAKERS FROM NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTH CAROLINA - two nuclear-reliant states - are concerned about increases in electricity prices should USEC win its trade complaint against Urenco and Eurodif. House members from the two states claim that if USEC wins its case, duties on enriched uranium from abroad 'would only serve to raise costs for utilities and consumers at a time when US energy costs are rising'. According to Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) figures, nuclear plants generate more than 30% of North Carolina's electricity, while South Carolina depends on nuclear for generating more than 56% of its electricity. (Associated Press, 23 January; see also News Briefing 01.04-2) Meanwhile, the Clinton administration violated federal law when it by-passed Congress in order to save jobs at USEC's Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant, the General Accounting Office (GAO) said. The GAO claims that the plan to keep the facility in standby mode, thereby saving around 1000 jobs, cannot legally be financed in the way devised by former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Mr Richardson had planned to use cash leftover from USEC's privatisation funds to protect the Portsmouth jobs, without receiving Congress' formal approval to spend Briefing 01.04-4) [NB01.05-5] AUSTRALIA'S URANIUM EXPORTS REACHED 8757 TONNES U3O8 (7426 TU), worth A$426 million (US$232.5 million), in 2000 according to provisional figures. Approximately one-third of this total went to Japan, a further third to the US, with the remainder divided between Belgium, Canada, France, the UK, South Korea and Sweden. Total domestic production rose to 8937 tonnes U3O8 (7578 tU) - a 27% increase Briefing 00.12-1) [NB01.05-6] ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LTD (ERA) PRODUCED 1232 TONNES U3O8 (1045 TU) during the second quarter, ended 31 December 2000. In line with the company's 2000/2001 production plan, total output for the half year was 2361 tonnes U3O8 (2002 tU) at an average mill feed grade of 0.27%. A total of 1.1 million tonnes of ore were mined at 0.30% U3O8 during the half year. (BusinessWire, 29 7] RIO TINTO'S ROSSING URANIUM MINE IN NAMIBIA (in which it has a 68.5% stake) produced 836 tonnes U3O8 (709 tU) in the fourth quarter of 2000, a slight increase from the 821 tonnes U3O8 (696 tU) produced in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the Palabora mine in South Africa (in which Rio Tinto owns a 48.6% share) produced 28 tonnes U3O8 (24 tU) during the fourth quarter, compared with 34 tonnes U3O8 (29 tU) in the third quarter. (Ux Weekly, 29 January, p4; see also AT MCARTHUR RIVER INCREASED BY MORE THAN 50%, Cameco Corp announced. Revised estimates by Cameco geoscientists indicate that the mine's proven and probable reserves increased from 255 million lbs U3O8 (98 084 tU) at an average grade of 17% U3O8 on 31 December 1999, to 395 million lbs U3O8 (151 935 tU) at 21% U3O8 on 31 December 2001. The McArthur River mine is 70% owned by Cameco and 30% by Cogema Resources Inc. The mine produced over 11 million lbs U3O8 (4231 tU) during 2000 and is set to reach full production of 18 million lbs U3O8 (6923 tU) by 2002. (BusinessWire, 25 January; METSAMOR-2 - ARMENIA'S ONLY OPERATING NUCLEAR POWER REACTOR - generated 1.84 TWh of electricity in 2000, slightly lower than the 1.89 TWh produced in 1999. The capacity factor of the unit was 60.71% in 2000. (NucNet News, 31/01, 25 January; see also [NB01.05-10] INDIA: THE TWO-UNIT KAKRAPAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN THE SURAT DISTRICT OF GUJURAT has continued to operate safely and normally following the devastating earthquake which struck the region on 26 January, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) reported. Like all other Indian reactors, the Kakrapar plant is designed to withstand high-intensity earthquakes. Other nuclear power reactors sited further away from the earthquake's epicentre were also reported to be unaffected and operating safely. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 January) [NB01.05-11] UKRAINE'S 13 OPERATIONAL NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS GENERATED a total 77.355 TWh of electricity in 2000, up 4.4% from the 72.065 TWh produced in 1999. Nuclear accounted for 45.3% of the country's total electricity output of 170.699 TWh in 2000. The average capacity factor of Ukraine's reactors was 68.7%, up 4.5% compared with 1999. (NucNet News, 29/ 2) [NB01.05-12] US: THE SALE OF NORTHEAST UTILITIES THREE- UNIT MILLSTONE NUCLEAR COMPLEX TO VIRGINIA-BASED Dominion Resources Inc for US$1.298 billion has been approved by Connecticut utility regulators. The price is the highest ever paid in the US (per kilowatt hour of generating power) for a Briefing 00.39-19) [NB01.05-13] HUNGARY: THE PAKS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PRODUCED 14.176 TWH OF ELECTRICITY in 2000, accounting for 40.6% of Hungary's total electricity production. The average capacity factor of the plant's four reactors was 87.75%. 97.03-3) [NB01.05-14] TAIWAN: HAVING BEEN BANNED FROM THE LEGISLATURE FOR THREE MONTHS, TAIWAN'S PREMIER, Chang Chun-hsiung, returned and endured hours of harsh criticism from lawmakers furious about the government's decision to halt a nuclear project. The decision to cancel the plant - Taiwan's fourth - means the government will have to pay almost US$3 billion in Briefing 01.04-8) [NB01.05-15] AUSTRALIA'S FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS SELECTED ITS PREFERRED LOW LEVEL WASTE REPOSITORY site near Woomera. An environmental assessment will now be carried out on it and two nearby alternatives with the licensing process beginning later in the year. (UIC Weekly News, 26 January; [NB01.05-16] US: UTILITY COMPANIES ARE NOT CONFIDENT ABOUT WASTE TRANSPORTATION PLANS set out by the US Department of Energy (DOE). They do not believe that the DOE will be ready to remove spent fuel or be able to fabricate and deploy waste acceptance capabilities in an acceptable time frame for the reactor owners and operators. The reaction was in response to the DOE's draft plan for transport cask fabrication and deployment of waste acceptance capabilities. The final report drawn up by Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWN), with comments from the 33 utilities and other parties, was sent to government appropriators on 19 January. 21) [NB01.05-17] PAKISTAN HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW NUCLEAR SAFETY BODY - the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) - to oversee all matters relating to nuclear safety and radiation protection. The new authority will reportedly have more powers and responsibilities than the two bodies that it replaces in the operation and management of the country's nuclear energy facilities. However, it is not clear whether the PNRA will also oversee nuclear weapons facilities. 00.35-11) [NB01.05-18] ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE (EDF) HAS APPOINTED TWO MERCHANT BANKS to advise it on raising private equity to help fund the group's FFr190 billion (US$26.7 billion), five-year investment programme. The investment plan calls for at least half of the group's revenues to be generated outside France by 2005. EdF considers a partial privatisation of the state-owned group a strong possibility after the French elections in 2002. (Financial Times, 29 January, p32; see [NB01.05-19] A US REQUEST TO DELAY THE NEXT ROUND OF GLOBAL WARMING TALKS UNTIL JULY will be considered by the European Commission and Dutch Environment Minister, Jan Pronk. Mr Pronk presided over failed climate talks in November at The Hague, Netherlands. (Reuters, 27 January) [NB01.05-20] UK: NATIONAL GRID GROUP (NGG) SHAREHOLDERS HAVE VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY to back the planned merger of NGG with Niagara Mohawk Holdings (NMK). NMK shareholders voted their approval earlier in the month. The companies expect the proposed transaction to be completed by late 2001, after Briefing 00.36-3) CLARIFICATION: The units used in reporting output at WMC's Olympic Dam uranium mine were incorrectly given in last fourth quarter of 2000 was 1199 tonnes UOC (1189 tonnes U3O8), while output for the whole of 2000 was 4500 tonnes U3O8. (UIC Prepared by the Uranium Institute Information Service. All news and views are those of the publications cited. ***************************************************************** 10 Uranium mine set to flow [ 01feb01 ] news.com.au - By ANTHONY KEANE 01feb01 THE first shipment of uranium oxide from South Australia's new Beverley uranium mine is expected to take place within two months. Beverley – which started commercial production in mid-December – was ramping up to full production by mid-year, operator Heathgate Resources said. And despite uranium prices wallowing near record lows, the Beverley mine remained profitable. Full capacity for Beverley is 1000 tonnes of uranium oxide, or yellowcake, a year and Heathgate president Jim Graham said that could increase if world markets showed signs of recovery. "If uranium prices do increase, then we will approach the State and Federal Governments and re-do an environmental impact statement to possibly add to our current approved level," Mr Graham said. He said Heathgate "definitely believed" uranium prices had bottomed out. "We anticipate improvement, maybe not his year, but in 2002 or 2003, " he said. Uranium spot prices have been hurt by ex-military material flooding global markets and long-term contracting by power utilities. "Prices have fallen from $US16 a pound to just over $US7 a pound in the last five years." Beverley is Australia's third uranium mine and is small relative to the other two. WMC's Olympic Dam produced 4539 tonnes of uranium oxide last year and Energy Resources of Australia's Ranger mine, in the NT, produced 4114 tonnes. The mine cost about $45 million to develop, and provides more than 50 jobs in SA. Mr Graham said Beverley was raising production in a controlled manner. "By June of this year, we will be at full capacity," he said. "We have several contracts for delivery in the second half of this year and we anticipate our first cargo going out some time in the first quarter." About half of Beverley's production was contracted to United States and Japanese power utilities and Mr Graham said Heathgate was aggressively marketing the remaining production. ©News Limited ***************************************************************** 11 SA MP concerned over site for radioactive waste dump ABC News - Concerns have been raised about the site of the proposed national radioactive waste repository in South Australia. Alocal MP fears that it is too close to the Australian Defence Force rocket range, in the Woomera Prohibited Area, and reportedly only 100 metres from the range's outer boundary. The Federal Government announced last week it had chosen a final site for the repository at Evetts Field West, around 50 kilometres from Woomera. Australia's low-level radioactive waste could be stored there by as early as 2002. However State Member for Giles Lyn Breuer says she has since learned the site is too close to the Woomera Rocket Range, used by Australia and countries around the world to test their weapons. "It seems to be very close to Woomera, it's near the rocket range, near the Stuart Highway, so certainly I have concerns about it," he said. Woomera Area Administrator Bob McKenzie says he will continue to work with the Federal Government in choosing the site. "Defence would obviously have some concerns with anything that would impact on our use of the range or commercial use of the range," he said. ***************************************************************** 12 Taiwan seeks to break nuclear gridlock CNN.com - - February 1, 2001 TAIPEI, Taiwan--Taiwan's parliament and cabinet sought to break a political gridlock a day after lawmakers demanded that a cabinet decision to scrap a nuclear power plant be reversed. On Wednesday, lawmakers voted the cabinet overturn its October decision to halt construction of the 5.5-billion-dollar nuclear plant, already one-third complete, bringing to a head a political row that has dampened the island's thriving economy. Premier Chang Chun-hsiung has told parliament its resolution would not be legally binding, angering opposition deputies and threatening to prolong a political crisis that has rocked the stock market and unnerved investors. The lawmaking body and the executive branch said the door for negotiation was open, but neither has shown any signs of giving in. President Chen Shui-bian has offered to serve as a mediator in a glimmer of hope the row could be resolved, but it was unclear if the opposition parties would go along with his offer--which if successful would strengthen the president's hand and boost his flagging popularity. The main opposition Nationalist Party had spearheaded a drive by an opposition coalition to oust Chen over the nuclear spat and doubt his impartiality. It has since lost steam due to public opposition. "We should use wisdom to break the stalemate. As long as we are willing to negotiate, there will be room for negotiation," Chang said at a Nationalist gathering. The Nationalists were ousted by Chen of the anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive Party in presidential elections last March. But they still command a majority in the 220-member legislature. Speaker urges solution be found Parliament speaker Wang Jin-pyng, a Nationalist vice chairman, was to host a meeting with deputies from the ruling and opposition parties later Thursday, to find a solution to the thorny problem. -=- [TABLE] Protesters hang sunflowers and signs on gate of Taiwan's legislature "Facing an administration that does not follow the rules very much, and does not respect the authority of the Legislative Yuan (parliament) very much...we should stick together even more," Nationalist secretary- general Lin Fong-cheng told party deputies. It was widely expected the nuclear row would be the main topic at a Thursday dinner banquet between the five branches of government hosted by President Chen. Taiwan's top judges have said alternatives now include Chang voluntarily resigning, parliament proposing a vote of no confidence against him or the legislature passing a bill forcing the cabinet to resume construction of the project. Political analysts said Chang, who took office last October, was likely to fight to cling on to his job. Opposition deputies are reluctant to propose a vote of no confidence against Chang, because President Chen could dissolve the legislature and call a snap election, analysts said. Wednesday's parliamentary vote came two weeks after the Council of Grand Justices censured Chang for not consulting lawmakers when he decided to halt construction of the project. Testifying before parliament on Tuesday, Chang defended his decision, saying it made Taiwan a safer place to live in and would not cause any power shortages. Taiwan stocks closed weaker on Thursday as investors focused on shaky corporate and economic fundamentals, with analysts saying the market had already factored in parliament's vote on Wednesday. [*]Reuters contributed to this report. ***************************************************************** 13 Taiwan President Ready To Mediate Nuclear Dispute THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1 5:20 PM SGT TAIPEI (AP)--Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian is ready to negotiate an end to months of squabbling between the legislature and the government over the scrapping of a partially built nuclear plant, officials said Thursday. Opposition politicians have questioned if Chen could be an impartial mediator since he was believed to have authorized canceling the $5.4 billion project in October. But months of bitter debate haven't resolved the dispute, and Wednesday angry lawmakers adopted a resolution demanding the government immediately restore the project. The government has said it isn't legally bound by the resolution, but the show of legislative force has pressured the government to show it is trying to work with lawmakers. "Let's hope President Chen can use his constitutional power to mediate this dispute," Vice President Annette Lu told reporters. Newspapers quoted unidentified presidential aides as saying Chen could start the mediation as soon as Friday, agreeing to restore the nuclear power plant as long as three plants built in the 1980s will be shutdown ahead of schedule. A survey conducted by the China Times, a leading Taiwanese newspaper, reported Thursday that 43% of those polled support restoring the project. Only 28% said the government should ignore the resolution and abandon the project. The survey of 859 people had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. Many lawmakers said scuttling the project is a huge waste of taxpayers' money. But the main issue in the debate was whether the government could scrap the nuclear plant without seeking the legislature's support. Lawmakers argued that since they approved the plant's budget during the previous Nationalist Party government, they should have been consulted about the project's fate. Chen planned to meet top officials, including Premier Chang Chun- hsiung and Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng, at a dinner Thursday, and is expected to exchange views on the dispute. While attending a gathering of the opposition Nationalist Party, Chang, Taiwan's No. 3 leader, said Thursday he believed a compromise could be reached. "Let's seek consensus out of differences," he said. Wang, a Nationalist, said that he would negotiate with the president or premier only if the legislature's resolution is respected. Dow Jones news delayed 20 minutes. Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Copyright c 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Uncertainty hangs in the air after vote The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-01 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2001 NO SURPRISES: As expected, legislators voted to continue construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant despite the opposition of the government BY LIN MEI-CHUN STAFF REPORTER Opposition lawmakers yesterday passed a resolution opposing the Executive Yuan's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) and demanding an immediate resumption of the project. The resolution passed 135 votes to 70. Opposition lawmakers declared their stance in writing, saying, "In accordance with the verdict of the Council of Grand Justices [on Jan. 15], the budget slated for the power plant was legally binding. For this reason, [the Legislative Yuan] objects to the decision made by the Executive Yuan to discontinue construction of the power plant. It should utilize all budgets for the project and resume the scheme immediately." The resolution followed Premier Chang Chun-hsiung's (±i«T¶¯) report to the legislature on Tuesday, in which he claimed that the decision was neither illegal nor unconstitutional and that the Executive branch was not obliged to accept resolutions that were passed by the legislature. Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥­) called on the ruling DPP to "show respect for the rule of law" by accepting the resolution. Meanwhile, he said the resolution would be sent to both the Executive Yuan and the Control Yuan--the country's highest watchdog overseeing the work of public officials--which is conducting investigations into who should be held responsible for the way in which the decision to scrap the power plant was reached. Following the special meeting, Wang bluntly rejected Chang's invitation to negotiate. He said, however, that he would attend negotiations to be held within a week, organized by President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó). At a press conference called by the opposition alliance after the legislative meeting, opposition lawmakers claimed that the struggle was not about their stance favoring nuclear power, but about upholding the spirit of the Constitution. "The protracted controversy was not about whether we support or oppose the nuclear power plant, it was about our collective determination to safeguard our constitutional system," said Hong Yuh-chin (¬x¥É´Ü), leader of the KMT caucus. "The executive Yuan must be rrespectful of the resolution passed by the legislature and reverse its previous decision right away," Hong said, adding that to establish a nuclear-free country was also the KMT's ultimate goal. In response to the opposition alliance's statements, convener of the DPP's legislative caucus Chou Po-lun (©P§B­Û) expressed his regrets. "The opposition alliance asserted that they supported the idea of turning Taiwan into a nuclear-free country, but now they insist on the resumption of the power plant project. Their views are apparently contradictory," Chou said. This story has been viewed 716 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 15 Learn the art of balancing power The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-01 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2001 BY KUEI HUNG-CHENG ®Û§»¸Û On Jan. 15 the Council of Grand Justices handed down constitutional interpretation No. 520 regarding the Executive Yuan's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|). The justices ruled that constitutional procedure required that the Cabinet report its decision to the legislature. Thus the interpretation clearly shows that the Executive Yuan violated the Constitution by means of a procedural flaw when it failed to report on the change of a major policy to the Legislative Yuan first. The Executive Yuan, in order to save face, however, continues to argue that its decision was not unconstitutional at all. Obviously, the main point at issue, as stated in the Cabinet's application for the interpretation, is the distribution of constitutional powers between the executive and the legislative branches. In a case like this, however, the question of whether the executive has damaged the legislative branch is also at issue. If this were a matter for the US Supreme Court and it found that the executive had indeed damaged the legislative branch, then the executive's decision would of course be held to have been unconstitutional. Yet, in Taiwan, people are still arguing whether the decision was unconstitutional even after the grand justices delivered their ruling. In the US, there have been a few cases of presidents not put-ting into effect budgets passed by the Congress. Some of the refusals were due to early fulfilment of budget goals, as it would have been wasteful to continue to spend budgeted money. Or the president might choose not to implement a budget with which the executive branch disagreed but could not veto. In the beginning of the 1970s, for example, then president Richard Nixon stalled implementation of a budget he disagreed with, citing avoiding possible inflation and a raise in tax rates as his rationale. Nixon even claimed that the executive branch had the constitutional right not to implement budgets, which later led to conflicts between the executive and legislative branches. Traditionally, the US Supreme Court has not supported the notion that the president has the right not to implement a budget since the implementation of a passed budget is considered to be a matter of enforcement of the law in the US. It is hard to imagine that the president had the right to stop the law from being enforced. Besides, according to the ROC Constitution, "The Legislative Yuan shall have the power to decide by resolution upon statutory or budgetary bills." Thus, only the legislative branch, not the executive branch, has the authority to delay or refuse to implement a budget. Many scholars believe, moreover, that if the president has the power not to implement a passed budget, then this amounts to a presidential budgetary veto. It is easier for the president not to implement a budget than it is for him to proceed in accordance with Article 57 of the ROC Constitution and request the Legislative Yuan reconsider it. Such behavior seriously violates the constitutional design that balances the executive and the legislative authorities. This same warning was made in the grand justices' interpretation. It is a basic requirement for any democratic country to vest rights over budgets in the legislative branch. Although the executive branch must implement the budget with appropriate flexibility, it must do so under the supervision and participation of the legislature. To achieve this, in 1974 the US Congress passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, which stipulates that if the president "delays" or "refuses" to implement a budget, he or she should make an official request to Congress. The executive branch can delay the budget after Congress has been informed of the delay. If Congress, having reviewed the decision, disagrees with it, the executive branch must immediately resume implementation of the budget. On the other hand, where refusals are concerned, the president must make an official request to both the Senate and the House of Representatives within 45 days of the budget being passed. Only after the request has been approved by Congress, does the executive branch have the right not to implement the budget. Such a system is worth Taiwan studying. I believe the conflicts between the executive and the legislative branches are actually problems of the constitutional design. Thus, the essential issue is how the two branches can effectively constrain each other in order not to destroy the balance between them. Kuei Hung-cheng is an assistant research fellow at the National Policy Foundation. Translated by Eddy Chang This story has been viewed 271 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 16 Don't be bullied on nuclear energy The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-01 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2001 BY CHIU HEI-YUAN £®ü·½ On the surface, majority sentiment has favored construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) in surveys conducted over the years. Polls taken after the government announced that it would stop construction, however, showed that opponents of construction outnumbered supporters by more than 17 percent. Then recent surveys indicated that there is currently more support for construction than for halting construction. On this issue, public opinion doesn't seem to be very consistent. Particularly in the past, public opinion has been molded by the superior media campaign waged by the KMT government and Taipower (¥x¹q). Now, after the new government announced its decision to terminate construction, it has faced the opposition alliance's legislative advantage and a media largely in favor of nuclear power. Pro-nuclear politicians and media power have again taken control of the situation, leaving Taiwan's anti-nuclear movement facing a situation more serious than ever before. Just as the new government was beginning to realize its campaign promise to stop construction of the plant, the vicious political-media machine might actually end up terminating the anti- nuclear movement. This is extremely ironic and painful. Pro-nuclear politicians and Taipower have always cited public opinion as their basis for action. Actually, not only is popular opinion subject to change, but a closer look at recent surveys makes it very easy to see that public opinion is not so supportive of the plant. In the end, the KMT even agreed that construction of the plant and early decommissioning of the first and second plants would be more practical, and in keeping with the public will. If legislators represent the public will, then the fact that two resolutions in 1986 and 1996 to freeze nuclear power construction were reversed, shows how the improper intervention of political power can twist popular will into "pro-nuclear support." In the opposition alliance, the KMT is currently the majority party. The initially anti-nuclear New Party has also joined the alliance, using the alliance's legislative advantage to hinder efforts to shut down the plant. In fact, most of the public doesn't have a definite opinion on the issue, hence the volatility of public opinion. The main factor (influencing people's opinions) is government policy. Two surveys conducted last May and September each contained a set of hypothetical questions, such as: "If, in the final analysis, the new government decided to complete construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, would you support this decision?" and "If, in the final analysis, the new government decided to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, would you support this decision?" The results showed that whether construction was resumed or halted, the majority of respondents would support the government's decision. In the May survey, 67 percent of respondents said they would support the government if it decided to continue construction of the plant, while only 14 percent indicated they would not support such a decision. And 52 percent said they would support the government if it decided to stop construction, while only 24 percent responded they would not support such policy. The situation in the Septem-ber survey was largely the same. The percentage of respondents for and against a decision to continue construction was 63 percent and 19 percent respectively, while the percentage for and against a decision to halt construction was 44 percent to 32 percent respectively. Why should a single survey produce such seemingly contradictory results? Because most of the public will support the government's decision, whether it chooses to continue or discontinue construction, an example of the "public will" which is well worth noting. These surveys perhaps reflect the fact that, at the time of the polls, most of the public didn't have very strong convictions either way--unlike politicians, who used the issue as an indispensable tool in their power struggles, adopting pro- or anti-nuclear stances out of political necessity. Secondly, the majority of the public doesn't feel the immediate effects of policy-making and are unable to predict if any big conflicts will arise. Any uneasiness or even panic reflected in so-called public opinion has been due to the power of politics and the media. In 1993, a poll asked "Do you have confidence in Taipower's ability to handle a major nuclear accident?" The results showed that respondents who were confident outnumbered those who were not by the very close margin of 42 percent to 37 percent. But it was only in 1993 that the majority of respondents expressed confidence. Beginning in 1994, confidence in Taipower's ability to handle a major accident began to wane. From 1996, the number of confident respondents was around 30 percent, while over 40 percent were not confident. Clearly, in the end, the public didn't have any confidence in Taipower's ability to handle the very thing it most fears--a nuclear accident. In the numerous times over the years that surveys concerning the plant have been conducted, all have consistently shown that more than 70 percent of the public thought that construction of the plant should not go ahead without the approval of the residents who would be living nearby. Upon examination of the process of policy-making and administration regarding construction of the plant, myriad problems arise. Simply stated, it was an unjust decision. The public has never truly supported the opposition's effort to revive the project by taking advantage of the weak government. The power of the "opposition" has been overwhelming, however, bullying local society into powerless submission. It really hurts to see this happen. Chiu Hei-yuan is professor of Sociology at National Taiwan University. Translated by Scudder Smith This story has been viewed 350 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 17 Be rational concerning the power plant issue The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-01 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2001 BY KU CHUNG-HWA AND CHEN HWEI-SYIN ÅU©¾µØ¡B³¯´FÄÉ The Chinese New Year is just over, but the people of Taiwan can already feel the unsettling atmosphere pervading Taiwan's political circles. The Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan are fighting it out as to whether to continue construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|). Regardless of who wins, we are afraid that this issue is bound to create further hysteria which is not likely to calm down anytime soon. The nuclear power plant dispute has been going on for years. Most people seem to have gradually lost their patience with the matter and are apparently eager to see a settlement. For that reason, recent surveys have shown glaringly unpredictable swings in public opinion. When the government announced the scrapping of the nuclear power plant project, almost half of Taiwan's citizens approved of its anti- nuclear policy. After the opposition parties interpreted the ruling by the Council of Grand Justices as evidence that the legislature has the power to decide on continuing the project, however, the majority of the public then sided with the majority view in the Legislative Yuan that the project should be continued. Such a swing of opinion reflects the people's tendency to change tack depending on which way the wind is blowing. It is also characteristic of a "high-risk society." Modern technology usually carries high risks in need of assessment by specialists rather than by ordinary people. But different specialists often take conflicting stances that baffle the population at large. Then the masses are compelled to determine their position on an issue by a process of intuition and feelings. High-tech risks and partisan struggles have been so inextricably tangled up that unless one side makes a compromise, it is almost impossible to break the impasse. We sincerely wish that our political figures will resume dialogue in lieu of confrontation, and set a good example for the people of communication and rationality. They should at least make this debate carry an educational value, teaching all citizens to seriously consider the responsibilities, burdens and risks associated with an important policy. The Executive Yuan, more-over, should accept rigorous supervision and make public the contracts and documents associated with the project. We have heard that, at all of the more than 10 meetings of the nuclear plant's re-evaluation committee, the executive branch failed to present all the purchase contracts. Does this mean that there were secret kickbacks involved in the plant project? Legislators, the Control Yuan and prosecutors should investigate this. Furthermore, after the 921 earthquake, did we improve the project by making the plant more quake-resistant? This is a point that our legislators should be concerned about, especially in light of the devastating earthquake that hit India recently. The top officials in our executive or legislative branches need to look into the above-mentioned issues. They should strive for the long-term welfare of the citizens of Taiwan and future generations by means of effective communication and negotiation. In fact, the nuclear power plant project is closely tied to many other serious issues. One wrong step will have an effect on the lives and properties of too many people. Looking at the poor rationality dominating Taiwan politics, one cannot help but shudder at the thought of how the country will cope with disasters in the future. Ku Chung-hwa is a professor of sociology at National Cheng-chi University. Chen Hwei-syin is a professor of law at the same university. Translated by Gatian Wang This story has been viewed 269 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 18 Editorial: A vote for the history books The Taipei Times Online: 2001-01-31 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31ST, 2001 If history is a mirror of past human behavior, then we would like to remind our legislators: Whatever vote they cast today on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) issue will determine how they will be viewed by future generations and historians. This newspaper has commented many times on the nuclear plant issue in the hope of reminding both the ruling and opposition parties to wake up to their consciences and to not put party interests before the welfare of the populace. If we use the people's welfare as a point of departure, then the remaining problems will cease to be matters of principle; they will become mere differences of understanding over the safety of nuclear power plants. We have maintained this optimistic outlook primarily because we believe the reasons cited by the opposition parties against the Executive Yuan's decision to scuttle the plant project cannot stand up to an objective test. The opposition has cited the following reasons for its determination to thwart the government's plan: One, the government should maintain a continuity in major policies so as to safeguard its credibility. Two, the Executive Yuan's decision to scrap the plant was disrespectful to the Legislative Yuan's earlier resolutions and was therefore unconstitutional. Three, the new plant would be safer than the first, second and third plants and should be built so that the older ones could be decommissioned early. Four, alternative power plans may not be completed smoothly and therefore cannot guarantee sufficient power supplies for the future. In a democratic country, the first and foremost question in any policy formulation is what kind of policy will ensure maximum benefit for the people. When former US president George Bush canceled the "Star Wars" program proposed by his predecessor Ronald Reagan, we did not hear of any complaint from the US Congress about Bush trampling on its credibility. This shows that, at least in the US, there is nothing unusual about new governments changing the policies of old governments. Next, as the citizens of a democratic country, we must understand clearly that the purpose of the Constitution is to serve the people. No constitutional provisions should be used to obstruct the pursuit of the best benefits possible for the populace. There-fore, we should amend any inappropriate provisions in order to fulfill the needs of the people, instead of monotonously demanding that the people abide by them. We should stop using legal provisions as a means to resolve this highly political dispute. Only by using a political yardstick compatible with the welfare of the entire populace can we provide a relatively satisfactory solution. In light of this, we would like to posit the following question: How will a nuclear power plant--which may pollute Taiwan for tens of thousands of years with its waste and may force the people of Taiwan to abandon their homes in case of an accident--possibly measure up to such a yardstick? Aren't the pros and cons of nuclear plants clear enough now? If our legislators have any thought at all about how future generations will remember them, they should think about that as they cast their votes today. This story has been viewed 394 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 19 BNFL TO REDUCE HAZARDOUS WASTE STORED AT SELLAFIELD By Matthew Jones in London Published: January 31 2001 18:37GMT | Last Updated: January 31 2001 19:54GMT British Nuclear Fuels, the UK atomic services group, will have to reduce the amount of high level liquid waste stored at its Sellafield reprocessing site to about one-eighth of its current storage levels under a legal order issued by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate on Wednesday. BNFL is currently allowed to store up to 1,575 cubic metres of highly active liquor (HAL) at Sellafield but will have to reduce this to a buffer level of 200 cubic metres by 2015. The order is likely to increase pressure on the group's lucrative reprocessing business, which is already struggling to meet commercial targets due to a series of technical problems. HAL is considered to be the most hazardous material on the Sellafield site because it requires constant stirring and cooling to keep it safe. Most of the waste - a concentrated solution of fission products in nitric acid - arises from BNFL's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp), which recycles spent fuel from Britain, Japan and Germany. The NII wants the waste to be converted into vitrified blocks which can be stored more passively with a much smaller threat of a criticality. Laurence Williams, head of the NII, said he would closely review BNFL's progress in meeting the reduction target and would consider ordering further reductions if new technology became available. "We will not hesitate to use our regulatory powers to halt Thorp reprocessing should that be necessary," he said. Environmentalists said the length of time for the reductions to be enforced remained too long, given the risks that HAL posed to the public. Pete Roche, a campaigner at Greenpeace, added that BNFL would struggle to meet the targets while also fulfilling reprocessing contracts for customers. A BNFL official acknowledged the targets would be challenging, but said he was confident they would be acheivable. "So far we have vitrified more than half of the HAL ever produced at Sellafield so we are sure we have the expertise to meet the regulator's requirements," he said. BNFL currently has two waste vitrification plants at Sellafield but will increase capacity by bringing a new £320m ($468.18) plant online later this year. more from FT.com ***************************************************************** 20 Universities investing in nukes February 01, 2001 State's higher education system also owns stock in Big Tobacco BY JENNIFER KNIGHT LAS VEGAS SUN Nevada's higher education system has invested millions in an industry that wants to ship nuclear waste to the state. At least $3.6 million of higher education endowment money is invested in companies that own nuclear power plants, according to investment information supplied by Cambridge Associates, a Boston-based investment consulting group. "I'm not a believer in nuclear energy and would rather see the money invested in other things, but sometimes that is not so easy to do, " Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. Reid is leading the charge against the federal government's proposal to make Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the nation's nuclear waste repository. Politicians from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to Gov. Kenny Guinn also have chimed in on the issue, publicly opposing the plan to store 77,000 tons of radioactive waste in the state. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce also joined the fight Wednesday against the Yucca Mountain project, which is seen as having a devastating effect on the Las Vegas Valley's economic future. In addition to the nuclear power industry, the university system also holds more than $860,000 in tobacco stock. The investment comes after the state attorney general joined a suit of the tobacco industry in 1997, receiving $48 million a year in reparations for cancer patients. A portion of the tobacco money is used to fund the Millennium Scholarship Program, which is currently providing an education to 4,000 Nevada college students. "It's troubling that they are accepting money from the tobacco master settlement agreement and then recycling the money back into the same industry," said Doug Cogan, a director at the Investor Responsibility Research Center, a nonprofit research group funded by university and pension funds. Reaction from regents about the potential conflict of interest was varied. "I'm surprised," said Regent Steve Sisolak, who sits on the board's Investment Committee. "That's a real concern. Tobacco is one thing, but nuclear power is another. I definitely think this is something that we need to address at the next committee meeting." The largest investments went to General Electric Co., DTE Energy, FirstEnergy Corp. and XCEL Energy. All of those companies deal in nuclear energy, according to Calvert Group a watchdog investment group based in Bethesda, Md. Most if not all of the regents are unaware which stocks are in UCCN's portfolio, said Dan Miles, vice chancellor of finance. "We have money invested in tobacco?" asked Regent Howard Rosenberg. "That's not such a hot idea." Within the last year, four comparable state universities have divested themselves from tobacco stocks, Cogan said. Institutions in Washington, Michigan and Wisconsin along with top universities such as Harvard in Massachusetts and Stanford in California have all dumped tobacco stocks from their portfolios. University California Board of Regents recently ditched plans to purchase $55 million in tobacco stocks, because the investment would be in conflict with their cancer research efforts. Other schools affiliated with the Quaker religion have divested themselves of weapons manufacturing. The issue of divesting from so-called "sin stocks" such as tobacco, alcohol, firearms and nuclear energy has never been broached by Nevada's Board of Regents. "We obviously don't look at what they are investing in," said Regent Mark Alden, the chair of the Investment Committee. "Unless the board wants to get into public policy and specifically look at where they are investing, I'm not going to start to micro-manage." Alden said that his responsibility is to ensure that the two pools of money that the regents oversee (the endowment pool and operating pool), make good investment returns. The worry is that if regents divest from politically incorrect stocks, he said, they may not get as good of a return on their money. Robert Miller, dean of the School of Medicine says the argument to sell off such stocks is a difficult one to make. "One has to be careful when looking at investing for social good. It can become somewhat of a slippery slope," Miller said. "I certainly wouldn't have any argument as a physician to not support tobacco companies. But on the other hand, someone might have a beef about anyone who invests money in testing on animals. So where do you draw the line?" Institutions of higher learning are increasingly utilizing what's known of as "social screens" or social investing. Companies like Brown Capital have clients that specifically request that their portfolios have that feature. "We have found that a socially screened investment isn't in any way a disadvantage to investors," said Tedd Alexander, a portfolio manager and analyst for the Baltimore-based company. "Investors are becoming more aware of the fact that they can be both profitable and socially aware." The university system has other funds that invest in the stock market. Those funds also use the top 500 companies on Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, which include energy, tobacco and other such stocks. The potential conflict of investing state money in such industries could be even be more widespread in state government than just the higher education system. There also are investment pools of money in stock portfolios at the city, county and state level. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 21 BNFL SHIPMENTS CAUSING PACIFIC FURORE The Whitehaven News Thursday, February 01, 2001 WHILE Sellafield is still not back on track with its own Japanese MOX business, BNFL is attracting fresh controversy in the South Pacific over its role in transporting a shipment of mixed uranium and plutonium oxide (Mox) from France to Japan. Two BNFL ships carrying Mox fuel produced by a Belgian atomic energy group, left Cherbourg, France. last week and are expected to arrive in Japan in the second half of March. The Pacific Pintail and its escort, the Pacific Teal, are carrying armed police from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary. New Zealand ministers are lodging formal protests over the shipment with the Japanese, French and UK governments. Shipments of Mox fuel to Japan from Europe have only just re-started following a moratorium imposed last year. Japanese authorities have been wary of allowing imports of Mox since BNFL's admission in 1999 that it falsified quality data on a batch of fuel sent to Kansai Electric Power Company. Greenpeace, the environmental lobby group, said Japan was considering an alternative transport route with Russian shipping companies to transport nuclear fuel via the Northern Arctic. It claimed any such move by the Japanese would cause further commercial damage to BNFL, which last year faced record losses of £337m. BNFL said it was aware that commercial shipping companies were considering a shorter northern route as an alternative to its three existing southern routes via the Panama Canal, Cape of Good Hope and the Tasman Sea. ***************************************************************** 22 Pakistan 'needs more N-plants' Gulf News Online : Print sp;31/01/01 President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar has said Pakistan needs more than one nuclear plant to meet its energy resources. Speaking at a convocation of the country's only nuclear plant near Karachi, he said that fossil reserves of the country were limited in quantity and the potential for hydro-electric resources not fully realised. Tarar said those countries relying on nuclear energy were in the forefront of progress. Pakistan too had to rely heavily on its nuclear plant, though it produced limited quantity of power, the supplies produced by the nuclear plant at Karachi, were cheaper than that produced by hydel or gas. It was, therefore, necessary to diversify the resources of energy production he said, while distributing degrees to students graduating from the nuclear institute set up by the atomic energy commission at KanupP site. Later, the president inaugurated a new car assembly plant . This will be Pakistan's fourth auto assembly project. Three are already ; two in Karachi and one in Lahore. Speaking later at Iqra university, the president said the the present government has adopted a new education strategy which besides providing for p; level also provides for doubling the number of universities, upgrading the curriculum, improving the quality of instructions and promoting information technology. c Al Nisr Publishing LLC - Gulf News Online ***************************************************************** 23 ANGER AT VENUE The Whitehaven News Thursday, February 01, 2001 THE chairman of the Sellafield Liaison Committee has criticised plans to hold a consultation meeting about Sellafield's radioactive discharges in Manchester. Coun Dave Moore said: "Any such consultation would have been much better at Whitehaven or Cleator Moor." The G-MEX centre has been chosen by the Environment Agency for a meeting at which people can give their views on discharges of radioactive technetium 99 into the Irish Sea. The radiation from the isotope has already contaminated lobsters and shellfish in the Irish Sea. Agency spokesman Steve Broughton said some West Cumbrian parish councils had arranged meetings to discuss the topic and the public could have their say then. He said Manchester had been chosen because the issue affects all of the North West England and Irish coasts ***************************************************************** 24 Letter: KRYPTON TRAPPING PLANT WAS BUILT - Alan WHITTAKER The Whitehaven News Thursday, February 01, 2001 SIR - I was surprised to read the report in The Whitehaven News (January 25) about BNFL's statement that "To date, there is no system available or which could be developed capable of safely removing and storing Kr-85 on an industrial process scale." I fear that the company has forgotten that a krypton-85 trapping plant was actually built and installed in the first reprocessing plant (B204) at Sellafield in the early 1950s (around 1950/51). This used a cryogenic method of separation and ran successfully for several months before being shut down, presumably because the health physicists had shown that the gas had no environmental significance. The company also seems to be ignorant of the sterling work done by the Volatile Fission Product Study Group (VFPSG), a Harwell-based committee set up in the early 1970s by Sir John Hill, who at that time was a chairman of both BNFL and the Atomic Energy Authority. The committee was asked to look into industrial methods of trapping and storing volatile fission products (chiefly tritium, carbon-14, krypton-85 and iodine-129) and to carry out research on developing new methods. The committee was chaired by Dr H A Mckay, a senior research chemist at Harwell, and after he retired, by Mr M J S Smith. The committee had two representatives from Sellafield (Dr M W Wakerley and myself) and Dr Watson Clelland (the Head of Waste Management in the company) from Risley. Several papers on different ways of trapping krypton were produced, but the preferred method was the cryogenic method which uses existing technology. Subsequently detailed flowsheets and cost estimates were prepared for a full scale krypton removal plant suitable for use in future reprocessing plants such as THORP. The committee then went on to develop a novel method of storing krypton by a process known as ion-implantation. In this technique, the krypton is ionised and then bombarded by means of a strong electric field onto a metal foil resulting in the ions being implanted into the metal matrix where they are held fast. This process was fully developed in the laboratory, written up in AERE reports and was the subject of a patent. The VFPSG papers were given a wide distribution within Sellafield and Risley at the time, but most of the recipients have long since retired or have moved on to other jobs, and in all probability the papers have by now been consigned to the waste bin! Meanwhile BNFL appears to be trying to reinvent the wheel! Alan WHITTAKER Cross Lanes Seascale ***************************************************************** 25 Murkowski aide to lead energy panel February 01, 2001 BY MARY MANNING LAS VEGAS SUN A key aide to Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the senator who spearheaded efforts to send high-level nuclear waste to Nevada before government studies at Yucca Mountain have been completed, was appointed Wednesday to lead President Bush's energy policy panel. Andrew Lundquist, Murkowski's former chief of staff, has been hired as the staff director of new National Energy Policy Development Group, which Bush formed to write a comprehensive national energy plan. Lundquist, a University of Alaska, Fairbanks, graduate, was staff director of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Murkowski chairs, before becoming the senator's chief of staff. He also worked as legislative aide for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Despite Lundquist's close connection to Murkowski, his appointment did not draw criticism from Nevada's senators, who bitterly fought Murkowski's attempts to ship nuclear waste to the state. "I didn't expect President Bush to appoint a member of the Sierra Club to that position," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today. Reid noted that Lundquist brings to the panel expertise on oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other domestic sources as the United States faces an energy crisis. The nation is facing more energy problems than nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Reid said. The mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site under study as the world's first high- level radioactive waste repository for commercial and defense wastes. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he did not know Lundquist. "However, it's really no surprise that Bush would appoint Murkowski's top aide to the position," Ensign's spokeswoman Traci Scott said. Reid noted that 25 percent of Bush's energy advisory team in the White House was connected to the nuclear power industry and 75 percent of them favored disposing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Bush has stated that the decision on whether 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste will be buried at Yucca Mountain will be based on science. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 26 Campaigners fight against waste storage The Russia Journal | online A WORKER DRIVES through a potential nuclear waste storage room in New Mexico. Russia stands to earn billions of dollars by storing the world's nuclear waste, but activists haven't given p;AP] A fury of lobbying has erupted between Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry and environmental activists as the State Duma prepares for a second vote on a bill easing import restrictions for nuclear waste. The draft law, an amendment to Article 50 of the 1992 Law on Environmental Protection, was passed by the State Duma lower house of parliament in December by a vote of 319 to 39. After the February vote, it will need yet another Duma reading before it is sent to Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, for a final vote. At stake, according to officials at the Atomic Energy Ministry, or Minatom, is more than $20 billion in revenues for the storage and recycling of spent radioactive materials - funds that could be used to reenergize the sector's sagging infrastructure. But activists argue that the amendments would turn Russia into the world's largest toxic dumping ground. Moreover, they say, the influx of waste would overstress the country's decrepit transport and storage facilities, creating a potential ecological and humanitarian disaster in the waiting. "This [draft law] is just a quick and foolish way to solve some of Russia's current economic problems," said Vladimir Kuznetsov, a former employee at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant who now works as an environmental advocate. "More than 100 accidents [in the transport of radioactive materials] have happened in the United States since 1971," he said. " In Germany and Switzerland, leakage was found seeping from transport containers in 1997 and 1998 respectively. These things happened in developed countries, and Russia is even more ill-equipped to deal with them." In order to get the waste to Russia's remote storage and recycling facilities - to restricted cities including Siberia's Krasnoyarsk- 26 and Urals' Chelyabinsk-65 - containers would have to travel by aging trains that environmental advocates claim do not meet international safety standards. The situation looks even worse, they argue, when examined in light of the poor condition of Russia' s railways and their bad accident record. Activists also say there are problems with the facilities. " Chelyabinsk-65 has technologies dating back to the 1950s," said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman of the Ekozashchita environmental organization, who added that in many instances the radioactive composition of foreign waste was not compatible to local recycling technology. In addition, many of these facilities have already reached capacity, environmentalists say, with some pointing out that Krasnoyarsk' s recycling and storage plant can only accept three tons more of radioactive material before shutdown, and Moscow's Kurchatov Institute, which also receives waste, is also almost full. "What is Russia to do?" asked Slivyak. "We can' t just dump the stuff or bury it in the ground." In trying to put pressure on state officials to reject the bill, Slivyak and his advocacy group have organized protests and petitions directed at the State Duma and regional parliaments. So far, he said, 10 regional Duma meetings, including in the Sakhalin, Volgograd, Sverdlovsk, Saratov and Karelia regions, have expressed sympathy for his campaign. Meanwhile, Minatom officials have denied any dangers. "Why do these advocacy organizations blame our ministry and State Duma deputies for acting only in the interests of profit?" said Konstantin Leonov, a ministry spokesman. "Duma deputies are not incompetent, and in fact many of them have experience in the nuclear-energy sector. "For the last 50 years, not a single serious accident has occurred, " he added. The battle reached its height before the State Duma's first reading of the draft law late last year, when environmental advocates brought a petition signed by 2.5 million people demanding a referendum on the matter. Russian authorities rejected the petition on the grounds that 700,000 signatures were invalid. By VLADA MELKOVA / The Russia Journal ***************************************************************** 27 Demonstrators urge Utah to say no to nukes January 30, 2001 By Tim Sullivan OF THE RECORD STAFF If a disaster were to occur involving Utah's chemical weapons incineration industry, Park City would probably be far from ground zero. But that didn't matter to the six people who paraded down Main Street Friday to protest the storage, transport and incineration of NUCLEAR weapons within Utah's borders. In the West Desert, the protest wouldn't have had the large audience it did on Friday. "Sundance is a good time to get attention," said Brad Hash of the Summit-Wasatch Green Party, which along with Families Against Incinerator Risk (FAIR), orgainized the event. "It's a high-profile time, a good time to expose as many people as possible." Hash said that while no chemical weapons are being stored in Summit County, the area's proximity to and position downwind from the Tooele chemical weapons incinerator nonetheless presents a risk. He added that a danger exists of NUCLEAR weapons being transported through the area. Unlike the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protest a week earlier, these demonstrators were fully clothed as they marched down Main Street. In white hooded jumpsuits and gas masks, they were easy to spot amid the black-clad crowds. A Subaru adorned with a three-foot-tall mock-chemical weapons incinerator and "Stop Burning Nerve Gas" signs followed them. "People will think we're part of Outbreak II with Dustin Hoffman, " Hash joked, filling the foil-covered "incinerator" with dry ice. As he strode down the sidewalk handing out leaflets to curious bystanders, Jason Groenewold of Families Against Incinerator Risk (FAIR) told The Park Record that 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods will soon be heading out to the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation. The shipments, he said, could begin by fall of 2003, and could travel by way of Interstate 80. In addition, Groenewold said, Envirocare of Utah has applied with the state Division of Radiation Control to accept radioactive waste from power plants around the country. The waste, which would be headed to the Envirocare facility in the West Desert, said Groenewold, could be 100,000 times more toxic than that that bound for Skull Valley. "If these proposals go through," said Groenewold, "they will firmly establish Utah as the nation's toxic waste dump. It's an issue of national importance." The protesters were received well by both the public and the police, who followed the Subaru down Main Street. In addition to working on NUCLEAR waste-related issues, the SWGP has plans to throw its hat into the mix of alternative film festivals during Sundance. Hash said he would like to put together a greener, more educationally based festival of films. Not that there aren't already films at Sundance with political messages, said Hash, but "that's not what they're here to do." While as of now, the SWGP has yet to run a candidate in a local election, Hash said he sees that as a possibility down the road. ***************************************************************** 28 SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL ARRIVES IN SHIZUOKA PORT SHIZUOKA FEB. 1 KYODO - A vehicle carrying 11 tons of spent nuclear fuel to be reprocessed in Aomori Prefecture arrived in Omaezaki Port in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Thursday. The fuel from the Hamaoka plant of Chubu Electric Power Co. will leave the port immediately after it is loaded on the 4,913-ton ship Rokuei Maru, nuclear industry officials said. The ship will head for the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, after stopping at a port in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, to pick up more used nuclear fuel there, they said. A reprocessing plant is under construction in Rokkasho and its operator, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL), sponsored mainly by leading Japanese power companies, plans to start treating the cargo in July 2005. The plant is expected to accept 97 tons of spent nuclear fuel from six power plants within fiscal 2000, which will end March 31. Some 35 tons of spent nuclear fuel were shipped to Rokkasho in December and January. 2000 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. All ***************************************************************** 29 State to study cancer cases at N-waste site in Tonawanda Buffalo News - By STEPHEN WATSON News Northtowns Bureau 2/1/01 The state Department of Health is conducting a study of cancer cases in the neighborhoods around a Town of Tonawanda site where the federal government dumped radioactive waste during World War II. State health officials are studying 10 types of cancer to determine if there are cancer clusters around the former Linde Air Products site on East Park Drive. The state study will focus on the 14150 and 14217 ZIP codes. The screening study should be completed within the year, said department spokesman Joseph L. Rohm. "If we do see any unusual patterns or anything that's out of the ordinary, we will follow it up and investigate further," Rohm said. It is the only such health department study of a former Manhattan Project site in the state, he said. The department began the study in response to a request made two years ago by a group of Tonawanda residents known as For a Clean Tonawanda Site, or FACTS, Rohm said. The study is progressing more rapidly now thanks to a registry that sorts cancer cases by ZIP code, he said. FACTS members argue that residents and workers exposed to the uranium and thorium dumped at Linde, now Praxair, have suffered health problems. Residents may have suffered from exposure to radiation that was carried through the air or soaked into ground water, said Louis Ricciuti, the group's president. "The contamination does not respect fence lines, property lines, human lines," he said. And once the state's study is released, Ricciuti would like to see an expert who doesn't have government ties review the report. The Linde site is bordered on the north by Sheridan Drive and the Sheridan-Parkside housing development, on the west by Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School and on the east by a set of Conrail tracks. The site is one of a number in Western New York where waste left over from the government's effort to build an atomic bomb was buried. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent $59 million since 1999 to dig up and remove thousands of tons of soil from Linde and the nearby Ashland I and II sites. The health department study is a part of the department's cancer surveillance program and will be conducted by its Bureau of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. The department will examine 10 forms of cancer that can be caused by exposure to radiation: esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, lung, female breast, ovary, bladder, thyroid and leukemia. Department workers will review every reported case of cancer in the 14150 and 14217 ZIP codes to confirm the correct ZIP code was listed. They also want to rule out anyone who could have been stricken with the cancer elsewhere and then moved to Tonawanda, Rohm said. The department will compare the rate of cancer in the Tonawanda ZIP codes to what would normally be expected in areas of similar population, he said. "I think that there's always a concern when you're dealing with radioactive material, and I applaud the health department for performing this type of study," said Erie County Legislature Chairman Charles M. Swanick, D-Kenmore. The U.S. Department of Energy in the 1980s sought to determine if residents of the 14150 and 14217 ZIP codes were being exposed to radioactive soil removed from the Linde site. Department technicians used a specially equipped van and a helicopter to measure radiation readings to determine if any residents had taken soil from the Linde site, Swanick said. The energy department's study found no contaminated soil had been taken to the neighborhoods, he said. The health department is not studying illnesses of workers at the site who were involved in disposing of radioactive waste or who were employed by Linde in later years. Those workers would have had more direct exposure to radioactive material buried at the site. Praxair officials have said that its own health studies have found that its workers haven't experienced higher-than-normal rates of cancer that could be linked to radiation exposure. The U.S. Department of Energy has begun a program to compensate workers involved in the Manhattan Project who were exposed to radioactive materials. Swanick said that if the health department's study finds that waste dumped at the Linde site has affected residents' health, "there is certainly an issue of responsibility that needs to be addressed." ***************************************************************** 30 Senate votes down nuke storage bill January 31, 2001 CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A bill that would have allowed the taxation of nuclear waste failed after senators debated whether the proposal would have allowed nuclear waste storage in Wyoming in the first place. Senate File 108 died 17-13 on third reading Tuesday following opposition from lawmakers like Sen. April Brimmer Kunz, R-Cheyenne, who said she was concerned about what the bill meant. Bill sponsor Sen. Robert Peck, R-Riverton, said he was not asking the Senate to approve a nuclear waste dump, but "to provide a method of taxation." Peck said he "absolutely" opposed nuclear waste dumps. However, he also said Riverton's current economic vitality has links to a uranium mine opened in the early 1950s. The bill would have required those who want to store spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors to negotiate an agreement with the state Department of Revenue. The agreement would have been submitted for public review. Anything stored in a "high-level radioactive storage facility" would have been taxed. A reconsideration vote proposed by Sen. Tom Kinnison, R-Sheridan, failed 19-11. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Y-12 manager to replace some subcontractor employees Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:34 p.m. on Thursday, February 1, 2001 BY PAUL PARSON Oak Ridger staff BWXT Y-12 plans to hire workers to fill some positions at the Y-12 National Security Complex that are currently being performed by subcontractor employees. The reason, according to BWXT Y-12 spokesman Bill Wilburn, is that Y-12 has some subcontractor employees who have been on site for three years or longer, compared to the industry standard of six months to one year for subcontractor employees. In cases where longer-term on-site support is required, BWXT Y-12 plans to hire employees to fill the positions. A list of the positions BWXT Y-12 plans to fill was not unavailable this morning. Currently, BWXT Y-12 has more than 700 subcontractor employees on site, and it is estimated that only a minimal number of these will be impacted by the hiring action, according to Wilburn. "There is no specific intent to hire employees away from subcontractors, although if their employees want to apply for the advertised jobs they may do so," according to a BWXT Y-12 press statement. "No contracts will be terminated early; in some areas, additional contracts may be added." Representatives of 66 subcontractors were scheduled to meet this afternoon with Doris Heim, BWXT Y-12 Business Systems director, for a briefing on the company's hiring plans. BWXT Y-12--a partnership between Bechtel National Inc. and BWX Technologies Inc.--was awarded a five-year, $2.5 billion contract on Aug. 31 to manage and operate Y-12 for the Department of Energy. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 2 Opinion - Our View: Right decision on land, for DOE and city Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:02 p.m. on Thursday, February 1, 2001 Leah Dever, manager of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Operations office, this week made good on a promise to provide an environmental assessment conveying a 180-acre flood plain that would be part of a large-scale multi-use development. We think the move is a good one for Oak Ridge. It takes the city one step closer to development of a residential community on 1,200 acres of property now owned by the Boeing Co. but sought by a private developer for multi-use development, notably residential. That effort has been snagged by the need for the 180-acre strip of adjoining flood plain land. During a public hearing Tuesday night on the uses of land in DOE's 34,424-acre Oak Ridge Reservation, much of the attention understandably focused on this most immediate issue of the development of the Boeing property. Proponents of the ambitious development argued that Oak Ridge needs more new family housing, and needs more families and added development to bolster population and compensate for tax revenue losses. Likewise, opponents countered that the reservation needed the fullest protection from encroaching development and, besides, there is already an abundance of homes available in Oak Ridge. That kind of debate could go on forever. The market will determine housing needs locally, nothing else. Whether even incentives, unless they are big and costly, are apt to shape market forces is not entirely clear. But this much seems clear: If Oak Ridge is to have development, there must be sufficiently large tracts awaiting development. Those tracts are rare in a city whose overwhelmingly dominant tenant is the federal government. This much seems also clear: A private developer, the Oak Ridge Land Co., seeks to purchase and develop the property. It apparently does see a market there. As we have said at the outset, Leah Dever made the right decision in fulfilling a promise which makes development of this property, a virtual dot amid DOE's expansive land holdings. In doing so, she advances by a small step a shared local and federal goal of expanding the local tax base and reducing dependence locally on federal largess. There will be more hurdles, including the likelihood of a lawsuit spearheaded by an out-of-state environmental group. But our faith in the market to dictate the need for housing is matched only by our belief that local residents, by way of their elected leadership, ought to have the last word on control over local destiny, including land development. Ms. Dever's action is an important and necessary step in that right direction. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 3 Workers find leak in tank 90 GALLONS OF NUCLEAR WASTE SPILL; OFFICIALS SAY CONTAINMENT MEASURES ENSURE PUBLIC'S SAFETY Web posted Thursday, February 1, 2001 ]@ugusta Forums. Staff Writer A leak has been discovered in one of Savannah River Site's 49 tanks containing radioactive liquid waste. The leak was found Jan. 12 after an alarm alerted workers to its presence, said Dean Campbell, a spokesman for Westinghouse Savannah River Co., which operates the nuclear-weapons site for the U.S. Department of Energy. About 90 gallons spilled from the 75-foot-wide, 750,000-gallon tank, Mr. Campbell said. The half-inch-deep puddle of waste is trapped about 30 feet underground, between the carbon-steel tank - called Tank 6 - and a saucerlike steel plate beneath the vessel, the spokesman said. The tank, which dates to 1953, and the steel plate beneath it are encased in concrete, Mr. Campbell said. ``It's not a threat to the public, the employees or the environment, '' he said. ``Based on the history of the tank farm, and the surveillance and monitoring that we do, the tank is structurally stable.'' The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is monitoring the situation, a department official said. ``We'll keep an eye on this,'' said Keith Collinsworth, federal facilities liaison for the department. ``We're satisfied at this point that they have a handle on it, but we're keeping in contact with them. ``The leaks that have occurred out there have remained in the secondary containment vessels. The engineering designs are working, so that's good to hear for us.'' Tank 6 is no longer leaking because of chemicals placed inside the tank to prevent corrosion, Mr. Campbell said. ``If there is a hairline fracture or crack, the chemicals will crystallize around the fracture and in essence stop the leak,'' the spokesman said. Mr. Campbell said he did not know what radioactive materials were present in the leaked liquid. Workers are using a ventilation system around the tank to dry the puddle of waste, he said. Site officials soon will decide what to do with Tank 6, which now holds about 662,000 gallons of waste, Mr. Campbell said. They might choose to continue to use the tank, but under more stringent monitoring, he said. Nine of the site's tanks have developed leaks over the years, Mr. Campbell said, although Tank 6 has not leaked before. In each case, the leak was contained by the secondary vessel beneath the tanks, he said. The site has 51 tanks spread across its F and H areas, but two are no longer used. ***************************************************************** 4 Officials alter removal plan for plutonium WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31 07:30 AM EST By Marc Levy ,INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF Almost a year after the Air Force presented an ill-fated plan to remove 8,500 cubic yards of plutonium-tainted soil, steel and cement from missile bunker 204 at Fort Dix, military officials are developing a plan they hope will appease residents of western Ocean County. The proposal, which Army and Navy officials viewed last week in Washington for the first time, calls for trucks to move the waste across military land to a rebuilt railhead at Fort Dix or at adjacent Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Air Force officials said. The Army or Navy would need to approve any plan that used its facilities. A $6 million plan presented last year sank after the mayors of Manchester and Lakehurst objected to the military's use of railheads in their towns to load the waste from trucks onto railcars that would carry it to a storage site in Utah owned by Envirocare of Utah Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 U.S. expert says use of DU munitions a 'war crime' Gulf News Online : Print bsp;31/01/01 The man who led the U.S. army's depleted uranium (DU) assessment team in the 1991 Gulf War said yesterday that the continued use of such weapons was a "war crime" which should be stopped immediately. Speaking at a news conference at Britain's Parliament, Dr Doug Rokke, a major in the U.S. army reserves, said he told his government as far back as 1991 of the health hazards of depleted uranium, but his warnings had been consistently ignored. Rokke, 51, worked in the Gulf from November 1990 to June 1991, leading the U.S. Defence Department's DU assessment team responsible for implementing a clean-up and advising on medical care for any U.S. personnel who had been exposed to DU. "What we learned during the Gulf War and what we learned during the research scared us," Rokke said. He said that his full recommendations, detailed in a November 1995 U.S. army pamphlet entitled "Handling Procedures for Equipment Contaminated with Depleted Uranium or Other Radioactive Commodities" had not been passed on to troops or civilians on the ground during NATO's 1999 war against Yugoslavia over Kosovo. An international storm broke over the use of DU munitions in January after Italy reported that six of its soldiers who served in the Balkans had died of leukaemia. But NATO chiefs have consistently denied that there is any proof that DU munitions carry any serious health risk and have rejected calls for a moratorium on their use. Rokke said it was an "absolute lie" that troops and civilians who had been exposed to DU in the Gulf and in the Balkans had not suffered health problems. "We do have birth defects, we do have tumours, " he said. Rokke himself was diagnosed with reactive airway disease due to uranium poisoning. He accused the NATO governments of covering up health warnings about DU, and said their insistence that the weapons would continue to be used raised serious "moral and ethical" as well as medical issues. "When you deliberately and wilfully take radioactive waste...and throw it down in place in the world where children can pick it up and be exposed to it...that's a crime against humanity and it is a war crime," he said. He also reacted angrily to comments by German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping, who said on Saturday that fears about radiation from DU weapons were being whipped up by opponents of the Kosovo war. "I'm going to make this loud and clear," Rokke said. "The individuals who started the warnings on depleted uranium hazards...were the U.S. army's experts - myself and my team members who were tasked with cleaning up after the Gulf War." British member of parliament Alice Mahon, speaking at the same news conference, called on the British government to ban the use of DU munitions and fund a full and independent study into the risks. "An epidemiological study and urine analysis for depleted uranium will take some time," she said. "Meanwhile the government should ipose a complete moratorium on the production and use of DU shells." c Al Nisr Publishing LLC - Gulf News Online ***************************************************************** 6 EPA STUDYING SITE WHERE DEPLETED URANIUM BURIED BY ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1/31/2001 17:52 CONCORD, Mass. (AP) The Environmental Protection Agency will study two areas at the Starmet Corp. where drums of toxic waste may be buried, the agency announced Wednesday. Tests by Starmet, formerly known as Nuclear Metals Inc., indicated the barrels may be buried near a holding basin and in a former landfill at the site. The EPA will perform more extensive tests of the area and use ground penetrating radar to try and locate any barrels. If it finds any, it will test the surrounding soil, as well as the contents of the drums, the agency said. Radiation tests on the soil where the EPA plans to dig show no unsafe levels of radiation, Tom Hatzopolous, the EPA's on-scene coordinator, said in a press release. ''We plan on conducting continuous radiation surveys as we work and will be taking every precaution since Starmet is an operating facility and we do not want to expose anyone to radiation,'' he said. Starmet made bullets using depleted uranium for the military until 1999. Starmet estimated the cost of the cleanup at $18 million, and possibly as much as $50 million. Boston Globe Online: ***************************************************************** 7 U.S. Must Prepare for 'Catastrophic' Attack-Study Updated 4:36 PM ET January 31, 2001 By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan U.S. study group on Wednesday proposed major government changes to meet the threat of a "catastrophic attack" in the United States because of the spread of unconventional arms, international terrorism and cyber warfare. Saying a direct strike against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil was likely over the next 25 years, the group found that "in the face of this threat, our nation has no coherent or integrated government structures" to prevent such an incident or cope with one when it occurs. It also concluded that a dangerous decline in funding for scientific research and the quality of American education poses a "greater threat to U.S. national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war." The group--the Commission on National Security/21st Century-- said if the government fails to reform its structure and processes, the United States "will lose its capacity to shape history and will instead be shaped by it." "We decided that the most serious problem this nation faces isn't China or North Korea. It's right here at home," said retired Gen. Charles Boyd, executive director for the congressionally-funded study. The panel was co-chaired by two former senators, Republican Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and Democrat Gary Hart of Colorado. Over two years, it undertook the most comprehensive review of U.S. national security in more than half a century. DRAMATIC ACTION NEEDED "We believe dramatic action must be taken by this government immediately" to address the problems highlighted in the report, Hart told a news conference. Rudman called the recommendations "pragmatic and bold" but others viewed some of the proposals as radical. A copy of the study was sent to President George W. Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and the panel planned to brief Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday. But congressional action is also needed if major changes are to be enacted. Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on "emerging threats," agreed with the commission that the country is not prepared to defend itself against an attack on U.S. soil. The Senate accepts change only slowly but "we have a moral responsibility to take required action" to provide adequate security and this report will serve as a catalyst, he said. In its report, the commission proposed the creation of a new independent National Homeland Security Agency, whose director would be a member of the president's cabinet. The agency would integrate responsibilities now belonging to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Customs Service and the Border Patrol. Rep. Mac Thornbery, a Texas Republican, announced he would soon introduce legislation to carry out this recommendation. Also, the panel urged that the National Guard "be given homeland security as its primary mission, as the U.S. Constitution itself ordains." Americans have long viewed themselves as reasonably protected from violent conflict. World Wars I and II, except for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were fought far from U.S. shores. Until the end of the Cold War in 1991, the main threat was from Soviet nuclear weapons, which the United States spent trillions of dollars to counter. But that threat has abated. Now, the panel concluded, the United States needs to mount a "homeland defense"--an idea that is gaining currency as the United States sees its territory as increasingly vulnerable to unconventional attacks, such as biological weapons, cyber warfare or nuclear material smuggled in a suitcase. SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHERS NEEDED In warning that a decline in America's science and math capabilities is a threat greater than convention war, the commission used unusually stark language to highlight what has been a growing concern. "If we do not invest heavily and wisely in rebuilding these two core strengths, American will be incapable of maintaining its global position long into the 21st Century," it warned. The federal scientific research and development budget should be doubled and more funding is also needed to boost the number of science and math teachers, it said. The commission further determined that Washington lacks an overarching strategic framework to guide national security policymaking and the allocation of related resources. "Clear goals and priorities are rarely set. Budgets are prepared and appropriated as they were during the Cold War," it said. The commission found that the State Department, in particular, was a "crippled institution (with an) ineffective organizational structure ... in which sound management, accountability and leadership are lacking." It proposed a sweeping reorganization of the department and said the Defense Department also needed to be overhauled. c2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and c2001 At Home Corporation. All rights reserved. Excite, @Home, ***************************************************************** 8 Argonne Develops Anti-Terrorist Nuke Fuel Office.com: Argonne Develops Anti-Terrorist Nuke Fuel The low-enrichment uranium can't easily be converted into a nuclear bomb. By Kristine Hansen for Office.com Jan. 30, 2001 - Argonne National Laboratory is developing a new nuclear fuel for research reactors that the lab's scientists claim will reduce the risk that terrorists who might steal the fuel would be able to convert it into a nuclear bomb. The lab, based in Argonne, Ill., and run by the University of Chicago for the Department of Energy, has finished irradiating small samples of the fuel and plans to test it in Europe this year. According to Argonne, about 250 test reactors in 57 countries perform research that is useful to a wide variety of industries, including waste disposal, medicine, energy and agriculture. For example, the reactors provide neutrons for cancer therapy and help locate defects in metals and engines for the auto industry. The problem is that half of these reactors run on highly enriched uranium fuel, which contains 20 percent or more of the compound known as uranium-235. This highly enriched fuel also is a major component of nuclear bombs. Anyone who steals uranium-235 would have one of the raw materials needed to make a bomb. Argonne's new fuel is a low-enrichment fuel that blocks conversion into weapons because it contains low levels of uranium-235, and it also absorbs neutrons instead of splitting them, said Armando Travelli, director of Argonne's reduced enrichment for research and test-reactor program. "THE MAIN PURPOSE OF OUR WORK IS TO AVOID NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION ... TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM MANUFACTURING NUCLEAR WEAPONS." - Armando Travelli, program director bsp; "The main purpose of our work is to avoid nuclear proliferation ... to prevent people from manufacturing nuclear weapons," Travelli said. The low-enrichment fuel could help prevent scary terrorism scenarios from rippling around the globe. In 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered his scientists to build a nuclear weapon using uranium-235 obtained from two research reactors that Iraq had operated. Details of the potential disaster were revealed to the United States when two generals escaped from Iraq and started talking. "By combining the uranium that could be extracted from the fuel from both the reactors, they could have made a nuclear weapon," Travelli said. "Thank God it took them too long and they couldn't do it." "(Travelli's work) holds out the hope that, in a very short time, all reactors used for research would have the effect of eliminating bomb-grade uranium," said Paul Leventhal, president of the D.C.-based Nuclear Control Institute. "It shows how the atom-bomb material can be removed from commerce if there's a willingness on the part of the plant owners to do so." RELATED LINKS It's still unclear how useful the new fuel will be in the utility industry because many nuclear-plant operators already use low-enrichment nuclear fuel. "What Travelli's program is doing is developing a low-enrichment uranium fuel that is comparable to what utilities now use," Leventhal said. Copyright c 1999-2001 Office.com Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 U.N. Doesn't Find Uranium-Ill Link February 01, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP)--Scientific studies have not proven a link between exposure to depleted uranium used in NATO weapons and the onset of cancer or other illnesses, a team of U.N. experts said Thursday. The four-member team of experts from the World Health Organization traveled to the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo after reports that soldiers serving with NATO-led peacekeepers in the Balkans had become ill. The former top U.N. administrator in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, requested the study. NATO's use of ammunition containing armor-piercing depleted uranium in bombing campaigns in Bosnia in 1995 and in Yugoslavia in 1999 has sparked fear across Europe that it may have caused serious illnesses in peacekeeping troops. NATO has repeatedly denied that the ammunition could cause cancer or other ailments. The WHO team told reporters in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, that they found no firm evidence "to link individual medical cases in Kosovo to exposure to depleted uranium." They acknowledged, however, that much more analysis was needed. The team looked at data from hospitals and spoke with local groups and non-governmental organizations working on the issue in Kosovo. They also traveled to a handful of sites throughout the province where such ammunition was used, but did not say how many sites were checked or exactly where they were. The team also concluded that currently the greater danger to health in Kosovo comes from exposure to other pollutants such as lead in the air and from an alarmingly high rate of traffic-related deaths. The team's final report will be released at WHO headquarters next week. So far neither German nor Portuguese experts have found enhanced levels of radiation or any link of the ammunition to diseases. Also Thursday, some 40 Italian experts started checking Italian peacekeepers stationed in Bosnia and their quarters for possible health hazards related to depleted uranium. The experts from the Institute for Radiobiology in Rome, hired by the Italian military, started working in two groups, said Lt. Colonel Claudio Linda, a spokesman for the 1,600-strong Italian contingent. One group was to perform medical checks on troops while the other was measuring the level of radiation in the facilities they use. No danger of radioactivity was found in five locations inspected earlier in the day, Linda said. He did not say how long the probe would take. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 10 DU MUNITIONS COULD PROVE HAZARDOUS TO NATO CNSNews.com By Lawrence Morahan CNS Senior Staff Writer February 01, 2001 THE PENTAGON (CNSNEWS.COM) - A recent resolution passed by the European Parliament calling for a ban on the use of depleted uranium could pressure the United States and its NATO partners to support a moratorium on the deployment of DU munitions. The non-binding resolution also could give credence to claims, widely believed but as yet not substantiated scientifically, that incidences of cancer and other illnesses among soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the Balkans may have been caused by exposure to DU, which is mainly used in armor-piercing shells. "This is a very big issue now in Europe," said Peter Weiss, president of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy, a legal group based in New York that promotes nuclear disarmament. "And it's being pursued by the governments themselves and not just a few individuals who might be called crackpots," he added. Seven Italian veterans of Bosnia, five Belgians and six other European nationals died from illnesses that were not combat-related after serving in the Balkans. Some of the deaths resulted from leukemia, which is widely believed to have been caused by exposure to DU munitions in NATO arsenals. The Pentagon has said U.S. forces fired 10,000 rounds of DU-tipped shells at Serb targets in Bosnia in 1995 and 30,000 rounds were used in the 1999 Kosovo campaign. Most of the ammunition was fired at Serb tank positions by A-10 "Warthog" jets. Citing studies, the Pentagon has maintained there is no evidence to suggest that exposure to DU munitions causes cancer. But the growing criticism of DU munitions could eventually have serious political repercussions for NATO, and particularly for the United States. "Because of the massive amounts of new information that is coming out in the last couple of months, and the interest that European governments are showing in the case, I think it's more than likely that our government - and the European governments that have been using DU - will have to render some kind of reliable account to the public, which I assume will include eventual compensation for the identified victims," Weiss said. Depleted uranium gets its name from a manufacturing process that separates various grades of uranium ore. The nuclear industry extracts high- yield uranium from uranium ore to make enriched raw material for nuclear fuel. What is left behind is called "depleted uranium," and possesses 60 percent of the radioactivity of natural uranium, which is itself not very radioactive. But critics say that comparing one grade of uranium with another is like comparing the toxic content of different brands of cigarettes. "It's inherently difficult to accept the notion that depleted uranium is wholly devoid of the radioactive effects of uranium. If it's totally depleted, why would it be called uranium?" Weiss said. Glenn Bell, a machinist for 30 years at the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn. suffers from chronic beryllium disease, which he believes he contacted from exposure to depleted uranium at his job. Alink eventually will be made between depleted uranium and the symptoms suffered by troops and civilians who were exposed to these materials, he said in a phone interview. "We work on the assumption that no level of exposure to uranium is safe," Bell said. Bell distrusts studies that were conducted on DU over the years, reflecting a suspicion of official agencies held by thousands of workers involved in the mining, processing and milling of uranium ore. "They sit on information a lot, and by 'they' I mean the government and the contractors. We as workers are saying there is no safe level of exposure," Bell said. One problem is that the government and contractors conduct studies on DU "that are designed to be inconclusive. They'll put a lot of effort into a study that's designed not to go anywhere. We've seen that quite a bit," Bell said. But an ongoing study into 60 U.S. soldiers who were victims of friendly fire involving DU munitions also has failed to identify a cancer risk. Particular attention is being paid to 15 soldiers who still have fragments of depleted uranium in their bodies. So far, none has developed cancer, and after 10 years of study, virtually all experts on Gulf War syndrome have ruled out depleted uranium as a cause. The Defense Department also has found no link between DU munitions and cancer. In response to reporters' questions at a press briefing Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley reiterated that studies conducted by the Pentagon and others "do not show a correlation between depleted uranium and elevated or adverse effects on an individual's health, or significant adverse effects on the environment." ***************************************************************** 11 Small amount of plutonium found in forest FOREIGN SMUGGLERS SUSPECTED By Stavros Tzimas & Thanassis Tsigganas Kathimerini THESSALONIKI - A small quantity of the highly radioactive elements plutonium and americium has been discovered in a forest in northern Greece, the Hellenic Atomic Energy Committee announced yesterday. All indications are that the material was smuggled in from the former Soviet Union and officials speculated last night that it may have been destined for the Middle East and terrorist organizations. Plutonium is used in nuclear weapons and is considered highly dangerous even in tiny quantities, because of its radioactivity. Americium is not fissionable and is usually used in lightning rods and smoke detectors. A Finance Ministry official said the material was discovered during a search for contraband cigarettes smuggled by Bulgarian gangsters. He said only foreigners were involved in the racket. He did not say why there had been no arrests nor why the issue had been made public yesterday, before the investigation had ended, as he said. A senior police officer denied rumors last night that Finance Ministry officials had made some arrests. The radioactive material was found on Saturday in about 500 metal plates that were buried in a metal box in a forest at Asvestochori near Thessaloniki. Police and Finance Ministry officials placed the area under surveillance before calling in scientists from the Democritos atomic energy center in Athens. The scientists said that the stakeout should end and on Sunday a specially reinforced vehicle was used to transport the material to Athens where it was stored in a safe place. There was speculation last night that the plutonium and americium was on its way to Arab countries and terrorist organizations. "In our country there are no possible recipients for the radioactive material, Costas Papastefanou, professor of nuclear physics at Thessaloniki University, told Kathimerini. He said it was most likely the material had come from Russia or another former Soviet state and was headed elsewhere, with Greece serving as a crossroads for smugglers. Papastefanou said that a gram of plutonium costs $30,000 but can reach up to $50,000 on the black market. "Three grams are not considered a viable quantity," he said. [U.S. government estimates say that nine kilograms of plutonium are used in a bomb, The Associated Press reported.] department. ©1999-2000 IHT-KATHIMERINI English Edition. All ***************************************************************** 12 Ministers join demo The Scotsman Online - Scotland's best selling quality national newspaper THIRTY leading ministers and priests have said they are prepared to be arrested as part of a blockade of the Trident submarine base on the Clyde. The protest, which aims to close the Faslane base on 12 February, is expected to attract 1,400 people. Leaders of Scotland's major churches will hold a service outside the base to emphasise their opposition to nuclear weapons. At least nine MSPs are also due to join the demonstration. Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist Party leader, is expected to be joined by Robin Harper, a Green MSP, and Caroline Lucas, one of the party's English Euro MPs, in being prepared to be arrested. Mr Sheridan spent five days in jail last month after refusing to pay a fine following his arrest at the base last February. Yesterday he said he would do the same again. Other MSPs expected to take part include Labour backbencher John McAllion, independent Dennis Canavan, and Nicola Sturgeon, Sandra White, Bruce Crawford, Dorothy Grace-Elder and Fiona Hyslop from the Scottish National Party. The service will be led by the Rt Rev Andrew McLellan, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Most Rev Bruce Cameron, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and representatives of the Catholic and other churches, and the Salvation Army. Clerics willing to risk arrest are among 50 due to join the protest, who also include the Rev Norman Shanks, leader of the Iona Community, and the Rev Dr Kevin Franz, convener of Action of Churches Together in Scotland. The protest, which is being organised by the Trident Ploughshares and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, is due to start at 7am to coincide with a shift change at the submarine base, near Helensburgh. Demonstrators, who are expected to include people from Ireland, Belgium and Denmark, will link arms and sit across the two entrances to the submarine base, near Helensburgh, to prevent vehicles entering or leaving. Those willing to be arrested include the Rev Alan McDonald, convener of the Church of Scotland's Church and Nation committee. He said: "The General Assembly has a clear and consistent position that nuclear weapons are morally and theologically wrong. While I have never been arrested before, sometimes you have to be prepared to stand up for what you believe." Another, the Very Rev Griff Dines, the Scottish Episcopal Church's Provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, said: "The churches have been quite clear that the use of nuclear weapons is morally indefensible and it is important to make that point as forcibly as possible." Father Gilbert Markus, the Catholic chaplain at Strathclyde University, who will follow suit, said nuclear weapons violated the immunity that non-combatants should enjoy in war. Father Markus, who has been convicted of offences during protests in England against Cruise missiles, said: "This seems to be a rational and considered movement to persuade the Government to obey international law." Mr Sheridan called on the police to uphold the law in an even-handed way and recognise that protesters would be attempting to uphold international law. He said: "The time for talk is over and action is now required but we will act in a non-violent manner to oppose nuclear weapons." Mr Harper, a veteran of anti-nuclear marches in the 1950s and 60s, said: "Britain needs to set an example. The fact that we continue to possess such weapons only encourages other relatively small countries to acquire them." ***************************************************************** 13 Again 'no evidence' of uranium cancer BBC News | EUROPE | Thursday, 1 February, 2001, 13:23 GMT A team of international experts in Kosovo says it has found no evidence linking cases of cancer with the use of depleted uranium weapons. The team from the World Health Organisation examined illness among civilians in Kosovo who may have been in contact with debris from depleted uranium shells, which were used by NATO forces to pierce heavy armour. The finding supports NATO, which insisted the shells weren't linked with cancer despite cases among peacekeeping troops who may have been in contact with the weapons in the Balkans, and earlier in Iraq. Some NATO countries have been demanding a temporary ban on using the shells pending further research. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service 3) { ***************************************************************** 14 France Finds No Link Between DU and Leukemia Cases XINHUA NEWS AGENCY Story Filed: Thursday, February 01, 2001 8:22 AM EST PARIS (Feb. 1) XINHUA - France said on Thursday that it has found no "direct and incontestable" link of cause of effect between depleted uranium (DU) used by NATO and six leukemia cases found among French soldiers back from the Balkans. The spokesman of the French Defense Ministry Jean-Francois Bureau said that the result of the research conducted by French scientists on the possible link between DU and the leukemia cases is "negative." He showed to the press the results of the research on the isotopic make-up of uranium in the ammunitions of the French army and the result of epidemiological tests on the six French soldiers suffering from leukemia. Some European member countries of NATO have expressed suspicion that some cases of cancer and leukemia found among soldiers back from the Balkans could have been caused by radiation from DU used by NATO in Bosnia and Kosovo. Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY ***************************************************************** 15 Italy Reveals Two More Cases of Depleted Uranium XINHUA NEWS AGENCY Story Filed: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 8:52 PM EST ROME (Jan. 31) XINHUA - The head of an Italian association of relatives of people who died in the armed forces said Wednesday that Italian authorities should consider two more cases possibly linked to the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. Falco Accame, a well-known campaigner for soldiers' rights and military reform, said the cases indicated a Lower House inquiry into DU should be extended from Bosnia and Kosovo to the 1991 Gulf War and the 1992- 94 Somalia peacekeeping mission, Restore Hope. Accame identified the DU victims as U.P., a Verona helicopter crew member who died of lung cancer in 1999, six years after a seven-month stint in Somalia, and Vito Moramarco from Bari, a sailor who has been suffering from leukemia ever since he served in the Gulf War. Also on Wednesday the Italian Ministry of Defense denied Accame's claim that the commission of inquiry had asked for three years to try to establish a link between DU and the soldiers' illnesses. Italy is investigating eight deaths and around 30 cases of cancer and leukemia among peacekeepers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo. NATO, which has denied any link between DU and cancer, fired 11, 000 rounds of depleted uranium armor-piercing projectiles in Bosnia, almost three times the number fired in Kosovo. Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY ***************************************************************** 16 HIROSHIMA PEACE STONE GIVEN TO COSTA RICA Welcome to The Japan Times online February 1, 2001 SAN JOSE (Kyodo) A Hiroshima-based civic group on Tuesday presented a peace stone to Costa Rica. The granite, carved with images meant to highlight the importance of peace to the world, was taken from a location 200 meters from the hypocenter of the atomic bomb blast in August 1945. It was presented by the "Hiroshima Inori no Ishi no Kai" group to Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez. In an address at the ceremony held in the Costa Rican capital, Rodriguez referred to the stone as a "symbol of the value of peace" and said his country would use the occasion to review its efforts toward peace. Michio Umemoto, who heads the group, said the stone serves as "evidence of the importance of peace." It is estimated to be 50 kg and measures some 50 cm on each side. The group presents different stones from the atomic bomb site, all carved with images such as a girl praying for peace, to various countries around the world. According to the organizers, 90 countries have so far expressed a desire to receive the stones. THE JAPAN TIMES: FEB. 1, 2001 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 17 Remembering the Downwinder Thursday, February 01, 2001 DESERET NEWS EDITORIAL It's been 50 years since the United States government initiated open-air tests of nuclear weapons at the Nevada test site. The health histories of people who lived and worked downwind of the test site and uranium miners who extracted the radioactive element from the earth are now well documented. Many suffered cancer and other maladies as a result of their exposure to open-air tests and uranium. Although the federal government knew of many of the risks, the people now known as Downwinders, and the uranium miners, were not warned of the possible dangers. The Utah Legislature's recent observance of this unfortunate page in this nation's history through a resolution calling for a day of remembrance is most appropriate. Utah must remember the sacrifices of these accidental patriots who played a role in this nation's defense during the Cold War era. The difference was, these men and women had no idea that their health could be compromised by the tests or by mining for a heavy metal used to fuel weapons of destruction. Their sacrifices should be duly noted so that future generations do not repeat them. The "Resolution for a Day of Remembrance" expresses hope for peace, justice, healing, reconciliation and the "fervent desire and commitment to assure that such a legacy will never be repeated." These are important sentiments, which should be commemorated in the form of a resolution. While a resolution does not carry the heft of reparations, which was made possible through federal legislation that was spurred by the reporting of Deseret News Washington correspondent Lee Davidson and several other staffers over the years, it is an important acknowledgement of the sacrifices of ordinary citizens who became "active participants" in the nation's nuclear testing program. c 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 18 Lab Releases Radioactive Material January 31, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP)--A small amount of radioactive material was accidentally released Wednesday morning at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, but was not dangerous, the lab said. The amount of tritium, which is used in nuclear weapons and fusion research, was small enough to present no danger to nearby workers or the public, the lab said. The material is widely used to light exit signs in buildings, and even a sheet of paper can shield a person from exposure, authorities said. Cylinders containing tritium gas were being packaged when the valve fitting on one cylinder apparently failed and triggered monitors inside the facility. A worker present in the packaging room was exposed to less than one five-thousandth of the allowable annual exposure limit, the lab said. Tritium emits low-energy beta radioactivity, and can be used in medical diagnostic tracers and for radio-therapeutic treatments. w2590wstm- r i BC-Australia-FordUpgrade 1stLd-Writethru 01-31 0256 EURO,BRIT,SCAN,ENGL,ASIA BC-Australia-Ford Upgrade, 1st Ld-Writethru Ford denies plant upgrade to increase engine production Eds:UPDATES throughout with Ford denying expansion plans SYDNEY, Australia (AP)- The Ford Motor Company denied Thursday a report that it is planning a 650 million Australian dollar (dlrs 357 million) expansion in engine production in Australia. The Australian newspaper reported Thursday that the investment at Ford's Geelong plant in Victoria state would expand its capacity to 300,000 low emission alloy V6 engines a year. The report said one-third of the plant's output would power the next generation Falcon, to be launched in 2006. About 200,000 engines would be for export from 2004. The Australian said Ford Australia is waiting for the expansion plans to be approved by its head office in the United States. Ford Australia may also seek state government assistance to help fund the investment, the newspaper said. A Victorian government source speaking on condition of anonymity was quoted as saying the government was aware of the proposal, but had not yet been approached by Ford for money. However, Ford Australia on Thursday said the report was false. "That is entire speculation and there is no basis of truth in it, " Ford spokesman Mike Jarvis told The Associated Press. The Australian said if Ford goes ahead with the engine proposal, the company will join the Australian arm of carmakers Mitsubishi, Holden and Toyota in export pushes. (et/ren) ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 19 Magazine wisecrack prompts INEEL to analyze snow January 31, 2001 IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) - A tongue-in-cheek blurb in a national skiing magazine has upset Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory officials. Porter Fox, a Powder magazine editor, wrote in a recent issue that INEEL radioactivity has made the Grand Tetons glow so bright that backcountry skiers do not need headlamps. Fox is a former Jackson, Wyo., resident. The article largely describes the successful efforts of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free to block a proposed incinerator at the INEEL. The report also spotlights the Jackson group's contention that range fires from this summer may have widely deposited radioactivity and that other sources of air pollution are not properly monitored. "It was so hyperbolic that I have a hard time seeing where the criticism lies," said Erik Ringelberg, Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free's executive director, who was quoted in the story. "His audience is the extreme snowboarder and extreme skier. It's not a technical journal or a legal argument, and he wrote in a pretty wide-open way." But INEEL officials take issue with Fox's facts and say they now plan to analyze snow from Grand Targhee Ski and Summer Resort in northwest Wyoming for radioactive elements. Researcher Mike Abbott will head the project. "I've been at this long enough to know if you don't have data, you get beat up," he said. "We're not worried about plutonium ... but if we can do it, and it doesn't cost taxpayers a lot of money, let's do it." Nick Nichols with the INEEL's public affairs office called Fox's article baseless, irresponsible and potentially damaging to businesses that rely on winter visitors. Nichols has written a letter to the editor of Powder magazine. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************