***************************************************************** 07/03/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.165 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 NRC to Meet with FirstEnergy Company to Discuss Safety 2 NRC to Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Safety 3 NRC to Meet With PSEG Nuclear to Discuss Performance at Salem and 4 NRC Assigns New Sr.Resident Inspector To Seabrook Station 5 Energy Department plans nuclear dump recommendation by December 6 NRC to Meet with Duke Energy Officials to Discuss Safety 7 Cuts In Cleanup Budget Concern WIPP Supporters 8 Lawyer to NRC: Hit TVA with fine of $1 million 9 Letter: Retiree's work on Yucca issue will be missed 10 Exelon Nuclear Submits License Renewal Application for Peach 11 NRC to Meet with Duke Energy Officials to Discuss Safety 12 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Monday, July 02, 2001 13 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Tuesday, July 03, 2001 14 5 tons of trouble for Point Beach 15 Nuclear and solar fans square up over energy as the government 16 Feds offer pills to get us through a nuclear winter 17 DOE chief hails new plant, once seen as Smokies threat 18 NRC to Meet with Southern Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety 19 NRC to Meet with Progress Energy/CP&L Officials to Discuss Safety 20 NRC to Meet with TVA Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety 21 NRC to Meet with FP&L Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety 22 NRC to Meet with FP&L Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety 23 NRC to Meet with Exelon Nuclear to Discuss Safety Performance at NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Hanford soil removal sub fired for financial issues 2 Russia Willing to Cut Arsenal 3 Chao opens compensation office for sick nuclear workers 4 Chao Opens Resource Center for Workers in KY 5 Confusion over Kursk salvage 6 Two DOE Contractors Nominated for VPPPA Board of Directors 7 Federal cleanup funds threatened 8 Cancer screenings total about 460 current, former K-25 workers 9 Chao: New claims office emphasizes friendliness 10 Balancing the Equation of Science and Politics ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 NRC to Meet with FirstEnergy Company to Discuss Safety Performance at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station Region III -- 2001 - 31 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-031 July 3, 2001 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company officials July 10 to discuss the NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. EDT and will be held at the plant's Energy Education Center, 5501 North State, Route 2, in Oak Harbor. The public is invited to observe the session. NRC officials will be available afterwards to answer questions. The annual assessment, referred to as the End-of-Cycle assessment, evaluates safety performance at the Davis-Besse plant from April 2000 through March 2001, and informs plant officials of the NRC's plans for future inspections at the facility. The Davis-Besse assessment letter and inspection report are available at or from the Region III Public Affairs Office. Current performance information for the plant is available at . ***************************************************************** 2 NRC to Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Safety Performance at the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant Region III -- 2001 - 32 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-032 July 3, 2001 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: pla@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with Nuclear Management Company officials July 10 to discuss the NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant in Kewaunee, Wisconsin. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. CDT and will be held at the Carlton Town Hall, two miles north and two miles west of the plant at the intersection of County Highway G and Townhall Road. The public is invited to observe the session. NRC officials will be available afterwards to answer questions. The annual assessment, referred to as the End-of-Cycle assessment, evaluates safety performance at the Kewaunee plant from April 2000 through March 2001, and informs plant officials of the NRC's plans for future inspections at the facility. The Kewaunee assessment letter and inspection report are available at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppror from the Region III Public Affairs Office. Current performance information for the plant is available at http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html. ***************************************************************** 3 NRC to Meet With PSEG Nuclear to Discuss Performance at Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Plants Press Release - Region I - 2001- 44 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-01-044 July 02, 2001 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of PSEG Nuclear LLC on Monday, July 9, discuss the results of the agency's annual assessment of safety performance at the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear generating stations in Hancocks Bridge, N.J. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the PSEG Processing Center Auditorium at the plant site. NRC officials will be available afterwards for informal individual discussions with meeting observers. The performance period to be discussed is April 1, 2000, to March 31, 2001. Overall, the NRC found that the plants operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives during the period. A letter sent from the NRC Region I office to PSEG addresses plant performance during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. The Salem letter is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/salm_2001q1.pdf.The Hope Creek letter is posted on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/hope_2001q1.pdf. Current performance information for Salem Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM1/salm1_chart.html;Salem Unit 2 is available at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM2/salm2_chart.html;and Hope Creek performance information is posted at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HOPE/hope_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 4 NRC Assigns New Sr.Resident Inspector To Seabrook Station Press Release - Region I - 2001- 45 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-01-045 July 03, 2001 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pa., have assigned Glenn Dentel as the Senior Resident Inspector at Seabrook Station. He joins Resident Inspector Javier Brand at the Seabrook, N.H., plant. Mr. Dentel replaces Ray Lorson, who was recently reassigned as the senior resident inspector at the Salem nuclear plant in New Jersey. Mr. Dentel most recently worked as an NRC resident inspector at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. He joined the Agency in 1994 as a reactor engineering intern. Mr. Dentel earned a bachelor's of science in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., and a master's in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the facility, conducting regular inspections, monitoring significant work projects and interfacing with plant workers and the public. The Seabrook resident inspectors can be reached at 603-474-3589. ***************************************************************** 5 Energy Department plans nuclear dump recommendation by December July 02, 2001 LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Energy Department remains committed to making a recommendation this fall on whether Yucca Mountain is suitable as the nation's high-level nuclear waste repository. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham plans to deliver his recommendation to President Bush some time from October to December, even though scientific studies are incomplete and three lawsuits are pending, department spokesman Joe Davis said. The lack of a final design for entombing 77,000 tons of radioactive waste at the edge of the Nevada Test Site, 90 miles north of Las Vegas, also won't derail the process, DOE senior policy analyst Abraham Van Luik said. "This fall the decision is whether it passes or fails," Van Luik told the Las Vegas Sun. Critics of the project, including Nevada's top official reviewing the Yucca Mountain proposal, say the Energy Department has missed self-imposed deadlines in the past. "If they proceed without enough information to satisfy the (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), they may be at risk for another delay," said Robert Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. "The DOE is being hit from all sides by everybody who is reviewing its Yucca Mountain work," he said. The Energy Department originally planned to open a Yucca Mountain repository in 1998. The agency has spent almost $7 billion studying the site since 1982. Since Nevada is expected to oppose the plan, the question of whether the repository is built will likely be decided by Congress. The earliest it could open would be 2010. Congress has trimmed up to $100 million from the department's budget each year since 1995. The cuts caused project managers to delay completing onsite studies and analyses that could be used in the licensing process, Energy Department officials have said. The site recommendation was expected last December, but an Energy Department inspector general's probe of allegations of departmental bias in the site-selection process pushed that date back. In April, investigators said there was no evidence that the department was biased toward the site. However, they warned department officials to avoid any appearance of favoring Yucca Mountain. Another possible delay came after the Environmental Protection Agency issued new radiation exposure limits for the project last month. The nuclear industry sued the EPA, and last week the state of Nevada and a coalition of environmental organizations also filed lawsuits. Meanwhile, scientists serving on the independent Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and an international scientific review panel are pushing the DOE for more information concerning ground water contamination and movement, seismic activity and volcanic eruptions. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC to Meet with Duke Energy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Catawba Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 22 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-022 July 2, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Duke Energy officials on Wednesday, July 11, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Catawba Nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 153A of the Administration Building (#7720) at the plant site near York, South Carolina. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to Duke Energy, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CAT1/cat1_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CAT2/cat2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 7 Cuts In Cleanup Budget Concern WIPP Supporters July 2, 2001 The Associated Press CARLSBAD, N.M. — Supporters of the federal government's nuclear waste dump near here are fighting to restore $26 million to the repository's budget. The Bush administration has proposed cutting that amount from the 2002 budget for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The state's congressional delegation and the Carlsbad mayor's WIPP Task Force have been fighting to keep the budget intact since Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the cut in April. More recently, the efforts have been joined by a newly formed waste caucus created by members from states with Department of Energy sites or nuclear reactors, who believe cuts in the department's budget would make it impossible to meet legal mandates to clean up sites. The proposed WIPP budget is $164.6 million, compared with $190.9 million this year. Mayor Gary Perkowski, who recently traveled to Washington with other WIPP backers to protest the budget cut, said it's easier to have discussions in person. "You get to answer more questions and talk more," Perkowski said. "It's easier to get your voice heard." The $2 billion dump, which accepted its first shipment in March 1999 after two decades of contentious efforts to open it, will take shipments of plutonium-contaminated waste from more than 20 DOE sites nationwide. It will be open for about 35 years, storing waste is stored 2,150 feet underground in rooms excavated from ancient salt beds. AP-WS-07-02-01 1302EDT Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 8 Lawyer to NRC: Hit TVA with fine of $1 million Action stems from whistleblower case at Watts Bar plant July 3, 2001 By Nancy Zuckerbrod, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Lawyers for a man who raised safety concerns at a Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear facility are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to levy a hefty fine against the public utility. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should fine TVA at least $1 million for its treatment of Curtis Overall of Cleveland, Tenn., attorney Lynne Bernabei wrote in a letter sent to the commission Monday. "Clearly TVA failed to maintain a harassment-free work environment. More importantly, TVA carried out this harassment and retaliation," Bernabei wrote. In May, a Labor Department review board ordered TVA to pay $50,000 in compensatory damages to Overall, who exposed problems at the Watts Bar facility in Spring City. The agency also ordered TVA to pay Overall's attorneys fees. Because of that ruling, the NRC is now considering taking enforcement action against TVA, said commission spokesman Roger Hannah. He said the commission wrote TVA a letter on June 18 stating that enforcement action was possible. TVA spokesman Gil Francis said the utility would respond to the NRC in writing this month. In 1995, Overall was removed from his job overseeing the ice condenser containment system at Watts Bar after he found nearly 200 screws were either broken or missing from the system and asked that the problem be inspected. A judge sided with Overall in 1998 and ordered that he be rehired and receive back pay. But Overall said harassment against him continued. He currently is on medical leave. The Labor Department's decision in May upheld the earlier ruling, but TVA is appealing the case in federal court. Bernabei says TVA will change its ways only if the commission makes it economically painful for the utility to harass whistleblowers. "It has to be big enough that it really sends a signal," Bernabei said. But Hannah said a $1 million fine would be unusual. "That's fairly high," he said. "... There have been civil penalties that were in that range against utilities, but it's far from common." Hannah said the NRC inspected TVA's ice condensers and determined they were safe. "We're satisfied they could operate as designed if called upon in an emergency," he said. Nine nuclear reactors in the United States use ice condenser containers. Seven are in the Southeast. The systems are designed to protect the public from radiation releases in the event of a nuclear accident by using chipped ice to absorb steam and heat. Copyright © 2000, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 9 Letter: Retiree's work on Yucca issue will be missed Today: July 03, 2001 at 9:35:46 PDT Kudos for the Sun's June 29 article on the retirement of Clark County's longtime nuclear waste program director. Dennis Bechtel will be sorely missed by those of us who have been involved with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository issue over the years. Bechtel is a man of great integrity, character and principle who worked tirelessly to protect the interests of the county and the state from a federal program intent on forcing a high-level radioactive waste repository on Nevada regardless of the site's suitability or the wishes of Nevada's citizens. Mary Manning's article accurately portrayed Bechtel's invaluable contributions. Those of us who have worked with Bechtel over the years have appreciated his honest and straightforward style, his intelligence, his dedication and his hard work. When Nevada is finally successful in halting this unwanted and unacceptable federal program, a great deal of the credit will be due to Bechtel and his extraordinary efforts over these many years. JOE STROLIN Editor's note: The writer is administrator of the planning division for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, which is located in Carson City. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Exelon Nuclear Submits License Renewal Application for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Monday July 2, 3:39 pm Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Exelon Nuclear KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Exelon Nuclear (NYSE: EXC- news) today applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating licenses for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Units 2 and 3 in York County, Pa. On June 30, 1999, Exelon Nuclear notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it intended to file for renewal of the operating licenses for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3. If approved, Unit 2's license would be extended from 2013 to 2033 and Unit 3's from 2014 to 2034. ``A 20-year extension in Peach Bottom's operating license is an investment in 2,200 megawatts of clean, emission-free electricity and helps to ensure an economical and reliable source of power for southeastern Pennsylvania for years to come,'' said Oliver D. Kingsley, president and chief nuclear officer, Exelon Nuclear. The Peach Bottom License Renewal Team reviewed more than 100 plant systems and 40,000 plant components and determined that Peach Bottom has solid programs in place to maintain continued safe and reliable operation and maintenance of the plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to take about two years to thoroughly review the license renewal application before determining whether to grant the license extensions. The NRC has approved six license renewals to date, at Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2; Oconee 1, 2 and 3; and Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO-1). Peach Bottom provides a positive economic impact to southeastern Pennsylvania. The plant employs 700 full-time Exelon employees and about 200 long-term contractors. The plant conducts business with a variety of local suppliers. In 2000, the plant generated the most electricity in its 25-year history, with Unit 2 and 3 producing almost 19-million megawatt hours of electricity, at a capacity factor of 94.2 percent. Peach Bottom also had more than 3.5 million work hours without a lost work-day incident in personnel industrial safety. Each of Peach Bottom's two 1,100-megawatt boiling water reactors can produce enough electricity for more than 600,000 homes. A 20-year extension for Peach Bottom is an investment in 2,200 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power about 1 million households. The total cost of obtaining the renewed licenses for Peach Bottom will be about $18 million, including the NRC review, or about $8 per kilowatt hour. This compares to a cost of $500 to $1,000 per kilowatt hour to replace that capacity with a new natural gas or coal-fired power plant. Exelon Nuclear also has notified the NRC that it intends to file for license renewal for its Dresden and Quad Cities stations in Illinois. Peach Bottom is jointly owned by Exelon (46.25 percent), PSEG (46.25 percent) and Conectiv (7.5 percent). The station is operated by the Warrenville, Illinois, based Exelon Nuclear, a division of Exelon Generation headquartered in Kennett Square, PA. Exelon Nuclear operates 17 generation units in three states, making it the largest nuclear generating company in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. Exelon Corporation is one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately five million customers and more than $15 billion in annual revenues. The company has one of the industry's largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Exelon distributes electricity to approximately five million customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania and gas to 425,000 customers in the Philadelphia area. The company also has holdings in such competitive businesses as energy, infrastructure services and energy services. Exelon is headquartered in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC. SOURCE: Exelon Nuclear Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 11 NRC to Meet with Duke Energy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Mcguire Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 23 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-023 July 2, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Duke Energy officials on Tuesday, July 10, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the McGuire nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 1:00 p.m. in Room 155 of the South Administration Building (#7438) at the plant site near Huntersville, North Carolina. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to Duke Energy, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MCG1/mcg1_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MCG2/mcg2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 12 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Monday, July 02, 2001 State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects border="1" align="right" alt=""> ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Monday, July 02, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web site ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 011800202 Accession Number: ML011720048 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:23:38 AM Title: 05/21/01 Meeting Summary With TXU Electric To Discuss The Transfer Of The Facility Operting Licenses For Comanche Peak Electric Station Units 1 and 2. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD4 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800186 Accession Number: ML011660143 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:22:09 AM Title: 06/13/01 Meeting Summary With General Electric To Discuss Constant Pressure Power Uprate. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD1 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800196 Accession Number: ML011790514 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:22:57 AM Title: 06/13/2001 management mtg. w/Entergy Operations,Inc. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800177 Accession Number: ML011720619 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:20:49 AM Title: 06/14/2001 Meeting with North Atlantic Energy Service Corp. - Seabrook Station Re plant performance assessment resulting from the initial implementation of the reactor oversight process as described in the Annual Assessement letter dated May 30, 2001. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-I Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800209 Accession Number: ML011790265 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:24:09 AM Title: 06/18/2001 management meeting w/Cooper Nuclear Station/Nebraska Public Power District. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800262 Accession Number: ML011790086 Date Added: 6/29/01 12:24:32 PM Title: 06/22/01 Energy Committee Staff Memo, "Areas of Common Ground Between Republican and Democratic Energy Policy Bills." Author Affiliation: NRC/OCA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800197 Accession Number: ML011770414 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:23:11 AM Title: 06/22/2001 Letter to Congress provides the NRC's legislative proposals Author Affiliation: NRC Chairman Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800366 Accession Number: ML011800415 Date Added: 6/29/01 4:14:09 PM Title: 07/12/01 Meeting with DEC re proposed change to Oconee TSs related to Emergency Feedwater System -CANCELLED. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800264 Accession Number: ML011800037 Date Added: 6/29/01 12:25:56 PM Title: 07/12/01, Forthcoming Meeting with DUKE License Renewal Applications for McGuire and Catawba Nuclear Stations Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR//DRIP/RLSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800052 Accession Number: ML011730014 Date Added: 6/29/01 9:13:39 AM Title: Comments on Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility Environmental Report. Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/FCSS/FSPB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800379 Accession Number: ML011800418 Date Added: 6/29/01 4:15:46 PM Title: Federal Register Notice: 128th Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800267 Accession Number: ML011800109 Date Added: 6/29/01 12:26:09 PM Title: PNO-II-01-018A re Update of Site Contamination event for Studsvik Processing Facility. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-II Document/Report Number: PNO-II-01-018A _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800260 Accession Number: ML011770429 Date Added: 6/29/01 12:24:22 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-020: NRC To Meet With Nuclear Management Company To Discuss Safety Performance At The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-020 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800218 Accession Number: ML011790036 Date Added: 6/29/01 11:25:14 AM Title: Safety and Compliance Inspection report conducted on 05/30/01 at Department of Army. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-II Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800353 Accession Number: ML011800041 Date Added: 6/29/01 4:13:15 PM Title: SECY-00-0117 - "Weekly Information Report - Week Ending 06/22/01" Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO/AO Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0117 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011800271 Accession Number: ML011800133 Date Added: 6/29/01 12:26:34 PM Title: Speech-01-013: The Evolution Of Safety Goals And Their Connection To Safety Culture by Chairman Richard A. Meserve. Author Affiliation: NRC/Chairman, NRC/OCM/RAM Document/Report Number: Speech-01-013 ***************************************************************** 13 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Tuesday, July 03, 2001 State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Tuesday, July 03, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web site ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 011830181 Accession Number: ML011830114 Date Added: 7/2/01 3:12:36 PM Title: 05/31/2001, STP Procedure SA-117, Agreement State Project Officers (ASPO). Author Affiliation: NRC/STP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830109 Accession Number: ML011700588 Date Added: 7/2/01 11:27:14 AM Title: 06/06/01 - Meeting Handouts - Mtg. with NRC Staff on Applicability of AP600 Codes to AP1000. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/FLO Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830113 Accession Number: ML011730322 Date Added: 7/2/01 11:27:47 AM Title: 06/06/01 - Mtg. with Westinghouse, AP1000 team, the press, and NRC staff - Review of AP1000 Design Analysis Codes. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/FLO Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830236 Accession Number: ML011830338 Date Added: 7/2/01 4:12:05 PM Title: 06/25/2001 Meeting Summary of CP&L Working Level Meeting to Discuss Technical Specification (TS) Amendment Submittal of June 5, 2000, and Supplement of August 4, 2000, on Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS) at H.B. Robinson, Unit 2. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830137 Accession Number: ML011780372 Date Added: 7/2/01 11:44:34 AM Title: 07/17/01 Meeting With Westinghouse To Discuss 3D Rod Ejection Analysis Methodology. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830184 Accession Number: ML011800528 Date Added: 7/2/01 3:12:57 PM Title: 07/17/01 Public Meeting with Florida Power & Light to Receive Comments on Draft Supplement 5 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Related to the Application for Turkey Point, Units 3 & 4. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RGEB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830091 Accession Number: ML011660135 Date Added: 7/2/01 11:22:19 AM Title: NRC Inspection Report Nos. 50-73/2001-201, 50-18/2001-201, 50-70/2001-201, AND 50-183/2001-201. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/REXB Document/Report Number: IR-01-201 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830179 Accession Number: ML003779058 Date Added: 7/2/01 3:12:07 PM Title: SECY-01-0009 - Modified Reactor Safety Goal Policy Statement Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0009 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830180 Accession Number: ML003779807 Date Added: 7/2/01 3:12:18 PM Title: SECY-01-0021 - Rulemaking Plan: 10 CFR Parts 71 and 73 - "Advance Notification to Native American Tribes of Transportation of Certain Types of Nuclear Waste" Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0021 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011830235 Accession Number: ML011830280 Date Added: 7/2/01 4:12:01 PM Title: XSOU8787 Application for license to export 7,000,000.0 kgs enriched UF6 to United Kingdom Author Affiliation: NRC/OIP Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 14 5 tons of trouble for Point Beach JS Online: Alewives shut down one reactor for days By LEE BERGQUIST of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: July 2, 2001 The Point Beach nuclear power plant returned to full power over the weekend after massive schools of alewives choked a water intake pipe, forcing operators to shut down one unit entirely and ratchet down the other. The shutdown, which began last Wednesday, was needed to clean up about five tons of the small fish at the plant. Point Beach is located on Lake Michigan north of Two Rivers. With Point Beach running at 40% capacity and another unit at a power plant in Oak Creek down for a time during the warmest sustained temperatures of the summer, Wisconsin Electric Power Co. still managed to easily meet electric demand last week, according to both the company and state regulators. The Milwaukee utility's reserve margins - the extra power it either generates or can purchase from others - dipped to 13.3% at 3 p.m. Thursday when electric demand surged to 5,266 megawatts, the utility reported. Point Beach has a capacity of 1,022 megawatts. Ordinarily, the company has a reserve margin of about 19%. That contrasts with the dicey situation in California this summer, when utilities are teetering on 1% to 2% margins on peak days. "From our view, we were not concerned," said spokesman Chris Iglar. Despite adequate capacity today, Iglar said the utility still needs to build power plants to meet the demand expected over the next decade. The company is proposing to spend $7 billion for five new power plants and to refurbish others. Eastern Wisconsin has about 20% more power than it needed from Wednesday through Friday, according to Jim Loock, chief engineer at the electric division of the state Public Service Commission. There were adequate supplies of electricity across the Midwest last week. Here's what happened: Extremely cold water pushed schools of alewives to warmer water coming from a discharge pipe at the plant. Winds moved the alewife-laden warm water to the plant's water intake pipe. The fish moved down the pipe and blocked a water intake screen used to filter out debris. In this case, there were so many alewives that the plant could not receive adequate supplies of water. "It was a weird combination of natural phenomenon," said spokesman Doug Day. "It was very unusual." Day said that 7,000 to 10,000 pounds of alewives were removed by a commercial fisherman. The fish are usually used for animal food or fertilizer. The Kewaunee nuclear power plant, located just a few miles north, was not affected. One unit of the plant was not operating on Wednesday and Thursday and returned to full power Sunday morning. The other unit operated at 80% of capacity Wednesday and Thursday and returned to full capacity by Saturday night. The population of alewives has been stable in recent years, with the last bumper crop hatched three years ago, according to Bill Horns, Great Lakes fisheries specialist with the Department of Natural Resources. The first documented report of alewives in Lake Michigan was in 1949. Alewives are not native to the lake, and are believed to have entered the Great Lakes through the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The fish's natural predator is the chinook and coho salmon, Horns said. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 3, ***************************************************************** 15 Nuclear and solar fans square up over energy as the government reconsiders nuclear Electronics Times - The government's energy review, announced last week, could spark a political battle between supporters of renewable energy, including solar power, and the nuclear industry. Jeremy Leggitt, CEO of Solar Century, described as "tragic" the government's intention to reconsider the nuclear option. "Money put into nuclear is money taken away from technologies ready to go that really don't produce greenhouse gases," he said. "Given the potential power of microtechnologies, I think it's mad to give money to a dangerous old dinosaur. The nuclear industry is a great theocracy of largely old folk who cling to the idea and are un-willing to embrace new technology." Solar Century is a small company set up to install solar panels as roofing material. It recently tiled the roof of the Big Brother house. Brian Wilson, the new energy minister, whose constituency includes the Hunterston nuclear power station, is considered pro-nuclear, particularly in comparison with his predecessor, Peter Hain, who actively supported solar power. In announcing the review, which the minister will chair, Wilson said: "The review will consider the role of coal, gas, oil and renewables in our future energy balance, as well as combined heat and power and the enhancement of energy efficiency. "The review will also need to consider what role the nuclear industry should play in meeting the environmental and security aspects of supply objectives." As part of its commitment to the Kyoto treaty, the government has a target of producing 10% of the UK's electricity from renewable sources by 2010. In a speech in March, prime minster Tony Blair committed to a £100m funding package for renewables. The first tranche of this investment will be announced in September. Silicon-based solar panels use the material's semiconducting properties to convert photons to electric charge. Germany and Japan both have large development programmes and companies such as Sharp, Siemens, Sanyo, BP and Shell are investing in the technology. They believe that solar power's potential for energy generation, even in northern countries such as the UK, is immense. "The money Tony Blair has announced is a good start," said Leggitt. "But to rival Germany and Japan and to get companies to manufacture here, there needs to be continuity of support." Martin Garside, a spokesman for the British Nuclear Industry Forum, dismisses the argument that the nuclear industry resists the development of renewables: "I don't think the review will be a Trojan horse for new nuclear plant. We don't, as an industry, have a prejudice against renewables, but we do think the UK needs diversity." All other material Copyright © 2001 CMP Media LLC ***************************************************************** 16 Feds offer pills to get us through a nuclear winter by Joe Sciacca BostonHerald.com - Columnists Monday, July 2, 2001 There's nothing like reaching into the glove compartment as you head home from the beach and discovering you left the potassium iodide at home. Caught in the middle of a nuclear disaster and all you've got on you is a box of Tic Tacs and a tube of SPF 30 sunblock, which, somehow, seems inadequate. Sure you'll be glowing, but you'll have minty-fresh breath. You have to work pretty hard to come up with an idea as stupid as putting a nuclear power plant in a summer tourist area like they did in Seabrook and Plymouth. But now they've done it - proposing the stockpiling of anti-radiation pills in Massachusetts and other states. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making the no-glow pills available free - of course, they only cost 18 cents each - to states where there is the unlikely possibility of a nuclear meltdown. Thanks to our proximity to the Gov. John Sununu nuclear plant in Seabrook, N.H., the Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth and Vermont Yankee, we in Massachusetts can get them. At last, a federal handout we're eligible for. State Rep. Carol Donovan (D-Woburn) has co-sponsored a bill to make the pills available to everybody who lives within 10 miles of a plant. ``It would help people only with regards to thyroid cancer. It's a small thing, but anything to help in the event of an accident,'' she says. ``The nuclear industry says it will give people a false sense of security, but we're very clear that if you are supposed to evacuate, you should evacuate.'' An evacuation at Seabrook or Plymouth. That I would like to see. And you thought trying to sneak into the car pool lane was risky. Road rage? How about road panic? If you lived here, you'd be toast now. The NRC says the pills should be taken by anybody within the ``plume exposure pathway'' when an accident happens. But let's face it, people who see the plume will be standing by the side of the road staring at it with the same frozen look of fear that Marty Meehan has when he looks at Shannon O'Brien. When you see the plume, you might as well go play mini-golf. Because from now on, life is changed, baby. The three-eyed bass is the catch of the day, it really is hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk and when your friends tell you how bright you are, they aren't commenting on your intelligence. The NRC notes the pills might come in especially handy at Seabrook where, ``during the summer tourist season, evacuees will be forced to wait in traffic for great lengths of time.'' Memo to President Bush: Find the federal employee who figured that one out and make him an ambassador or something. He's even smarter than Paul Cellucci. It's up to the states if they want to take advantage of the NRC's free pill offer. ``The Commission does not intend to imply that states are not capable of making informed decisions regarding the protection of their citizens during a radiological emergency,'' the NRC memo points out. Two questions for the NRC: (1) Have you ever seen the snow plowing in Boston? and (2) Do you realize that Jane Swift just appointed to a state board a man who had been dead for two months? Apparently, they stockpile these pills in a lot of European countries, including Slovakia. Old Slovakian saying: ``When the sky turns orange, head for the High Tatras because our beloved capital Bratislava is now Kaputislava. Oh, and don't forget to bring the potassium iodide and a few chickens.'' The NRC recommends that schools near nuke plants stockpile the pills in the event that, say, there's more than the usual meltdown at recess. They already do in Duxbury where they want their town to be historic, not history. ``When these plants are near the ocean, (the radiation) is apt to go beyond the 10 miles,'' Donovan said. ``The power companies are against (the pill distribution) because they don't want anybody to think that nuclear power is anything but safe.'' Hey, if the no-glow pills make you feel better, get some. But remember: Don't lie out on the beach too long. Because when the NRC warns about ``acute exposure,'' it isn't talking about a sunburn. BostonHerald.com - Columnists ***************************************************************** 17 DOE chief hails new plant, once seen as Smokies threat Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:24 a.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 2001 The Associated Press HINDMAN, Ky. -- Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham broke ground Monday on a coal-fired power plant that federal park officials had questioned as a possible pollution threat to the Great Smoky Mountains. Abraham heralded the $900 million Kentucky Mountain Power plant as a model for the Bush Administration's new energy policy because it is designed with technology that allows coal to be burned with minimal air pollution. The plant was expected to open in three years and power up to 315,000 homes. Abraham said some people question whether coal can ever be a clean source of fuel for generating electricity. "We're seeing that it can be done," he said in apparent response to a handful of hecklers among the 250 people who attended the ceremony. Officials from the Great Smoky Mountains had raised concerns late last year that air pollution from the plant might affect visibility in the already hazy national park. Park Superintendent Michael Tollefson has since withdrawn those concerns and commended Kentucky Mountain Power for using state-of-the-art technology to clean up emissions. With 24 requests pending to build new power plants in Kentucky, environmentalists still worry that pollution will be an increasing problem in the region. A handful of members from the environmental group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth heckled political leaders who spoke favorably about the proposed plant, at one point calling U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell a clown and telling him to go back to Washington. "We just want people to know that everyone in eastern Kentucky is not fooled," said Patty Wallace, one of about a dozen members of the group who attended the ceremony. "If this place is so wonderful, it ought to be at Disney World." Morten Sissener, chief operating officer for EnviroPower, the Lexington company that is building the plant, said pollution catchers will allow the generating system to burn low-grade fuels and still meet all federal and state air-quality guidelines. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers said the plant will burn about 2 million tons a year of waste coal that has been dumped in giant heaps across Appalachia. He said that means the plant will help eliminate an unsightly environmental problem on the mountainsides and hollows of eastern Kentucky. Sissener said the plant will emit less mercury than any other coal-fired plant in the world -- one to two pounds a year, compared to 3,640 pounds that regulations allow. The technology would capture 98 percent of the of the sulfur dioxide emissions, as well as 95 percent of particulate matter. The company says the plant will emit less than a fourth of the total emissions of even the cleanest existing coal-fired power plant. Tom FitzGerald, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council, said any additional coal-powered generating plants pose an environmental problem for the region. "They're not replacing the older, dirtier power plants," he said. "They are simply adding to the air pollution problem. Coal is an extremely impure fuel. It is a fuel that has a lot of metals and other contaminants that will end up somewhere when it's burned." Gov. Paul Patton has imposed a moratorium on additional permit applications, but FitzGerald said the action came too late. "The moratorium is akin to closing the barn door after all the animals have gotten out," he said. The new plant is being built on reclaimed mine land near Talcum at the convergence of Knott, Perry and Breathitt counties, where job-hungry residents have expressed support for its construction. Sissener said the plant would employ 50 to 70 permanent employees and about 600 to 1,000 construction workers over the three-year construction period. The Park Service, concerned about pollution in the Smokies, asked EnviroPower to pay for a sophisticated evaluation of its emissions before the state decides whether to grant a permit. After receiving that evaluation, Tollefson announced that he would not oppose the plant's construction. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 18 NRC to Meet with Southern Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Farley Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 24 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-024 July 2, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Southern Nuclear Operating Company officials on Friday, July 13, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Farley nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m.(CDT) in the Training Center Auditorium at the plant site at 7388 North State Highway 95, at Columbia, Alabama, near Dothan. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. Luis A. Reyes, administrator of the NRC's Region II office in Atlanta, will attend the meeting with company officials. In a letter to the company dated May 31, Reyes said that overall, Farley has operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone (safety) objectives. However, Reyes said that during the assessment period (April 2, 2000, to March 31, 2001), several Farley performance indicators for equipment availability declined from the green performance level to the white level, resulting in increased NRC oversight including additional inspections. NRC safety performance reviews at commercial nuclear power plants utilize a color coding process ranging from green to white to yellow to red, signifying progressive increases in significance and NRC oversight. A letter sent from NRC Region II to Southern Nuclear, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FAR1/far1_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FAR2/far2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 19 NRC to Meet with Progress Energy/CP&L Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Robinson Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 25 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-025 July 02, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Progress Energy/CP&L officials on Wednesday, July 11, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Robinson nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Visitor Center Auditorium at the plant site near Hartsville, South Carolina. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to CP&L, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/ROB2/rob2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 20 NRC to Meet with TVA Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 26 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-026 July 02, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Tennessee Valley Authority officials on Tuesday, July 10, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Sequoyah nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 1:00 p.m. in the Sequoyah Nuclear Training Auditorium at the plant site near Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to TVA, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SEQ1/seq1_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SEQ2/seq2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 21 NRC to Meet with FP&L Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at St.Lucie Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 27 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-027 July 02, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Florida Power & Light Company officials on Tuesday, July 10, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the St. Lucie nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 123 of the Nuclear Training Center at the plant site on Hutchinson Island, near Fort Pierce. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to FP&L, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL1/stl1_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL2/stl2_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 22 NRC to Meet with FP&L Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant Press Release Region II - 2001 - 28 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-028 July 02, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Florida Power & Light Company officials on Wednesday, July 11, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant. The meeting will be held at 2:00 p.m.(EDT) in Room 123 of the Nuclear Training Center at the plant site on Biscayne Bay at Florida City, near Homestead. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. The NRC will hold a second meeting with state and local government officials after the first meeting. That second meeting is also open to the public. A letter sent from NRC Region II to FP&L, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region II Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr. Current information for the plant is available at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/TP3/tp3_chart.htmland www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/TP4/tp4_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 23 NRC to Meet with Exelon Nuclear to Discuss Safety Performance at the Byron Nuclear Power Plant Region III -- 2001 - 30 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-030 July 3, 2001 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: pla@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with Exelon Nuclear officials July 10 to discuss the NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Byron Nuclear Power Plant in Byron, Illinois. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. CDT and will be held at the plant's Training Building, 4450 N. German Church Road, Room 107 in Byron. The public is invited to observe the session. NRC officials will be available afterwards to answer questions. The annual assessment, referred to as the End-of-Cycle assessment, evaluates safety performance at the Byron plant from April 2000 through March 2001, and informs plant officials of the NRC's plans for future inspections at the facility. The Byron assessment letter and inspection report are available at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppror from the Region III Public Affairs Office. Current performance information for the plant is available at http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Hanford soil removal sub fired for financial issues This story was published Sat, Jun 30, 2001 By John Stang Herald staff writer Bechtel Hanford Inc. fired one of its soil removal subcontractors Friday because of financial irregularities. P.W. Stephens Contractors Inc. was terminated because it failed to pay federal employment taxes and properly manage other financial obligations under its contract with Bechtel, according to a written Bechtel statement. Bechtel spokesman Todd Nelson declined to elaborate on the allegations. The local P.W. Stephens manager could not be reached for comment Friday. Phone numbers at the parent corporation -- P.W. Stephens Environmental in St. Louis -- were disconnected. P.W. Stephens employed 17 to 19 people on its Bechtel Hanford contract, Nelson said. Since March 1999, the subcontractor's job was to dig up contaminated soil along the Columbia River at the H, K and F Reactor areas, then haul it to a huge landfill in central Hanford. P.W. Stephens completed most of that work at the H Reactor area, and is partly done at the F Reactor area. It had not started work at the K East and K West reactors, Nelson said. Three other firms -- Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp., RCI Environmental Inc. and Duratek -- have similar contracts with Bechtel to removal contaminated soil from Hanford's Columbia shoreline areas. Bechtel soon plans to name an interim contractor for P.W. Stephens' work. Bechtel expects work at the reactors to resume within three weeks. Bechtel Hanford's contract and those of its subcontractors expire on June 30, 2002. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** 2 Russia Willing to Cut Arsenal July 02, 2001 MOSCOW- President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia was willing to cut its nuclear arsenal from 6,000 warheads to under 1,500 as long as the process was "controlled" and the 1972 ABM treaty was preserved. Speaking at a news conference alongside visiting French President Jacques Chirac, Putin also criticized the decision to deliver former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal, saying he had doubts the move would bring stability to the Balkans. Missile defense, nuclear proliferation and the tense situation in the Balkans have emerged as key topics so far during Chirac's three-day visit to Russia that began Sunday. The two leaders issued a statement on international strategic issues on Monday in which both France and Russia affirmed support for maintaining the ABM treaty, which the United States has argued is outdated and stands in the way of President George W. Bush's proposals for a missile defense system. "Russia welcomes the readiness of the United States to reduce strategic offensive weapons," Putin said. "Our concrete proposal is that we are ready for a further controlled reduction to 1,500 warheads and even less, but I want to stress controlled." The United States currently has about 7,200 warheads deployed and is committed under the START II treaty to reducing to 3,500. Putin also said any Russian reductions would be "closely linked to maintaining the ABM treaty." Russia believes abandoning the treaty would destroy the international security balance, a position supported by France. "We attach great importance to our statement of strategic stability," Putin said. A three-page joint statement said Russia and France see it as their task to ensure the strategic balance in the post-Cold War world. "The mechanism for that exist at the present time," the statement said, in a reference to the ABM treaty. Although modifications to the ABM treaty concern specifically the United States and Russia, the statement says an international conference on nuclear proliferation would be useful. Russia and France believe destruction of the ABM treaty could lead to a new arms race. Turning to Yugoslavia, Chirac said he and Putin had not yet discussed Milosevic's handover, but that he welcomed the move as a "victory of law over violence, of democracy over tyranny." "It's a moment of hope for justice, for freedom in the world," Chirac said. Speaking immediately after Chirac, Putin sharply disagreed, saying he doubted the move would contribute to a more stable, peaceful society in Yugoslavia, that it had weakened Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and could cause further disintegration of the Yugoslav Federation. On Chechnya, the French leader repeated his country's position that only a negotiated settlement could lead to a lasting peace. France had been one of the fiercest critics of Russia's war against Chechen separatists, which led to a certain cooling in relations. However, the French authorities in recent months have considerably eased their stance. "We are glad that relations are on the rise," Putin said before the two started talks in the Kremlin on Monday. Chirac praised the "sound partnership" between the countries. After Chirac's arrival Sunday, he and Putin met informally in St. Petersburg, visiting the renowned Hermitage Museum and briefly going fishing off a pier. It was Chirac's first visit to Russia under Putin, who was elected in March 2000. Chirac, who speaks some Russian, hosted Putin in Paris last October in a visit meant to thaw relations and improve Russia's relations with European allies. Chirac was scheduled to meet Tuesday with French and Russian business leaders and students at Moscow University. He was also expected to meet with former President Boris Yeltsin visit an aerospace firm in the city of Samara on the Volga River. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 Chao opens compensation office for sick nuclear workers July 02, 2001 PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - Sick workers from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant now have one-stop shopping to receive assistance and file claims for government compensation, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Monday in opening the first of 10 centers for workers sickened by materials used in Cold-War era weapons. "Today is a wonderful day, an important day, because it really affirms the dedication of the government to make sure that workers who were hurt in the line of duty for their country are now finally being taken care of," Chao said at a ribbon-cutting. The Paducah center is the first of 10 such centers jointly operated by the federal Labor and Energy departments to open as part of the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Program Act. The program offers lifetime medical care and $150,000 to ailing workers who were employed in the government's nuclear weapons plants, at factories that contracted with the Energy Department, or at nuclear test sites in Alaska and Nevada. It was approved by Congress last year. Resource centers are also scheduled to open in Las Vegas; Richland, Wash.; Rocky Flats, Colo.; Espanola, N.M.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; North Augusta, S.C.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Portsmouth, Ohio. The government will begin accepting the claims on July 31, and officials hope to mail the first compensation checks in August, said Shelby Hallmark, director of the Office of Workers Compensation Programs. Shortly after the two-story office with fresh paint and new carpet opened Monday morning, a steady flow of former workers stopped in to meet with caseworkers and make appointments. "I'm interested in what's going on and what help we're going to get," said Walter Lowrey, 77, a retired machinist from the plant who has been treated for bladder cancer. Lowrey said he's skeptical as to whether he'll get any compensation for the cancer he said he likely acquired because of exposure in the plant. "I'll believe it when I see it," Lowrey said. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville, said after the ceremony he's not surprised that some workers are skeptical. "They haven't had assistance since World War II," Whitfield said. But Whitfield said the program will help some of the estimated 10,000 individuals who have worked for the contractor at the plant since it opened in the early 1950s. Hallmark did not know how many eligible workers will seek help at the other nine sites. The government has hired contractors to operate the resource centers. An additional 300 individuals are being hired and trained to process the claims, Chao said. Eligible workers can also receive assistance at Labor Department district offices in Seattle; Denver; Cleveland, Ohio; and Jacksonville, Fla. "These people devoted years of their lives and tragically at a terrible cost to their health for the cause of freedom," Chao said. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 Chao Opens Resource Center for Workers in KY U.S. Newswire 2 Jul 16:36 Chao Opens Resource Center for Energy Workers; Paducah, KY Center is First of 10 to be Opened Across the U.S. To: National Desk Contact: Stuart Roy of the U.S. Department of Labor, 202-693-4650 PADUCAH, KY, July 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- At a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Paducah, Ky. today Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao opened the first of 10 Resource Centers designed to help injured energy workers receive compensation from the federal government. "Today is a major step forward in America's commitment to the well-being of our nuclear industry workers and their families," Chao said. "It is a tragedy that more was not done to care for these injured workers sooner. But I'm proud to be here today to open this Resource Center so we can start processing these claims as quickly as possible. These injured workers are American heroes, and they deserve to be treated as such." The Resource Centers will offer personal assistance in filing claim forms for the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA), passed by Congress in October 2000. EEOICPA pays $150,000 lump-sum compensation and related medical expenses to workers who became seriously ill from exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica while working in the nuclear weapons industry for the Department of Energy, including its contractors and subcontractors. Compensation will also be available to some survivors and to uranium employees who are eligible for benefits under Section Five of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The Departments of Labor and Energy, which jointly operate the centers, will also open Resource Centers in Las Vegas, Nev.; Richland, Wash.; Rocky Flats, Colo.; Espanola, N.M.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; North Augusta, S.C.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Portsmouth, Ohio. Claimants can also receive assistance at the Labor Department District Offices in Seattle, Wash.; Denver, Colo.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Jacksonville, Fla. The Department of Labor is also conducting town hall meetings in 25 locations across the country through the end of July 2001 to explain EEOICPA to nuclear weapons industry employees. /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ ***************************************************************** 5 Confusion over Kursk salvage BBC News | SCOTLAND | Eric Crockart reports Monday, 2 July, 2001, 14:47 GMT 15:47 UK The submarine sunk after an explosion Russian divers playing a part in the efforts to raise the Kursk nuclear submarine have run into problems ahead of their arrival in Aberdeen. The divers were set join a North Sea diving ship on Monday, which will be involved in preparations for the recovery of the vessel. Operations are due to begin later this month in the Barents Sea, where the Kursk sank with the loss of its entire 118-strong crew. However, BBC Scotland understands the north-east company which owns the diving ship still do not have a contract for the Kursk salvage. The diving support vessel Mayo was to sail to the Barents Sea The divers were thought to be joining the North Sea diving support vessel Mayo at Aberdeen Harbour. The ship is operated by the locally-based diving company DSND Subsea. The Mayo was expected to sail for the Barents Sea shortly, and to arrive over the spot where the Kursk lies in about 10 days. However, it is understood that the company are still waiting for a contract for the Kursk operation. The vessel's team of divers were initially to carry out an inspection of the wreck before starting cutting operations on the hull. This would prepare it for a heavy lifting operation by Dutch contractors Mammoet Transport BV in September. The Russian navy are to supervise the lifting of the Kursk, which was sunk by an explosion during a naval exercise last summer. Aberdeenshire firm DSND operate the vessel There were unsuccessful attempts by the Russian navy to rescue the trapped crewmen who had survived the initial accident. It is not the first time there has been Scottish involvement in the Kursk rescue bid. In the middle of August last year a Renfrew-based team sent a rescue sub, the LR5, to the site of the explosion. However, the unit was never used. It is hoped the salvage will not only result in the victims being recovered, but will explain what crippled the Kursk. Last month Russia launched a website to cover the raising of the Kursk, following fierce media criticism of the authorities' handling of the disaster. ***************************************************************** 6 Two DOE Contractors Nominated for VPPPA Board of Directors Two Department of Energy (DOE) contractors have been nominated for the National Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association Board of Directors Two Department of Energy (DOE) contractors have been nominated for the National Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association (VPPPA) Board of Directors. Five positions are being contested. They are vying for the two Director at Large positions. The election will be held during the 17th Annual National VPPPA Conference in New Orleans, LA, from August 27-30, 2001. The contenders are Kirkland L. Jones, Director, Environmental, Safety and Quality Assurance, DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Company, Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), New Orleans, LA, and Sharon C. Chivers, Industrial Safety/Voluntary Protection Program Manager, Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, INEEL, Idaho Falls, ID. DynMcDermott, SPR, has achieved DOE-VPP Gold Star, as well as OSHA VPP Star status at all four of its sites: Big Hill, West Hackberry, Bayou Choctaw, and Bryon Mound. Bechtel became a DOE-VPP Gold Star site in May 2001. Kirk Jones has worked for DynMcDermott since 1992. He is responsible for development and implementation of a comprehensive Environmental, Safety and Health, Fire and Quality program and the company's worker's compensation and other insurance programs. As such, he plans and manages the budget, supervises managers of each program, and develops corporate goals, policies and procedures for a multi-site 800 person company. Kirk's accomplishments include achieving DOE-VPP and OSHA VPP status, ISO 14001 registration, ISO 9001 registration, EPA NEAT Charter membership, and achieving a 40% reduction in worker's compensation costs with an increase in worker satisfaction with the corporate program. Holding a Ph.D. in ecology, Kirk also has an Masters and B.A. in biology. Sharon Chivers is the Industrial Safety/Voluntary Protection Program Manager. As such, she directs the Industrial Safety program for INEEL contractor operations, managing the 40 matrixed industrial safety engineers across the site. Sharon successfully led the implementation of a VPP effort site-wide for over 6,300 Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory employees and achieved DOE-VPP Gold Star status. Other accomplishments include receiving a Presidential Award for Excellence in recognition of exceptional quality, performance and achievement; fostered employees to earn all eleven "Star Ready" flags for INEEL, which are awarded locally for excellence in the VPP safety culture; designed the VPP "Star Ready" process to be used DOE complex-wide; actively supported and participated in VPPPA Region X conferences; and has presented workshops at both VPPPA Region X and the National conference over the last 2-3 years. Sharon holds a Masters degree in industrial safety/industrial hygiene and a B.S. in biology. The Department takes pride in having such highly qualified candidates express a willingness to serve in these positions if elected. Hopefully, the entire DOE-VPP community will support their effort to serve us all. Good luck to Kirk and Sharon in the election. ***************************************************************** 7 Federal cleanup funds threatened Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:06 a.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Is there light at the end of the tunnel for the Department of Energy's Fiscal Year 2002 cleanup budget and the many Oak Ridge projects and organizations funded by it? It's looking dim, some say. The House recently approved an appropriations bill containing DOE's FY 2002 cleanup funding. But, the money set aside for Oak Ridge isn't enough, according to Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee. "What we're going to lose is unimaginable," said Gawarecki, whose organization provides advice to local, state and federal officials regarding DOE environmental management decisions. As it stands, the cleanup projects negotiated between the state, the Environmental Protection Agency and DOE would largely be halted. Out of 16 ongoing projects and 23 projects with new phases planned to begin, 30 will be eliminated and two will have seriously reduced efforts, according to Gawarecki. Based on what the House Appropriations Committee OK'd, this is what each site covered under the Oak Ridge Operations cleanup budget could receive in FY 2002 compared to last year: + Oak Ridge K-25 Site -- $138,505,000, a $12,995,000 decrease. + Oak Ridge National Laboratory -- $ 54,939,000, a $43,761,000 decrease. + Y-12 National Security Complex -- $43,541,000, a $1,541,000 increase. + Paducah, Ky. -- $82,982,000, a $3,318,000 decrease. + Portsmouth, Ohio -- $201,096,000, a $113,196,000 increase. + Weldon Springs -- $ 43,000,000, a $10,000,000 decrease. The budget would essentially stop all the state and EPA negotiated remedial actions at the three major Oak Ridge DOE sites, Melton Valley and Bear Creek Valley, according to the LOC. However, there are some non state and EPA negotiated cleanup projects that are fully funded including BNFL Inc.'s three-building K-25 cleanup project, DOE's transuranic waste program and operations at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, which is currently under construction. Some of the economic impacts to surrounding communities would include: Layoffs of workers (average salary over $56,000); loss of purchases made locally (Total DOE non-payroll expenditures in 2000 totaled $560 million); loss of local sales tax revenue; and closure of small businesses or satellite offices dependent on DOE environmental contracts. In addition, the state's environmental oversight grant will be seriously cut under this funding scenario. That's bad news for the LOC, which is funded through the grant. DOE Oak Ridge Operations office is proposing to give the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation $1.8 million, compared to its request of $4.7 million for FY 2002. Gawarecki said TDEC has informed her that it cannot support the LOC if this is the case. Gawarecki said the LOC will run out of money and close as of Oct. 1 unless something changes. LOC's grant request for FY 2002 is approximately $200,000. So, where does hope lie for improvements in the cleanup budget? "We've been told that the only hope is if the Senate puts the money back in," Gawarecki said. A Senate appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to look at its version of the funding bill on July 9. If and when the full Senate approves the bill, then the details of the bill will be hammered out during a conference committee of House and Senate members. If not this year, Gawarecki said she's been told that cleanup funding could increase in FY 2003. But, that's not as good as it sounds. "You can't easily shut the projects down and expect someone to come in cold and restart this," she said. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 8 Cancer screenings total about 460 current, former K-25 workers Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 2001 Lori Brannon, a registered CT technician, prepares to conduct a CT scan on Warren R. Bradshaw, a Loudon County resident and former worker at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site. The photo was taken in December 2000 when the mobile lung cancer screening unit made its first visit to Oak Ridge. -- Staff photo by Paul Parson by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Approximately 460 people to date have undergone initial screenings for lung cancer in a mobile detection unit during its five visits to Oak Ridge since December 2000. The mobile unit is part of the Worker Health Protection Program -- a $7 million medical screening and education program funded by the Department of Energy and conducted by the Paper, Allied-industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Union and Queens College in New York. The 40-foot mobile unit is equipped with a low-dose, computerized axial tomography (CT) scanner. PACE officials said it can more effectively detect lung cancer than a chest X-ray and at an earlier stage, when the disease is more easily treatable. Screenings are offered to current and former gaseous diffusion plant employees who are concerned about their health because of significant prior exposures to any of the following hazards: Asbestos, beryllium, uranium, radiation, nickel and chlorinated solvents, among others. Amy Manowitz, coordinator for the Early Lung Cancer Detection Program at Queens College, said 124 people had initial screenings in Oak Ridge between Dec. 12-21, 2000. As for the other four visits, 142 were checked between Feb. 6-14; 120, March 20-28; 71, May 7-15; and 3, June 18-21. The numbers for Oak Ridge are on target with exams conducted at two other sites. Between November 2000 and this June, the mobile unit made six visits each to sites in Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio, conducting a total of 462 and 433 initial screenings respectively, according to Manowitz. Depending on the results of the initial screenings, some people were called back for more intensive exams. Manowitz said the mobile unit will return to Oak Ridge on July 31 and stay until Aug. 4. For more information or to participate in the lung screening, call the local PACE office at 481-3394 or 481-3395 or the early lung cancer detection program at 1-888-241-1199. The Oak Ridge PACE union hall is at 133 Raleigh Road. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 9 Chao: New claims office emphasizes friendliness The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Tuesday, July 03, 2001 By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 LANCE DENNEE/The Sun--Time to apply: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao talks with Jack Hill of Paducah as caseworker Jackie Hogancamp starts his paperwork. He worked at the plant 17 years. Resource Center * WHAT: U.S. departments of energy and labor Resource Center. * WHERE: Barkley Center at 125 Memorial Dr., near Interstate 24 and Blandville Road, across the street from Milner &Orr Funeral Home. * TELEPHONE: 524-0599 * HOURS: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. * PURPOSE: To help sick Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers file claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Act. * WHAT TO DO: It's best to make an appointment, but walk-ins are welcomed. * WHAT YOU NEED: Information about years of employment and medical records. If you don't have those, counselors will help gather the information. * ONLINE: www.dol.gov "User friendly" is how Labor Secretary Elaine Chao described the new resource center that will help sick Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers file compensation claims. "It is a very friendly atmosphere," Chao said after touring the office. "All of the workers here have some ties to the plant ... so they really care about helping people. There also are private offices where people can meet with counselors to discuss their situation." The center officially opened Monday with a ribbon cutting by Chao, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, Paducah Mayor Bill Paxton and center director Stewart Tolar. It is the first of 10 centers nationwide to help nuclear weapons workers file claims under a new compensation program approved last year by Congress. While Chao and others were outside holding the ceremony, several former workers were inside getting help filling out applications that could result in payments of $150,000 plus future medical costs. Although claims forms are being filled out now, the U.S. Department of Labor won't begin processing them until July 31. The applications will be processed at the Department of Labor's regional office in Jacksonville, Fla. Chao said she hopes the first payments are made by the end of the summer. "This is a major step forward in America's commitment to the well-being of our nuclear industry workers and their families," Chao said. "It is a tragedy that more was not done to care for these injured workers sooner. These injured workers are American heroes, and they deserve to be treated as such. I just wish we could do more." Benefits will be paid to current and former workers who have been diagnosed with certain types of cancer, and with other illnesses that can be tied directly to exposure at the plant. Whitfield said if it were not for the efforts of Chao, the wife of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the compensation program would not have been implemented until the end of the year. "Soon after we passed the compensation act last October, I talked with the Department of Labor ... and was told the earliest date it would be implemented was the end of this year," Whitfield said. "It has opened six months early, and it would not have happened if she was not the secretary of labor." Shelby Hallmark, director of compensation programs for the U.S. Department of Labor, said the major concern expressed about the proposed regulations are the limits on the eligibility of children of workers who died from plant-related illnesses. Eligible survivors are a spouse or children who were child dependents at the time of the worker's death. Generally, it means that surviving children who were over the age of 18 at the time of the worker's death will not be eligible for the $150,000 lump-sum payment. Some surviving children have complained that they should receive benefits even if they were adults at the time of the death. Hallmark, however, said eligibility was established in the legislation approved last year by Congress. "It isn't something we can change .... unless Congress changes it," he said. He added that the eligibility program is the same as for all other federal government compensation programs, including Social Security. ***************************************************************** 10 Balancing the Equation of Science and Politics July 3, 2001 MAN IN THE NEWS / John Marburger By JAMES GLANZ Brookhaven National Laboratory Dr. John H. Marburger III of Brookhaven National Laboratory is President Bush's choice as science adviser. Good science is supposed to be based on facts, not politics. Dr. John H. Marburger III, the director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was apparently betting that politics indeed posed no barrier to solid science after the White House announced last week that he was being nominated to be presidential science adviser, a post that has been vacant since President Bush took office. Unlike any presidential science adviser in recent memory, Dr. Marburger immediately made his party affiliation known — when, in answer to a reporter's question, he declared himself a lifelong Democrat. Considering that Dr. Marburger would be joining a Republican administration as one of Mr. Bush's senior advisers, the declaration has raised new questions about what role science will play in the administration. "Quite candidly I'm a little surprised," said Dr. John Gibbons, the science adviser to President Bill Clinton, who held a number of posts in Republican and Democratic administrations but, he says, never formally declared himself a Democrat. He said he was not sure whether Dr. Marburger's avowal showed "a little political naïveté." Dr. D. Allan Bromley, who was science adviser to President Bush's father, also questioned the decision to make a political declaration, saying, "I certainly don't think it was necessary in any sense." But politics should ultimately be unimportant, he said, because Mr. Marburger's influence will rest on his ability to deliver unbiased scientific advice and on his personal relationship with the president. "While you hold the position, you simply do not have an agenda of your own," Dr. Bromley said. Dr. Bromley, who said he was involved in the search for candidates, confirmed that several potential nominees had taken themselves out of contention. Many scientists have criticized the administration for waiting five months to name a science adviser, saying that its statements on issues like global warming and missile defense betray a lack of technical sophistication. Because the science adviser also directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Marburger must be confirmed by the Senate, something that may not take place until fall. As is customary, Dr. Marburger has stopped granting interviews until after the confirmation hearings. But through a Brookhaven spokeswoman, Karen McNulty Walsh, Dr. Marburger said he was indeed a lifelong Democrat, though not politically active. Ms. McNulty Walsh said Dr. Marburger added that he had worked productively with elected officials from each party at all levels of government. Born on Feb. 8, 1941, in Staten Island, John Harmen Marburger III graduated from Princeton and received a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford in 1967. His research focused on the interaction of intense light with matter. After more than a decade of teaching and research at the University of Southern California, he headed back east to the State University of New York at Stony Brook, serving as its president from 1980 to 1994. During his tenure there and at Brookhaven, he garnered respect from across the political spectrum for his handling of contentious issues. "As an adviser to the president he is absolutely perfect," said Dr. Robert McGrath, a physicist, who is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at SUNY-Stony Brook, and who is also the university's vice president for Brookhaven affairs. "I just am in awe of what he's been able to do with this laboratory." The laboratory has already begun a search for a new director. While that sort of praise may be expected from Dr. Marburger's close colleagues, it is largely echoed in much less likely quarters — the environmental organizations that long had adversarial relationships with the laboratory before Dr. Marburger became its director in 1998. Those relationships arose from pollution problems at the lab, some of them decades old. They included leakage of chemical waste and small amounts of radioactive tritium from part of a nuclear reactor used for research. Dr. Marburger set up a permanent advisory council to make the concerns of the surrounding community on Long Island known to the lab's managers, met with local environmental groups and worked to accelerate the schedule for cleaning up pollution at the lab. Eventually, he supervised the permanent shutdown of the reactor after it was ordered by Bill Richardson, then the secretary of energy, late in 1999. "He's lived up to the enormously tough challenge that he faced there," said James Tripp, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. Scott Cullen, legal counsel for Standing for Truth About Radiation, a Long Island environmental group, said that while much work remained to be done in eliminating the contamination, much of the distrust had dissipated. "To Dr. Marburger's credit, what he did at the laboratory was change the way that the lab interacted with the Long Island public," Mr. Cullen said. Dr. Marburger also presided over a scientific comeback of sorts for Brookhaven, where a giant particle accelerator called the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider recently produced the densest matter ever created in a laboratory. The achievement is a step toward understanding the Big Bang explosion in which the universe is thought to have been born. Cleanup money for Brookhaven, increased last year, was sharply cut under the Bush budget, although recent efforts have been made to restore the cuts. Dr. Marburger's record at the laboratory contains broad hints that he may not be entirely in tune with an administration whose environmental stance has been sharply criticized. President Bush cited uncertainties in the science of climate research as one reason not to join the Kyoto accord on global warming. Dr. Marburger has not spoken publicly about that issue, though a colleague, Dr. Robert de Zafra, a physicist and environmental researcher at SUNY- Stony Brook, said, "Most certainly he is a concerned environmental advocate." In other areas, like some aspects of energy production, there may be no gap at all. Dr. Marburger, who was appointed by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo in 1983 to lead a fact-finding commission on the troubled Shoreham nuclear reactor on Long Island, is likely to agree with the Bush administration's decision to promote nuclear power as an element of the nation's energy future. "Jack would classify himself as generally being pro-nuclear," said Dr. John Bjorkholm, a principal scientist at Intel and a longtime friend. But the tardiness of the nomination could present its own problems for Dr. Marburger. The Bush administration's decision on whether to allow federal financing of research involving human fetal tissue and fertilized eggs — research that could be useful in treating diseases like diabetes but is opposed by some groups — could come this month, long before confirmation hearings. And if the hearings drag very far into the fall, the administration's proposed budget for 2003 could already be too far along for Dr. Marburger to influence it very much, said Dr. Neal Lane, a physicist who served as science adviser to Mr. Clinton in his second term. "It's clearly a disadvantage for Jack Marburger coming in late," Dr. Lane said. "I certainly think the community, all of us, should not have unrealistic expectations." Still, if Dr. Marburger develops a strong relationship with the president and other senior advisers, his voice will eventually be heard, Dr. Lane said. A White House official said Mr. Marburger's party affiliation was unimportant. Anne Womack, a White House spokeswoman, said, "The White House has conducted a thorough search for a science and technology adviser, and we feel we've found the best candidate." NYTimes.com ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************