***************************************************************** 01/03/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.002 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Power play 2 NY Nuclear Plant Resumes Operation 3 Welcome to The Japan Times online 4 NIIGATA VILLAGE MAYOR ORDERS RETHINK ON MOX REFERENDUM 5 MARKETS Nuclear Power bonds get over 6 Anti-nuke campaigner barred 7 EUROTECH's EKOR Continues To Perform At Chernobyl 8 EDITORIAL: Dump backer will be Bus... NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 DOE plan would send low-level waste to Test Site 2 Nevada officials have mixed opinions about Abraham 3 GOP conservative has ties to Nevada casinos 4 Lab will share air data on 5 Environmentalists worry about Abraham 6 DOE's Klein looks back, sets cleanup goals for 2001 7 DOE selection has many scratching heads 8 ABRAHAM A `DISASTER,' ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY 9 New year's uncertainty arrives in Oak Ridge 10 Abraham nominated DOE chief Oak Ridgers in the dark on Michigan 11 Abraham To Lead Dept. He Wanted Shut 12 Inheriting father's nuclear neuroses 13 Britain hid nuclear arms in Singapore 14 Alarm over Nato uranium deaths 15 NATO Troops Being Tested for Cancer 16 Italy seeks to ease fears over ammo - 17 Las Vegan named adviser for Depart... 18 Report: Russia Moving Weapons 19 Italy Urges NATO to Probe 'Balkan Syndrome' Deaths 20 Italy Asks NATO To Explain Ammo Use 21 Reid: Bush choice for energy no friend of Nevada 22 Bush's Pick for Energy Sought to Kill Agency 23 Columnist Jon Ralston: Abraham's choice leaves nation spinning ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Power play January 02, 2001 It's good to know that WMECO customers will be paying less for their power than they thought they would have to this year, but the major news in the announcement is that state regulators have sold WMECO's investments in three Connecticut NUCLEAR power plants to a Virginia utility. At the outset, it appeared that WMECO would have a hard time selling the often obsolescent plants, aptly named Millstone, which they were required by the 1997 Restructuring Act to unload. But the flow of investments from Virginia and elsewhere indicates that there is a lively investment market in the old New England power plants, and happily, the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy never bought the utilities' argument that customers should share the cost of failed, and often mismanaged, NUCLEAR power plants. Moral answers from Cardinal Law At a time when most public statements shed too much heat and too little light on social disasters such as the Wakefield mass killings, Cardinal Law sounded just the right note at a memorial service there when he called on society to deal more effectively with mental illness, toughen laws on gun ownership and seek out ways to address Internet- generated violence. Cracking down on the Internet without resorting to censorship will be difficult, but it is comparatively easy to reduce the number of weapons in society, provided there is the will to do so. As horrifying as the murders in Wakefield are, it appears mental illness may be a factor. When too many in the community are thinking and talking of vengeance, it takes great moral courage to speak of compassion for the sick and misguided. ***************************************************************** 2 NY Nuclear Plant Resumes Operation January 03, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP)--The Indian Point 2 nuclear plant resumed operation early Wednesday morning, nearly a year after a leak released radioactive steam into the air. Indian Point 2 was brought back online at 10 to 15 percent capacity at 2:14 a.m., said a spokesman for Consolidated Edison, the utility that runs the plant north of New York City. The facility would be brought up to full speed if it passed numerous operating tests. The restart was accomplished despite some last-minute glitches, including a small, contained leak of radioactive coolant, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At less than a tenth of a gallon per minute, the leak was "small potatoes," Sheehan said, "but it's something they'll have to watch." Indian Point 2 had been out of commission since Feb. 15, when radioactive water from a leaky tube contaminated clean water that is turned to steam to drive turbines. A tiny amount of radioactive steam was released into the atmosphere. The accident, the worst in the plant's 26-year history, caused no injuries. However, it sparked heavy criticism of Con Ed from local residents, politicians and the NRC. The reopening of the plant was delayed for several months as Con Ed, under pressure from the NRC, installed new steam generators. Sheehan, the NRC spokesman, said Indian Point 2 would remain under scrutiny, based on "the general overall poor performance that we've seen." The troubles at Indian Point 2 occurred as Con Ed was putting it up for sale. Entergy Corp. agreed to buy the plant and Indian Point 1 for $602 million, and also acquired Indian Point 3 from the state Power Authority. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 3 Welcome to The Japan Times online January 3, 2001 CHANGE OF MIND ON MOX VOTE NIIGATA (Kyodo) The mayor of Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, said Tuesday that he has ordered the village assembly to redeliberate a controversial measure that would allow a plebiscite to be held on the planned use of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a nuclear plant there. The plebiscite would have been the nation's first. The assembly passed the measure on Dec. 26, but Mayor Hiroo Shinada told a news conference Tuesday that the passage of the measure "was inappropriate and cannot be condoned." He added that he has sent a letter, dated Tuesday, to the assembly that would have the controversial measure sent back to the floor for further deliberations. An extraordinary assembly session will be held Friday to again debate the plebiscite measure. If it does not gain the approval of at least two-thirds of the assembly, it will be scrapped. At issue is Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Tepco hopes to implement the pluthermal plan, which involves burning MOX fuel inside light-water reactors to generate heat for producing electricity, at the plant. Shinada noted that his village, the city of Kashiwazaki and the Niigata prefectural government made "a responsible decision based on comprehensive assessment of various factors" when they accepted the implementation of the pluthermal plan in March 1999. "I cannot, as mayor, accept" a new measure that would allow a referendum on the subject, he said. The village assembly voted in favor of the plebiscite measure by a margin of 9-8. Shinada at the time said that he takes the will of the legislature seriously. THE JAPAN TIMES: JAN. 3, 2001 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 4 NIIGATA VILLAGE MAYOR ORDERS RETHINK ON MOX REFERENDUM NIIGATA, JAPAN JAN. 2 KYODO - The mayor of Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, said Tuesday he has ordered the village assembly to reexamine a proposal to hold a referendum on a plan to use a plutonium fuel mix at a local nuclear power plant. Mayor Hiroo Shinada told the press that holding a referendum, which the assembly approved Dec. 26, is ''not acceptable'' because the village government officially declared in March 1999 that it would accept the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). The assembly in response plans to hold an extra session Friday to reexamine the referendum issue. It is thought, however, that the proposal will be difficult to pass again as it must this time gain approval from two-thirds of assembly members, instead of just half. The assembly approved the proposal Dec. 26 by a vote of 9 to 8. The plebiscite was to be the nation's first ever referendum by local residents on the use of MOX fuel. The poll was proposed as many residents are concerned about the safety of the program. Under the referendum, citizens were to vote to approve, disapprove, or postpone a decision on the use of MOX fuel until a nuclear fuel cycle involving the final disposal of spent fuel has been established. TEPCO plans to begin using the fuel later this year at the No. 3 reactor of the plant on the Sea of Japan coast. The fuel program involves burning pellets of MOX fuel comprising plutonium and uranium inside light-water reactors to generate heat for producing electricity. The Niigata prefectural government gave the green light to the plan in March 1999 after the village government and the Kashiwazaki city government approved it. 2000 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 5 MARKETS Nuclear Power bonds get over Rs 300 cr Jan 03 2001 Wednesday Jan 03 2001 | Updated 0015 hrs IST 1345 EST MUMBAI NUCLEAR Power Corporation closed its issue of secured non-convertible bonds on Saturday after raising more than Rs 300 crore, merchant bankers to the issue said. The issue, which had three options, was priced through book-building. The first option, a tax-free bond, with a maturity of 15 years and a put and call option that can be availed of from the seventh year, raised the target of Rs 60 crore ($12.85 million) at a cut-off rate of 8.25 per cent. The second, a taxable bond with a maturity of seven years and a 59- month put and call option, raised Rs 2246 crore at a cut-off rate of 11.35 per cent. The last was a seven-year 10(23)G taxable infrastructure bond with a five-year put and call option which raised Rs 45 crore at a coupon rate of 10.25 per cent. Coupon rates on all three options are payable annually. The joint book-runners to the issue were Darashaw and Company and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company. Lead arrangers to the issue were R R Financial Consultants, J M Morgan Stanley and ICICI Securities and Finance Company. Nuclear Power Corporation manages the country's nuclear power plants. - Reuters Copyright c 2000 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 6 Anti-nuke campaigner barred Linz - Austria's leading anti-nuclear campaigner has protested to Czech president Vaclav Havel after being stopped twice from entering the Czech Republic. Josef Puehringer of the "Supra-Party Platform against Nuclear Danger" said on Tuesday that despite his valid passport and other documents, he was turned back in his car by Czech border guards. The first time was on the evening of 29 December at the Guglwald border crossing in Upper Austria Province. He had been waved on, but stopped again when the guards realised who he was. A border guard told him that a crack above his car's front fender was "a danger of possible injury" to Czech motorists or pedestrians. Puehringer said he had then been turned back. He had tried getting across at the nearly post of Weigetschlag, but the Guglwald guards had apparently phoned their colleagues, and he had been sent back again. In recent months he had several times driven into the Czech Republic in his car, and had never had any problems. The incident was a "monstrosity" and a "scandal" , he said in an open letter to Havel and to the Czech ministers of the interior and foreign affairs. Last autumn Puehringer was repeatedly at the head of demonstrations and blockades of the Austrian-Czech border in protest against the Czech nuclear power station at Temelin. He failed in his objective of getting Temelin switched off, but helped create the pressure for a political agreement in December on environmental and safety controls under European Union supervision. Sixty kilometres from the northern Austrian border, the Temelin plant is Soviet-designed and updated with Western technology. One of its reactors has been on trial run for several months. Austrian politicians and local populations say it is unsafe. This is vehemently denied by the Czechs. Austrian-Czech relations were burdened by the issue for much of last year. - Sapa-DPA ***************************************************************** 7 EUROTECH's EKOR Continues To Perform At Chernobyl TUESDAY JANUARY 2, 11:00 AM EASTERN TIME Press Release Revolutionary Geopolymer EKOR Successfully Encapsulates High Level Waste At Reactor 4 Bubble that EKOR, a revolutionary geopolymer composite used to "cocoon" nuclear waste and prevent radioactive contaminants from dusting or seeping into the environment, continues to perform nine months after being applied on a fuel containing mass inside Chernobyl's failed reactor No. 4. The Chernobyl Shelter Agency's (Shelter) periodic monitoring indicates no loss in EKOR's effectiveness. The Shelter's management reports that products with EKOR's application flexibility and performance longevity were not previously available. These real life results confirm years of Eurotech funded product development by the EuroAsian Physical Society and the Kurchatov Institute. Jeff Stephen, Eurotech's Chief Operating Officer, stated, "While EKOR continues to perform longer than any other material at Chernobyl, we fully expected this result since EKOR was developed to maintain its structural integrity in highly radioactive environments not just for months but for hundreds of years." Radiation readings on the fuel containing mass approximate one thousand rads per hour on contact. In comparison, EKOR has been tested to ten billion rads without degradation of its unique encapsulation properties. In related news, the Shelter successfully completed previously announced robotic testing for application of EKOR on simulated radioactive waste piles in a cold or non-radioactive environment. The robotic technology is required for safe and efficient application of EKOR where radiation levels limit access inside the sarcophagus. The Shelter team that applied and tested EKOR under an agreement with Eurotech has identified other uses for EKOR. Artur Korneev, the Deputy Director of the Shelter Object, stated, "Now that we have confirmed the ability of EKOR to provide an effective isolation barrier and to maintain its integrity under severe radiation exposure, we are planning further application development projects. These projects include important tasks such as dust suppression and repairing corroded concrete surfaces such as walkways. Each of these projects is designed to demonstrate EKOR's use in actual conditions and represent important preparation for the future large scale applications inside the sarcophagus". Jeff Stephen reported that among the nuclear debris inside the sarcophagus is an estimated 40 plus tons of radioactive dust. While dust represents a potential environmental threat, it also represents an engineering challenge during Chernobyl's stabilization and decontamination. Eurotech believes that EKOR has many potential uses at Chernobyl. While EKOR directly provides work safety, waste handling or long term storage solutions, EKOR is also complementary with other nuclear waste technologies. Last August, EKOR was certified by the Ukrainian government where testing acknowledged its lack of chemical or biological degradation even after long-term exposure to radiation. The Shelter Implementation Plan bid packages are expected to be released in the second half of 2001. research institutes in Russia, Israel and other countries to develop and commercialize innovative technologies that have widespread or on the Internet. Certain information and statement included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Privates Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied in such forward- looking statements. ***************************************************************** 8 EDITORIAL: Dump backer will be Bus... Wednesday, January 03, 2001 Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal Nominee has consistently voted to support Yucca Mountain project. As a Republican senator from Michigan, Spencer Abraham left little doubt about where he stood on the issue of Yucca Mountain. "A centralized waste storage facility must be located soon if the Department of Energy is to have any hope of fulfilling its contractual obligation to collect the spent fuel stored at over 100 facilities around the country in the next decade," he said in 1997 while explaining why he supports storing the nation's nuclear waste in the Nevada desert. "Michigan needs the DOE to fulfill this obligation. My state has four nuclear plants." On Tuesday, President-elect George W. Bush announced he was nominating Mr. Abraham--who was defeated last year in his re-election bid--to run his Energy Department. This is not great news for Nevada--but, in fact, it's doubtful that any nominee from either political party would have been. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have pursued the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. In the recently completed election, the Green Party's Ralph Nader was the only presidential candidate to come out against the project. Keep in mind that Bill Clinton's first energy secretary, Hazel O'Leary, was an executive in the nuclear power industry-- among the most vocal proponents for storing high-level nuclear waste in Nevada-- when she was selected to head the department. Regardless of Mr. Abraham's enthusiasm for Yucca Mountain, he must still take direction from Congress and the president. Mr. Bush has previously assured Nevadans that science, not politics, will determine the future of both long-term and interim storage plans--and that the EPA, not the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, should set safety standards. Those are positions favorable to dump opponents--and the same concessions offered by Al Gore in the recent campaign. In addition, Nevada's congressional delegation will continue to work in unison to block efforts to send waste here on an interim basis, which for all intents and purposes amounts to a back-door attempt to circumvent the science going on at the Yucca Mountain site. If nuclear waste does eventually come to Nevada, it won't be due to any single act, but to a series of politically motivated events in motion for almost two decades that has been sanctioned by politicians and presidents of both major parties. Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2001 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 DOE plan would send low-level waste to Test Site January 03, 2001 BY MARY MANNING LAS VEGAS SUN Fifty truckloads a year of low-level radioactive wastes mixed with toxic chemicals will travel Las Vegas highways en route to the Nevada Test Site, if a Department of Energy plan is approved. DOE officials have asked the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection for a permit to bury the mixed wastes at the Test Site's Area 5, along the site's eastern edge. Over a 10-year period those extra loads of radioactive and toxic waste would be enough to cover a football field to a depth of 10 feet, Carl Gertz, DOE's assistant environmental manager in Nevada, said Tuesday. That's not much more than the low-level radioactive materials coming to the Test Site already, Gertz said. "It's about a 10 percent increase, " he said. The DOE does not expect any mixed waste shipments before late 2002, DOE spokeswoman Nancy Harkess said. For decades the DOE has dumped low-level nuclear wastes from federal weapons work, such as contaminated soils, laboratory equipment and clothing, at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. A year ago the Test Site was declared a national repository for low- level radioactive and chemical wastes--called mixed wastes--along with Hanford, Wash., Gertz said. The DOE needs a permit from the state, because hazardous, toxic chemicals fall under Nevada environmental responsibility, division spokesman John Walker said. How much waste is Nevada expecting? "That's the $64,000 question," Walker said. "There is no way to know." The DOE is asking to bring up to 700,000 cubic feet of the mixed wastes, most of it from Rocky Flats, Colo., and Oak Ridge, Tenn., Harkess said. Rocky Flats processed plutonium for nuclear weapons, and Oak Ridge handled uranium for the nuclear arsenal. The wastes coming to the Test Site will all be in solid form. No gas or liquid hazardous or low-level nuclear wastes are allowed at the Test Site, Harkess said. In 1997 the DOE stopped truckloads of sludge contaminated with low levels of radioactivity from its Fernald, Ohio, uranium processing plant from coming to the Test Site after six shipments arrived leaking liquid and a seventh load was noticed leaking by a truck driver near Kingman, Ariz. A DOE investigation revealed that faulty containers allowed the liquid to leak from the Fernald sludge. The mixed wastes are a different composition. "There could be chromium, copper, zinc, lithium, stuff like that with the low-level radioactive wastes," Harkess said. It could take up to two years before any of the mixed wastes arrive at the Test Site, based on the environmental review process, she said. The Test Site appeared favorable for such mixed waste burial, because it is a remote, dry site, the DOE record said. Other sites such as Fernald, Oak Ridge or Hanford, Wash., have high water tables or nearby rivers. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 2 Nevada officials have mixed opinions about Abraham January 03, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS Nevada officials had mixed opinions Tuesday, splitting along party lines on whether former Sen. Spencer Abraham would help keep nuclear waste out of Nevada if he becomes Energy Secretary. Abraham, defeated for re-election to the Senate from Michigan, was nominated to the Energy Department post Tuesday by President-elect Bush. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Abraham hasn't been neutral on the issue of dumping nuclear waste in Nevada, and "this bias raises genuine concern about the prospects for a fair decision on the site's safety and suitability." Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., echoed Reid's statement. "Spencer Abraham has been a consistent supporter of the nuclear power industry, and has an established record in the Senate of voting for the Yucca Mountain project without regard for the health and safety of the people in my state," she said. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site the federal government is studying to bury 77,000 tons of the nation's high-level nuclear waste. Reid and Berkley both were hopeful that Abraham would be unbiased in any decision concerning Nevada. But Reid said Abraham's nomination calls in to question Bush's commitment to a fair evaluation of Yucca Mountain. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., defended Bush. "President-elect Bush clearly understands Nevada's concerns on the issue of nuclear waste." Bush has said he would veto legislation to allow temporary waste storage and would insist that any decision on a permanent dump be based on "sound science" rather than politics. Gibbons said Nevada's congressional delegation will work to make sure Abraham understands its united opposition to the nuclear waste dump. Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, said he looks forward to working with Abraham on the waste issue. He said he was certain Abraham "will continue the position of President- elect Bush to base any decision on nuclear waste storage on science rather than political expediency." Nevada officials were relieved two weeks ago when former Sen. J. Bennett Johnston - author of the "Screw Nevada" nuclear dump measures - withdrew his name from consideration for the energy post. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 3 GOP conservative has ties to Nevada casinos January 03, 2001 BY JEFF GERMAN LAS VEGAS SUN Energy Secretary-nominee Spencer Abraham, who could end up deciding whether Yucca Mountain is suitable for a nuclear waste repository, is well-known to Nevada's casino industry. MGM-MIRAGE Chairman Terry Lanni and Sig Rogich, a top casino industry consultant and strategist for Gov. Kenny Guinn, hosted a fund-raiser in Las Vegas for Abraham last September in his failed bid to win re-election to a U.S. Senate seat from Michigan. The fund-raiser, which took place at the MGM Grand hotel-casino, reportedly collected as much as $50,000 for Abraham's campaign. Abraham--a conservative Republican who has a record of supporting the nuclear industry's campaign to store high-level nuclear waste in Nevada--lost in November to Rep. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. Lanni, who backed President-elect George W. Bush and a number of Republican congressional candidates last year, described Abraham as a "very decent, very smart fellow." "He's the kind of guy you can talk to," Lanni said. The casino industry, which has a lot to lose if a nuclear accident were to occur at Yucca Mountain, is on record opposed to storing the deadly waste at the Nevada site, which is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. But the industry and the rest of the business community have done little to enter the fray against the nuclear industry's push here. Lanni said he hoped Bush, who is expected to have the final word on Yucca Mountain, won't forget the important role Nevada played in getting him elected. "Hopefully, President-elect Bush will remember that the very last electoral votes cast were from Nevada, and they put him over the top," Lanni said. Guinn said from Carson City this morning that he expected Abraham to consider the promise Bush made to the governor during the presidential campaign on nuclear waste storage. "I would hope that the new energy secretary would abide by President- elect Bush's commitment to Nevada that he is going to veto any temporary storage bills and predicate any permanent storage on scientific data rather than politics," Guinn said. Rogich, who worked with Abraham in the White House of Bush's father from 1989 to 1992, said he considers the defeated Michigan senator a friend. "I found him to be a pretty fair guy in the past," Rogich said. "But I have not discussed the nuclear waste issue with him at any great length, and naturally I would be concerned if he was to be predisposed in any way." Rogich, an early opponent of making Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground, said he would have "no qualms" about going to Abraham as a friend if called upon in the fight against Yucca Mountain. Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, the casino industry's Washington lobby, said he also considers Abraham a friend. Abraham chaired the Michigan Republican Party from 1983 to 1989 while Fahrenkopf headed the Republican National Committee. "He's a very bright, very intense guy," Fahrenkopf said from Washington. "But I have no idea where he's at on nuclear waste." ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 4 Lab will share air data on Internet January 02, 2001 INTERACTIVE SERVICE ALLOWS INPUT ON TOXINS By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER LIVERMORE--Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's atmospheric center, which studies wind, weather and topography to estimate the path and potency for toxins released into the environment, is headed for the Web. From a control room at Livermore Lab, researchers at the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center projected radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and predicted the scope of smoke plumes from the Tracy tire fires. They will now bring these same capabilities to remote audiences. An Internet-based interface with NARAC, developed over the past two years through an Energy Department modernization of the center, will provide "a means for other people outside of here to connect to us and get our service," said Jim Ellis, NARAC program leader. "The Web allows all kinds of flexibility," Ellis said, including data represented in easy-to-understand pictures and graphics. "(Users) don't have to be experts." And the NARAC Internet software designed by the lab is intended to be used on standard desktop and laptop computers. The remote system will allow emergency workers to enter localized, current information about a toxic release. That information can be sent electronically to NARAC, and the center will generate maps and graphics indicating the areas affected by a toxic release. Ellis said that three Energy Department labs will test out the prototype Web-based system over the next month, and a fully operational version should by out in March. "Over this year we will install it at all (Energy Department) sites and facilities," he said. The Defense Department also will be a user, he added. The system eventually may be offered to other federal, state and local agencies, Ellis said. Potential users include emergency planners, first-responders, emergency managers and research scientists. Established to estimate the hazards of radiation releases from NUCLEAR explosives tests during the Cold War, the center now responds to a broad range of emergencies. NARAC predicted the travel of smoke plumes during the Kuwaiti oil fires of the Gulf War and calculated the path of airborne ash from a volcanic eruption. ***************************************************************** 5 Environmentalists worry about Abraham BY BETH WOHLBERG Camera Staff Writer Local environmentalists and residents closely tied to Rocky Flats issues are mystified by Spencer Abraham's appointment to the head the Department of Energy - mostly because they know little about him. "It looks like an award appointment to me," said LeRoy Moore of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, a Boulder nonprofit that has worked extensively on Rocky Flats issues. Moore said that Abraham was on the national committee that raised money for the Republican Party. He said he suspects that's why President- elect George W. Bush selected him. "I understand he has no history with the Department of Energy and the kinds of issues the department deals with," Moore said. "It's disappointing that we don't get someone who is really familiar with the issues, because it is an exceedingly complicated task." Moore said that previous secretaries of energy - from Hazel O'Leary to Bill Richardson - have been very familiar with the issues. Richardson, however, said that Abraham was a good choice. "I consider Sen. Abraham's appointment a positive development," Richardson said. "I have worked with him in the past on immigration issues and have always admired his efforts in that arena. I look forward to working with him in the transition." Pam Eaton, the regional director of the Wilderness Society, said environmentalists are disappointed particularly because Abraham voted against continuing the fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles when he was a U.S. senator. "Judging by the statement of the nominee and President-elect Bush, there is not going to be a comprehensive energy policy," Eaton said. "It is going to be an energy development policy. They have already made it clear that they want to develop in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge." Eaton said the Department of Energy should be looking at alternative energy and energy conservation programs, rather than only the exploration of oil and gas. "In the long run, this is not a problem we are going to be able to drill our way out of," she said. "We need to be better at looking at conservation and alternative resources." Eaton added that the Wilderness Society will probably be spending more time defending areas from development - in areas that are wild and in places that have already been developed. "We will have to be defending places that we thought were already protected," she said. "Congress and the administration are likely to push to try to open those." Contact Beth Wohlberg at (303) 473-1364 or wohlbergb@thedailycamera.com. January 3, 2001 Copyright 2000 The Daily Camera. All rights reserved. Any ***************************************************************** 6 DOE's Klein looks back, sets cleanup goals for 2001 This story was published 1/3/2000 HERALD STAFF WRITER The Department of Energy says it's time to keep score at Hanford. On Tuesday, DOE's Hanford Manager Keith Klein outlined the agency's cleanup goals for 2001 to try to enable the public to get an understandable grasp on whether Hanford's efforts are on schedule. He said people usually have problems following the site's complicated cleanup efforts--what needs to be done, what is working and what is not working. "We want to make our goals more understandable to the general public," Klein said. Hanford's cleanup efforts are divided between two equal DOE offices -- the Office of River Protection, which manages tank waste matters, and the Richland office, which handles everything else. Klein heads the Richland office. In 2000, the Richland office's main cleanup projects kicked into high gear, while the Office of River of Protection's main waste glassification project won't be ready until 2007. Hanford's major cleanup projects that began in 2000 include removing spent nuclear fuel from the K Basins, moving transuranic wastes to New Mexico and converting plutonium into safer forms at full speed at the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Essentially on Tuesday, Klein outlined what DOE's Richland office statistically accomplished through 2000 when it fully cranked up actual cleanup work, and what DOE wants to complete in 2001, which will be its first year of full cleanup efforts. "From my viewpoint, we've just started. ... But sustaining that progress is no less of a challenge," Klein said. Klein said 2001's goals match DOE's legal cleanup obligations and are covered by the $755 million the Richland office is to receive in fiscal 2001. A major question is whether the Richland office will persuade DOE and Congress to appropriate about $800 million in fiscal 2002, which will determine what the goals will be for the second full year of cleanup. That matter will unfold in a couple of months when DOE unveils its fiscal 2002 cleanup budget request. Here is how DOE's Richland office calculates what it has done, what ultimately needs to be done and where it wants to be by the end of 2001 on a few of its projects: K BASINS So far, one canister of spent fuel has been removed from K West Basin. Ultimately, DOE expects to move 2,317 tons by mid-2004. It expects to move 128 tons this year as DOE ramps up the project to full speed sometime in 2002. PLUTONIUM FINISHING PLANT So far, the PFP has neutralized plutonium in 735 small canisters, converted 120 liters of plutonium-laced liquids into safer powders and packed 546 pounds of plutonium powder into safe containers. Ultimately, DOE wants to neutralize plutonium in 6,105 canisters, powderize 4, 300 liters of liquids and pack almost 4 tons of plutonium powder by 2004. In 2001, DOE plans to neutralize plutonium in 527 more canisters. Goals were not announced Tuesday on the liquids and packing. SHIPPING TRANSURANIC WASTES TO NEW MEXICO So far, three truckloads totaling 19 cubic meters of junk with long- living radioactivity have been sent to New Mexico. Next year's goal is 33 cubic meters. This is a tiny drop in about 30 years' worth of shipments, estimated at 16,434 cubic meters. 'COCOONING' REACTORS So far, DOE has completely demolished the outlying buildings and sealed off the core at one of eight defunct plutonium-production reactors to be disposed of this way. Two more reactors are supposed to be almost totally "cocooned" in 2001. ***************************************************************** 7 DOE selection has many scratching heads This story was published 1/3/2001 HERALD STAFF WRITERS President-elect George W. Bush's candidate for Energy secretary is a defeated Michigan senator with no significant experience in nuclear or environmental cleanup issues. In fact, Bush's nominee recently backed eliminating the Department of Energy. Bush announced Tuesday that Spencer "Spence" Abraham, a Republican U.S. senator who lost his re-election bid in November, is his choice to succeed outgoing Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Tuesday's announcement drew a collective "Huh?" in Hanford circles, ranging from Tri-City interests and watchdog groups to Washington and Oregon officials. Several politically plugged-in participants in Hanford politics also drew a blank Tuesday on even Abraham's name. "I've never heard of him," said Todd Martin, chairman-elect of the Hanford Advisory Board, which represents more than 30 constituencies across Hanford's entire political spectrum. Sam Volpentest, executive vice president of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, and Gerald Pollet, director of Heart of America Northwest, operate on the opposite extremes of Hanford's politics -- and both checked Tuesday with contacts in Washington, D.C., about Abraham. "I'm told by people in the know in Washington that he doesn't know anything about energy," Volpentest said. Pollet echoed Volpentest: "He has not been visible on any Department of Energy issues. It's a surprising choice--someone with no background on DOE issues." U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said: "I am very concerned about this appointment. He has not been known for his work on energy issues." However, U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., is optimistic about Abraham's nomination. "It's always helpful when you have someone who is familiar with Congress," said Jeff Markey, Hastings' legislative director. Hastings believes he can build a close relationship with Abraham similar to the one he had with Richardson, Markey said. But Murray noted Abraham had co-sponsored legislation to eliminate DOE. Abraham co-sponsored two legislative attempts by recently defeated U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., to abolish DOE and transfer most of its functions to the U.S. Department of Interior, according to CNN. Neither bill made it far through Congress. "Spencer Abraham was one of only three senators to introduce legislation to abolish the Department of Energy in the (past two years)," David Nemtzow, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, told the Los Angeles Times. "And now he's going to be running the place. Who would have thunk it?" Abraham will soon face at least two vital Hanford issues--one in just a few weeks. "We're talking probably a steep learning curve," Pollet said. In February, or possibly March because of the drawn-out presidential election, DOE will have to submit its budget request--including Hanford's cleanup requests--to Congress for fiscal 2002. Right now in an era of federal budget-tightening, DOE wants to boost Hanford's total cleanup budget of about $1.2 billion in 2001 to about $1.6 billion in 2002. That's because the long-awaited tank waste glassification project is supposed to kick into full construction in fiscal 2002. Also, DOE wants more money to accelerate cleanup efforts along Hanford's Columbia River shore. Meanwhile, the state of Washington has been poised to file a lawsuit against DOE if it shows signs of backing down on its legal commitments to clean up Hanford--such as inadequately funding the projects. Also within the next few months, Abraham will have to decide whether to back outgoing Secretary Richardson's decision to shut down Hanford's dormant Fast Flux Test Facility. Proponents and opponents of the FFTF are braced to refight the issue when the new presidential administration takes over. "We have to work hard out here. He doesn't know us, and we have to get to know him real quick," Volpentest said. Paige Knight of Hanford Watch said: "It looks rather ominous for cleanup progress. I think we're in for a really dark four years at DOE." Abraham, 48, grew up in East Lansing, Mich., and graduated in 1974 from Michigan State University. He graduated from Harvard University's law school in 1979. In 1982, he became chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, a post he held until 1990. In 1990 and 1991, Abraham was deputy chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle. And he served as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee in 1991 and 1992, for the 1992 elections. He unseated incumbent Democrat John Carr in 1994 to become Michigan's first Republican senator in 22 years. He served on several Senate committees, including being a junior member on the Budget Committee and the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee. On the latter, he chaired the manufacturing and competitiveness subcommittee. Abraham's office's Web site said he has had 16 bills signed into law, the most of any freshman senator elected in 1994. Of his successful bills listed on his Web site, only one addressed environmental issues, and none addressed energy matters. In 1997, an Abraham bill was signed into law to provide tax deductions to corporations on certain cleanup costs. On his Web site, Abraham cites his support of several Great Lakes- oriented environmental cleanup bills, wildlife-related projects and providing funds for environmental efforts in Michigan. He also got a bill passed in 1998 that stripped Lake Champlain of its then-brand- new status as one of the Great Lakes. As a senator representing a state that includes automotive hub Detroit, Hanford observers speculated Abraham's only apparent energy-related interests are currently oil and gas. A congressional watchdog group, The Center for Responsive Politics, said Abraham received $90,171 in campaign donations from 35 oil and gas political action committees in 1999 and 2000. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club contends Abraham accepted $490,000 " from polluting industries" in 2000, saying that is the most donated to congressional member. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters both graded Abraham very poorly on environmental matters--emphasizing he voted consistently to hamstring clean water programs and to weaken laws requiring chemical manufacturers to report some of their toxic emissions. The League of Conservation Voters said Abraham voted in 1995 to slash $1.5 billion from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's budget pertaining to enforcing air, water and wetlands regulations. The EPA is one of the two main regulatory agencies at Hanford. Former Democratic Michigan congresswoman Debbie Stabenow knocked Abraham from his seat in November despite his 2-to-1 advantage in campaign funds. After the election, the Detroit News quoted Democratic campaign officials saying that Abraham lost partly because he lost touch with his constituents. However, some printed reports plus inklings received Tuesday by Hanford observers painted Abraham as a conscientious, solid, hard-working senator who got along well with his congressional peers. He posted a perfect voting attendance record in his Senate term. Abraham was considered a potential candidate for transportation secretary. And the Associated Press reported that Michigan Gov. John Engler is a close friend of Bush and strongly pushed Abraham for a Cabinet post. Bush and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney--both former oil men -- propose to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling, which Abraham supports. Bush ultimately decided to nominate Democrat Norman Mineta, President Clinton's secretary of commerce, as the new transportation secretary. Because of the ultra-close presidential election, Bush talked about crossing party lines to fill his Cabinet. Mineta is the only Democrat among Bush's 14 cabinet nominees. Longtime Bush supporter and recently defeated U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., had been prominently mentioned among the half-dozen potential nominees for energy secretary. "I'm disappointed Slade is not getting it. He was a strong supporter of cleanup," said Harold Heacock of TRIDEC. According to CNN, Abraham said Tuesday: "Many significant Energy Department issues face us at this time, ranging from the adequacy of supply, to affordability, to the development of new technologies, to the issue of security at our facilities," Abraham said. " I look forward to helping the president-elect effectively address these challenges in the days ahead." CNN also quoted Abraham saying he would try to meet "our responsibilities as good stewards for the land, the air and water." ***************************************************************** 8 ABRAHAM A `DISASTER,' ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY a.nav Star-Telegram.Com | Local News Updated: Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 at 20:34 CST BY NEDRA PICKLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON--For years, Sen. Spencer Abraham tried to abolish the Department of Energy. Tuesday, he accepted President-elect Bush's offer to lead it. Abraham's nomination comes two months after an unsuccessful campaign to keep his Senate seat, from which he sponsored as recently as 1999 legislation to dismantle the agency. During his campaign, environmentalists assailed him for his opposition to higher fuel efficiency standards and support of increased U.S. oil drilling, criticisms repeated after Bush introduced Abraham. The outgoing Michigan senator took the moment to say the United States has "vast resources" that are "crucial to our country's security. "We can make good use of them, while at the same time, I believe, meeting our responsibilities as good stewards for the land, the air and the water," he said. However, Mark Helm, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth, called Abraham a "disaster," citing his support for oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and other efforts on behalf of the oil industry. "It's incredibly important that anybody who is energy secretary not be an enemy of the environment, and that's what this guy is," Helm said. Abraham was part of a small group of Senate Republicans who in 1996 cosponsored legislation to close the departments of Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development and privatize or assign to other departments the functions worth preserving. "We're not saying all government is bad. We're not saying every government program is bad," Abraham said in a 1997 interview about the department eliminations. But "we were elected to make government smarter and more efficient." He cosponsored legislation to eliminate the Energy Department again in 1999, when it was mired in the controversy over security problems at its Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory. Both times, the legislation died in committee. Aone-time political operative in Michigan, Abraham built a reputation in the Senate as a hard worker, never missing a roll call vote in six years and passing more bills than any other senator from his freshman class. "He's a brilliant visionary and he knows how to manage people, and that's exactly what you want in a Cabinet official," said Rusty Hills, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. But some observers felt he had a harder time connecting with the public than his more gregarious opponent in the election, Rep. Debbie Stabenow. "I think a lot of people were surprised when he first ran for office, because he was such a behind-the-scenes person," said Tom Shields, president of Lansing-based firm Marketing Resource Group, a firm that works on Republican campaigns. Abraham came to the Senate in 1995 with 11 freshmen who gave Republicans control of Congress for the first time in decades. He usually voted with his party. His involvement in energy issues came through an overall opposition to industry regulation, and he led the fight against higher fuel-efficiency standards in the Senate. Environmentalists say that's a sign of things to come if Abraham becomes energy secretary. "President-elect Bush is choosing the senator who led the fight for more gas-guzzling SUVs to go find the oil to keep them running," said Dan Becker of the Sierra Club. He also has a limited Senate background in nuclear weapons issues, which account for a good portion of the Energy Department's activities. "The bottom line is, he doesn't have much background in the field of energy. He's done very little in this area. It doesn't mean he can't learn," said David Nemtzow, executive director of the Alliance to Save Energy, a private advocacy group. At the department, Abraham is likely to face some immediate concerns, including high winter heating prices, the possibility of natural gas shortages, a likely resurgence of world oil prices and a crucial decision on disposal of nuclear waste. Environmentalists repeatedly attacked Abraham during his re-election campaign for his ties to the oil industry. As gas prices rose in Michigan and across the Midwest this summer, Abraham called for a suspension of federal gas taxes as he took donations from oil companies. Abraham, 48, was born in East Lansing, Mich., the grandson of Lebanese immigrants. He went to Michigan State University in the 1970s, where he worked on Republican campaigns. He graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1979 and returned to Michigan to work at a small firm and teach at Cooley Law School. He worked on Republican campaigns in the state and then took the job as the head of the state GOP. He left the state party in November 1989 to become deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. In 1992, he became co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. For home delivery of the Star-Telegram, dial (817) DEL-IVER. ***************************************************************** 9 New year's uncertainty arrives in Oak Ridge The year 2000, forever labeled on our brains as Y2K, was a bountiful one for Oak Ridge--so much so that U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., issued a series of best-of-times press releases late in the year, crowing about record budgets for the federal operations and mighty progress on Oak Ridge projects such as the Spallation Neutron Source. It was an election year, of course, and politicians sometimes get a little carried away with the good news, but a lot of positive things really did happen, and some of them, notably the federal dollars approved for fiscal 2001, will carry over into the New Year. With a new year, however, comes uncertainty, and that is especially true for 2001 because there's also a new administration ready to take control in Washington. Few places in the United States are more affected by changes in Washington than Oak Ridge. The Atomic City was born as a government entity during World War II, and despite numerous efforts to diversify the local economy, Oak Ridge remains heavily dependent on the federal dole. There are questions waiting to be answered: * Will the pro-defense platform of President-elect George W. Bush translate into strong support for the modernization of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge? The U.S. Department of Energy and the plant's managing contractor, BWXT, are proposing construction of new facilities for production of nuclear warhead parts and storage of special nuclear materials. The cost of the projects, which essentially involve construction of a new plant at the Oak Ridge site, has been estimated at about $4 billion over the next decade. DOE recently issued a draft environmental impact statement for Y- 12, detailing the first two projects--a storage center for highly enriched uranium and a facility where beryllium and other unnamed "special materials" would be processed. The proposed work has been staggered to get the highest priorities taken care of up front, but if the Y-12 plant is to be rebuilt as planned, it will require broad-based support in Washington. * Will there be a nuclear revival? No, I'm not talking about Alvin Weinberg's Second Nuclear Era or a sudden rush of applications for nuclear power plants in the United States. Bill Madia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has suggested a more modest revival, which could include the lab's involvement in producing and processing plutonium-238 for future space missions. DOE recently tabbed ORNL as the preferred site for that work, and a record of the decision is expected early this year. Beyond that, there are a number of nuclear-related issues that must be addressed. How will the Bush administration approach nuclear recycling? Energy Secretary Bill Richardson put a halt to an Oak Ridge recycling program, even though it had gained the approval of Tennessee regulators. Richardson sided with critics who said the Oak Ridge work would put small amounts of radioactive substances into commercial products without warning consumers. DOE restricted the use of recycled metals to internal applications such as containers for nuclear wastes. * Will the momentum to compensate sick workers at DOE nuclear sites be lost in the shuffle of administrations? After decades of denial, DOE acknowledged that Cold War operations caused health problems among workers at Oak Ridge and other nuclear defense sites. The agency pushed for approval of a compensation program in Congress, and although the resulting package was disappointing to many affected workers, it was a mighty big step forward. Will the new DOE retreat or push ahead with a more comprehensive proposal to help those workers and their families affected by workplace- related illnesses? * Will Oak Ridge retirees get a boost in their pension benefits? This is truly the $1 billion question for about 14,000 contractor retirees whose benefits come from a pension fund with a surplus in the range of $1 billion. BWXT, the new manager at Y-12 and the new administrator of the pension fund, held a series of meetings with retired employees last month. The response from retirees was deafening, but it remains to be seen if it will fall on deaf ears. If a boost in benefits (such as the company paying an increased share of medical insurance costs) is recommended, will there be strings attached? There has been speculation that down the road BWXT might try to use a piece of the pension fund surplus for purposes others than employee benefits. Considering the hellfire and damnation brought forth by a similar proposal from BWXT's predecessor (Lockheed Martin), that would seem like a stupid idea. But, hey, stranger--and dumber--things have happened in Oak Ridge. Senior Writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News-Sentinel. He can be reached at 865-482-9213 or at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This column is also available on the Web at www.knoxnews.com/editorsview/ munger/ Copyright c 1999-2000, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights ***************************************************************** 10 Abraham nominated DOE chief Oak Ridgers in the dark on Michigan ex-senator Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:33 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3, 2001 Spencer Abraham BY PAUL PARSON Oak Ridger staff A defeated United States senator from Michigan was nominated Tuesday to lead the Department of Energy, but some local community members are asking, "Who is he?" President-elect George W. Bush nominated Spencer Abraham, 48, to serve as DOE's new energy secretary--a position currently held by Bill Richardson. Abraham's nomination was one of several announced Tuesday by Bush. "Bush has nominated very capable people of sound judgment and substantial experience to serve in the cabinet of his administration," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, this morning. "Secretary of energy designate Spencer Abraham of Michigan is no exception. His six years in the U.S. Senate will serve him well in this position, and I look forward to working with him and fully briefing him on the important missions carried out in East Tennessee through the DOE on behalf of the United States. I am confident we will have a productive and mutually beneficial relationship over the next four years." Abraham, a Republican, recently sought re-election to his Senate seat, but was defeated by Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Lansing, Mich. USA Today reported in June of 2000 that Abraham's bid for re-election would be an "uphill" battle. At the time, the newspaper reported that Abraham's campaign had already suffered a number of distractions, including his support for more visas for foreign workers to fill highly skilled U.S. jobs. The Detroit Free Press reported today that Abraham was originally considered a top contender for transportation secretary--a natural position for someone hailing from the birthplace of the auto industry. But the transportation position went to Norman Mineta, a Democrat and commerce secretary to President Bill Clinton. Ironically, with the nomination of Abraham, the Detroit Free Press also reported today that the Michigan resident voted twice in the Senate to abolish DOE. The newspaper stated critics said "the only experience Abraham has in energy matters is campaign contributions he has received from auto companies and large energy producers that have fought cleaner air standards." With the nomination of a new energy secretary, the Oak Ridge community will be watching closely how the three local DOE facilities will be affected. But the most pressing local question seems to be, "Who is Spencer Abraham?" Bill Madia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said this morning that he did not know Abraham but that he has talked with several business officials and legislators who spoke highly of Abraham. "I'm optimistic," said Madia, concerning DOE's future under the new leadership. "I can guarantee this was a serious cabinet appointment," Madia said. "This wasn't a throwaway appointment. They searched real hard. That's good news." Norman Mulvenon, chairman of the Citizens' Advisory Panel of the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, and several other community members said this morning they don't know much about Abraham. The Citizens' Advisory Panel provides advice to local, state and federal officials regarding DOE environmental management decisions. Mulvenon did say that he hopes the new energy secretary pays attention to environmental management and research activities in Oak Ridge. Abraham, who is of Lebanese descent, attended Michigan State University and was the first member of his family with a college degree. He went on to attend Harvard Law School, where he founded the Federalist Society and a conservative law journal. In 1990, Abraham was called to Washington to join the Bush administration as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. Abraham was elected to the Senate in 1994. Abraham, his wife, Jane, 7-year-old twins Betsy and Julie, and 4- year-old son Spencer Robert make their home in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Oak Ridger was unable to reach Abraham this morning for comment. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 11 Abraham To Lead Dept. He Wanted Shut January 02, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP)--For years, Sen. Spencer Abraham tried to abolish the Department of Energy. Tuesday, he accepted President-elect Bush's offer to lead it. Abraham's nomination comes two months after an unsuccessful campaign to keep his Senate seat, from which he sponsored as recently as 1999 legislation to dismantle the agency. During his campaign environmentalists assailed him for his opposition to higher fuel efficiency standards and support of increased U.S. oil drilling, criticisms repeated after Bush introduced Abraham. The outgoing Michigan senator took the moment to say the United States has "vast resources" that are "crucial to our country's security. "We can make good use of them, while at the same time, I believe, meeting our responsibilities as good stewards for the land, the air and the water," he said. However, Mark Helm, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth, called Abraham a "disaster," citing his support for oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and other efforts on behalf of the oil industry. "It's incredibly important that anybody who is energy secretary not be an enemy of the environment, and that's what this guy is," Helm said. Abraham was part of a small group of Senate Republicans who in 1996 cosponsored legislation to close the departments of Energy, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development and privatize or assign to other departments the functions worth preserving. "We're not saying all government is bad. We're not saying every government program is bad," Abraham said in a 1997 interview about the department eliminations. But "we were elected to make government smarter and more efficient." He cosponsored legislation to eliminate the Energy Department again in 1999, when it was mired in the controversy over security problems at its Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory. Both times, the legislation died in committee. The Bush transition team did not immediately return calls seeking comment. A one-time political operative back home in Michigan, Abraham built a reputation in the Senate as a hard worker, never missing a roll call vote in six years and passing more bills than any other senator from his freshman class. "He's a brilliant visionary and he knows how to manage people and that's exactly what you want in a Cabinet official," said Rusty Hills, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. But some observers felt he had a harder time connecting with the public than his more gregarious opponent in the election, Rep. Debbie Stabenow. "I think a lot of people were surprised when he first ran for office because he was such a behind-the-scenes person," said Tom Shields, president of Lansing-based firm Marketing Resource Group, a firm that works on Republican campaigns. Abraham came to the Senate in 1995 with 11 freshmen who gave Republicans control of Congress for the first time in decades. He usually voted with his party. His involvement in energy issues came through an overall opposition to industry regulation, and he led the fight against higher fuel-efficiency standards in the Senate. Environmentalists say that's a sign of things to come if Abraham becomes energy secretary. "President-elect Bush is choosing the senator who led the fight for more gas-guzzling SUVs to go find the oil to keep them running," said Dan Becker of the Sierra Club. He also has a limited Senate background in nuclear weapons issues, which accounts for a good portion of the Energy Department's activities. "The bottom line is he doesn't have much background in the field of energy. He's done very little in this area. It doesn't mean he can't learn," said David Nemtzow, executive director of the Alliance to Save Energy, a private advocacy group. At the department, Abraham is likely to face some immediate concerns including high winter heating prices, the possibility of natural gas shortages, a likely resurgence of world oil prices and a critical decision on disposal of nuclear waste. Environmentalists repeatedly attacked Abraham during his re-election campaign for his ties to the oil industry. As gas prices rose in Michigan and across the Midwest this summer, Abraham called for a suspension of federal gas taxes while taking donations from oil companies. According to campaign finance watchdog FECInfo, Abraham took $221, 848 in contributions from energy and natural resources companies, including $10,000 each from the El Paso Energy Corp. and the Ohio Valley Coal Co. and $9,000 each from Chevron, Coastal Corp. and Michigan Petroleum. Abraham, 48, was born in East Lansing, Mich., the grandson of Lebanese immigrants. He went to Michigan State University in the 1970s, where he worked on Republican campaigns. He graduated with honors in 1979 and returned to Michigan to work at a small firm and teach at Cooley Law School. He worked on Republican campaigns in the state and then took the job as the head of the state GOP. He left the state party in November 1989 to become deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. In 1992, he became co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "You never outworked Spencer when you worked for him," Shields said. "He would call you from the movie theater because he came up with an idea during the show. He's probably one of the brightest people I have met." ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 12 Inheriting father's nuclear neuroses The Age: By TONY WILSON Wednesday 3 January 2001 My father often tells the story of sitting in the Baillieu Library at Melbourne University during the Cuban missile crisis, a radio under the desk, wondering whether there was any point ordering in a book when a nuclear apocalypse looked on the cards later that afternoon. At the time, he was studying voting patterns in the Riverina during the Federation referendum of 1898, so we sometimes joke that if anyone was hoping for it all to end, it was him. Eventually, news emerged that sanity had prevailed. The ships carrying the missiles to Cuba turned around and wandering hands were kept away from the Cold War thermostat. Dad, for his part, lived to tell the tale, as well as some considerably less interesting ones about the founding fathers and Wagga. Mutually assured destruction (MAD), an inspiring human achievement if ever there was one, saved the day in 1962 and has been an important part of nuclear deterrence ever since. The 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, whereby the US and the Soviet Union promised not to build missile defence systems, had mutually assured destruction at its core. It was agreed that so long as neither superpower was capable of returning the other's serve, nobody would risk stepping on to the court. Then Ronald Reagan had the Star Wars missile defence system drawn for him on a paper napkin in the early 1980s. The napkin doesn't survive (it no doubt featured lasers, spaceships and perhaps the odd mustard stain) but it changed the balance of power in the Cold War. No longer was the result of a nuclear war going to be one, huge global downer. If the US could just make sure that it had one more missile interceptor than the Soviet Union had missiles, there could be a winner. And, importantly for America, that winner would be it. It was a crazy US$60billion policy designed to deliberately accelerate the arms race. This happened, and exacted an economic toll on the Soviet Union that contributed to its domestic unravelling - a result that may have been part of the grand American plan. If it was, it was a spectacularly irresponsible gamble that the Iron Curtain would fall before the first missile did. Indeed, the Americans were probably helped in this gamble by their own technological failures. Had the defence system actually worked and the mutual deterrence logic of the ABM Treaty been dismantled (that is, had test missile interceptors intercepted test missiles, rather than air just behind test missiles) we may have had a day of global concern to more than match that one in 1962. Not that Star Wars madness has been relegated to history. President- elect George W. Bush this week appointed Donald Rumsfeld as Defence Secretary, restoring him to the job he held in the mid-1970s. According to a panel Rumsfeld chaired in 1998, what America now has to fear is an attack by a "rogue state", such as Iran or North Korea, and that such an attack is "not a distant threat". The new administration therefore promises to erect a $60billion nuclear umbrella over all 50 states as well as America's Nato allies, just in case Baghdad or Pyongyang (or some other city with an irresistible urge to become flatter) takes an indiscrete view of the present ballistic missile scoreboard. Needless to say, the European Union, containing many of the NATO countries America promises to protect, opposes the idea. The price the world pays for American neuroses about rogue states is nuclear proliferation. Russia and China rightly ask the question: "What if this is not about rogue states? What if this is about altering the nuclear balance in relation to us?" Chinese officials have already said that approval of the National Missile Defence scheme will result in them increasing their own nuclear capabilities. Rogue states, meanwhile, if they're as roguish as Mr Rumsfeld would have us believe, will continue plotting to import terrorist devices into America by land or sea. It's a little more anonymous than arriving by intercontinental ballistic missile. I'm not a foreign affairs specialist, just a writer sitting in a library, worrying. Of course, it may be that things will be OK. After all, Bush and Rumsfeld could scarcely be more provocative than Reagan, and disaster was averted then. Nor is the present international climate as tense as it was in 1962. Nevertheless, the stakes are high, the rhetoric is worrying, and the President-elect isn't a foreign affairs specialist either. If you blow us up, Mr Bush, you can forget about that second term. Tony Wilson is a Melbourne writer. Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, ***************************************************************** 13 Britain hid nuclear arms in Singapore The Age: WASHINGTON Wednesday 3 January 2001 Britain hid nuclear weapons in Cyprus and Singapore during the Cold War without telling the host governments, according to a new report. As early as 1960, Britain deployed tactical nuclear weapons at its Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri in southern Cyprus, the Chicago-based Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reports in its January-February edition. In August, 1962, the then British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, authorised the storage of nuclear weapons at RAF Tengah in Singapore, the report said, citing declassified documents. "Facilities were introduced for handling nuclear weapons in transit in a number of other countries," it said, noting that in Singapore the weapons were stored on navy vessels. The first tactical nuclear weapon the so-called Red Beard carried by Scimitar aircraft on navy carriers had originally been viewed by the navy as a weapon suitable for sinking ships in the North Atlantic. But by the time it entered service, it was viewed as a potential weapon for use in a limited Far East war. In fact, Mr Macmillan had "authorised the Royal Air Force to deploy both live and dummy weapons to Tengah", the report said. "The live weapons were to be held at all times in their special storage area, but in November, 1963, permission was granted to train with dummy weapons in the open," it said. Recently declassified files reveal that neither Malaysia's prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Singapore was then a part of the Malaysian Federation nor Cyprus' leader at the time, Archbishop Makarios, were aware of the deployment. A British Air Ministry official wrote in 1969 that "all possible measures should be taken in Cyprus to conceal the arrival and storage of (nuclear) bombs ... whether they be inert or drill or the real McCoy," according to the report. Its author, Richard Moore, noted that while British government efforts to hide nuclear deployments "did not approach the efforts taken by the United States during the Cold War, it is not clear that local governments, as opposed to locally based British diplomats, were fully informed at the time". - AFP Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, ***************************************************************** 14 Alarm over Nato uranium deaths BBC News | EUROPE | Wednesday, 3 January, 2001, 23:38 GMT Uncertainty over how many DU rounds were fired BY ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT ALEX KIRBY Italy has called on Nato to give a full account of its use of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia. It follows the death from cancer of a sixth Italian soldier who served with the Nato peacekeeping force in the Balkans. Nato must carry out all the checks that will allow us to understand the history and the characteristics of depleted uranium[I] Guiliano Amato Italy is the latest European country to express concern about the effects on its troops of DU weapons. Finland, Spain, Portugal and France have already begun looking into the matter. Last week, Belgian Defence Minister André Flahaut called on all European Union defence ministers to examine the issue. 'LEGITIMATE CONCERN' In an interview published in La Repubblica newspaper, Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said alarm in Italy over the so-called Balkan syndrome was "more than legitimate". "Nato must carry out all the checks that will allow us to understand the history and the characteristics of depleted uranium," he said. [I] Nato troops fear DU's effects "We've always known that it was a danger only in absolutely exceptional circumstances like, for example, picking up a fragment with a hand on which there was an open wound, while in normal circumstances it isn't dangerous at all. "But now we're starting to have a justified fear that things aren't that simple." Nato has acknowledged that it did use some DU weapons in the Kosovo conflict, though little more than half the quantity the Belgrade authorities say were fired. There is also evidence that Nato used DU in an earlier Balkan conflict, in Bosnia. ARMOUR-PIERCING Depleted uranium is a heavy substance, 1.7 times as dense as lead, and used in armour-piercing munitions. Many Gulf War veterans believe it is implicated in a range of medical problems they are suffering from, known collectively as Gulf War Syndrome. [I] Gulf veterans believe they are at risk Because of its ability to punch through armour, DU is prized as a highly effective anti-tank weapon. In its natural state, it is only mildly radioactive, but on impact with a solid object it turns into a burning vapour. The US Defense Department and the UK Ministry of Defence accept that the resulting dust can be dangerous, and say troops entering vehicles hit by DU weapons need to take precautions. But they say the dust soon ceases to be a significant problem, and is unlikely to move far from the site of the explosion, though independent experiments have found it can be blown many miles. The US and UK military authorities say any risk from DU comes from its toxicity as a heavy metal, and that its radioactivity is negligible. OFFICIAL CONCERN A former US colonel, Dr Asaf Durakovic, who is now a professor of medicine, said last year he had found a "significant presence" of DU in two-thirds of the 17 Gulf War veterans he had tested. He said: "Some of those particles were inhaled, and if they were too big to be absorbed they stayed in the lungs, and there they can present a risk of cancer." A report by the US Army Environmental Policy Institute said: "If DU enters the body, it has the potential to generate significant medical consequences. "The risks associated with DU in the body are both chemical and radiological. Personnel inside or near vehicles struck by DU penetrators could receive significant internal exposures." Some Gulf veterans believe birth defects in their children are attributable to their own exposure to DU. And there is concern over reports from Iraq of high cancer rates among civilians in parts of the country where DU weapons were used in 1991. That concern now extends to anyone potentially exposed to DU residues in the former Yugoslavia, both nationals and foreigners like aid workers and journalists. Several European governments had earlier told their troops not to eat local products, and were reported to have flown in drinking water. For many other people, those safeguards are not available. ***************************************************************** 15 NATO Troops Being Tested for Cancer ˙˙˙NEWSMAX.COM WIRES TUESDAY, JAN. 2, 2001 Washington – NATO armies have begun testing soldiers for cancer following a number of deaths allegedly linked to the use of depleted uranium ammunition by U.S. pilots in Kosovo, the British Guardian newspaper reported Monday. France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal are studying the health of soldiers who served in Kosovo in order to test for radiation. Italy's military prosecutor is examining five deaths which some scientists link to ammunition used during the 1999 bombing of Serbian military targets there. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman countered that there had been no problems with leukemia or other illnesses among American troops who served in the Balkans. The Guardian reported that Portugal would send experts from its national atomic institute to test radiation levels in Kosovo in the wake of the leukemia-induced death of a Portugese corporal. Relatives of some soldiers have accused NATO of carrying out a "cover-up" of deaths allegedly linked to the uranium ammunition. In Italy, authorities are investigating the deaths of 15 soldiers diagnosed with cancer after returning from the former Yugoslavia. A military report leaked to an Italian newspaper recently said soldiers from that nation were dying from radiation-induced leukemia. Britain's Ministry of Defense, however, maintains that critics have exaggerated the threat from uranium, and that the substance was safe to touch and emits no more radiation than a household smoke alarm. NATO denies that a connection exists between uranium used in the 1999 war and soldiers' health problems. (C) 2001 UPI All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Italy seeks to ease fears over ammo - CNN.com - January 2, 2001 ROME, Italy (AP)--Italy's defence minister is to travel to Kosovo in an attempt to ease fears of a cancer link to NATO ammunition used in the Balkans. Sergio Matarella will arrive in Kosovo on Thursday, in what officials describe as a visit to 'reassure the troops'. An Italian military prosecutor is conducting a probe into so-called "Balkans syndrome"--a possible link between depleted uranium ammunition and 30 ill soldiers who served in missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. Twelve of the soldiers have developed cancer and five have died. Relatives of Salvatore Carbonaro, a Sicilian who died of leukaemia after returning from tours of duty in the Balkans, want the Italian government to recognise that his illness was caused by contact with contaminated equipment. Carbonaro, who died aged 24, served as a guard at an ammunition depot in Bosnia in 1998. "It is not possible to link Carbonaro's death to his service in Bosnia, " Mario Lazzarino, an Italian doctor who treated him, told the ANSA newsagency, but some veterans' organisations are demanding that victims be compensated by the government. On Tuesday, leaders from several political parties said the government had to recognise the problem and deal with it. "Italy should move immediately to eliminate this ammunition from NATO's arsenal," Popular Party leader Sergio Castagnetti, a member of Italy's governing centre-left coalition demanded on Tuesday. Around 60,000 Italian soldiers have served in missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia since 1995. Italy's defence ministry said on Tuesday it could not say when any results of the prosecutor's investigations would be made available. NATO has said that U.S. warplanes operating in Kosovo fired armour- piercing rounds containing depleted uranium during alliance's 78- day bombing campaign last year. Spain announced last week it would examine all 32,000 soldiers who have served in the Balkans since 1992. Findings by a team of U.N. experts sent to Kosovo in November are Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. RELATED STORY: December 30, 2000 c 2001 CABLE NEWS NETWORK. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Las Vegan named adviser for Depart... LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Troy Wade The 66-year-old is a Nevada Test Site nuclear weapons veteranRELATED STORY: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 Las Vegan named adviser for Department of Energy BY KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL When Energy Secretary-designate Spencer Abraham seeks advice next week on how to handle national security matters, Troy Wade of Las Vegas will be there to help him. Wade, a Nevada Test Site nuclear weapons veteran and the Department of Energy's defense chief during the Reagan Administration, has been appointed by President- elect Bush as an adviser on the Department of Energy transition team. Wade said he will join some 30 other team members Monday or Tuesday to discuss transition strategies for the Bush-Cheney administration. "I'm waiting for instructions about what I'm supposed to do," Wade said Tuesday, about an hour after Bush named Abraham, a former Michigan Republican senator, as his choice for Secretary of Energy. Wade said among his top priorities will be giving advice on nuclear weapons and nuclear security--issues that he said the department needs to carefully address. "To me, getting the national security missions of the Department of Energy redefined is of critical importance to the state and the nation," said Wade, who is 66. Wade's experience in nuclear weapons operations and policy matters spans four decades of the Cold War. He began his career in the late 1950s as a miner at the test site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He later became the engineer who personally assembled the nuclear device that created the Sedan Crater there in 1962. He retired from the Department of Energy in 1989 and established a Las Vegas consulting firm, Wade Associates. He is currently chairman of the Nevada Alliance for Defense, Energy and Business--a Southern Nevada trade group that represents contractors and technology companies. Full-scale nuclear weapons tests have been on hold at the test site since 1992, when Bush's father, then-President George Bush, declared a moratorium that President Clinton extended indefinitely. Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2001 ***************************************************************** 18 Report: Russia Moving Weapons January 03, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP)--Russia is moving tactical nuclear weapons into one of its military bases in the Baltics for the first time since the end of the Cold War, The Washington Times reported. The paper reported in Wednesday's editions that the transfer of battlefield nuclear weapons to the base in Kaliningrade followed threats several years ago to position such weapons outside of Russia's territory in response to expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Kaliningrade is a Baltic Sea port located between Poland and Lithuania on a sliver of Russian territory not connected to the main part of Russia. The port is the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet. The paper said movement of the battlefield nuclear weapons, believed to be for use on a new missile with a range of about 44 miles, was detected last June, but withheld from most U.S. policy-makers until recently. The Times said Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon declined to comment on intelligence reports of the weapons movement, but said: "If the Russians have placed tactical nuclear weapons in Kaliningrade, it would violate their pledge that they were removing nuclear weapons from the Baltics, and that the Baltics should be nuclear-free." Russia and the United States announced in 1991 and 1992 nonbinding agreements to reduce arsenals of tactical nuclear weapons. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 19 Italy Urges NATO to Probe 'Balkan Syndrome' Deaths WEDNESDAY JANUARY 3 5:03 AM ET ROME (Reuters) - Italy has urged NATO to investigate claims that six Italians who died after serving in the Balkans were killed by exposure to depleted uranium, Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said in an interview published Wednesday. Amato told La Repubblica newspaper that alarm in Italy over the so- called ``Balkan syndrome'' was ``more than legitimate.'' ``This is a very delicate situation,'' he said. ``We've always known that (depleted uranium) was used in Kosovo but not in Bosnia. We've always known that it was a danger only in absolutely exceptional circumstances like, for example, picking up a fragment with a hand on which there was an open wound, while in normal circumstances it isn't dangerous at all.'' ``But now we're starting to have a justified fear that things aren't that simple,'' Amato said. He said he had ordered Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini to ask NATO to open a probe into the cases, but denied the deaths could strain relations between Italy and the Atlantic alliance. Six Italians who served in the Balkans during the 1990s have since died of leukemia. The latest, a 24-year-old soldier from Sicily, died in November after an 18-month illness. Doctors have said there is insufficient evidence to link the deaths to exposure to uranium bullets but Italian media have claimed the number of deaths is too high to be coincidental. Some 60,000 Italian soldiers and 15,000 civilians served in the Balkans during the 1990s. According to Italian media reports, NATO used around 31,500 bullets and shells capped with depleted uranium during the campaign to end Serb repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. Amato's call for a NATO probe follows similar expressions of concern from elsewhere in Europe. defense ministers to discuss health problems suffered by peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia, while the Portuguese media have reported that Portugal has ordered medical tests for its soldiers serving in Kosovo to check for exposure to radiation. Concerns have also been raised by service members or civilian aid workers in Britain and the Netherlands. Reuters ***************************************************************** 20 Italy Asks NATO To Explain Ammo Use January 03, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS ROME (AP)--Italy, where at least six soldiers have died of cancer since serving in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, is demanding that NATO explain its use of armor-piercing ammunition containing depleted uranium. Italy's Green and Communist parties, both opponents of NATO's 78- day bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, have long claimed that the ammunition was sickening peacekeepers in the Balkans. Last week, Italy announced it was investigating illnesses among soldiers deployed in Kosovo after airstrikes there in 1999. Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Finland followed suit by screening their Balkans veterans. NATO scheduled top-level discussions on the ammunition Saturday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. "The issue has taken a serious turn and the alarm caused is more than legitimate," Italian Premier Giuliano Amato said in an interview published Wednesday in La Repubblica newspaper. Depleted uranium, a dense metal with low levels of radioactivity, is used in artillery because of its ability to penetrate armor. But some believe the dust created upon impact may be harmful. The NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia, SFOR, acknowledged using depleted uranium ammunition in Bosnia in the fall of 1994 and in the fall of 1995. But SFOR rejected the theory that depleted uranium was making soldiers ill. In Kosovo, U.S. warplanes used armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium mostly in the central, western and southwestern parts of the province--areas where Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese peacekeepers later were deployed. A U.N. team that went to Kosovo in November is doing a study and is expected to report its findings in February. Amato suggested he did not believe NATO's assurances. "Now we fear things may not be so simple," he said of the possible health risk. He said Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini would press NATO to "assume its responsibility." Amato also seemed to suggest that Italy was deceived about the use of depleted uranium ammunition in an earlier Balkan conflict, the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. NATO member Italy takes part in every military meeting and is entitled to whatever information it is seeking, a NATO spokesman said in Brussels, Belgium. Italy's study will concentrate on the illnesses of 30 Balkans veterans, including the six who have died of cancer. About 60,000 Italian soldiers have served in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia since 1995. Defense Minister Sergio Matarella leaves Thursday to reassure Italian peacekeepers in Bosnia. "This is not a subject for politicians or even the military," he told the Corriere della Serra newspaper in an interview published Wednesday. "Science needs to tell us what really happened." Other European countries were checking their troops as well for radiation. Portugal and Turkey were screening soldiers in Kosovo, and Spain said it would examine all 32,000 troops who have served in the Balkans since 1992. Initial tests have come back negative, Spain's Defense Ministry said last week. Portugal's Parliament held an emergency session Wednesday after the father of one deceased Kosovo veteran demanded that his son be exhumed for a radiation exposure test. The head of the army, Gen. Antonio Martins Barrento, dismissed the father's concerns as a "paranoid fantasy." Finland, which is not a member of NATO but contributed 2,000 soldiers to the peacekeeping force, said spot checks of urine samples from veterans so far have revealed no radiation exposure. Greece said it was monitoring radiation levels in the parts of Kosovo where it has troops. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 21 Reid: Bush choice for energy no friend of Nevada RGJ.com - By Jennifer Crowe Reno Gazette-Journal Wednesday January 3rd, 2001 News of President-elect George W. Bush’s choice to lead the Department of Energy drew mixed response from Nevada state and congressional leaders Tuesday. Former Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham, 48, is the nominee as secretary of the Department of Energy--the federal agency evaluating Yucca Mountain to determine its feasibility as a permanent home to the nation’s tons of high-level radioactive waste. In words echoing the 2000 presidential campaign, Democrats say Abraham could spell bad news for Nevada. Republicans insist Bush will keep his promise to decide the fate of a dump at Yucca Mountain on science, not politics. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., worked with Abraham in the Senate and said the Michigan Republican “voted against the interests of Nevadans on numerous occasions.” Abraham was elected in 1994, after Congress passed the so-called “Screw Nevada bill” that designates Yucca Mountain as the only potential site for permanent radioactive waste storage. Reid said Abraham’s selection calls in to question Bush’s promises to Nevadans for an unbiased study on the proposed dump. “Spencer Abraham is not someone who has been neutral on the issue of dumping nuclear waste in Nevada,” he said. However, Reid did not say he would fight Abraham’s confirmation in the Senate as he did when Bush floated former Louisiana Sen. Bennett Johnston’s name for the job. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, said Abraham still faces confirmation by the Senate. But should he get the job, Gibbons said all of Nevada’s congressional delegation would talk to him about the state’s opposition to the permanent dump. “President-elect Bush clearly understands Nevada’s concerns on the issue of nuclear waste.” Gibbons said. “It is my hope that Sen. Abraham is aware of the commitment the Bush-Cheney ticket made to Gov. (Kenny) Guinn during the campaign.” Guinn agreed that Abraham’s nomination doesn’t indicate Bush is backing away from his promise to voters. “I’m certain that Secretary-designate Abraham will continue the position of President-elect Bush to base any decision on nuclear waste storage on science rather than political expediency,” Guinn said. Nevada’s lawmakers are keeping a close eye on the department since a memo was discovered suggesting bias in favor of locating the permanent dump at Yucca Mountain. Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson supported the request for an investigation, which the department’s inspector general granted last month. ©2001 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL ***************************************************************** 22 Bush's Pick for Energy Sought to Kill Agency (washingtonpost.com) Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., has won praise from the automobile industry but raised concerns among environmental groups. (Harry Cabluck - AP) By Peter Behr and Dina ElBoghdady Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, January 3, 2001; Page A06 In 1999, Republican Spencer Abraham of Michigan was one of a handful of senators sponsoring a short-lived proposal to eliminate the Department of Energy. Now Abraham, who lost his Senate reelection bid in November, is President- elect Bush's choice to run that department in the face of the nation's harshest energy challenges in 20 years. Bills for natural gas, electricity and heating oil have jumped 50 percent or more over those of a year ago as the coldest winter in years drains depleted fuel stocks. California faces an electricity crisis and on Jan. 17, three days before Bush's inauguration, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to consider a cutback in crude oil production that would reverse a recent easing in oil prices, energy analysts say. All of this will land in the lap of Abraham, 48, a Harvard-educated lawyer, grandson of Lebanese immigrants and one-term senator who had been a top vice-presidential aide to Dan Quayle, assuming he is confirmed by his former Senate colleagues. It will be a mostly new agenda for Abraham, as he acknowledged yesterday after his nomination by Bush. "Fortunately, this administration is comprised of many individuals with incredible expertise in these areas," Abraham said, adding: "I look forward to helping the president-elect address these challenges." Not since the energy shocks that battered the Carter administration has a new president confronted the range of bad news that awaits Bush, said Howard Gruenspecht, a former Energy Department official and now resident scholar at Resources for the Future, a research organization. And while Abraham is in line to be the administration's point man on these issues, as energy secretary he would have direct control of only a few key policies. The regulation of electricity, access to oil and gas sites on public lands, and environmental rules governing power plants and refineries are in the hands of other departments and agencies, Gruenspecht said. Nor does Abraham have a background in security issues at the nuclear weapons laboratories run by the Energy Department--as also was the case with Bill Richardson, the current energy secretary, who was sharply criticized for that alleged failing by Republican House and Senate members who attacked the Clinton administration's management of the labs. Although Abraham proposed abolishing the Energy Department as a means of reducing federal spending, the Bush transition team said he no longer holds that view because of the energy challenges facing the country. As a senator representing Michigan, home to the U.S. auto industry, Abraham's priorities began with transportation issues, including successful efforts to block higher fuel-economy standards for sport- utility vehicles and light trucks and a failed attempt this year to suspend the federal gasoline tax in response to the sharp rise in pump prices. "He understands the energy issues more than people think," said Debbie Dingell, president of the General Motors Foundation, a Democrat and a friend of Abraham's since the age of 15. "When you come from Michigan, you pay attention to these things." Abraham's advocacy for the auto industry made him a ready target for environmentalists. The League of Conservation gave his Senate voting record a rating of zero. After his narrow defeat in November by Rep. Deborah Ann Stabenow (D-Mich.), Abraham began appearing on some lists of possible Bush Cabinet appointees, although that speculation centered on the Transportation Department. The prospect of life outside government did not appeal to Abraham, some Senate sources say. But his selection as energy secretary has baffled many environmentalists, political observers and even some of his closest colleagues. "I really think the answer is that once the cards were shuffled, that was the only one [Cabinet position] left," said Stuart Rothenberg, a political analyst and editor of the Rothenberg Report, an independent newsletter. "It was one of the slots they had open, and this is a multicultural Cabinet if they ever had one." As the junior senator from Michigan, Abraham represented one of the largest Arab American populations in the country. Some Arab Americans say his Arab heritage will give him credibility in the Persian Gulf nations whose oil supplies are crucial to the U.S. economy. Abraham joined with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) last year in an unsuccessful bid to open the protected Alaskan coastline of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. Bush has put that at the top of his energy policy initiatives, promising an early battle with Democrats over the issue. "We have vast resources within the United States, and these are crucial to our country's security," Abraham said yesterday at Bush's side. The administration can tap new domestic oil and gas reserves "while meeting our responsibilities as good stewards of the land, the air and the water," he said. His nomination drew contrary responses yesterday from representatives of the energy industry and environmental groups. Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, an association of investor-owned electric companies, praised Abraham's selection, calling him "a leader in the U.S. Senate, a very thoughtful policy person, just who we need to address the difficult energy issues facing the country today." Dan Becker, a Sierra Club official in Washington, said of Abraham, "The only [energy] fight he's led was the one to guzzle more gas [by opposing increases in auto fuel economy standards], and his voting record has been singularly hostile to the environment." "He's not an energy expert. I don't think he needs to be," said David M. Nemtzow, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit advocacy group. "You need a good politician who can bring together different points of view" on energy development and conservation, Nemtzow said. Murkowski, whose committee will consider Abraham's confirmation, endorsed him yesterday. "The Energy Department is a difficult one to manage, but I have every confidence that Sen. Abraham is up to the job," Murkowski said in a statement. Swept into the Senate during the "Republican revolution" of 1994, Abraham was praised as an up-and-comer with enough conservative credentials to propel him into Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's "kitchen cabinet." But in the Senate, he soon proved to be among the most vulnerable Republicans. A freshman in a swing state that had not elected a Republican to the Senate in 20 years, Abraham could never parlay his 1994 win into widespread recognition at home. c 2001 The Washington Post ***************************************************************** 23 Columnist Jon Ralston: Abraham's choice leaves nation spinning January 03, 2001 Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870- --- And now the spin begins. After weeks of anticipation by Nevada Democrats and Republicans, Gov. George W. Bush's decision to ensure defeated Sen. Spencer Abraham has a job by parachuting him into his Cabinet as energy secretary is reason for ... well, for the usual pabulum. First things first. And this is the paramount point: Let's not forget that Abraham's attitude on storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain (yes, folks, he loves the idea, just as most members of the Gang of 535 do) is much less important than what his boss thinks. And while Bush's people told Gov. Kenny Guinn's people during the campaign that the Texas governor would surely, most probably veto interim storage and make sure everything out there in the desert is safe, no Republican could say with a straight face that the president-elect is Nevada-friendly on this issue. (Well, maybe Jim Gibbons could. More on that in a moment.) Just because Bush didn't appoint his pal and fund-raiser, Tom Kuhn, as DOE secretary doesn't mean the president-elect won't listen to the man who runs the Edison Electric Institute, which is positively glowing about the idea of Yucca Mountain becoming the dumpsite. Yes, it might have been helpful to Nevada if Bush picked the president of the Sierra Club, or Richard Bryan, or maybe someone in upper management at this newspaper. But just about anyone else could have been expected to be in sync with Bush's ideas on nuclear waste, which my guess resemble Kuhn's ideas more than they do Guinn's. The politics of this are simple. The Democratic members of the delegation -- Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley--surely were fretting that Bush might pick a Democrat for the energy slot, thus giving him political cover when he showed his true Yucca Mountain colors. So if they cared only about the politics of all of this--which, I know, is a heretical thought--they should be celebrating Abraham's nomination. Reid actually put out the most rhetoric-free news release in the hours following Abraham's announcement Tuesday, pointing out that the senator, who repeatedly has cast votes inimical to Nevada's dump interests, shows where Bush really stands: "The nomination of Abraham to head the Energy Department also calls in to question President-elect George W. Bush's commitment to a fair and unbiased evaluation of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "Spencer Abraham is not someone who has been neutral on the issue of dumping nuclear waste in Nevada, and this bias raises genuine concern about the prospects of a fair decision being made on the site's safety." Actually, those so-called genuine concerns have been there since 1987. But generally the minority whip is dead-on. On the other side, Gibbons appeared not quite fully recovered from whatever he was imbibing on New Year's Eve. Here's a snippet of Gibbons' release, which would register about a .25 on the political Breathalyzer: "President-elect Bush clearly understands Nevada's concerns on the issue of nuclear waste. It is my hope that Senator Abraham is aware of the commitment the Bush-Cheney ticket made to Governor Guinn during the campaign regarding this critical issue." And that commitment was? Oh yes, not to sign anything unless the site is deemed--now what is that shibboleth?--oh, yes, scientifically suitable. Now that was reassuring. Which brings me back to the main issue here, which is not Abraham. It's Bush. We have not yet heard from his lips that he would veto interim storage or that he would not support the permanent repository. In fact, we've heard nothing from Bush on the subject--his only comments were in statements written for him by Nevada Republicans desperate for something, anything during the campaign last year. Perhaps he could ask his dad for some help--"Read my lips. No new dump bills." Don't hold your breath. That's the politics, folks. But what about the reality, which rarely comes into play in discussions on this incendiary topic. The reality, which all the delegation members try to ignore, is that this thing is moving forward, now at a presumably accelerated pace, with the Bush-Abraham axis in place. Spin that one. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************