***************************************************************** 02/03/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.32 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 AG ASKS IF WIPP BEING CONSIDERED FOR HIGH-LEVEL WASTE 2 LES STOPS PAYING TO DECOMMISSION NUCLEAR PLANT 3 Arecord: Millstone 3 has run 585 straight days without interruption 4 The Age: Uranium pollution found in space 5 Radioactivity varies with uranium types, purity 6 New Senate Bill Invests in University Nuclear Science and 7 NEI Briefs Wall Street on Nuclear Energys Increasing Value in 8 ank Greenspun: Nuke driver merely acting accordingly 9 Ontario Power Generation, nuclear report cards released 10 THREAT OF $5M FINES FOR NUCLEAR DUMPS 11 Questions about Honeymoon safety 12 N Korea Condemns MOX Fuel Shipment To Japan - Report 13 Chen tries to heal nuclear plant rift 14 Editorial: It's time for a referendum 15 US must accept India's nuclear status: Experts 16 NUCLEAR EXIT PLAN CLEARS HURDLE WITH FRANCE ACCORD 17 Measures Aim to Stop Nuke Waste, Plan would block storage of 18 German Firm Reportedly Hopes To Build Nuclear Power Plant In 19 Bills would spare nothing to block N-waste 20 RESOLUTION FOR FALLOUT COMMITTEE SENT TO FLOOR 21 Envirocare applies for permit change 22 AREA TO BE IN PATH OF NUCLEAR SHIPMENTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 DOE briefs plant workers on radiation exposure study 2 Scientists say closer look at NATO ammunition used in Kosovo 3 WHO to study effect of uranium weapons' use 4 Nuclear workers in strike move 5 TE FILA MARTINEZ REQUESTS THAT THE ' TIRELESS' DOES NOT IGNITE 6 Shells Used in Kosovo Tainted; Risk to Be Evaluated, Experts: 7 Scientists Study NATO Ammunition 8 Palestinians Seek Uranium Probe 9 Women MPs call for fairness from international community 10 Paducah exposure records incomplete 11 Glassification plant hiring expected to pick up ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 AG ASKS IF WIPP BEING CONSIDERED FOR HIGH-LEVEL WASTE Albuquerque Tribune Online: News TRIBUNE REPORTER Is high-level nuclear-reactor waste destined for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad? New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid wants to know. But so, it seems, does a spokesman for the Department of Energy's Carlsbad Field Office. The DOE official said Thursday that his office will promptly respond to Madrid's concerns. But he stressed that WIPP is "absolutely not" certified for disposal or storage of hot, radioactive, nuclear-reactor fuel rods. DOE spokesman Dennis Hurt said it literally would take an act of Congress to change that. That's apparently what Madrid is worried about. On Thursday, she took two actions aimed apparently at heading off any DOE, congressional or White House consideration of WIPP for reactor wastes. The attorney general, an Albuquerque Democrat, filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting all documents or studies by the DOE considering disposal of high-level nuclear wastes at WIPP as an alternative to the currently-designated site for such wastes at Yucca Mountain on the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas. Madrid also sent a letter to senior New Mexico U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican, asking for united political "opposition to any effort to bring high-level waste to WIPP." Letters were also sent to the four other members of the state's congressional delegation. Domenici's office confirmed it received the letter late Thursday, but said the senator had already left for the Republican senators' retreat and would comment later. In her letter to Domenici, Madrid cited his June 22, 1983, letter to then-Gov. Toney Anaya in which Domenici opposed use of WIPP for high-level wastes and wrote that it would not be licensed for that purpose by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Hurt said he has no idea what prompted Madrid's inquiry because "Congress has only certified us to take defense-related transuranic (primarily plutonium-contaminated) wastes." He said he was not aware of any proposal to broaden WIPP's mission, but it would require a search of the records to determine whether studies might have been done at some time assessing WIPP for high-level radioactive waste disposal. "We'll certainly respond to any Freedom of Information request promptly," he said. He said WIPP's mission "is very clear, very specific" in the law and that doesn't include receiving, storing or disposing of high-level nuclear wastes. Madrid speculates in her letter to Domenici that if Nevada opposes use of Yucca Mountain, new Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham might decide to seek an alternative site, like WIPP, within the year. The government is seriously behind in fulfilling its obligation under law to take control of the high-level wastes from dozens of nuclear power plants across the country. Asked if Madrid was trying to fashion a political "pre-emptive strike" to prevent consideration of high- level waste disposal in New Mexico, Assistant Attorney General Michael Bryce said Thursday: "We prefer to call it a preparation effort." He acknowledged that "we don't have any evidence that WIPP is on the table, but that's what the FOIA (request for information) is for." He said Abraham is scheduled to decide about Yucca Mountain this summer, and Nevada officials, from the governor to the state's congressional delegation, are united in opposition to using the Nevada site. Bryce said that it might turn out that despite Nevada's opposition, Yucca Mountain will be designated as the high-level repository, and Congress will sanction its selection. But he said Madrid isn't assuming that will happen, especially since "there is no commitment by now-President Bush" to Yucca Mountain. "The attorney general is concerned about the possibility of even the distant potential of high-level waste coming to the state of New Mexico," Bryce said. While New Mexico has two of the DOE's three nuclear weapons laboratories--where some of the plutonium- contaminated wastes destined for WIPP was generated--it has no nuclear power plants or commercially stored high-level radioactive spent fuel rods. ©The Albuquerque Tribune. Users of this site are subject ***************************************************************** 2 LES STOPS PAYING TO DECOMMISSION NUCLEAR PLANT Journalstar.com: Local Lincoln Electric System is no longer paying millions of dollars into a decommissioning fund for Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville. The utility stopped making payments in December after a federal court ruled that another utility, MidAmerican Energy Co., is liable for decommissioning costs only if Nebraska Public Power District, the state's largest electric utility, ceases operating Cooper in 2004. NPPD has no immediate plans to decommission Cooper, which the power district estimates could cost as much as $820 million. The decommissioning fund would be used to dismantle or mothball the nuclear power plant once it is no longer able to generate electricity. NPPD owns and operates the nuclear power plant but sells power to MidAmerican and LES under contract. The three utilities share Cooper's operating costs. MidAmerican, which gets half the power Cooper generates, has paid about $78 million into the fund; LES, which gets about 12.5 percent, has paid about $31 million. The rest of the power is used by NPPD or sold to other utilities. "The court said that there is no obligation to make current payments of estimated decommissioning funds," said Terry Bundy, LES administrator and CEO. NPPD spokesman Dave Simon said Thursday that LES is in violation of its contract and that NPPD is exploring its options. Also Thursday, John McClure, vice president of strategic planning and governmental affairs for NPPD, told a legislative committee that broader issues, not just a contractual dispute among utilities, exist. "It is about protecting Nebraska's electric ratepayers," said McClure while testifying in support of LB555. "If MidAmerican Energy and LES can escape their responsibilities to pay their fair share of decommissioning, the policy of cost-based pricing in Nebraska will be violated with the results being similarly situated public power customers paying significantly different prices." LB555 would require public power districts with nuclear plants to collect sufficient funds from customers during the original federal licensing period and pay all decommissioning costs. It would also apportion such costs "fairly and equitably" among those who have rights to receive the generation output of a nuclear power plant. NPPD, based in Columbus, has asked the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals for additional review of its MidAmerican decision, but that request was denied. The federal court in December reversed an October 1999 decision by a lower court that said MidAmerican must pay its share of decommissioning costs for Cooper. NPPD initially sued MidAmerican over the issue of decommissioning costs. LES's contract with NPPD expires in September 2003. Bundy said the LES administrative board has not decided whether to pursue an extension. LES is not trying to avoid its obligations, he said. "We recognize as well that we have a potential obligation to pay decommissioning if the plant would be decommissioned at the end of our contract," Bundy said. "While we are not making the payments to NPPD, we will put those monies in our own decommissioning fund in case we do end up paying for decommissioning." Only a small portion of a ratepayer's bill is earmarked for the decommissioning fund. Bundy estimated that of the $140 million in customer revenue LES takes in each year, about $3 million goes into the fund. REACH AL J. LAUKAITIS AT 473-7243 OR ALAUKAITIS@JOURNALSTAR.COM. Copyright c 2001, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 3 Arecord: Millstone 3 has run 585 straight days without interruption TheDay.com: Local and National News Published on 2/3/2001 WATERFORD –– The Millstone 3 nuclear power plant was scheduled to begin shutting down around midnight Friday, ending a record 585 straight days of operating without interruption and beginning a refueling expected to last a little more than a month. “In terms of the people working on site, this is certainly good for their self-esteem,” said Leon J. Olivier, the chief nuclear officer, of the record run. None of the reactors at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station had ever operated so long without interruption. The run is also among the longest ever recorded by the industry, said Mitchell Singer, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The record is 669 days, set by Three Mile Island 1 in Pennsylvania in 1999. The smooth operations were in stark contrast to the problems Millstone station encountered in the mid-1990s. Millstone 2 and 3 were shut down for between two and three years because of performance problems and regulatory violations. And when Millstone 3 did return to service in 1998 it was plagued with problems that forced repeated unscheduled shutdowns. “This goes back to the problems we had in the fall of 1998,” Olivier said. “We got a lot of people together and said, 'This doesn't meet our standard. What do we need to fix it?' We made a commitment to excellence and it paid off.” The first plant at Millstone, Unit 1, opened in 1970 and ceased operations permanently in 1995. Millstone 2 began operations in 1975, followed 11 years later by Millstone 3. The plants are being sold to Dominion Resources Inc. of Virginia for $1.3 billion. Northeast Utilities is expected to complete the deal in April. About 550 workers are being brought in to assist in the refueling, during which time fresh uranium-filled fuel rods will be placed in the reactor and spent fuel moved into the plant's storage pool. The additional workers will swell the workforce by one-third during the refueling. The planned 35-day refueling would also be a record, beating the previous Millstone best of 59 days. Singer said the industry has made dramatic improvements in completing refueling outages quickly and efficiently. Ten years ago the average outage lasted 101 days, while the figure in 1999 was down to 41. Keeping plants operating is a key factor in competing in the new deregulated marketplace, Singer said. • [I] ***************************************************************** 4 The Age: Uranium pollution found in space By ROB EDWARDS and PAUL HEINRICHS Sunday 4 February 2001 American scientists have discovered that space around Earth appears to be contaminated with radioactive particles of spent uranium. Although the exact origin is not known, they believe it could be a result of nuclear weapon testing in space, of uranium-powered satellites or the explosion of a supernova. The discovery was made after analysis of a space blanket used in the early 1990s on the Mir space station, the 14-year-old vehicle about to be brought back to Earth. Just a month before it is due to crash into the Pacific Ocean, tiny radioactive specks of decay products of uranium, lead-214 and bismuth- 214, were found on one of its instrument covers. The scientists, from California Polytechnic State University, have three possible scenarios for its source. It could have come from nuclear weapons tested in space in the 1960s, or from uranium-powered satellites that have burnt up on re-entry into the atmosphere. It could also have come from an exploding supernova blasting the uranium into our solar system many thousands of years ago. More data is needed to establish the origin. But according to Australian space scientist Peter Dyson, of La Trobe University, there is at least more confidence now that Mir will be safely brought back to Earth on or about March 6. Several months ago, he was among others warning that fragments of the ageing and dilapidated space station weighing up to 700 kilograms could land in Australia. But he believes that now the Russians have docked with Mir a new freight vehicle containing fuel for the descent, it will be a more precise operation. The final orbits should take Mir well out over the Pacific and not risk fragments landing in Australia. As for any extra risk from the uranium, Professor Dyson thinks it would depend largely upon the levels of radioactivity, which may be fairly small. Space debris expert John Zarnecki, of the Open University in Milton Keynes, says that all the explanations about how the radioactivity was caused are plausible. "Anything that is up in Earth's orbit for more than a few weeks is bombarded with particles of space debris, " he says. The Californian researchers, led by Roger Grismore, came across the uranium almost by accident. In June 1991, a small mitten-shaped space blanket made in California was placed over a glass instrument on the outside of Mir. The blanket, which consists of 10 thin layers of aluminium and polyester, protected the instrument from solar radiation and showers of tiny meteorites. The blanket was removed in August, 1995, and returned to California.The scientists used spectrometers to analyse gamma radiation given off by the blanket. This revealed that the gamma rays had energies characteristic of the two radioactive isotopes. - with AGENCIES Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2001. Any unauthorised use, ***************************************************************** 5 Radioactivity varies with uranium types, purity OCREGISTER.COM: Health & Fitness: February 3, 2001 The Associated Press Depleted uranium mainly contains alpha rays, which are far less toxic than the gamma rays produced by atomic bombs. Among the survivors of atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "there's virtually no place where you get leukemia from something less than gamma radiation," said Dr. Michael Repacholi, the World Health Organization's radiation expert. Plutonium releases gamma rays, but some scientists believe that while the revelation that ammunition used in the Balkans wars contained more than just depleted uranium raises concern, it doesn't raise huge concern. "I can't imagine anyone in Kosovo got exposed to anything remotely like" the radiation produced by the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, said leukemia expert Mel Greaves, a professor of cellular biology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. Uranium taken from the ground is made up mostly of three forms. Two of them, uranium-234 and uranium-235, are highly radioactive and capable of generating a nuclear explosion or nuclear power. The other, uranium-238, is not. The isotopes are separated so that only the uranium-234 and uranium- 235 are used in nuclear-processing plants. What's left is depleted uranium-238-- about half as radioactive as natural uranium. Uranium that goes through a nuclear-processing plant splits into several substances, including depleted uranium-238, plutonium and other radioactive wastes. If the elements are not separated properly, the depleted uranium can be contaminated. It is unclear where the depleted uranium in the Kosovo weapons came from. [I] Copyright 2001 The Orange County RegisterPlease send comments ***************************************************************** 6 New Senate Bill Invests in University Nuclear Science and Engineering Programs Nuclear Energy Institute WASHINGTON, D.C., FEBRUARY 2, 2001 The Nuclear Energy Institute welcomed the introduction in Congress yesterday of legislation that supports university nuclear science and engineering programs with nearly $240 million in federal spending over the next five years. The Department of Energy/University Nuclear Science and Engineering Act (S.242) was introduced by New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici, both of whom are senior members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, also is a sponsor of the bill. In addition to funding research and training programs, the legislation calls on the Energy Department to develop a graduate and undergraduate fellowship program to attract new students, and to assist universities in recruiting and retaining new faculty. "Senators Bingaman, Domenici and Crapo are taking an important step to retain U.S. leadership in nuclear technologies that benefit all Americans," said NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Joe F. Colvin. "We encourage Congress to rally behind this important legislation to keep our nation’s nuclear infrastructure stocked with the brightest minds and most capable people." The legislation warns that "universities cannot afford to support their research and training reactors." The number of university reactors operating nationwide has fallen to 28, a 50-percent reduction since 1980, while the number of four-year degree programs has decreased to about 25. The legislation authorizes total spending of $239.7 million over five years for research and fellowship programs, starting at $30.2 million in fiscal 2002 and rising to $64.1 million in fiscal 2006. The two largest investments, $68 million each, would go to the Nuclear Engineering and Education Research Program and the Reactor Research and Training Award Program. On the recruitment side, $39 million would go toward the Junior Faculty Research Initiation Grant Program, with another $15.7 million authorized for graduate and undergraduate fellowships. "As bullish as the nuclear energy industry is on its future in a competitive marketplace, we recognize that our long-term success depends in no small part on a new generation of highly trained nuclear engineers entering the field," Colvin said. "Senators Bingaman, Domenici and Crapo rightly recognize that the government too needs talented new scientists and engineers so that the Energy Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the university research that these agencies use can continue at the highest levels of excellence." The McGraw-Hill publication "Inside N.R.C." recently reported that the NRC research on reactor pressure vessel materials has been put at risk by the planned shutdown of the University of Michigan reactor program in late 2002 or 2003. In addition to Michigan, university reactors operate in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Nuclear energy provides 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs and is the nation’s largest source of emission-free electricity. Copyright c 2000 Nuclear Energy Institute. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 NEI Briefs Wall Street on Nuclear Energys Increasing Value in Todays Electricity Markets Nuclear Energy Institute NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2, 2001—Buoyed by their ability to reliably produce large amounts of low-cost, bulk electricity, nuclear power plants continue to increase in value, industry executives told Wall Street analysts here today. The energy woes gripping California and other parts of the United States reflect changes in the competitive electricity marketplace that are creating market opportunities for low-cost nuclear power, industry executives said. In addition, changing conditions are fostering "a high level of confidence" that construction of new nuclear power plants will begin later this decade. Christian Poindexter, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Constellation Energy Group, Inc. and chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s board of directors told the analysts that nuclear energy plants continue to perform at record levels of safety and reliability. As a result, he said, "The value of nuclear power plants in today’s market has increased significantly in the last year, and we see that value continuing to increase." Nuclear power plants are this nation’s largest source of emission- free generation. NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Colvin said this attribute will become more important-and more valuable- as Clean Air Act requirements limit companies’ ability to find sites for new coal-fired and gas-fired power plants and increase the cost of coal- and gas-fired generation. Poindexter highlighted several key achievements from the past year: ÿThe average nuclear plant capacity factor industrywide is at an ÿall-time high. The industry averaged over 86 percent in 1999, ÿand estimates 90 percent for 2000. NEI estimates that year 2000 ÿproduction will top 1999’s production record of 728 billion ÿkilowatt-hours by 5 percent. With nuclear production costs declining ÿto 1.83 cents per kilowatt-hour, nuclear production costs are ÿthe lowest of all large, expandable fuel sources, and have dropped ÿbelow average coal-fired production costs for the first time since ÿ1987. ÿSafety performance is at record levels. ÿConstellation Energy Group was the first company in U.S. history ÿto renew an operating license for a nuclear station. Additionally, ÿowners of approximately one-third of U.S. nuclear plants have ÿnotified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of their intention ÿto apply for 20-year extensions of their licenses. ÿThe nuclear industry continues its positive trend of consolidation. ÿThis leads to ownership and operating responsibility concentrated ÿin the hands of fewer, larger generating companies for whom nuclear ÿpower is a core business. Marvin Fertel, senior vice president for business operations at NEI, said the industry started laying the foundation more than a decade ago for policy changes to set the stage for new nuclear plant construction. Three essential conditions have converged to establish a compelling business case for construction of the next nuclear power plants in the U.S.: ÿGrowing electricity demand and need for new generating capacity; ÿ ÿGreater certainty in the NRC licensing process; and ÿPrograms to reduce capital costs for new nuclear power plants. ÿ "The Department of Energy’s latest forecast shows a need for 393,000 megawatts of new capacity by 2020, assuming electricity demand grows by 1.8 percent a year-somewhat lower than the 2.2 percent annual growth rate we experienced between 1990 and 1999," Fertel said. "At a 2.5 percent growth rate, we would need an additional 564,000 megawatts. Given these numbers, and given the broad recognition that fuel diversity is one of the great strengths of our electricity supply system, new nuclear plants could easily represent a substantial share of new capacity by 2020. "Nuclear plants are important in assuring a reliable electric supply system. We recognize that decisions to build new nuclear plants must have a solid business basis. Given this, our efforts are intended to provide a sound foundation for these business decisions, so that investments in new nuclear plants will be as valuable to their owners as existing plants. New nuclear plant orders are possible in the next five years." Copyright c 2000 Nuclear Energy Institute. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 ank Greenspun: Nuke driver merely acting accordingly February 02, 2001 NOTE TO READERS: This column by Sun founder Hank Greenspun appeared on Oct. 3, 1980. Drunkenness is an evil of the worst sort, but a drunk driving a truck filled with nuclear waste is a peril to human health and safety without parallel. Normally I am not one to encourage the reckless guzzling of alcoholic beverages. But there are times when a good stiff drink is necessary to carry out one's appointed rounds. Especially when it is delivering nuclear waste to the dumpsite in Beatty. Maybe that's why the driver of a truck marked with radiation stickers felt he had to stop at Circus Circus for a belt, which resulted in his arrest. There is little question that no people in their right minds would transport such material, with the appalling safety record of leaks, unless they were under the influence. They would have to be awfully stupid to take such risks while sober. Some of them probably drink to forget the eruptive content of the stuff they are transporting and the risk of losing their health and their lives. So jailing a drunken driver, who, in reality, is drinking in self- defense, is a miscarriage of justice. The persons who belong in jail are the people who permit the dumping of the waste. And among that evil group are the members of the Nevada Bad Board of Health; Gov. Bob List, who should have closed the dump down and kept it closed; and possibly the attorney general, who is legally attempting to abate an illegal activity. It is fortunate for the citizens of Nevada that the nuclear waste- carrying truck and its drunken driver were found in a Strip hotel parking lot. It is elementary in the state that if any action should be taken by local or state officialdom, the way to get it on is through the casino owners. These are the "juice guys," because in some fashion they have discovered the secret of getting things done. Perhaps if all waste-carrying trucks were routed through hotel parking lots where they could leak radiation all over the hotel and gaming patrons, it would take no time at all for Gov. List to get his marching orders and the nuisance would be abated immediately for all time. Casino owners can be awfully critical of anyone or anything that might imperil the flow of bucks over the tables. And if any people permit it, they do so at their peril. The Bad Board of Health is still deliberating about whether to renew the lease of the dump operators to continue polluting the air, land and underground water tables for the next thousands of years. Even with all the increased awareness of the dangers posed by the dumpsites and leaking radiation, these miscasts still have to deliberate to determine if there are any dangers. About the same time the waste-driving drunk was arrested, more leaking containers of radioactive material were discovered at the dumpsite. This is the 13th reported incident this year. How many are unreported will never be learned. And all the while the radiation burns, the board members fiddle. The Bad Board of Health is composed of doctors, or at least that is what they call themselves. And if a doctor has not yet learned that radiation can cause cancer, he should be buried with the waste that is carried by the drunken drivers. Throwing them off the board should be a minor consequence of their transgressions against the citizens. The Medical Board should look to their licenses. An alternative would be for the governor to turn his back on this sinful bunch and do what his office empowers. List doesn't have to use the board as a shield for his own indecision and, if he persists, his fate should be as theirs. Meanwhile we encourage all drivers of trucks bearing radioactive material to park in Strip parking lots while getting drunk in the lounges. Get the Strip owners riled and something will be done, because when the industry bosses talk, everybody listens. And if they don't, maybe we'll all have to get drunk so we can forget the constant fear we live with and the perils we subject our children to as long as the dumpsite is open. Does anybody really care? ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 9 Ontario Power Generation, nuclear report cards released FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2, 11:35 AM EASTERN TIME Press Release SOURCE: ONTARIO POWER GENERATION INC. Media advisory - Ontario Power Generation, nuclear report cards released TORONTO, Feb. 2 /CNW/ - Ontario Power Generation today released report cards, benchmarking the performance of its nuclear operations against nuclear industry standards, for the twelve months ending December 2000. The documents measure program effectiveness on a number of key indicators, focusing on public and employee safety and environmental and production performance. The quarterly figures cited in the report cards are for the fourth quarter of 2000, unless otherwise indicated. The report cards, which measure such things as production, radiation exposure, safety issues and other performance indicators, are made available to a wide range of groups, including the communities in which Ontario Power Generation's nuclear generating stations are located, and the media. The material is also available at Ontario Power Generation information and by "Fax-on-Demand", by calling 1-800-238- 7718, then asking for story code-10420 Ontario Power Generation is a major North American electricity generating company, based in Ontario. The company's goal is to expand into new electricity markets, while operating in a safe, open and environmentally responsible manner. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ÿÿÿ Media Relations, 1-877-592-4008 or (416) 592-4008 ***************************************************************** 10 THREAT OF $5M FINES FOR NUCLEAR DUMPS news.com.au - Display Story Page By Political Reporter KIM WHEATLEY 03feb01 COMPANIES would be fined up to $5 million if the Federal Government allowed a medium-level radioactive waste dump to be established in South Australia. State Environment Minister Iain Evans gave the warning to a Senate inquiry yesterday in one of the State Government's strongest public statements to its federal colleagues. "We'd certainly consider utilising those powers if someone has taken action to create a storage facility that is in conflict with the (Nuclear Waste Storage Prohibition) Act," Mr Evans said. Asked what would be done if the Federal Government attempted to override state laws, Mr Evans said there would be "a very significant dispute between the SA Government and the Federal Government". The inquiry was hearing submissions in Adelaide into plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights but it extended its terms of reference to include the dump issue. Last week, the Federal Government announced Area 52A, in the Woomera Prohibited Area, had been chosen as the preferred site for the storage of low-level radioactive waste. Mr Evans said bipartisan legislation passed in November banning a medium-level dump was a reflection of the community's overwhelming opposition to the issue. Opposition environment spokesman John Hill raised the spectre of the Franklin Dam constitutional dispute. Tabling numerous reports supporting co-location of a low and medium- level dump site, Mr Hill also claimed federal Industry Minister Nick Minchin had already decided on SA but was stalling until after the next election. Senator Minchin said the best site was the subject of a scientifically- based search that "responsible politicians" should support. He described the State Government's threats as "extraordinary". The scientific community was represented at the inquiry by former Adelaide University physics department associate professor John Patterson, who said a central waste repository at Area 52A would be an "excellent site". "I believe it would have zero effect on the townships nearby and certainly it will not increase the radiation exposure to people living in Adelaide by one iota," he said. ***************************************************************** 11 Questions about Honeymoon safety ABC News - AU One of the key Aboriginal claimant groups over the Honeymoon Uranium Mine has doubts about whether the mine is environmentally safe. The Federal Environment Minister, Robert Hill, yesterday deferred final approval of the mine, until he receives more evidence about the method of waste disposal involved in the in-situ acid leaching process. Adnyamathanha Native Title committee chairman, Vince Coulthard, says they are close to an agreement with Southern Cross Resources regarding the mine. However, he says his people are confused about conflicting information they're receiving from environmental groups and the company. "I'm not confident, I've just got to go on what we've been told," he said. "We've been trying to seek information, but no one can come through with the facts." "I hope the government will look at this mining operating and if they are not safe then they shouldn't allow them to happen in this country." ***************************************************************** 12 N Korea Condemns MOX Fuel Shipment To Japan - Report SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 11:02 PM SGT SEOUL (AP)--North Korea accused Japan on Saturday of stockpiling nuclear fuel to make atomic bombs. "It is the cherished desire of the Japanese reactionaries to go nuclear. To this end, they have made systematic preparations under all sorts of pretexts," said the communist North's state-run newspaper, Minju Joson. The article was carried by the North's official foreign news outlet, KCNA, which was monitored in Seoul. Minju Joson was criticizing the latest shipment of MOX fuel - a mixture of uranium oxide and plutonium - from France to Japan. A ship carrying the nuclear fuel left the French port of Cherbourg on Jan. 19, bound for Japan, despite protests by Greenpeace activists. It will take two months to reach its destination. Japanese officials say that the fuel rods, produced by the Belgian company Belgonucleaire from plutonium reprocessed by France's state- owned nuclear group Cogema, will be used to generate energy at a Japanese nuclear power plant. But North Korea claims that Japan intends to use the fuel to build atomic weapons. Dow Jones news delayed 20 minutes. Copyright 2000 Dow Jones & Copyright c 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 Chen tries to heal nuclear plant rift The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-03 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD, 2001 FRONT LINE: The president mediated two meetings yesterday between the premier and the speaker of the Legislative Yuan to try to solve the power plant dispute BY LIN CHIEH-YU AND STEPHANIE LOW STAFF REPORTERS New light was shed on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) dispute yesterday, as President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) and the heads of the legislative and administrative branches engaged in intensive negotiations in the hope of finding a compromise. The need to enact a new energy development law has become the main point of agreement between the two sides, though they differ on whether construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be resumed immediately or after the law is passed. To try to solve the months-long deadlock over the issue, Chen yesterday finally intervened to coordinate negotiations between the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan in an informal meeting. After two rounds of closed-door meetings between Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥­) and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (±i«T¶¯) earlier in the day, during which both sides revealed their proposals and bottom lines, Chen immediately invited Wang and Chang to his residence to discuss the possibility of a compromise. The private meeting reached some agreements, including that the Cabinet would propose a new energy development law as soon as possible and submit it to the legislature for review, said a top aide to the president. Only after the passage of the law will the Executive Yuan announce a resumption of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project, the aide said. "Wang will bring the proposal back for discussions with the opposition alliance," said the aide, "and we believe that the opposition parties will accept the compromise." The aide, however, declined to reveal further details of the president's private meeting, saying both sides still need to hammer out their bottom lines. "Chen now has to remain neutral," the aide said. "The president will respect any final resolutions made by the two Yuans." Meanwhile, both Chang and Wang said the gap between the legislative and administrative branches had been narrowed after several rounds of meetings. "The distance between both Yuans is getting smaller and smaller," Wang said. Chang made the first move by visiting Wang yesterday morning to relay the Executive Yuan's positions on the matter. "I fully understand and take very seriously the resolution adopted by the legislature on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant," Chang said. "We are glad that the legislature, in the foreword of its resolution, has stated that building a nuclear-free country is an ultimate goal, " Chang added. In addition, Chang proposed passing legislation to institutionalize referendums as a mechanism for solving disputes over aspects of major public policy. Wang then relayed the Executive Yuan's positions to a meeting of leaders of opposition legislative caucuses. Wang made an afternoon return visit to Chang to convey the legislators' responses to Chang's proposals. Wang said it was the unanimous position of the opposition coalition that the Executive Yuan should accept the legislature's Jan. 31 resolution that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant be "resumed immediately." "For the sake of political stability, economic development and the well-being of the people, the door for negotiations can be opened after the Executive Yuan has announced a resumption of the construction work," Wang said. Wang also said the Executive Yuan should draft the energy development law and submit the bill to the legislature as soon as possible. On Chang's proposal concerning a referendum law, Wang said "everything is negotiable" after the door to negotiations is reopened. This story has been viewed 240 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 14 Editorial: It's time for a referendum The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-03 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD, 2001 The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) dispute--which has paralyzed the country for almost half a year--saw hopes of a solution dawning yesterday with the meetings between the heads of the Legislative and Executive Yuans. However, given that the new government has accomplished little over the past six months, a solution to the plant dispute will be little more than a return to where we were six months ago. Exactly what benefits have we gained from six months of partisan squabbles? Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (±i«T¶¯) made two proposals yesterday: an energy law to resolve the power plant row and a mechanism to resolve policy disputes through a public referendum. Later, Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥­) demanded that the Cabinet resume construction of the plant immediately and take it upon itself to propose an energy law. However, he did not comment on the plebiscite issue. At least the executive and legislative branches have agreed on the urgency of the plant dispute and the need to build a non-nuclear country. The nuclear plant issue has cost Taiwan dearly--one premier, around 3,000 points on the TAIEX--the list goes on. Anything that brings the paralysis in government to an end should be welcome. Wang's request--that the energy law be drafted by the Executive Yuan--is reasonable because the Cabinet has the best sources of information on energy and industrial development. But the ruling party will have difficulty answering its anti-nuclear supporters if it immediately resumes construction of the plant. The Cabinet could draw up the energy law and send it to the Legislative Yuan before the upcoming legislative session. Once the legislature passes the law, the Cabinet can resume construction of the plant on the excuse that it was legally bound to do so. This should satisfy the interests of both sides and the spirit of the rule of law. But whether the contractors for the power plant can wait for a law to be passed is another matter. The nuclear plant dispute has revealed Taiwan's Achilles' heel: a crippled dispute-resolution mechanism. Both the Cabinet and the Legislature have been unable to end the row. A murky ruling from the Council of Grand Justices only moved the dispute to a new battleground. Presidential intervention will only cause a backlash and once again make Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) the target of a recall drive, given that he cannot pretend to be above the fray. This newspaper has many times suggested referendums as a final arbitration on public policy. The KMT government resisted such a direct exercise of public opinion, fearing that it might cost the party-government its policy-making power or lead to a referendum on independence. As an opposition party, the DPP advocated a plebiscite on the nuclear plant issue. But since coming to power, the DPP government has been reluctant to adopt its own policy, fearful of the outcome of such a move. Now, after a long and painful dispute, the Cabinet has finally realized that a referendum will be the most democratic solution and far better than prolonged uncertainty. But can Taiwan learn a lesson from this fratricidal bloodletting? The country needs to establish a mechanism for interaction between the executive and legislative branches. It also needs to establish principles to ensure the rule of law in politics--and a complete set of dispute-resolution systems that can fill the gaps in the representative government system. Only then will Taiwan have gained something positive from the pain caused by the nuclear plant row. This story has been viewed 191 times. Copyright c 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights ***************************************************************** 15 US must accept India's nuclear status: Experts 3 February 2001 : SATURDAY 3February 2001 CHICAGO: Two American experts have suggested that the United States should accept India's position as a nuclear power not only because it is a fait accompli, but also because it is in the interests of maintaining stability in the South Asian region. "If the United States' overriding interest is in stability in South Asia, then it must accept India as a nuclear power. It is also very important for the U.S. to advocate that India get a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council," said Richard Friedman, the president and chairman of the National Strategy Forum (NSF) here. "The time is ripe for an enhancement in Indo-US relations. But it will probably take another decade for a so-called alliance to emerge, " Friedman said at the NSF seminar titled "India in the 21st century" organised by the Consulate-General of India and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Friedman predicted that under President George W Bush, Indo-US relations would improve, although it would take time. "No political scar tissue remains from the days of the Cold War," he said, adding that three factors would hasten the process of better relations - democracy in India, India's burgeoning international trade and its "staggering demographics" which made it "immensely attractive to US industry." John Mearsheimer, Wendell Harrison distinguished service professor at the University of Chicago, said: "India will not only keep its nuclear arsenal" despite world opposition, " but it is likely to grow in time." He said India lived in a "dangerous neighbourhood, " adding that "nuclear weapons are a wonderful deterrent. The threat of incineration tends to make the attacker extremely cautious." "There is a certain measure of hypocrisy in the U.S. attitude towards nuclear weapons. Nobody else is getting rid of them and there is no evidence that the U.S will get rid of its nuclear weapons," Mearsheimer said, while warning that President Bush's National Missile Defense (NMD) would provoke China into increasing its nuclear arsenal as a counter measure. "If there is an emerging superpower, it is the Chinese. Naturally, India will respond in kind," he added. On India's refusal to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Mearsheimer said: "Israel, India and Pakistan are the three countries which give U.S. a heartburn. But if you live in a dangerous area of the world, nuclear weapons are an auto reflex." The presence of nuclear weapons with both Pakistan and India has meant that both countries have had to restrain themselves in a war, said Raju Thomas, Allis Chalmers professor of international affairs at the Marquette University. "In the 1965 war with Pakistan, the Indian Army marched towards Karachi and Lahore. But because of nuclearization of South Asia which India initiated, it cannot now raise the levels of violence over Kashmir," he said. Padma Rangaswamy, historian and visiting professor at Northwestern University, spoke on the "contribution of Indian Americans" and said "economic contribution was the major reason why Indian were allowed into the US It was the cream of the crop from India that has been filtered into the US since the sixties," she said. Bala Balachandran, distinguished professor of accounting and information systems at the Kellogg School, said the average Indian American family income was $60,000 annually as against the average American family income of $38,000. "More than 300,000 Indians work in technology firms and account for more than 15 percent of start-ups. The average annual income of an Indian in Silicon Valley is 200,000 dollars. More than one third of Fortune 500 companies outsource to India." (IANS) ***************************************************************** 16 NUCLEAR EXIT PLAN CLEARS HURDLE WITH FRANCE ACCORD Handelsblatt.com Handelsblatt bestellen Energy policy Dow Jones BERLIN. A long-awaited Franco-German accord on the transport of nuclear material removes one of two main obstacles to the implementation of a landmark German plan to end nuclear power production, energy industry officials said. The main remaining obstacle is industry opposition to key parts of the draft nuclear exit legislation, the officials said. The new law is supposed to come into force this summer. The nuclear exit plan, which still needs to be signed by the German energy industry and translated into law, foresees the gradual shutdown of the country's 19 nuclear plants and a ban on the construction of new plants. It also includes government guarantees on the transport of nuclear material. "We are pleased with the transport accord," said Klaus Wertel, spokesman of utility Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. "The problem with France is now resolved." As reported, the German and French governments approved a long-term plan for the transport of spent nuclear fuel from Germany to France for reprocessing and the shipment from France to Germany of radioactive nuclear waste that results from the reprocessing. The next shipment from France to Germany – to be the first since 1998 – will be in late March or early April. The Franco-German transport accord means the nuclear industry's existing contracts to reprocess spent fuel can be fulfilled, Wertel said. Meanwhile, the German energy industry's attention looks set to focus on controversial draft nuclear-exit legislation by the Environment Ministry. The industry claims the draft legislation would impose burdens not foreseen in the framework nuclear exit plan, which was agreed by the government and energy companies in June 2000. "The nuclear exit law hasn't in any way reached the point where a consensus is possible and numerous hurdles remain to be overcome, " said Gert Maichel, chairman of RWE Power AG, a unit of RWE AG, and president of Germany's main nuclear-energy lobby group. The industry claims the draft legislation would force the premature shut down of nuclear plants by creating legal uncertainties. It also says the legislation has been criticized sharply by other government ministries involved in the matter. The Environment Ministry, responsible for drafting the nuclear exit law, is led by a member of the antinuclear Green Party. Past antinuclear protests in Germany mean the industry remains worried about the nuclear transport issue despite the Franco-German transport accord. The inability of German nuclear plants to transport spent nuclear fuel abroad for reprocessing could force a shut down of the plants, whose spent fuel storage space is limited. "The transport abroad for reprocessing must be carried out again as quickly as possible," said Maichel. "It's necessary to avoid blockage at several German nuclear plants." Spent nuclear fuel from Germany's nuclear power plants is normally sent to La Hague in France for reprocessing by Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires, or Cogema, or to Sellafield in the U.K. for reprocessing by British Nuclear Fuels PLC. Reprocessing by Cogema produces two products: radioactive nuclear waste, which is sent to Germany for storage at Gorleben in the northern state of Lower Saxony, and uranium, which is reused by German power companies for fuel. No nuclear waste has been sent to Germany from France since May 1998, when a controversy over nuclear fuel container leaks caused a general halt to nuclear material transport in Germany. The French government had said it wouldn't accept any more deliveries of spent fuel until Germany allowed the radioactive waste from La Hague to be sent to Gorleben. HANDELSBLATT, Freitag, 02. Februar 2001 c Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt GmbH 2000 Für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernehmen wir keine Gewähr. Bitte ***************************************************************** 17 Measures Aim to Stop Nuke Waste, Plan would block storage of rods on Goshute land SATURDAY, February 3, 2001 BY JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Senators jumped into the fight Friday against high-level nuclear waste with a trio of bills intended to stymie any businesses or business people associated with that waste. Sen. Terry Spencer, usually an ardent opponent of business regulation, said the measures would break new legal ground, probably in the courts. But he insisted they are the state's best chance to stop a consortium of eight out-of-state utilities from storing spent nuclear fuel rods on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation. "I don't want this stuff here--not now, not ever," said the Layton Republican at a news conference where he described the measures. "I don't want my children or grandchildren to be saddled with this." The three bills carry out a strategy, formed last fall by community leaders and politicians under the direction of Gov. Mike Leavitt, to stop the Goshute plan. The consortium, Private Fuel Storage L.L.C., wants to store 40,000 tons of radioactive waste in concrete-and-steel casks on the reservation, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. If built, the site could hold all the spent power plant fuel that has been generated in the 30-year U.S. history of nuclear energy. The $3.1 billion project is seen as an economic boon to Tooele County and to the 125-member Skull Valley band of Goshutes. Supporters of the Goshute site criticized the bills. "These proposals seem to be seeking money for a public relations campaign to scare the populace," said PFS attorney David Bird. He said it is proper for the state to make sure the site is safe and meets license standards. But he questioned the fairness and legality of using state law and state money to single out one enterprise. Senate Bill 198 would put $1.6 million toward a public-opinion campaign against the Goshute plan and a new Office of High-Level Nuclear Opposition with the legal expertise needed to fight the plan. Senate Bill 199 would channel about $2 million in seed money toward improving economic development for the Skull Valley Goshute Band. Senate Bill 81 would make it punishable to do business with any business entity that deals in high-level nuclear waste, including utilities that serve those businesses and contractors that provide goods and services to it. In addition, employees and officers of high-level nuclear waste companies also would be legally liable, even putting their homes and cars on the hook. It's worth noting that Spencer last year won a special award from the Utah Manufacturers Association as a "Defender of Free Enterprise." Curiously, one of the UMA officers behind giving Spencer that distinction, Larry Bunkall, now works for the Salt Lake City legal team for the nuclear waste consortium. ***************************************************************** 18 German Firm Reportedly Hopes To Build Nuclear Power Plant In Mexico INFOLATINA S.A. DE C.V. 02/02/2001 18:07 Story Filed: Friday, February 02, 2001 6:07 PM EST MEXICO CITY, Feb 2, 2001 (Reforma/Infolatina via COMTEX)--An unnamed German company is interested in building a nuclear power plant in the central Mexican state of Puebla, state Economic Development Minister Antonio Zarain Garcia said. Zarain said representatives of the company outlined their plans to Mexican President Vicente Fox during Fox's recent visit to Europe. The company reportedly is proposing to invest 100 million dollars in the project. Zarain said the Mexican Congress would need to pass reforms opening up the state-run electricity industry to private investment if the project is to go ahead. He said feasibility and environmental-impact studies would need to be conducted, too. Several other European companies, including Germany's Prensar Electrik, are proposing to build gas-powered generation stations in the state, Zarain said. Copyright 2001 Infolatina, all rights reserved. SUBJECT CODE: New Copyright c 2001, InfoLatina S.A. de C.V., ***************************************************************** 19 Bills would spare nothing to block N-waste StandardNETR Saturday, February 03, 2001 By BOB WARD Standard-Examiner Capitol Bureau SALT LAKE CITY--State lawmakers plan to keep high-level nuclear waste out of Utah--quite literally at all costs. Sen. Terry Spencer, R-Layton, said Friday that a trio of bills designed to thwart a nuclear waste repository on the Goshute Reservation in the West Desert are likely to land the state in court for a decade or more. But, he said, even the cost of a protracted court battle, on top of a recommended $3.6 million in legislative appropriations this year, is better than accepting spent nuclear fuel rods into the state. "This is a very special case, and we need to make sure this stuff doesn't come here under any circumstances," Spencer said at a Friday morning news conference. Spencer's Senate Bill 81 would erect a series of barriers to nuclear waste importation, prohibiting the formation of any business to deal in high-level nuclear waste and making it illegal for any individual or company to bring the materials into Utah. The bill would make it illegal to provide goods or services, including electrical power, to a high-level nuclear waste business. Additionally, Spencer said, people associated with the business could be held personally liable in the event of a nuclear accident. "Their homes and their cars would become at issue," he said. Asked by reporters if they were unfairly discriminating against a certain kind of business, Senate leaders responded that high-level nuclear waste is like no other business. "These are health and safety issues," said Sen. John Valentine, R- Orem. "You could do it to any group that had a sufficient impact on the state." In the event the federal government overrules any of the restrictions, Spencer has added backup provisions. One would require any person or business involved in nuclear waste importation to deposit an estimated $150 billion to cover the cost of potential accidents. Another would require county plans and public hearings for any high- level nuclear waste storage operation. A third would impose a whopping 75 percent gross receipt tax on people or businesses involved in the storage site. Spencer is carrying two other nuclear waste bills as well. Senate Bill 198 would request $1.6 million for a team of lawyers to handle the effort. Another bill, SB 199, would request $2 million in economic development funds to help the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. Goshute leader Leon Bear said Friday he's skeptical about the Legislature's potential offer. "If it's the state's money, then there are strings attached," he said. "PFS is not going to tell us how to manage that money (generated by the PFS proposal)." Bear said the tribe is unconcerned about lawmakers' effort to take away public services, because the tribe receives no services from the state anyway. "We started out with nothing, and if we don't get it (the PFS storage facility) then we'll end up with nothing," he said. ***************************************************************** 20 RESOLUTION FOR FALLOUT COMMITTEE SENT TO FLOOR HarkTheHerald.com C.G. WALLACE Associated Press Writer on Friday, February 02 SALT LAKE CITY--Utah needs a committee to document possible health threats created by Nevada's nuclear testing in the 1950s, Rep. Lou Shurtliff told a committee Thursday. Radiation from the open-air tests drifted east over Utah, causing high incidences of cancer and other illnesses. The resolution asks the federal government to grant Utah the last of six federal subcommittees created to examine the health effects of nuclear test sites. A House health committee approved Shurtliff's resolution and sent it to the full House for a vote. A similar resolution passed the House last year, but the Senate didn't consider the issue before it adjourned. The resolution began after Shurtliff got a call from a woman who thought her health problems might stem from her childhood in Delta. The woman checked into it, and found a high rate of cancer in her old neighborhood. But information linking the health problems to the testing did not exist, Shurtliff said. "If they have questions about it, there's no way to find out," she said. The Ogden Democrat added that there appears to be an especially high rate of women in their 40s contracting thyroid problems. In the 1950s, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission detonated more than 100 nuclear weapons at its Nevada Test Site. These tests were followed by underground detonations from the 1960s to 1980s. In 1994 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created six citizen advisory subcommittees to provide advice, archive information and oversee agency-funded public health activities. Five of the committees had been assigned--the last going to Oakridge, Tenn. Shurtliff hopes the resolution will sway the federal government to assign Utah the last subcommitttee. She said Utah was exposed to 5,000 times more radiation than Oakridge and three to four times the amount released from the Soviet Union's Chernobyl reactor failure. The five current health effect subcommittees are in Ohio, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9. ©2001 by HarkTheHerald.com HarkTheHerald.com is a product of ***************************************************************** 21 Envirocare applies for permit change StandardNETR Saturday, February 03, 2001 The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY--Envirocare applied this week to amend its state permit for storing class A low-level radioactive waste. If approved, Envirocare would be able to begin accepting class A waste that is prepackaged in containers. The waste is more concentrated in radioactive materials than the loose waste it disposes at its landfill 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. Envirocare would use a portion of the landfill that is already taking class A waste. In another development this week, Envirocare announced it is quitting its existing operations and expansion plans in West Texas. The move is part of a settlement by Envirocare and Waste Control Specialists, a Texas waste company that filed a billion-dollar antitrust lawsuit against Envirocare in 1997. Neither side would discuss terms of the settlement, but Envirocare president Charles Judd told the Odessa Texas American that his company would sell its two West Texas facilities. ***************************************************************** 22 AREA TO BE IN PATH OF NUCLEAR SHIPMENTS The Dallas Morning News: Metro SOME FEAR WASTE POSES RISKS ON I-20 02/03/2001 BY BILL LODGE / THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS No one provides a specific date, but state and federal officials agree that 2001 is the year that Interstate 20 through Dallas and Tarrant counties becomes a plutonium path to a nuclear graveyard in New Mexico. RADIOACTIVITY ON THE ROADS (U.S. Department of Energy) That's good news in the opinion of some government spokesmen. Those officials view more than 35,000 tons of radioactive waste - left over from the production of Cold War bomb-grade plutonium - as safer for highway transportation than for storage at four current locations east of the Mississippi River. It's bad news, according to some environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists who believe even the slightest risk of a release of long- lived plutonium is too much of a gamble where public safety is concerned. And it's an additional concern for some local officials who long have viewed hazardous transports through southern Dallas County as particularly dangerous because of I-20's lack of continuous service roads. GRAPHIC [I] Waste shipment routes For the first time, I-20 will deliver plutonium-contaminated waste from the eastern half of the United States as early as the end of this month or as late as December. The time is unknown because of approval pending from the state of New Mexico. 9 TONS ON THE ROAD GRAPHIC [I] Radioactive trail The first truck, loaded with about 9 tons of steel-encased transuranic waste, will roll westward from the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. That truck will use I-20 to pass through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Then it will plow through Texas, including southern Dallas and Tarrant counties, on its way to the southeastern corner of New Mexico. The journey will end in a desert about 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad at the Energy Department's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, known as WIPP. Over the next 34 years, federal officials hope to repeat the process 4,299 times from four eastern sites now used for storage. At the WIPP, the nuclear trash - plutonium-contaminated clothes, tools, gloves and other toxic or radioactive materials - will be loaded onto elevators and taken 2,150 feet underground, where it will be entombed in rock-salt formations. Energy Department officials say they do not expect any radiation to be released during any of the thousands of highway trips that will be made over the next three decades. And they note that none of the 141 shipments already received by the WIPP from sites west of Texas has leaked any waste on other interstate highways. Jim Giusti, a spokesman for the Savannah River Site, said last week that officials hope to send their first shipment through Texas either this month or by early March. Steve Zappe, WIPP project manager for the New Mexico Environment Department's hazardous waste bureau, said federal officials may be too optimistic with that prediction. He would not make a specific prediction on behalf of state regulators, but said the first shipment should be authorized by New Mexico sometime this year. THREE-HOUR WARNING Dallas officials must be alerted when each of the waste transports leaves Louisiana and enters Texas. Capt. Benny Howard, hazardous materials coordinator for the Dallas Fire Department, said firefighters are prepared to handle any accident that involves a radiation release. He said he does not expect any such release, even if a truckload of radioactive waste is involved in a major traffic accident. "The way these things [huge stainless steel containers used for the waste shipments] are designed, they can survive heat of 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 30 minutes," Capt. Howard said. "We don't expect any problems." Capt. Howard said most of the waste will have only a low level of radioactivity. "If you inhale a particle into your system, then it's dangerous. But we've been training for this for 12 years. Our hazardous- materials team is well-prepared for a radiological accident." Lisa Gue, a policy analyst for the nonprofit Public Citizen's critical mass energy and environment program in Washington, D.C., said firefighters in cities along I-20 must be well-trained to protect residents from plutonium poisoning. Should a waste container be breached and its contents consumed by fire, smoke could drop microscopic plutonium particles over populated areas, Ms. Gue said. Anyone who inhaled as much as 0.08 milligrams of plutonium would develop fatal lung cancer, she said. "Plutonium is dangerous for 240,000 years," Ms. Gue said. "Once it's inhaled, it concentrates in the lungs, and it continues to emit radiation. It's insidious because it's not noticeable. It doesn't have a taste or smell." Arjun Makhijani, president of the Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, said he believes the eastern wastes should be left at their existing storage sites in Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee and South Carolina. "Needless transportation should be avoided," said Dr. Makhijani, whose degrees are in physics and electrical engineering. "These wastes are reasonably and safely stored where they are now." GRIDLOCK POSSIBLE In Duncanville, City Council member Grady Smithey expressed growing frustration over what he described as I-20's increased danger for residents. "If they're going to do this through congested areas, they ought to put in some service roads for safety purposes," said Mr. Smithey, who has argued for years that a spill of any hazardous material on I-20 would immediately cause gridlock in Duncanville and jeopardize both homeowners and highway travelers. "We didn't ask to be the hazardous materials route," Mr. Smithey added. "I think the federal government ought to pony up some money." At the WIPP, Energy Department spokesman Greg Sahd would not promise that there would never be a fiery highway accident or terrorist attack that could contaminate Dallas or another southern city with plutonium wastes. "Nobody could say that," Mr. Sahd said. UNYIELDING CONTAINERS But Mr. Sahd said the steel container that holds plutonium waste can survive a 30-foot drop onto an unyielding surface. He said it can't be punctured by a 40-inch drop onto a 6-inch-diameter steel bar or collapsed by the pressure of 50 feet of water. "This thing works," Mr. Sahd said. "It passed with flying colors." Some people and organizations believe the WIPP poses an unnecessary threat to people in Texas and other states, Mr. Sahd said, but Energy Department officials believe the project eliminates more serious threats, including those posed by terrorists. "What is worse?" Mr. Sahd said. "A single truck carrying 42 55-gallon barrels of radioactive wastes ... or to have a fire or explosion in a plastic building with thousands of barrels? "We consider ourselves environmentalists," Mr. Sahd said. "We're here to protect people ... by taking these dangerous materials away from populated areas." Mr. Sahd added that West Texas residents in the Pecos River region need not worry that radioactive waste at the WIPP will contaminate their water supply. The underground salt formation surrounding the waste "is 250 million years old," Mr. Sahd said. "It is geologically stable, and none of the wastes will get into the ground water." Don Hancock, director of the nonprofit Southwest Information Research Center in New Mexico, is not convinced. "We don't think there's a strong possibility [of water contamination] for many years," Mr. Hancock said. "But 240,000 years is a long time. We think the site will leak in the long run." Mr. Hancock also said it is unlikely that a truckload of plutonium waste will break open on I-20. But he added that history provides many reminders that "things that couldn't happen have happened." 2000, 1999 Katie winner for best news-related Web site 1998, 1999 best online newspaper in the state Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Award ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 DOE briefs plant workers on radiation exposure study Messenger-Inquirer: Region 3 February 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS PADUCAH--A study concerning past radiation exposure at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is a best effort, considering notable gaps in records, an investigator said. "We recognize that as a shortcoming," Rick Jones, the Department of Energy's lead investigator for the study, said during a briefing Thursday night. Nearly 200 people--employees or former employees and their families -- attended the briefing. The DOE report, released last month, said 2,500 to 4,000 plant workers had jobs from 1952 to 1991 placing them in potentially high risk of radiation exposure. But important exposure-level records were missing, and much of the data collected was from interviewing current and former employees. Former employee Al Puckett said he once put his film badge, used to measure external radiation, in a highly radioactive area of the plant and the badge showed nothing. "One day, I took my badge apart and there was no film in there," he said. Current plant health physicist Orville Cypret, who reviewed the report as a citizen and not as a U.S. Enrichment Corp. employee, said it had many errors, looked unprofessional and apparently did not undergo peer review before release. Despite that, Cypret said he agreed with "most of the conclusions." The report confirms previous studies and statements by former workers about dangerous working conditions and procedures during the plant's early years. DOE officials say the intent was to identify former workers eligible for exposure-related benefits. DOE is urging people to call to get on a mailing list for benefits information. But several people, including former plant worker Joe Smith, said they left messages and were never called. Jones said the hot line has gotten more than 10,000 calls since it was set up a year ago, and 600 to 800 calls are returned weekly. Publicity from the meeting may increase calls, which could slow the response pace, he said. DOE officials hope publicity will encourage former workers to seek free health screenings, including testing for early signs of lung cancer. Last year, Congress approved paying workers and surviving families up to $150,000 compensation for plant-related illness or death. Ongoing medical costs also are covered. Compensation applications are expected to be accepted in the fall. The report said high-risk areas included now-closed buildings where uranium hexafluoride (UF6) was made and fed into the plant and where uranium metal was made; and currently used buildings where UF6 is enriched and where enrichment equipment is overhauled, repaired and cleaned. People with greatest potential for increased radiation exposure included those working on enrichment equipment and handling ash. The study said they were at most risk for exposure to highly radioactive plutonium, neptunium and similar substances. Findings did not estimate exposure doses for individual workers and said risk does not mean workers will get sick. ***************************************************************** 2 Scientists say closer look at NATO ammunition used in Kosovo necessary Copyright 2001 Associated Press AP Worldstream February 2, 2001; Friday 3:05 PM Eastern Time EMMA ROSS LONDON The possibility that U.S. tank-piercing ammunition used in the Balkans conflicts contained more than just depleted uranium has prompted scientists to re-examine their skepticism about health risks to veterans. Experts' opinion that cancers reported by European veterans of Kosovo and Bosnia could not be linked to depleted uranium has been based on the assumption that the depleted uranium came from raw ore. But now the Pentagon has said shells used in the 1999 Kosovo conflict were tainted with traces of plutonium, neptunium and americium, byproducts of nuclear reactors that are much more radioactive than depleted uranium. ''If it has been through a reactor, it does change our idea on depleted uranium,'' said Dr. Michael Repacholi, the World Health Organizaiton's radiation expert. ''It all depends on the amounts.'' The main new concern, experts say, is plutonium, a highly toxic radioactive metal. On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson reiterated NATO's position that Balkans peacekeepers have not been shown to suffer health damage from depleted uranium. U.S. officials have said the shells contained mere traces of plutonium, not enough to cause harm. But WHO experts asked the U.S. government this week to clarify exactly how much plutonium and other radioactive material was in the ammunition. Countries that sent peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo have been looking for links between the depleted uranium ammunition and illnesses later contracted by veterans. A wave of fear swept across Europe and beyond after Italy announced it was screening its soldiers because 30 Balkans veterans had become ill since serving, including five who died of leukemia. Scores of countries began testing soldiers for radiation poisoning. UN environmental experts are examining radiation levels at sites targeted by NATO in the Balkans and NATO has set up a special committee to investigate claims of a link. The WHO expects to start new studies in the next six months. ''Minds have to be kept open on this,'' said Malcolm Grimson, a radiation expert at London's Imperial College of Medicine. ''We're in a different ballpark here than where we were when we thought we were dealing with depleted uranium from the ground. You have to do all your calculations again.'' Experts must first establish whether cancers are more common than normal among troops before they go on to investigate why. So far, there is no confirmed increase in cancer rates, said WHO's Repacholi. Lung cancer is the main danger from the radiation, but experts say it is far too early for that to surface. It takes several decades for lung cancer to develop from radiation exposure. It is just about possible for leukemia cases to start showing up two years after exposure to radiation, but they are less likely to occur than lung cancer and it would take a massive dose, experts say. ''You would die of suffocation before you could inhale enough of the dust to cause cancer, and even then there's a low probability of cancer, '' Repacholi said. That opinion is based largely on studies of survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he said. Leukemias started to appear there after two or three years. Depleted uranium mainly contains alpha rays, which are far less toxic than the gamma rays produced by atomic bombs. Among the Japanese bomb survivors, ''there's virtually no place where you get leukemia from something less than gamma radiation,'' Repacholi said. Plutonium releases gamma rays, but some scientists believe that while the revelation that the ammunition was tainted raises new concern, it doesn't raise enormous concern. ''I can't imagine anyone in Kosovo got exposed to anything remotely like,'' the radiation produced by the bombs in Japan, said leukemia expert Mel Greaves, a professor of cellular biology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. ''It's entirely related to dose.'' That's why WHO officials need to know exactly how tainted the ammunition was. When uranium is extracted from the ground it is made up mostly of three forms, or isotopes. Two of them, uranium-234 and uranium-235, are highly radioactive and are capable of generating a nuclear explosion or nuclear power, while the other, uranium-238, is not. The isotopes are separated so that only the uranium-234 and uranium- 235 are put into nuclear processing plants. What is left over is pure depleted uranium-238, which is about half as radioactive as natural uranium. That is what is used to fortify airplanes and make ammunition. Uranium that goes through a nuclear processing plant splits into several substances, including depleted uranium-238, plutonium and other radioactive wastes. If the elements are not separated properly, the depleted uranium can be contaminated. It is unclear where the depleted uranium in the Kosovo weapons came from. (er/bg) LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2001 ***************************************************************** 3 WHO to study effect of uranium weapons' use The Hindu on indiaserver.com : Saturday, February 03, 2001 By Sridhar Krishnaswami UNITED NATIONS, FEB. 2. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a ``flash appeal'' for $ 2 millions to support its activities concerning the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions in the Gulf War and during the conflict in the Balkans. Over the next six months, the WHO is asking for the flash funds to strengthen its epidemiological expertise to develop and conduct field surveys with standard protocols and support data collection as relevant from local health authorities; to support technical support to national surveillance; and to deploy toxicologists and radiation and chemical experts. The WHO is also maintaining that this request for $ 2 millions will eventually be a part of an estimated $ 20-million appeal that would cover the organisation's work in the area for the next four years. While the current thinking is that risk from exposure to depleted uranium is low, the consensus is also that information is insufficient to form firm conclusions. ``Evidence on the incidence of cancers needs to be strengthened in communities within Iraq and in the Balkans in order to draw any epidemiological conclusions'', says Dr. Xavier Leus, the Director of Emergency and Humanitarian Action Programme of the WHO. He added, ``There may be other possible risk factors for civilians and the military''. Meanwhile, a four-person team of the WHO which has been in Kosovo to assess the possible health consequences stemming from the use of depleted uranium in the shell tips of bombs used by the NATO during the war has finalised its report which is due to be released within a week. But a press statement issued by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and distributed here has listed a number of general conclusions and recommendations of the WHO team. Among other things, the WHO experts have determined that depleted uranium is only weakly radioactive and emits about 40 per cent less radioactivity than a similar mass of natural uranium; and that scientific and medical studies have not proven a link between exposure to DU and the onset of cancers, congenital abnormalities or serious toxic chemical effects on organs. The experts have further said that soldiers, particularly the ones at the site of an attack, are the most likely ones to have inhaled uranium metal and oxides. Excepting in isolated conditions, the civilian population would not have encountered the DU in this fashion, it is said. Further, presence of plutonium in the DU used in Kosovo has not been detected. The WHO team has recommended that the Commission of Experts be utilised to bring together the local, regional and international bodies to agree on a common approach for medical data recording system in Kosovo. Further, the experts have maintained that a separate clean up programme at depleted uranium sites is not necessary. ``The buried penetrators are unlikely to decompose quickly and hence their addition to the national environmental abundance of total uranium in soil will be small'', the experts have said. Copyrights c 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 Nuclear workers in strike move BBC News | SCOTLAND | Friday, 2 February, 2001, 19:32 GMT [I] The union says safety will not be compromised Workers at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness have voted to strike in a dispute over pay and conditions. The industrial action, involving about 160 members of engineering union AEEU is due to go ahead on 12 and 13 February. The move comes after the reprocessing plant staff rejected a pay offer from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The UKAEA said it was disappointed that, despite talks, the group of 160 technicians rejected the offer. [I] 2,000 staff work at the plant A UKAEA spokesman said the great majority of staff at the plant, which employs more than 2,000 people, had already accepted the deal. The UKAEA hoped AEEU members would reconsider their decision to take industrial action. He said: "What we hope is that the membership will reconsider their position and come back and agree to a decision." He said industrial action would inevitably delay work on restoration work at the site. The AEEU has pledged, with other unions, that safety cover at the plant would be maintained. AEEU regional secretary Danny Carrigan said members had been given a pay offer of 3% which had been rejected. He said: "We are still available for talks, but our members are angry and will pursue industrial action." ***************************************************************** 5 TE FILA MARTINEZ REQUESTS THAT THE ' TIRELESS' DOES NOT IGNITE ITS REACTOR IN GIBRALTAR EL PAIS DIGITAL - ESPA Ñ A SATURDAY 3FEBRUARY 2001 - Nø 1737 The Country, CADIZ The president of the Popular Party Andalusian, Teófila Martinez, pronounced itself yesterday in favor of which the nuclear reactor of the Tireless submarine , that is being repaired in Gibraltar, nonstarting in port but on the high seas. Martinez, who is also mayoress of Cadíz, presented/displayed yesterday a motion in the plenary session of the city council, requesting that the reactor is ignited far from the coast and received the support of all the political groups. The PSOE, Ecologists in Accion and Greenpeace also demanded yesterday in diverse declarations or official notices that the reactor starts outside the port and warned of the risk that, to do it in the colony, it involves for the population. The eve the minister of Outer Subjects, Josep I itched, had announced who the ignition would become, probably in May, in the naval base of the British colony. British prime minister, the Labour Party member Tony Blair, the past answered 29 of January the letter that the Secretary General of the PSOE had sent him, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in whom he requested to him that the submarine was traslalado to the United Kingdom to be repaired in a base that reunites conditions. Blair responds that the best solution, safest, is than the adjustment of the submarine is carried out in the Rock. ÿ c DAILY COPYRIGHT THE PAIS, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY - MIGUEL YUSTE 40, 28037 MADRID ***************************************************************** 6 Shells Used in Kosovo Tainted; Risk to Be Evaluated, Experts: Plutonium traces enhance radiation danger SATURDAY, February 3, 2001 BY EMMA ROSS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON--The possibility that U.S. tank-piercing ammunition used in the Balkans wars contained more than just depleted uranium has prompted scientists to re-examine their skepticism about health risks to veterans. Experts' opinions that cancer cases reported by European veterans were not linked to depleted uranium assumed the material came from raw ore. But now the Pentagon says shells used in the 1999 Kosovo conflict were tainted with traces of plutonium, neptunium and americium--byproducts of nuclear reactors that are much more radioactive than depleted uranium. "If it has been through a reactor, it does change our idea on depleted uranium," said Michael Repacholi, the World Health Organization's radiation expert. "It all depends on the amounts." The main new concern, experts say, is plutonium, a highly toxic radioactive metal. On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson reiterated NATO's position that Balkans peacekeepers have not been shown to suffer health damage from depleted uranium ammunition. U.S. officials have said the shells contained mere traces of plutonium, not enough to cause harm. But WHO experts asked the U.S. government this week to clarify exactly how much plutonium and other radioactive material was in the ammunition. Countries that sent peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo have been looking for links between the depleted uranium ammunition and illnesses contracted by veterans. A wave of fear swept across Europe and beyond after Italy announced it was screening its soldiers because 30 Balkans veterans had become ill, including five who died of leukemia. Scores of countries began testing soldiers for radiation poisoning. The WHO expects to start new studies in the next six months. Experts must first establish whether cancers are more common than normal among troops before they go on to investigate why. So far, there is no confirmed increase in cancer rates, said WHO's Repacholi. Lung cancer is the main danger from the radiation, but experts say it takes several decades for lung cancer to develop from radiation exposure. It is just about possible for leukemia cases to start showing up two years after exposure to radiation, but they are less likely to occur than lung cancer and it would take a massive dose, experts say. Uranium that goes through a nuclear processing plant splits into several substances, including depleted uranium-238, plutonium and other radioactive wastes. If the elements are not separated properly, the depleted uranium can be contaminated. It is unclear where the depleted uranium in the Kosovo weapons came from. c Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All ***************************************************************** 7 Scientists Study NATO Ammunition February 02, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON (AP)--The possibility that U.S. tank-piercing ammunition used in the Balkans wars contained more than just depleted uranium has prompted scientists to re-examine their skepticism about health risks to veterans. Experts' opinions that cancer cases reported by European veterans were not linked to depleted uranium assumed the material came from raw ore. But now the Pentagon says shells used in the 1999 Kosovo conflict were tainted with traces of plutonium, neptunium and americium -- byproducts of nuclear reactors that are much more radioactive than depleted uranium. "If it has been through a reactor, it does change our idea on depleted uranium," said Dr. Michael Repacholi, the World Health Organization's radiation expert. "It all depends on the amounts." The main new concern, experts say, is plutonium, a highly toxic radioactive metal. On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson reiterated NATO's position that Balkans peacekeepers have not been shown to suffer health damage from depleted uranium ammunition. U.S. officials have said the shells contained mere traces of plutonium, not enough to cause harm. But WHO experts asked the U.S. government this week to clarify exactly how much plutonium and other radioactive material was in the ammunition. Countries that sent peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo have been looking for links between the depleted uranium ammunition and illnesses contracted by veterans. A wave of fear swept across Europe and beyond after Italy announced it was screening its soldiers because 30 Balkans veterans had become ill, including five who died of leukemia. Scores of countries began testing soldiers for radiation poisoning. U.N. environmental experts are examining radiation levels at sites targeted by NATO in the Balkans and NATO has set up a special committee to investigate claims of a link. The WHO expects to start new studies in the next six months. "Minds have to be kept open on this," said Malcolm Grimson, a radiation expert at London's Imperial College of Medicine. "We're in a different ballpark here than where we were when we thought we were dealing with depleted uranium from the ground. You have to do all your calculations again." Experts must first establish whether cancers are more common than normal among troops before they go on to investigate why. So far, there is no confirmed increase in cancer rates, said WHO's Repacholi. Lung cancer is the main danger from the radiation, but experts say it is far too early for that to surface. It takes several decades for lung cancer to develop from radiation exposure. It is just about possible for leukemia cases to start showing up two years after exposure to radiation, but they are less likely to occur than lung cancer and it would take a massive dose, experts say. "You would die of suffocation before you could inhale enough of the dust to cause cancer, and even then there's a low probability of cancer," Repacholi said. That opinion is based largely on studies of survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he said. Leukemias started to appear there after two or three years. Depleted uranium mainly contains alpha rays, which are far less toxic than the gamma rays produced by atomic bombs. Among the Japanese bomb survivors, "there's virtually no place where you get leukemia from something less than gamma radiation," Repacholi said. Plutonium releases gamma rays, but some scientists believe that while the revelation that the ammunition was tainted raises new concern, it doesn't raise enormous concern. "I can't imagine anyone in Kosovo got exposed to anything remotely like," the radiation produced by the bombs in Japan, said leukemia expert Mel Greaves, a professor of cellular biology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. "It's entirely related to dose." That's why WHO officials need to know exactly how tainted the ammunition was. When uranium is extracted from the ground, it is made up mostly of three forms, or isotopes. Two of them, uranium-234 and uranium-235, are highly radioactive and are capable of generating a nuclear explosion or nuclear power, while the other, uranium-238, is not. The isotopes are separated so that only the uranium-234 and uranium- 235 are put into nuclear processing plants. What is left over is pure depleted uranium-238, which is about half as radioactive as natural uranium. That is what is used to fortify airplanes and make ammunition. Uranium that goes through a nuclear processing plant splits into several substances, including depleted uranium-238, plutonium and other radioactive wastes. If the elements are not separated properly, the depleted uranium can be contaminated. It is unclear where the depleted uranium in the Kosovo weapons came from. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 8 Palestinians Seek Uranium Probe February 02, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS UNITED NATIONS (AP)--The Palestinians asked the United Nations Friday to investigate what they said was Israel's possible use of depleted uranium ammunition in recent violent clashes. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused Israel in a speech Sunday in Davos, Switzerland of waging a "barbaric war" and using depleted uranium against Palestinians in four months of fighting which has left 383 people dead, over 80 percent of them Palestinians. Israel's army denied the accusation Monday, and Prime Minister Ehud Barak called the Palestinian leaders comments a "full-fledged attack on the army" and an "attack of lies on the state of Israel." But in a letter to the Security Council, Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the army's statement that it "has never utilized these munitions against any civilian population" indicates "that the Israeli army does indeed possess this kind of ammunition in its arsenal and that it has used it in the past." The Palestinian envoy called on Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in cooperation with the Security Council, to look into the possibility of sending inspection teams to Israel. Israel's U.N. mission said the Israeli Defense Force spokesman reiterated the denial that such ammunition was used against civilian populations, but had no further comment because of the Jewish Sabbath. NATO's use of depleted uranium ammunition during conflicts in the Balkans has sparked a scare across Europe that residue may have caused serious illnesses in peacekeeping troops who served in Bosnia and Kosovo and among civilians in the region. But the 19-member NATO alliance has repeatedly denied the ammunition could have triggered cancer in soldiers. A NATO committee set up Jan. 10 to deal with the issue said last week that no evidence has been found to link depleted uranium munitions and any increase in illness. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 9 Women MPs call for fairness from international community A forum of Arab women MPs voted Friday to send a message to the US Congress, the European Parliament, and the International Union of Parliamentarians, calling on them to adopt a fair stand and foresight regarding the Arab-Israeli struggle. The forum was held in Damascus on Thursday and Friday to mark the first anniversary of Arab Women's Day. In their message, participants urged that Israel be forced to abide by UN resolutions. They also said that sanctions should be lifted on Iraq and Sudan, and permanently lifted from Libya. Sidon MP Bahiya Hariri, who attended the forum with Zghorta MP Nayla Mouawad, called on the forum to add another recommendation concerning Israel's alleged use of depleted uranium ammunition. Hariri, who is the deputy chairwoman of the union's Women's Affairs Committee, recommended that international organizations, especially the World Health Organization, take serious steps toward providing a specially- equipped center to search for cases of cancer in the various areas in Lebanon targeted by Israel during its occupation. The move is aimed at investigating whether Israel has been using DU ammunition in its attacks on the country. If so, Hariri said, the Israelis should be forced to pay compensation to victims and should be prohibited from continuing to use DU. The recommendations were endorsed by participants in the forum, which also focused on the role of Arab women in supporting the Arab cause. DS 03/02/01 Copyright© 2000 The Daily Star. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 Paducah exposure records incomplete SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2001 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PADUCAH, KY. - A study concerning past radiation exposure at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is a best effort, considering notable gaps in records, an investigator said. "We recognize that as a shortcoming, " Rick Jones, the Department of Energy's lead investigator for the study, said during a briefing Thursday night. Nearly 200 people - employees or former employees and their families - attended the briefing. The DOE report, released last month, said 2,500 to 4,000 plant workers had jobs from 1952 to 1991 placing them in potentially high risk of radiation exposure. But important exposure-level records were missing, and much of the data collected were from interviewing current and former employees. Former employee Al Puckett said he once put his film badge, used to measure external radiation, in a highly radioactive area of the plant and the badge showed nothing. "One day, I took my badge apart and there was no film in there, " he said. Current plant health physicist Orville Cypret, who reviewed the report as a citizen and not as a U.S. Enrichment Corp. employee, said it had many errors, looked unprofessional and apparently did not undergo peer review before release. Despite that, Mr. Cypret said he agreed with "most of the conclusions." The report confirms previous studies and statements by former workers about dangerous working conditions and procedures during the plant's early years. DOE officials say the intent was to identify former workers eligible for exposure-related benefits. Inc. newspaper. 4/5/2000. ***************************************************************** 11 Glassification plant hiring expected to pick up Feb. 2, 2001: This story was published Fri, Feb 2, 2001 BY JOHN STANG HERALD STAFF WRITER Hanford's waste glassification project has begun its predicted hiring boom. Today, glassification contractor Bechtel-Washington has 156 employees. By mid-2003, it expects to employ about 4,400 people until heavy layoffs are expected to begin in mid-2004. But: -- The Department of Energy's Office of River Protection does not have enough staff members to adequately supervise and check everything Bechtel-Washington must do in the next several months. The Office of River Protection is 40 to 50 people short of what it needs. -- DOE's new leadership in Washington, D.C., has given no sign if it will ask Congress for the extra $313 million for fiscal 2002 that the glassification project needs to stay on schedule. To accomplish this, DOE will have to abandon it past doctrine of requesting no major budget increases. DOE and Bechtel-Washington leaders briefed the Hanford Advisory Board Thursday in Kennewick on how the glassification project is supposed to ramp up. Hanford has 177 underground tanks filled with 53 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes. DOE is legally obligated to have plants built by 2007 to begin converting those wastes into a benign glass. The federal agency wants glassification at full speed by 2011. DOE fired the project's original lead contractor, BNFL Inc., in May 2000 and hired Bechtel-Washington in December to take over. CH2M Hill Hanford Group was the project's caretaker until December. Right now, Bechtel-Washington has 156 employees and wants to reach about 700 by March 9. The new contractor is looking at importing its own specialists, absorbing some BNFL team members and possibly hiring some people facing layoffs by Fluor Hanford, said Bechtel- Washington's project manager Ron Naventi. Bechtel-Washington's figures show it expects to grow to about 1,000 to 1,100 management and engineering employees by 2002. That number is predicted to remain roughly level until 2008 when those employees gradually will decrease to 500 to 700 by 2011. Meanwhile, Bechtel-Washington expects to begin some preliminary construction work--installing fences and access roads--this September, Naventi said. The first concrete is scheduled to be poured for a permanent glassification structure in April 2002, he said. Bechtel-Washington's figures show some construction job hirings this year, followed by a huge boom starting in 2002. Possibly 3,300 to 3,400 construction employees are expected to be working by mid-2003. But starting in mid-2004, construction jobs are expected to drop to a handful by 2007, according to Bechtel-Washington's figures. By mid-April, Bechtel-Washington is supposed to map out a detailed, long-term construction and testing plan and budget for the Office of River Protection. But doubts exist on whether the Office of River Protection might have enough staff members to supervise, check and approve Bechtel- Washington's work in a timely matter. Last November, DOE in Washington, D.C., authorized the Office of River Protection to grow from 90 people to 150 people to handle the upcoming extra work. The problem is that DOE in Washington, D.C., did not provide the Office of River Protection with the money to hire those extra people, said Harry Boston, manager of the Office of River Protection. Boston said the office needs an extra $5 million annually to hire the additional staff. Right now, the office has about 110 people and needs 40 to 50 more, he said. Boston and his superiors have chewed over this matter for two months, according to DOE letters sent between Hanford and Washington, D.C. On Jan. 18, DOE's cleanup czar Carolyn Huntoon wrote that only $461, 000 could be scraped up at this time, and DOE will try to get the money appropriated for fiscal 2002, which starts this coming September. A major question engulfing Hanford circles is the new Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, a President George W. Bush appointee who has almost no DOE-related experience. Abraham has not made any significant public statement on his approach to cleaning up DOE's contaminated Cold War production sites, including Hanford. For cleanup projects at Hanford and other sites to stay on their current schedules, significant budget increases will be needed for fiscal 2002. DOE is expected to unveil at least a generalized version of its fiscal 2002 budget request to Congress in late February or March. Right now, Hanford's two DOE agencies want to increase their combined cleanup budgets from slightly more than $1.5 billion in fiscal 2001 to almost $1.9 billion in fiscal 2002. The glassification project accounts for most of that sought-after increase. The Office of River Protection has budgeted $376 million for tank-farm operations and $377 million for glassification work in 2001. It wants to keep the tank-farm budget steady but wants to boost the glassification budget to $690 million annually, staring in 2002. If the Bush administration or Congress don't approve that $313 million boost, the Office of River Protection will have to come up with a backup plan acceptable to what will likely be angry group of Hanford constituencies plus a Washington state government already upset over delays. "We have to know if that $690 million will be real," said Mike Wilson, the state ecology department's nuclear waste program manager. Naventi said Bechtel-Washington's master plan due in April will include some scenarios for possible annual budgets of less than $690 million. COPYRIGHT 2001 TRI-CITY HERALD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************