***************************************************************** 09/02/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.211 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Thailand - Radiation Leak 2 USEC, union workers at Paducah sign tentative agreement 3 The Environment Agency has decided to approve waste disposal 4 Columnist Jeff German: Nevadans dig in for Yucca war 5 Where I Stand -- Classic Hank: Yucca dump could destroy state 6 Reid works the system to success in Senate 7 Extension on Yucca Mountain hearing sought 8 Upstate wells show elevated uranium levels 9 Casks arrive at nuclear plant, but storage dispute goes on 10 UCS -- NRC Ignores Widespread Safety Flaw for Decade: Two-thirds 11 Nuke train schedule won't be made public 12 Federal Register Notice Too Little Too Late 13 Upfront 3, On nuclear waste, fires and refunds 14 In the Middle - Uncertainty clouds plant's future 15 BNFL division sale could strangle privatisation 16 From Sellafield to sell a reactor 17 The curse of Dounreay 18 Chernobyl victim not recognised 19 Scuffle Threatens to Push Goshutes Deeper Into Divisive Power 20 NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY: Abraham asked to attend... 21 Nonexistent address for hearing published 22 Nuclear waste trains set to go twice safe limit NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Opportunity Missed To Extend New Zealand's Nuclear Free Zone 2 17% of British Gulf War veterans believe they are sick 3 U.S. to Tell China It Will Not Object to Missile Buildup 4 Hanford paintings headed for display in D.C. 5 CE to attend UN moot on children 6 Baby bones used in nuclear test study 7 'Kursk Salvage is an Adventurist Scam' ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Thailand - Radiation Leak August 29, 2001 Cobalt-60 victims stage protest to demand state compensation Seeking B4.7m from emergency budget Anjira Assavanonda Victims of last year's cobalt 60 radiation leak rallied in front of Government House yesterday to demand urgent help. The state had not done enough since the incident in February last year, they said. Victims who were directly exposed to the leak, particularly the scrap collectors, were still ill and some were getting worse. They were weak and short of energy. Some had burns which refused to heal and others had lost limbs. Jitsen Chantarasakha, a collector who at first lost a few fingers to radiation burns, now has no fingers left. He did not turn up at Government House yesterday amid worsening physical and mental health. Mr Jitsen was hit by a car last week while he tried to resume work. The other two collectors, Sonthaya Sapathum, who earlier suffered burns on his hands, and Boonthueng Sila, who had injured legs, have lost another finger each. Sonthaya said he had already gone back to work, but poor health had become a big obstacle and he could not earn more than 200 baht a day. ``That is not enough to feed my family. It's really hard for us. Our electricity and water were cut off last week as we don't have enough to pay the bills,'' said Mr Sonthaya. In a petition to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the victims demanded 4.7 million baht from an Interior Ministry emergency budget to alleviate hardship from disasters. Ida Aroonwongse, of the Alternative Energy Project for Sustainability, who headed the protest, said the money would help ease their plight while lawsuits were pending in court. The group has filed papers against Kamol Sukosol Electric Co, owner of the cobalt-60 container which was broken open, demanding 109 million baht compensation. They filed another complaint with the Administrative Court, accusing the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace of negligence, and demanding 94 million baht. Ms Ida said it was uncertain how long it would take for victims to get compensation. The group also want faster progress on special medical cards which have yet to be issued, a new follow-up committee on treatment, and unconditional compensation from the Social Security Office to the family of Niphon Phankhan, the scrap-shop employee who died from radiation injuries. Joining the victims yesterday was a group of villagers from Ongkharak district in Nakhon Nayok province, who came to protest against plans to build a nuclear reactor in their neighbourhood. © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. ***************************************************************** 2 USEC, union workers at Paducah sign tentative agreement Messenger-Inquirer: News 31 August 2001 Associated Press PADUCAH, Ky. -- U.S. Enrichment Corp. and union workers at the nation's only uranium enrichment plant have signed a short-term labor agreement that calls for no strikes or layoffs of hourly workers at the plant -- at least until mid-November. The agreement also gives the plant's 700 hourly workers a 4 percent hourly wage increase retroactive to July 31 when the former five-year contract expired. The hope is that by Nov. 15, USEC and members of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers union will have signed a permanent contract. "We see this as a turning point for a new relationship with the union in which we can work together to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the plant," said USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle. The company pledged to have a contract proposal between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15 for the union to accept or reject, said David Fuller, president of the local PACE. "They're obviously interested in innovative and moneysaving ideas within the plant itself," Fuller said. "I think they hope to establish a new relationship whereby there's more of a partnering atmosphere and attempting to look for new ways of doing business that would be more advantageous to the plant as a whole." The two sides had been deadlocked since Aug. 2 when the union soundly rejected USEC's contract offer. After resuming for a day, negotiations broke off for three weeks until Wednesday. Primarily, the union workers opposed language in the contract that it would expire after a year if USEC was not able to meet the terms it wanted regarding the purchase of Russian uranium. Stuckle and Fuller said the Russian issue was not a part of the agreement reached Wednesday, but Fuller said the extension gives USEC time to learn more about the federal government's stance on the purchase of Russian uranium. Both sides hope by September, the Bush administration will finish reviewing whether the Paducah plant should remain in business and if USEC should continue being sole agent for the purchase of Russian uranium. ©2000 Messenger-Inquire ***************************************************************** 3 The Environment Agency has decided to approve waste disposal from nine nuclear facilities Following public consultation, the Environment Agency has published its recommendations to largely approve British Nuclear Fuel’s (BNFL’s) application for permission to dispose of waste from eight Magnox nuclear power stations around the UK, and from the research and technology facility at Berkeley Centre. In January 1998, BNFL submitted applications to the Environment Agency for the authorisation of each of nine sites for the discharge of gaseous and liquid radioactive wastes and to transfer solid low level radioactive wastes for disposal. For some of the sites, the company also applied to dispose of low level radioactive combustible solid and liquid wastes by incineration either on or off site. The Agency’s recommendations include: + the introduction of a single integrated authorisation for each site, including new conditions on management competence and supervision; + the reduction of forty-five out of fifty-eight existing limits on discharges, leaving eleven as at present, and increasing two; and + improvement programmes requiring BNFL to explore the scope for future reductions in discharges. “The Environment Agency held a wide-ranging public consultation to assist its decision-making on BNFL’s applications,” said Environment Agency Chief Executive Barbara Young. “Indeed, we received nearly 3,000 consultation responses, all of which we have carefully considered and taken into account in reaching our recommendations and proposed decisions.” “I am confident that our proposed authorisations will properly protect the public and the environment,” said Young. “The new approach, involving a single integrated authorisation for each site, applies the Agency’s latest regulatory thinking. It will facilitate closer regulatory scrutiny of BNFL’s management competence and supervision, will put increased pressure on the company to reduce emissions and will ensure that best practice is applied at every site.” The recommendations will now be considered by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Margaret Beckett, the Secretary of State for Health Alan Milburn, and the Environment Minister of the National Assembly for Wales Sue Essex, who will decide whether or not to hold a public enquiry. The Magnox nuclear power stations which are included in the decision document are: Bradwell Power Station, in Essex; Dungeness A Power Station, in Kent; Oldbury Power Station, in South Gloucestershire; Sizewell A Power Station, in Suffolk; and Wylfa Power Station, on Anglesey. Berkeley Power Station, in Gloucestershire, and Trawsfynydd Power Station, in Gweynedd, which are both decommissioning, are also included, as is Hinkley Point A Power Station, in Somerset, which is currently defuelling prior to decommissioning. At the beginning of August, the Environment Agency also announced that it is to change the way that it regulates waste disposal from BNFL’s Sellafield site, a scheme which is expected to cut radioactive emissions by around a quarter (see related story). © Faversham House Group Ltd 2001. ***************************************************************** 4 Columnist Jeff German: Nevadans dig in for Yucca war Las Vegas SUN August 31, 2001 Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com. NEVADA LEADERS have been waging a political war in the trenches this past week to put off key hearings on the safety of Yucca Mountain. Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., the rest of Nevada's congressional delegation and Gov. Kenny Guinn have been bombarding Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and his minions with letters all week hoping to find an opening to force a delay in the hearings. Their well-coordinated campaign, however, has fallen short. Undaunted by the rhetorical blitz, the Department of Energy is moving ahead with the hearings, which begin Wednesday in Las Vegas inside the barbed-wire confines of the Nuclear Security Administration building in North Las Vegas. The hearings are regarded as the first step in what is expected to be Abraham's decision later this year to declare Yucca Mountain suitable to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste now being kept at power plants across the country. Abraham is likely to make his recommendation despite polls that show 80 percent of Nevadans believe the $58 billion Yucca Mountain project, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will never be safe. The overwhelming public opposition has kept alive the fighting spirit of Nevada's leaders in the trenches. "We're digging in," says Reid's press secretary, Nathan Naylor. "They're going to have to fight tooth and nail to get past us." Reid and company now have set their sights directly on Abraham. Their goal is to pressure the energy secretary into flying here from Washington to face his enemies at Wednesday's hearing. Protestors from national environmental and public interest groups are expected to be on hand to support Nevada's cause. Things could get ugly. "There is nothing more important to his job than Yucca Mountain, which is one of the largest and costliest public works projects ever," Naylor says. "What else does he have on his plate?" With barbs flying all around, Abraham's DOE has been plotting its own wartime strategy. It scheduled Wednesday's gathering, for example, on the very day that Reid, the Senate's No. 2 man, and his Nevada colleagues were to be back on Capitol Hill for the start of the fall session. How transparent was that? Delegation members now must address the hearing from afar, through a video hookup in Washington. The nuclear industry, meanwhile, also has been getting battle-ready for Wednesday. In an Aug. 21 letter to power company executives, Joe Colvin, the executive director of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's high-powered Washington lobby, says he has been arranging for pro-dump speakers to participate in the hearing. "It is critical that NEI members and other interested parties, including local and state officials and members of Congress, provide comments to the Energy Department to ensure that the Yucca Mountain suitability decision is made on the basis of science, not politics," Colvin writes. He suggests that "key governors and members of Congress," those beholden to the wealthy industry, may be flown to Las Vegas for Wednesday's crucial confrontation. One industry ally expected to attend is former Nevada Gov. Bob List, who recently signed a lucrative contract to help the NEI push Yucca Mountain. Colvin says List already has become an "effective voice in the state," managing to get "fair and accurate" coverage of the dump in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The battlefield assessment, however, is skewed for consumption on the homefront. Colvin, you see, neglects to point out that List also has drawn much negative coverage in other newspapers, like the Las Vegas Sun. In times of war, especially in the trenches, you'd expect to hear that kind of propaganda. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 Where I Stand -- Classic Hank: Yucca dump could destroy state tourism Las Vegas SUN August 31, 2001 Note to readers: Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, wo died in 1989, was a prophetic, hard-hitting columnist who butted heads with world giants and demagogues and zealously defended the rights of the little guy. Every week the Sun will run one of Hank's Where I Stand columns, recalling his finer moments as a chronicler of the late 20th century. We call this feature "Classic Hank." TODAY: In the Aug. 24 editions of the Sun, former President Bill Clinton said the nation should consider alternative sites to Yucca Mountain for burying the nation's nuclear waste. In this Nov. 15, 1986, column, Hank said accepting a dump at Yucca Mountain on the promise it would bring jobs could mean the "total destruction" of our tourism industry. Bombs away! "Nevada cops alerted for deadly nuke truck!" Las Vegas citizens were treated to a nuclear test blast that rocked the town Friday. The chandeliers in our place swung from one end of the ceiling to the other. The jacuzzi on the patio overflowed its banks for many minutes until the earth stopped vibrating. The afternoon edition of the Sun carried the headline above and a story about a hot truck loaded with Iridium 192 that was stolen in California and presumed headed this way. The cargo was full of Iridium pellets...each one placed in a pocket for 30 seconds could be fatal. Life today is just a series of threats and perils. When we were kids the only perils we really faced were on Saturday afternoons when we sat in awestruck suspense at the nickel movie watching Pearl White in "The Perils of Pauline." The gal was threatened every week by the most diabolical occurrences and we watched spellbound wondering whether she would get out alive. Somehow she always managed to survive in one piece. There was another peril to be reckoned with when we were young. Our mothers often threatened us with severe punishment...when our fathers came home. In our house, the threat remained only words because Pop was too tired to chase us by the time he got home from work. The threats of punishment were usually administered with love. That was about as much danger as our folks ever subjected us to in the old days. Compare that to the evils we are inflicting on our children. The atomic bomb tests at Mercury could be justified under the guise that we are experimenting for shields to guard against nuclear war. It's called Star Wars. But there can be no justification for nuke waste trucks heading towards Las Vegas because this is the most deadly peril of them all. The low level dumpsite at Beatty has been in operation for years so like the old familiar roll of the earth from the nuclear testing, we should be inured to it. But this should not be and must never come to pass. The big push is to place a high level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain with the only justification being that it would provide jobs for many workers. Beatty citizens supported the low level site because it provided for seven jobs in the town with little thought given to the children who played games on the radioactive-laden trucks parked in front of the town cafe waiting for the dumpsite to open in the morning. Our files are full of pictures and documentation of the peril but the place is still open and the effort to place the high level site here has not abated. The danger from storing nuclear waste in Nevada is not only to the lives of the present young and yet unborn, but it also poses a horrible threat to the economy of the state. The amount of jobs that might develop from dumping in Nevada cannot be compared to the loss of employment caused by the hurt to the tourist potential when pleasure seekers have to rub fenders with radioactive trucks jamming the highways. The deadly nuke truck with Iridium was found late yesterday with the cargo missing. The fallout from such a story could have done more harm to the gaming industry than the gasoline shortage of some years back or even closing down the airport for a year. The average pleasure seeker seems most reluctant to be placed in positions of peril. Travel to Europe is practically at a standstill because of terrorist activity throughout the continent. Why should we permit the federal government to terrorize us with the pervasive threat of locating the dumpsite in Nevada? Without the fear of hazardous wastes being transported over our roads, we would have far better alternatives for a growing job market. Thursday night was a total sellout of rooms and restaurants in town. We wound up at "State Street" and even with the usual VIP treatment Gianni Russo gives to locals, we still had to wait because of the Comdex patrons from all over the world who packed every restaurant in town. The more conventions we book, the more hotels and rooms must be built. Building houses and industrial buildings could keep the work force humming for years to come and with the non-polluting industries that are being attracted here, the potential is as rewarding as the end of the rainbow. Jobs at any price could mean no jobs at no price. We have to make a choice because we can't have everything. Should it be clean, decent joyous living with prosperity for all? Or should we choose living on the abyss of cancer deaths, leukemia, allergies and even total destruction of our tourist industry? One has to fight for the good things in life because the bad will be forced upon the complacent, apathetic and avaricious of our social order. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 Reid works the system to success in Senate By Doug Abrahms Reno Gazette-Journal Sunday September 2nd, 2001 WASHINGTON — As an incoming freshman legislator, Sen. Harry Reid skipped his orientation session in 1987 to lobby members of the powerful Appropriations Committee for a coveted seat on the panel that spends America’s tax dollars — a privilege usually reserved for senators with experience. But the newcomer from Nevada got his seat. “He understands government. He understands how it works,” said Michael O’Callaghan, a former Democratic governor of the state. The soft-spoken Reid, 61, born a miner’s son in tiny Searchlight, Nev., has parlayed his strength at working the system to become the Senate majority whip — the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat and the highest rank any Nevadan has reached in Congress. He came to that post, in part, by playing a key role in persuading Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont to leave the Republican Party in May, giving control of the Senate to Democrats. Repeatedly in the weeks leading up to Jeffords switching, Reid talked to him about becoming an independent. “Harry Reid played the star role,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. “You can’t describe the role he played adequately. Without him it wouldn’t have happened.” Now Reid is in the hot seat as he controls the flow of legislation on the Senate floor with the Democrats holding a one-vote majority and facing a Republican House and administration. The patient’s bill of rights, energy legislation and spending bills for most government agencies are to hit the Senate floor next month. “We have a lot to do. We started late because of the (Senate) power shift,” Reid said in a recent interview. “Basically, the Republicans have done nothing during the year so we have all these appropriations bills” to pass before the 2002 federal budget starts Oct. 1. Reid has spent nearly all his adult life in Nevada politics, starting as a city attorney in Henderson and becoming the state’s youngest lieutenant governor at 30. After losing his initial Senate bid to Republican Paul Laxalt by 600 votes in 1974, Reid was named chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission and helped the FBI rid the casino industry of organized crime before being elected to the House in 1982 and the Senate in 1986. “He’s always been quiet,” said O’Callaghan, who also was Reid’s government and boxing teacher in high school. “But he’s got a lot of bulldog in him, don’t let anyone kid you.” People who know Reid well are not surprised that he has risen so far and say he has a shot at becoming the next Senate majority leader. Reid and Daschle both were elected to the Senate in 1986, and Reid was an early supporter of Daschle’s bid to become Senate minority leader in 1995, said former Sen. Richard Bryan, a Nevada Democrat. “If Daschle retired from the Senate or was on the national ticket, Harry Reid would have to be considered the fellow in the catbird’s seat,” Bryan said. “I think (Reid) is positioning himself to have a broader national profile.” Reid has a record for getting things done, sometimes behind the scenes. Both he and Bryan have been successful at preventing Yucca Mountain from receiving nuclear waste since federal officials started considering the Nevada site in 1987. A bill to strip from Nevada casinos province to take bets on college sports seems to have disappeared after being approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in April. Despite being championed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and leading university presidents and college coaches, insiders credit Reid for not letting the legislation hit the Senate floor. In June, after a Washington news conference held by the NCAA and prominent college coaches to support the college-betting ban, Reid walked through and schmoozed the college officials. “Vegas is one of my favorite places to visit,” gushed Lou Holtz, football coach at the University of South Carolina, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of legal college betting. Richard Siegel, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, views Reid as a centrist. Despite his long track record in Nevada politics, Reid has only squeaked by his last few elections, he said. “Nevada has a history of keeping people in power,” Siegel said. “He clearly has his work cut out for him each time he runs.” Reid is more pragmatist than political ideologue, always ready to engage in the give and take of legislating. Two years ago, he intervened against state legislation that would have changed a compact that doled out Truckee River water rights to farmers, residents and environmentalists. “He was furious,” said Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, who proposed the legislation. “However, in the end he changed his position on it.” So far, said Reid, the Bush administration has been “amateurish” about its lack of willingness to compromise on legislation. “I think George Bush is someone who has very fixed views,” he said. “I believe the president has the capability of getting better. We don’t want to be fighting all time.” Reid also is growing increasingly vocal about wanting to spend money to fix the nation’s infrastructure of roads, airports and water systems even though Washington seems more focused on tax cuts nowadays. New Orleans has 100-year-old water pumps that keep the city from flooding, while small towns out West face high levels of arsenic in their drinking water. Reid sent staff members to New York to investigate the city’s water mains, which have some valves reportedly so old that they cannot be turned off. “I just think we have trouble signs all around us,” Reid said. “People want pure clean water when they turn the tap on. These things take money.” Harry Reid * Age: 61 * Born: Dec. 2, 1939, Searchlight, Nev. * Education: Utah State University, bachelor’s degree; George Washington University, law degree. * Career: Henderson city attorney; Nevada state assemblyman, 1968; lieutenant governor, 1970; chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, 1977; elected to House of Representatives, 1982; elected to Senate in 1986 and became minority whip in 1996 and majority whip in 2001. * Family: Married to Landra; one daughter and four sons. * Year of next election: 2004 * E-mail address: sentaorreid@reid.senate.gov * Web site: www.senate.gov/(TILDE)reid/ © Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** 7 Extension on Yucca Mountain hearing sought Staff and Wire Reports Reno Gazette-Journal Sunday September 2nd, 2001 WASHINGTON -- Nevada’s delegation called on Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to personally attend the three hearings on Yucca Mountain this month in Nevada, and extend the public-comment period on the proposed nuclear dump by 90 days. “Given the serious nature of the decision that you are about to make and the impact that decision will have on Nevada, as well as the nation, we strongly believe you should personally represent the department at the hearings,” wrote Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., in a letter to Abraham. The Energy Department released the evaluation report on Aug. 21 and is giving only 15 days for critics to read and comment on the report. It’s too short, according to the letter that was also signed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, and Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. Considering the site already is 12 years behind schedule, an additional 90 days of comments should be granted, the Nevada officials said. “The people who will be most affected by this decision should be allowed to thoroughly review the report and then voice their concerns,” they wrote. “Fifteen days notice of the first public hearing does not provide adequate time for review and travel arrangements to be made by citizens wishing to attend the hearing in person.” The Energy Department has scheduled hearings on Yucca Mountain on: * Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. * Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. at the Longstreet Inn and Casino in Armagosa Valley. * Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. at the Bob Ruud Community Center in Pahrump. © Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** 8 Upstate wells show elevated uranium levels | The Sun News - Myrtle Beach, SC The Associated Press "> The September 2, 2001 The Associated Press GREENVILLE | Seven of the 320 public water system wells tested for uranium in the Upstate show elevated levels, state officials say. Those samples, gathered in recent weeks, show levels above the federal limit of 30 micrograms per liter, state Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Mark Hough said. The elevated levels were found in Greenville, Oconee and Pickens counties. Uranium can cause kidney problems. Radon can dissipate into the air and cause a higher risk for lung cancer. "Those with elevated levels have been asked to notify customers to stop using the water for drinking or cooking purposes," said Daphne Neel, DHEC's assistant chief for the Bureau of Environmental Services and head of the agency's uranium project team. "Although we are concerned about the people using the water from the water systems with the elevated results, overall we are pleased to see so many acceptable results. The seven wells that exceed the standard account for only 2 percent of the wells sampled." State Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, said up to 200 homes are affected by the elevated uranium readings. DHEC ordered the tests after finding several dozen wells near Simpsonville had elevated levels of uranium. The agency is attempting to determine the extent of contamination. Neel said the results don't indicate that uranium contamination is a widespread problem. "It's probably too soon to tell that," Neel said. "It's good news that so many tested below the standard. But it means we have to take a closer look where these public wells are." Some systems, such as the Devil's Fork State Park in Oconee County, can simply discontinue the use of the well, Neel said. "Devil's Fork is fortunate in that they have two additional wells that provide water for the park that tested below the drinking water standard for uranium," Neel said. Additional samples submitted by individuals to General Engineering Laboratories in Charleston since late July have shown elevated levels ranging from 33 to 147 micrograms per liter. Geologists have said uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive metal that exists in bedrock formations in the Piedmont from Alabama through Virginia. All content © 2001 The Sun News ***************************************************************** 9 Casks arrive at nuclear plant, but storage dispute goes on By Associated Press, 8/31/2001 10:20 HADDAM, Conn. (AP) Liners for nuclear waste storage casks have arrived at the site of the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant, but a dispute continues over where the waste will be stored. Storage plans envision constructing a hockey rink-sized concrete pad to accommodate 43 concrete canisters, lined with carbon steel, to store 1,019 spent nuclear fuel rods. The carbon steel cask liners, 16 feet tall and 10½ feet in diameter, recently arrived on site. The concrete canisters are scheduled to arrive next year. Connecticut Yankee's operators and town leaders have been battling over where the concrete pad should be built, so work on the pad has not begun. The town denied a request for a zoning change to put the pad and casks in an area on the plant site that is zoned residential. First Selectman Tony Bondi said the fuel should be stored in an area that already is zoned for industrial use. Connecticut Yankee brought the dispute to U.S. District Court, arguing that federal rules about nuclear fuel storage should supersede local zoning authority. A judge ruled there was not significant enough controversy at the time to force a ruling. Connecticut Yankee is appealing that decision. The spent fuel remains in a storage pool at the plant for the time being. Decommissioning is scheduled to be finished by 2004. ***************************************************************** 10 UCS -- NRC Ignores Widespread Safety Flaw for Decade: Two-thirds of Nation's Nuclear Plants Susceptible to Dangerous Cracking Recently Found in South Carolina Plant August 27, 2001 NRC Ignores Widespread Safety Flaw for Decade Two-thirds of nation's nuclear plants susceptible to dangerous cracking recently found in South Carolina plant WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 -- For 10 years the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignored a deterioration problem that affects the reactor vessels of two-thirds of the nation's nuclear power plants. While France and Japan moved swiftly to correct the problem in their plants after it first surfaced in 1991, the NRC has rejected efforts to replace the equipment in US plants, even though the problem emerged this spring at a nuclear plant in South Carolina. "The federal agency entrusted to ensure that our nuclear reactors run safely should not turn a blind eye to a serious safety problem," said David Lochbaum, Nuclear Safety Engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "We're lucky an accident hasn't occurred." The deterioriation problem, which is found in the nation's pressurized water reactors, is in the joints between the reactor vessel and the tubes that house control rods. These joints, or nozzles, are subject to severe stress from heating and are susceptible to cracking -- as was found in a French plant in 1991. If these cracks were to grow large enough they could lead to an ejection of the control rod, leakage of reactor cooling water, and failure of emergency systems, which could lead to a reactor meltdown. "Instead of a band-aid fix, the NRC needs to follow the lead other countries have taken in protecting public safety by replacing the cracked reactor vessel heads." said Lochbaum. "Anything short of replacing this broken equipment needlessly endangers the public." Cracks discovered this spring at Oconee Unit 3 in South Carolina extended nearly 45 percent of the way around two nozzles. With a crack this large the massive pressure in the reactor could result in a catastrophic rupture. In 1994 the NRC wrote a report on this type of cracking, based on an inspection of a single US nuclear plant, and claimed that cracks as large as the one at Oconee were not likely. In contrast, similar plants in Europe and Japan underwent aggressive safety precautions when the problem was discovered. "Waiting a decade until an expected problem crops-up is bad enough," Lochbaum said. "Waiting until an accident occurs is worse." For info on this release, call: [ border=] PAUL FAIN 202 223-6133 DAVE LOCHBAUM 202 223-6133 To set up interviews, or for UCS info, contact: PAUL FAIN Assistant Press Secretary 202 223-6133 pfain@ucsusa.org RICH HAYES Media Director 202 223-6133 rhayes@ucsusa.org MICHAEL PANCOOK Transportation Media & Outreach Coordinator 510 843-1872 mpancook@ucsusa.org 2 Brattle Square Cambridge, MA 02238 617-547-5552 Contact us at ucs@ucsusa.org © 2000 Union of Concerned Scientists ***************************************************************** 11 Nuke train schedule won't be made public The Star INSIDER: JOHN STRAUSS September 02, 2001 You can relax: That trainload of high-level nuclear waste scheduled to roll through Indiana is not on the way yet. We wondered, because it was supposed to come through this summer and, well, the kids are back in school. So is a there a glowing Chernobyl choo-choo headed this way? Of course not. There won't be any glowing trains, because the spent nuclear fuel rods from a private reprocessing plant in New York will be carried in extra-safe rail cars -- a good ways north of Indy, by the way. Just because they won't tell us, for security reasons, exactly when the train will come through shouldn't worry you. These are extra-safe rail cars. And besides, they have special hazardous-materials teams -- including one from the Indianapolis Fire Department -- all along the Norfolk Southern route, which runs from Fort Wayne to Lafayette and on to Danville, Ill. And these are extra-safe rail cars, anyhow. They still are planning to ship the stuff by the end of summer, which officially is Sept. 22, or, if not, by the end of October, said spokesman John Chamberlain of the West Valley (N.Y.) Demonstration Project, which is sending the fuel rods to a federal site in Idaho. Indiana's State Emergency Management Agency will get a week's warning before the shipment, a spokesman said. Here at Insider, we have our own high-level sources: CNN probably will have Live Helicopter Pictures About Five Minutes After The Train Pulls Out. Fire Department Capt. Tony Rosa, one of the hazmat specialists from Indianapolis who would respond in any emergency, says he's not particularly worried. Much less dangerous low-level nuclear waste comes through Indianapolis about every other week, and trucks and trains routinely carry gasoline, propane, acids and other inconvenient substances through town. But we're still hoping the train doesn't get to Indiana too soon. Rosa said Friday that his team has not yet received the special radiation monitors it's supposed to have -- just in case. Music teacher missed The late Laverne Newsome, retired music instructor at Crispus Attucks High School, was a "soldier of the cross," his pastor said. "He was elegant and excellent," said Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin of Light of the World Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The minister spoke during funeral services Wednesday for Newsome, who was 93. "He was highly educated and sophisticated, yet extremely approachable," Benjamin said. "He was a part of the old guard that gave black people pride in this community." Insider runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. John Strauss appears on WIBC-AM (1070) on Mondays at 5:50 p.m., WTHR-TV (Channel 13) on Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m., and on WTPI-FM (107.9) on Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. Strauss accepts speaking invitations and news tips and answers questions at 1-317-444-6208 or via e-mail at john.strauss@indystar.com Copyright 2001 The Indianapolis Star ***************************************************************** 12 Federal Register Notice Too Little Too Late Aug. 31, 2001 Kangaroo Court Countdown Alert Federal Register Notice Too Little Too Late Five Days to Yucca Mountain Hearing in Las Vegas NOTE: The U.S. Department of Energy is holding a Sept. 5 hearing in Las Vegas on the government’s intention to establish a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Public Citizen will issue "Kangaroo Court Countdown Alerts" each day until the hearing. For more information about Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste, visit www.citizen.org/cmep. With Labor Day weekend looming and just one business day remaining before the Sept. 5 public hearing on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today finally published notice in the Federal Register of the new location for this meeting. The DOE yesterday decided to move the hearing to the agency’s Nevada Operations Office, a heavily guarded support building for the Nevada Test Site, where atomic weapons testing has been conducted for decades. The agency’s Yucca Mountain Project Web site, which yesterday still inaccurately listed the Suncoast Casino as the meeting venue, was updated only today. "It’s absurd that the Department of Energy is going ahead with this meeting given the fact that the location is changing just days before the meeting, right as many people are heading out of town for a long weekend," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. Hearings in Las Vegas (Sept. 5), Amargosa Valley (Sept. 12) and Pahrump (Sept. 13) were initially announced in the Federal Register on August 21, affording only nine business days notice to residents of Las Vegas. This unnecessarily short timeline seemed designed to limit public participation in the hearings, which are required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act before the DOE formally recommends the Yucca Mountain repository plan to the president. Making matters worse, the last-minute change of venue is certain to cause confusion. The DOE has not responded to requests for the hearings to be postponed. "The DOE has made a display of legendary incompetence in the process surrounding this hearing," Hauter concluded. "This is not an agency that should, under any circumstances, be entrusted to manage the nation’s stock of highly radioactive waste." Critical Mass ***************************************************************** 13 Upfront 3, On nuclear waste, fires and refunds Las Vegas Weekly: Date: September 2, 2001 | Local time: 1:20PM | *****************************************************************