***************************************************************** 04/04/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.84 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Letter from Bob Loux to Leah Dever, DOE/Oak Ridge, Regarding 2 Two bills would allow low-level nuclear waste sites 3 House bills would tighten rules on radioactive waste 4 Turtles flocking to nuclear facility 5 NRC considers plan to convert plutonium to reactor fuel 6 TXU's Comanche Peak nuke outage not extended due to tubes 7 Nukes For Sale 8 Guinn meets with Nevada's anti-nuke dump litigation team 9 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.14 | 28 March - 3 April 2001 10 Greenpeace anti-Australian, government says 11 Greens rally behind Greenpeace nuclear action 12 B. Bhattacharjee takes charge as BARC chairman 13 Protesters oppose new nuclear reactor 14 Greenpeace to fight import of Australian nuclear waste 15 Nations seek dialogue despite Temelin debate* 16 Lithuania is boosting energy exports, but only for a while 17 Property values at risk if nuke dump approved 18 AEA in talks with buyers after five years of misery 19 Atomic Energy in takeover talks 20 NUCLEAR WASTE: City officials vow to fight dump 21 Crews dismantling Rancho Seco plant start radioactive fuel move 22 Rancho Seco Project Under Way NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Workers to drill under tainted Flats building 2 Energy Department lawyers ask judge to alter court order 3 Alaska senators weigh in on jurisdictional dispute 4 U.S.-Russian Nuclear Nonproliferation Program Eliminates 4,500 5 Don't buy this 'confirmation conversion' 6 US says sorry for latest sub blunder 7 Board to ask for review of burns 8 Ecology, EPA bug DOE on funding 9 IAAP commander says he'll test water ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Letter from Bob Loux to Leah Dever, DOE/Oak Ridge, Regarding Proposed Low-Level Radioactive Waste Shipments KENNY C. GUINN *Governor* STATE OF NEVADA [State Seal] OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR AGENCY FOR NUCLEAR PROJECTS 1802 N. Carson Street, Suite 252 Carson City, Nevada 89701 Telephone: (775) 687-3744 • Fax: (775) 687-5277 E-mail: nwpo@govmail.state.nv.us ROBERT R. LOUX *Executive Director* April 4, 2001 Ms. Leah Dever, Manager U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office 200 Administration Road Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Dear Ms. Dever: It has come to my attention that a DOE/Oak Ridge contractor, British Nuclear Fuels (BNF), is proposing to ship low-level radioactive waste (LLW) from clean-up activities at the K-25 Plant to the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for disposal. The BNF plan apparently calls for the LLW to be transported by train to Caliente, Nevada, where it would be off-loaded onto trucks for shipment to NTS. I am requesting that you reconsider this transportation plan and look for alternative methods of transporting the waste to NTS. As you may know, in Nevada we are very concerned about any actions contemplated by DOE involving the intermodal transfer of radioactive waste within Nevada. Over the past few years DOE's Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) and the State of Nevada have made significant progress in addressing LLW transportation issues and concerns. This has resulted in substantial improvements in the way LLW shipments are managed including a more responsive understanding by DOE of the unique circumstances involving radioactive waste transportation in Nevada. Please be aware that establishing an intermodal transfer waste operation in Caliente, will do serious harm to the productive State-DOE relationship that has evolved with respect to NTS LLW shipment and disposal activities. Over the past two years, Governor Guinn has met personally with former Energy Secretary Richardson and his staff and received assurances that intermodal operations in Nevada would not be used to transport LLW or Mixed LLW to the NTS. We would hope that DOE intends to continue to honor these assurances. In recent years, the State of Nevada expressed serious concern over a prior proposal for LLW shipments to NTS that would have included intermodal operations in Nevada. In fact, it was a proposal by Fluor Daniels on behalf of DOE's Fernald facility that resulted in the Governor's discussions with Secretary Richardson. In comments on the Fernald proposal, the State asserted the following: "It is the State's view that any action by DOE that either directly or indirectly leads to the development of an intermodal LLW facility on lands not owned or controlled by the federal government would constitute a major federal action under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA - per Council of Environmental Quality [CEQ] regulations 1508.18(4)). At a minimum, we contend that a NEPA analysis must address the potential environmental, public health and safety, and economic impacts that may be caused by siting an intermodal LLW transfer facility in Nevada. Siting nuclear facilities can, under certain conditions, have significant negative effects by suppressing business activities, lowering property values, and causing potential new residents, tourists, and businesses to avoid areas associated with things nuclear." We also said that if DOE proposes an action that is connected, closely related, or would automatically trigger other actions associated with an intermodal waste transfer facility, then all these actions must be analyzed together in a single NEPA document (see 40 CFR 1508.25). This is significant when considering that NTS hosts more than 15 offsite waste generators, and any one of these might take advantage of a intermodal LLW transfer facility to ship waste to Nevada for disposal. Hence, allowing development of such a facility would likely trigger other actions which would cause cumulative impacts to the human and natural environment (e.g., expanded use of an intermodal facility with associated transportation and added risks). To address such impacts, DOE's NEPA implementing regulations require that such actions be assessed together to address cumulative effect, and DOE is prohibited from categorically excluding these actions in cases where a given proposal is ‘connected' to other actions or would otherwise result in cumulative effects to the environment (see 1021.410(2)). We also said that "because of the unique hazards associated with handling radioactive waste, State officials believe that a regulatory analysis, conducted as part of the required NEPA analysis, must be undertaken to address DOE oversight and/or licensing under NRC regulations of an Intermodal LLW transfer facility." In other words, the State of Nevada still contends that any facility that handles and stores defense low-level radioactive waste (as an intermodal facility would necessarily do), must be licensed by NRC -- where such a facility is not located on withdrawn federal lands or lands otherwise owned/controlled by the DOE/DoD. We contend that such licensing is mandatory to insure full protection of public health and the environment. Please note that Nevada will exercise whatever legal and other prerogatives it has to assure that these concerns are addressed if DOE Oak Ridge and BNF continue to pursue using intermodal transportation from Caliente or elsewhere in Nevada for LLW shipments to NTS. Relationship to Yucca Mountain As you know from your tenure here in Nevada, it is very difficult to "decouple" NTS LLW issues from the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository and the highly charged atmosphere that has been created here as a result of the repository program. The fact that DOE/OCRWM's Yucca Mountain draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) proposes to site and use an intermodal facility for the transport of spent nuclear fuel to the proposed repository creates a situation where any proposal for intermodal facilities involving radioactive materials, even LLW, is untenable because of the precedent that would be set and the perceptions of risk involved. (The referenced DEIS contains an alternative that sites an intermodal facility at Caliente, Nevada - see DEIS transportation map at http://yuccamountain.org/s-27.gif) While it is my understanding that there are readily available alternatives to transhipping the BNF LLW at Caliente, if BNF is permitted to move ahead with plans for intermodal transfer of LLW in Caliente, or elsewhere in Nevada, we will take whatever legal action required to oppose such shipments. Such action would also undermine the cooperative and productive working relationship developed between the State and DOE/NV with respect to ongoing LLW and Mixed LLW shipping and disposal activities at NTS. Thank you for you attention to this important matter. If you would like to discuss the issue further, please contact me at (775) 687-3744. Sincerely, --/s/-- Robert R. Loux Executive Director State of Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office 1802 North Carson Suite 252 Carson City, NV 89701 (775) 687-3744 voice (775) 687-5277 fax nwpo@govmail.state.nv.use-mail * ***************************************************************** 2 Two bills would allow low-level nuclear waste sites 04/03/01 Amarillo Globe-News: By JANE ALDRED Morris News Service AUSTIN - Texas is in need of a low-level radioactive waste facility, some state lawmakers say, and two bills scheduled for hearing today in the House Environmental Regulation Committee are designed to address that need, the bills' sponsor said. House Bills 3420 and 3283 from Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, allow Texas to fulfill its obligation under a federal compact agreement with Maine and Vermont to store low-level radioactive waste. House Bill 3420 provides for the state to enter into a contract with a private business to build a facility. Then, the state pays the private company to run it with fees collected from those whose waste is being disposed. The measure is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. House Bill 3283 provides for a facility to be built, but specifies that it would be an assured isolation facility, which is built above ground of reinforced concrete and managed by a staff to test for leakage. It does not provide for burying the waste. The bill also doesn't delegate responsibilities to a private corporation. Instead, the state would build and manage the facility. Chisum said the bills were crafted differently to encourage conversation about the best methods of storage and disposal. He said he wants to hear the debate before any decisions are made on which direction to take. Members of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter have hotly contested Duncan's measure in the Senate committee. Currently, low-level radioactive waste from Texas hospitals and research facilities is held in more than 1,200 temporary storage facilities across the state. There are no permanent storage sites. "We don't deal with our low-level radioactive waste right now - we ship it to other states," Chisum said. "We entered into a compact with Maine and Vermont in which we declared ourselves to be the host state, and yet we don't have a site in the state of Texas to dispose of low level radioactive waste. It's time for us to create a site." www.amarillonet.com Amarillo Globe-News ***************************************************************** 3 House bills would tighten rules on radioactive waste Star-Telegram.Com Updated: Tuesday, Apr. 3, 2001 at 22:47 CDT By Neil Strassman Star-Telegram Staff Writer AUSTIN -- Bills to minimize the dangers associated with the storage, disposal and transportation of low-level radioactive waste in Texas were presented to a House environment committee Tuesday by Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. The bills differ substantially from others before the Senate and the House Environmental Regulation committee that would allow a state-licensed private company to store and permanently dispose of radioactive waste in West Texas. Burnam's bills would require voter approval by surrounding counties of any proposed disposal site, prohibit the below- ground disposal of radioactive waste, re-establish a state agency to oversee storage and disposal of radioactive waste and require nuclear power plants to store their own waste. "Texas should not get stuck with managing all of the nuclear materials from the whole Cold War," Burnam said. Because the state was unable to establish a radioactive waste disposal site in Sierra Blanca and the Texas agency that spent 20 years and $50 million trying to establish a disposal site was dissolved, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission has been put in the "peculiar position" of regulating itself with regard to radioactive waste, Burnam said. A new low-level radioactive waste authority would ensure that Texas has the means to manage the waste and to regulate how much comes into the state. Texas is a partner in a radioactive waste compact with Vermont and Maine and is the host state for disposal of the radioactive waste generated by nuclear power plants and medical, research and industrial activities. The waste can vary in radioactivity, the hazard it poses and can remain dangerous for hundreds or even thousands of years. The compact commissioners could vote to accept waste from outside of the compact, Burnam said, in presenting a bill to require the commissioners to pledge not to import waste. Dr. Michael Devous, a radiology professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, told the committee that a way must be found to dispose of increasing amounts of low-level waste. It is cheaper and more efficient to store the waste at one site than at many sites that take up valuable medical school and hospital space, he said. Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo said he backs Burnam's proposal for a regional referendum. "We've never been asked whether we want it in our community," Galindo said. "The least that can happen is letting us vote if we want it in our front yard." Neil Strassman, (817) 390-7657 For home delivery of the Star-Telegram, dial (817) DEL-IVER. © 2000 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas -- Terms and ***************************************************************** 4 Turtles flocking to nuclear facility [St. Petersburg Times Online: Citrus County news ] Most of the turtles are Kemp's ridleys and two of the creatures have died. They may have been drawn to the plant's warm water. By ALEX LEARY © St. Petersburg Times, published April 4, 2001 CRYSTAL RIVER -- Nearly 40 endangered sea turtles have entered an intake canal at Florida Power's nuclear facility in the past month, baffling plant officials and causing alarm among a watchdog organization. All but two of the 38 turtles survived and were put back in the gulf. One was apparently dead before entering the canal and another died inside, said Florida Power spokesman Mac Harris. The turtles, mostly Kemp's ridleys, were presumably in search of food. Warm water discharged by the plant attracts a variety of aquatic life. Most of the turtles were between 3 and 4 years old, measured about 10 inches and weighed about 10 pounds, Harris said. Because the number of live "takes" in one month approaches the federal two-year limit of 50, Florida Power plans to lobby the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an expanded threshold. Currently, the plant faces a two-year federal limit of three fatalities. This is not the first time the plant has had a sudden influx of turtles. In April 1998, officials reported that more than three dozen federally protected creatures entered the intake canal. Most were retrieved alive, but eight were dead. The Nuclear Information and Resource Service blames Florida Power, saying its "cheap and dirty" cooling system is the cause. The system, which is common and is said to be less expensive than building a cooling tower, draws water from the gulf and then sends it back out. Paul Gunter, an official with the NIRS in Washington, said the juvenile turtles are critical to the species because they have already endured natural predators. "They are taking the strongest of the species. It certainly is a concern among us and other groups that are looking to protect endangered species." Moving to increase the take limit, rather than increasing protection efforts, shows disregard for the species, Gunter said. "Again, what we've seen is an effort on the part of Florida Power Corp. to evade responsibility under the Endangered Species Act." Gunter recently co-authored a report, titled "Licensed to Kill," that charged the nuclear industry with a variety of crimes against nature. The Crystal River plant was among those singled out. "Though willing to send the injured turtles it captures to respected rehabilitation facilities in the state, FPC avoids spending its own money to research or install prevention devices for sea turtles or conduct biological research on animals captured at the site," the report said. Harris vigorously defended the cooling system, saying it was effective and safe and stressed that only one of the turtles taken in the past month died as a result of the plant. It got stuck near a gate at the intake canal. Florida Power has staff biologists and uses employees to constantly scan the intake pool for turtles, Harris said. "Our biologists don't know why we get more turtles," he said. "If we knew, we'd be certainly more than happy to deter the turtles. It's easy for someone sitting in an organization to make statements, but the fact is we've had 36 turtles that came in and were removed and were put back in the gulf." He questioned the Nuclear Information and Resource Service's motives. "It's really an anti-nuclear group. They present themselves as an environmental group, but if you look at their Web page, they are not about the environment; they are about nuclear power." ***************************************************************** 5 NRC considers plan to convert plutonium to reactor fuel [Reuters] Tuesday April 3, 11:59 am Eastern Time NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it was considering an application for construction of a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. The MOX facility would convert surplus weapons-grade plutonium, supplied by the Department of Energy, into fuel for use in commercial nuclear reactors. Such use would render the plutonium essentially inaccessible and unattractive for weapons use. Commercial nuclear power plants in the United States currently use uranium as fuel; the mixed oxide fuel would be a combination of uranium and plutonium. The agency said in a statement late Monday it will offer an opportunity for a hearing to persons whose interests may be affected by this facility. The Department of Energy announced plans to construct a MOX fuel plant through a contract with the consortium of construction company Duke Engineering &Services, a unit of energy giant Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: - news) of Raleigh, N.C., French nuclear measurement company COGEMA Inc., and construction company Stone &Webster. The consortium is known as DCS. DCS submitted an environmental report on the MOX facility last December, and requested authorization to construct the facility in February. Before deciding whether to authorize construction, the NRC will prepare an environmental impact statement and will conduct a technical evaluation of the application to determine whether it meets NRC requirements. The NRC said it will publish soon in the Federal Register a notice for a hearing on the construction of the MOX facility. --Scott DiSavino, New York Power Desk, +212-859-1622, fax +212-859-1758, ***************************************************************** 6 TXU's Comanche Peak nuke outage not extended due to tubes [Reuters] Wednesday April 4, 9:16 am Eastern Time NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - TXU Corp. (NYSE:TXU - news) said Wednesday the outage at its 1,150-megawatt (MW) Comanche Peak 1 nuclear unit in Texas would not be extended despite degradation in some of the plant's steam generator tubes. ``We had a goal at this refueling to inspect 100 percent of the steam tubes in Unit 1 and we have found pretty much what we expected. We have not been surprised,'' a spokesman for the company told Reuters. ``We fully anticipate that Comanche Peak will run at full capacity once the refueling is over,'' the spokesman said, adding that the findings would not extend the outage at the Glen Rose, Texas plant. The unit shut March 24 and is slated to return to service in late April. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said in its daily event report that several tubes in the plant's steam generator were found to be potentially degraded. Last year, a 1,250-MW unit at Reliant Energy's (NYSE:REI - news) South Texas nuclear plant underwent steam generator repairs that took about 65-70 days. A steam generator, which stands about 70 feet high and 40 feet wide, transfers heat from the reactor systems to the power-generating part of a nuclear power plant. Wholesale power prices in the state have remained around $46.00 per megawatt hour this month, typical for this time of year, however many industry sources have said if the outage lasts longer than expected and hot, summer weather arrives early this year in Texas, power prices could rise significantly. --E Moustakis, New York Power Desk, 212 859-1627, fax 212 859-1758, e-mail Eileen.Moustakis@reuters.com Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of ***************************************************************** 7 Nukes For Sale Guest Comment on NRO If Putin will sell, Bush should buy. By Brett Wagner, president of the California Center for Strategic Studies. He also serves as executive director of the Swords into Plowshares project. April 3, 2001 10:40 a.m. One of the greatest opportunities facing President Bush in his first few months of office will be the chance to put his father's most visionary foreign-policy initiative — the Highly Enriched Uranium Agreement — back on the right track, while simultaneously negotiating a new, more comprehensive agreement that could prove worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. And he has an opening: Russia's President Vladimir Putin just sent a strong signal that he's eager to move forward, with the recent appointment of a new Russian Minister of Atomic Energy who enthusiastically supports expanding the agreement. The Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Agreement, which was negotiated by the previous Bush administration in late 1992 and formalized just weeks after Clinton took office, established an unprecedented framework for the U.S. to purchase, over the course of two decades, the 500 tons of HEU from Russia's dismantled nuclear warheads. Even though the agreement overlooked Russia's other 700-800 tons of excess HEU, not to mention its 100-200 tons of excess weapons-grade plutonium (WGP), it nevertheless created an invaluable framework for future negotiations. In short, the HEU deal is probably the most revolutionary nuclear-arms agreement since the emergence of arms reduction itself, breathing new and unexpected life into the biblical admonition to transform "swords into plowshares." Unfortunately, the agreement has just spent the last eight years languishing on the proverbial backburner of U.S. foreign policy, failing to capture the imagination of Bush I's successor. As a result, American orders for Russian-enriched uranium have regularly fallen behind the agreement's original schedule, even while Moscow has repeatedly offered not only to accelerate its deliveries, but also to expand the deal to include the rest of its remaining stockpiles of excess HEU and WGP — stockpiles of which remain chronically under-secured and under-supervised. Almost a decade after inheriting the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal, Russia has yet to develop a reliable means of securing its enormous stockpiles of weapons-grade nuclear materials. It doesn't even have an accounting system capable of keeping track of them. Most of these materials are stored in makeshift facilities that are poorly maintained and under-supervised. European law-enforcement officers have confiscated several small caches of Russian nukes from smugglers. This is especially alarming, since it would take only 20 or 30 pounds of HEU, or about 12 to 15 pounds of WGP, to arm a device capable of leveling Washington, D.C. or lower Manhattan. Both Iraq and the terrorist group, Islamic Jihad, have reportedly offered Russian nuclear workers more than a billion dollars for a quantity this size. For the past several years, Moscow has been trying to sell these same materials to the United States — at a cost of less than $8,000 per pound. At that price, it would only cost Washington another $12 billion to $16 billion to purchase the additional 700-800 tons of uranium and 100-200 tons of plutonium that Moscow has declared excess to its security needs. The time has come for Washington to finally put its money where its mouth is and use part of the budget surplus to purchase as many of Russia's fissile materials — both uranium and plutonium — as Moscow is willing to sell, and as quickly as Moscow is willing to sell them. The case for taking such a bold step should be easy to make with the American people. First, the sticker price would be remarkably low — probably less than $25 billion, including the 500 tons from the original agreement. And since the U.S. government would presumably one day sell most or all of the uranium and plutonium for use as nuclear fuel, it would not have to be counted as expenditure. In fact, an American firm known as Radkowsky Thorium Power Corp., working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, recently developed a revolutionary new reactor core capable of burning pure weapons-grade plutonium, creating for the first time a viable commercial market for that substance, and ensuring that the government could recoup its investment. What's more, it costs less to operate than current methods, works equally well in both Western-style and Russian-style reactors, and produces none of the weapons-usable nuclear waste commonly associated with today's reactors. Consequently, the new core should appeal to both those in industry as well as those entrusted with enforcing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The new core is currently completing its preliminary operational tests in a Russian nuclear reactor. Until very recently, Russia's new Minister of Atomic Energy, Mr. Rumiantsev, was heading the team at the Kurchatov Institute overseeing these tests. His recent promotion all the way to the top of Russia's nuclear ladder signals a rapidly intensifying Kremlin desire to move forward as quickly as possible with selling its enormous stockpiles of fissile materials to the U.S. Second, one could compare the price tag with the hundreds of billions of dollars America spent to defend itself and its allies against nuclear weapons during the Cold War; the trillion dollars of collateral damage and inestimable loss of human life that would result if a small nuclear device were ever successfully detonated in a U.S. city; and the billions of dollars that rogue states and terrorist groups have already offered to Russian nuclear workers for extremely small amounts of the same nuclear material. And, last but not least, there is the tremendous sense of relief in purchasing the very stuff that for so long threatened America's very survival, and which now threatens the entire planet. During the weeks and months ahead, President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will enjoy a brief window of opportunity to forge a new direction in U.S.-Russian relations. Bush will have the rare opportunity to negotiate a major nuclear arms-control agreement in his first months of office, not to mention demonstrate his mastery of foreign affairs. Putin will have the equally rare opportunity to transform a liability — the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a system capable of protecting Russia's excess nuclear stockpiles — into a commercial asset worth billions of dollars. All that remains to be seen is whether the two men can together seize the day. ***************************************************************** 8 Guinn meets with Nevada's anti-nuke dump litigation team April 04, 2001 CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Gov. Kenny Guinn met Tuesday with experts in nuclear waste policy, including attorneys working on legal options that might be needed to block shipments of waste to Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Guinn has proposed a $5 million fund for a lobbying and legal effort against the proposed federal dump about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Brian McKay, chairman of the state Commission on Nuclear Projects, attended the meeting and praised Guinn's efforts to get state lawmakers to approve the $5 million expenditure. "It's time for Nevada to take the fight to another level," McKay said. "And the governor's initiative does just that." Others at the meeting included Bob Loux of the state Nuclear Projects Office, Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams and lawyers Tony Rossman and Roger Moore, whose firm has been retained by the state. Also Tuesday, the Commission on Nuclear Projects met and heard presentations from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Stephen Cloobeck of Diamond Resorts International. Cloobeck has launched a grass-roots effort in southern Nevada to augment the governor's proposal; and Goodman is weighing possible legal challenges to the Yucca Mountain dump. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.14 | 28 March - 3 April 2001 A weekly summary of international news relevant to uranium and the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.14-1] World uranium production increased 12% in 2000 to about 91 million pounds U3O8 (35 003 tU), compared with 81 million pounds U3O8 (31 156 tU) in 1999. Uranium output in the Western world grew 13% from 62 million pounds U3O8 (23 848 tU) in 1999 to over 70 million pounds U3O8 (26 925 tU) in 2000. The increase can primarily be attributed to expanded capacity at Olympic Dam and increased production from Ranger in Australia, as well as new production capacity at the McArthur River and McClean Lake projects in Canada. Canada maintained its position as the leading uranium producer, accounting for 27.8 million pounds U3O8 (10 693 tU) or around 40% of Western production. Australian production rose sharply in 2000 to almost 19.8 million pounds U3O8 (7616 tU). Other figures from the same report (converted from pounds U3O8 and rounded to nearest tU): Niger 2885 tU; Namibia 2693 tU; South Africa 808 tU; US 1462 tU. CIS uranium production was estimated at about 16.7 million pounds U3O8 (6424 tU). *(Ux Weekly, 26 March, p1; see also News Briefing 00.12-1)* [NB01.14-2] Germany: The shipment of vitrified waste arrived at the Gorleben interim storage site on 29 March after a four-day journey from Cogema's reprocessing facility in La Hague, France. The shipment was delayed by 24 hours after anti-nuclear protestors attached themselves to a rail track using steel and concrete. German authorities reportedly mounted one of the biggest security operations in peacetime, with the mobilisation of as many as 30 000 police, to ensure the waste reached its destination. *(SpentFUEL, 2 April, p2; NucNet News, 109/01, 28 March; NucNet News, 112/01, 29 March; see also News Briefing 01.13-2)* [NB01.14-3] Worldwide use of nuclear power will grow by 10% over the next 15 years, before dropping slightly by 2020, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA forecasts that global consumption of nuclear electricity will increase from 2396 TWh in 1999 to 2636 TWh in 2015, before declining to 2582 TWh by 2020. The forecast, part of the EIA's 'International Energy Outlook 2001', gives a more optimistic view of nuclear's prospects than contained in previous editions of the annual report. The full report can be downloaded from the EIA website, at ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/pdf/international/0484(2001).pdf. *(NucNet News, 114/01, 29 March; see also News Briefing 00.12-2)* [NB01.14-4] US: President George W Bush is 'unequivocal' in opposing ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and has ordered a review to find alternative approaches to the problem, a Whitehouse spokesman announced. The spokesman said that President Bush was said to oppose the Kyoto treaty because it exempts the developing countries and is 'not in the United States's economic best interests'. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the US would be required to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by one-third by 2012. The statement that the US was abandoning the treaty prompted a furious reaction from the European Union (EU) and will add to the list of foreign policy disputes with the US. *(Financial Times, 29 March, p1; NucNet News, 113/01, 29 March; see also News Briefings 00.50-5 and 00.04-18)* [NB01.14-5] Russia has a new atomic energy minister following the resignation of Yevgeny Adamov. President Vladimir Putin announced the appointment of Alexander Rumyantsev, director of the Kurchatov Institute for nuclear research, in a presidential decree as part of a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle. *(SpentFUEL, 2 April, p2; NucNet News, 110/01, 28 March; see also News Briefing 01.11-17)* [NB01.14-6] Russia: The 950 MWe Rostov-1 nuclear power plant was connected to the grid on 30 March 2001. *(NucNet News, 115/01, 30 March; see also News Briefing 01.09-7)* [NB01.14-7] Pakistan inaugurated its second nuclear power plant on 29 March 2001. The 325 MWe Chasma Nuclear Power Plant (Chasnupp) has been heavily financed and built with Chinese technology and money. *(Nuclear Market Review, 31 March, p3; Ux Weekly, 2 April, p4; see also News Briefing 00.19-13)* [NB01.14-8] The Romanian government is reportedly pursuing international loan facilities in order to complete construction of the 630 MWe Cernavoda-2 CANDU reactor. An estimated US$700-750 million is needed to bring the reactor, already 45-50% complete, into commercial operation by 2006-2007. Nuclearelectrica has already reached an agreement with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) and Italian company Ansaldo to finish building the reactor, pending necessary financing. Discussions are reportedly in an advance stage with the Export Development Corporation of Canada to provide a loan totalling US$500 million backed by a sovereign guarantee from the Romanian government. *(FreshFUEL, 2 April, p5; see also News Briefings 01.07-13 and 01.09-10)* [NB01.14-9] Russia's nuclear power plants generated 33.106 billion kWh of electricity between 1 January and 28 March 2001 - a 5.2% drop compared with the same period in 2000. The fall in production was due to limits placed on the capacity of four nuclear power plants by the Unified Energy Systems of Russia central dispatch department, according to Rosenergoatom. Capacity utilisation between 1 January and 16 March 2001 was 80.2%, compared with 83.6% in the corresponding period in 2000. (*Ux Weekly, 2 April, p3; see also News Briefing 01.04-6)* [NB01.14-10] US: Public support for the construction of new nuclear power plants has risen to 66%, according to a survey by Bruskin Research. The survey, conducted in March 2001, of 1000 US citizens nationwide showed a 15% increase in such support since January 2001, and a 24% rise since October 1999. The most pronounced increase in support for new nuclear plants was in western USA, where 62% of people think new plants should be built, compared with 33% in 1999. *(Nuclear Energy Overview, 2 April, p4; see also News Briefing 00.11-21)* [NB01.14-11] US: A Future Licensing Project Organisation is being established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to prepare for and manage future reactor and site licensing applications. The NRC aims to have the organisation in operation by the end of September 2001. Several utilities have approached NRC to discuss the construction of new nuclear power plants in the US and an application for design certification of the Westinghouse AP 1000 advanced reactor is expected in 2002. *(NRC News, 30 March; see also News Briefings 01.13-1 and 00.44-7)* [NB01.14-12] Argentina: Additional interested parties will be sought in a new auction, to be held in 45-60 days, for the Cerro Solo uranium deposit, according to a source from the National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA). The CNEA earlier rejected a bid from the consortium of Mining World and Canadian consultant John Thomson because 'it did not comply with the tender's requirements'. The Cerro Solo deposit, in Chubut province, has 4600 tonnes U3O8 (3900 tU) in reserves, including 2600 tonnes U3O8 (2205 tU) proven and 2000 tonnes U3O8 (1696 tU) probable. The proven ore grade is estimated at about 0.35% U3O8. *(Ux Weekly, 2 April, p4)* [NB01.14-13] Japan: The use of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO's) Fukushima nuclear power plant has been postponed because of opposition from the governor of the prefecture. The governor does not have the legal authority to block TEPCO's plan to use MOX fuel, but as a representative of the citizens of Fukushima, he has much influence over central government and the power industry. *(Ux Weekly, 2 April, p3; see also News Briefing 01.13-6)* [NB01.14-14] Electricite de France (EDF) has discovered a generic defect in emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) at five of its 1300 MWe PWR nuclear reactors. The defect involves a risk that valves on the circuit that recirculates water from the containment sump to the containment spray and safety injection systems may fail to open due to the potential effect on valve internal pressure of insufficiently cooled water in the sump and ECCS piping. The reactors concerned are Belleville, Cattenom, Golfech, Nogent and Penly. The French nuclear regulatory agency, DSIN, has asked EDF to 'rapidly' evaluate the safety of the reactors pending planned modifications and to consider additional measures to limit the impact of the defect until the units' next outages. *(Nucleonics Week, 29 March, p1; see also News Briefing 99.51-12)* [NB01.14-15] France: An appeal court in Caen overturned a temporary ban on the unloading of Australian spent fuel in France, rejecting a case brought by Greenpeace. The court ruled that Cogema had all the necessary authorisations and administrative documents to unload, receive and store spent fuel from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's (ANSTO's) research reactor in Lucas Heights for reprocessing at its La Hague facility. *(NucNet News, 119/01, 3 April; see also News Briefing 01.12-2)* [NB01.14-16] Lithuania: A short list of nine bidders interested in running the project management unit (PMU) for decommissioning of Ignalina-1 has been drawn up and the tender for the job should be announced soon. (Nucleonics Week, 22 March, p7; see also News Briefing 01.06-13) Lithuania could close Ignalina-2 in 2009, as demanded by the European Union (EU), but would rather continue operating the reactor until 'maybe 2012 or so', according to the country's economy minister, Eugenijus Gentvilas. Lithuania, which has already pledged to shut Ignalina-1 in 2005, plans to make a decision on the closure of Ignalina-2 in 2004. *(Ux Weekly, 2 April, p3; see also News Briefing 00.11-13) * [NB01.14-17] Russia aims to build its first floating nuclear power plant by 2005, at an estimated cost of US$109 million. The 50 MWE plant would be sited in the White Sea and provide electricity initially to Northern Machine Building Plant - a company manufacturing nuclear submarines - in the town of Severodvinsk and then to the town itself. Northern Machine Building Plant will build the floating plant, which will comprise of two reactors currently in use on Russian nuclear icebreakers. *(NucNet News, 116/01, 30 March; see also News Briefing 01.12-12)* Previous News Briefing NB01.13 *Prepared by the Uranium Institute Information Service. All news and views are those of the publications cited.* ***************************************************************** 10 Greenpeace anti-Australian, government says Source: AAP|Published: Wednesday April 4, 3:08 PM Greenpeace was acting against the national interest in its legal bid to stop Australian nuclear waste from being reprocessed in France, Industry Minister Nick Minchin said today. Greenpeace has filed a fresh legal challenge after a French court yesterday authorised nuclear reprocessing firm COGEMA to unload a cargo of nuclear waste from Australia. COGEMA had appealed an earlier court decision to block the waste from the French port after a protest by Greenpeace. Senator Minchin today accused Greenpeace of trying to destroy Australia's bid to responsibly manage its nuclear waste. "This is a very important part of Australia's responsible management of its nuclear waste," Senator Minchin told reporters. "And I am appalled that Greenpeace is trying to disrupt and destroy our responsible management of Australian waste. "I think Greenpeace is acting contrary to the national interests of all Australians, and I deplore their actions." Senator Minchin last week expressed confidence the French legal process would allow Australia's spent nuclear fuel rods to be unloaded from the ship and reprocessed in France. "My optimism of last week has been vindicated by the French court's decision (last night) to allow the spent fuel rods to be unloaded and treated by COGEMA," Senator Minchin said. "Based on the advice to me by ANSTO, we remain absolutely confident there is no further legal impediment to COGEMA processing our spent fuel rods." ANSTO, or the Australian Nuclear Safety and Technology Organisation, has enlisted COGEMA to reprocess Australia's spent fuel rods in the absence of local facilities for it. Copyright © 2000 The Age Company Ltd. Any unauthorised use, y ***************************************************************** 11 Greens rally behind Greenpeace nuclear action Source: AAP|Published: Wednesday April 4, 11:12 AM The Greens today urged Greenpeace to continue its fight against a French court decision which allowed the unloading of a ship full of Australian nuclear waste. Greenpeace has filed a fresh legal challenge after the court yesterday authorised French nuclear reprocessing firm COGEMA to unload a cargo of nuclear waste from Australia. COGEMA had appealed an earlier court decision to block the waste from the French port after a protest by Greenpeace. Greens Senator Bob Brown today rallied behind Greenpeace in its bid to block a world trade in nuclear waste. "I hope Greenpeace will keep fighting because it is important that the world trade in waste and recycled world materials is brought to a halt," said Senator Brown. "It's a dangerous one. "We've got high-level waste, including plutonium, floating up the east coast of Australia. "The Howard government might not be concerned about that but the people of Australia are." Greenpeace campaigner Stephen Campbell said today Greenpeace filed a fresh complaint overnight after the court in Caen, in north-west France, threw out an earlier decision banning COGEMA from unloading the fuel in Cherbourg and taking it to its nearby plant at La Hague. Copyright © 2000 The Age Company Ltd. Any unauthorised use, ***************************************************************** 12 B. Bhattacharjee takes charge as BARC chairman 4 April 2001 : The Times of India MUMBAI: Without nuclear science and technology, the quality of life of the country's one-billion population cannot improve, says Bishweswar Bhattacharjee, 61, who was appointed director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on Tuesday. Prior to his current appointment he was director of BARC's chemical engineering and technology group. ``I will accelerate various projects of this centre, which will benefit society,'' he told *The Times of India News Service* during a brief telephonic interview. Till the appointment of Mr Bhattacharjee, the post was temporarily held by Mr Anil Kakodkar, who is chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission. ``We will try and demonstrate the benefits of atomic energy programmes to the people so that they are convinced about its advantages,'' Mr Bhattacharjee said. ``India should play a key role in the development of nuclear science globally,'' he said, adding that he would focus on the expansion of nuclear power programmes and the development of radiation technology. ``This (radiation technology) should develop at a faster rate and its benefits should be felt in the areas of agriculture, industry and medicine,'' he observed. Mr Bhattacharjee takes over office at a time when BARC has been declared a nuclear weapon laboratory. His appointment, therefore, assumes significance because he has been involved in the development of what is known as ``high speed rotor'' technology which according to BARC's press release was vital for the production of strategic materials for the country. He was project director of Rare Materials Project at Ratnahalli--a comparatively secret nuclear facility near Mysore--where uranium enrichment is undertaken presumably for strategic purposes. It is widely known that India took the plutonium route to the nuclear bomb, but at the same time has kept its options for a uranium nuclear device as well. Pakistan, on the other hand, developed a uranium bomb. Asked about the role of the BARC for defence purposes, Mr Bhattacharjee declined to comment, except to say: ``Strategically, we are prepared.'' Mr Bhattacharjee is the ninth director of BARC since 1956. The first one was the father of India's nuclear programme, Homi Bhabha. Then came Homi Sethna, Raja Ramanna, S. Fareeduddin, P.K. Iyengar, R. Chidambaram, A.N. Prasad and Anil Kakodkar. ***************************************************************** 13 Protesters oppose new nuclear reactor BY MOLLY WISHART SYDNEY — Three hundred people attended a rally at Cronulla on March 25 to protest the federal government's plan to build a new reactor in the nearby southern Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights. Cronulla was chosen as he site of the protest because the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) releases radioactive waste water to the sea via Cronulla. Speakers at the rally included Sutherland Shire councillor Genevieve Rankin, Sutherland Shire mayor Tracie Sonda, local resident and actor Michael Caton (of *The Castle* fame), local resident Lorraine Dixon, *Green Left Weekly* journalist and Democratic Socialist Party member Jim Green, Kerry Nettle from the Greens, Peri Young from the Labor Party, James Courtney from Greenpeace, and Natalie Stevens from Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor (SPANNR). In his speech, Courtney discussed the spent fuel shipment from ANSTO which remains on a ship in a French port because of a court injunction won by Greenpeace France on the grounds that French nuclear company Cogema does not have a license to store or reprocess the spent fuel. Another French court is expected to announce the findings of its review of the court decision on or about April 1. The DSP’s Jim Green spoke about the suppression of non-reactor medical and scientific technologies, citing as one example Labor's refusal in 1994 to pursue a thorough, costed proposal to research cyclotron methods of producing the most commonly used medical isotope, technetium-99m. Another example given by Green concerns the cutting-edge diagnostic technology called positron emission tomography, which uses cyclotron produced isotopes. He noted that PET is only available at two hospitals in Australia, and that instead of expanding this technology the federal government is starving it of funds and consequently the Melbourne PET facility may be forced to close. Peri Young said Labor could not promise to stop the new reactor project because a contract has been signed between ANSTO and the Argentinean company INVAP. Labor was embarrassed by a report in the March 28 *Sydney Morning Herald* which said that federal Labor science spokesperson Martyn Evans had admitted telling the Argentinean ambassador that Labor had “never been in the business of simply cancelling contracts”. ***************************************************************** 14 Greenpeace to fight import of Australian nuclear waste ABC News - Greenpeace says it will continue its legal fight to prevent the reprocessing of Australian nuclear waste at La Hague. An appeal court today overturned a lower court injunction imposed last month preventing the unloading of the Australian nuclear fuel rods at Cherburg. Greenpeace says it will continue to argue before the lower court that the import of the Australian fuel rods to France is illegal. Last month, the court granted an injunction preventing the unloading of the nuclear waste from Lucas Heights, but an appeals court has now overturned that direction. A spokesman for Greenpeace in France says that there is now a growing political movement in the country against the import of such nuclear waste, and he has promised a long campaign against the Australian reprocessing plans. © 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 15 Nations seek dialogue despite Temelin debate* The Prague Post Online Wednesday, April 4, 2001 By Kate Swoger Vera Budway is living proof that Czechs and Austrians can get along. The Washington, D.C.-born EastWest Institute expert describes herself as "a product of a Habsburg mix" -- her father is Moravian, her mother an Austrian whose German-speaking family was expelled from the Sudetenland after World War II. Several recent high-profile tiffs between Prague and Vienna have undermined relations between the neighbor nations. But Budway and others who have monitored bilateral ties for years are convinced that an amicable future lies ahead -- a position affirmed by the Czech and Austrian foreign ministers at a conference in Vienna on March 29. Foreign Minister Jan Kavan and his Austrian counterpart, Benita Ferraro-Waldner, expressed optimism that the two countries would move beyond tensions provoked by the Czech nuclear power station at Temelin. The two countries have also been at odds over compensation for German-speaking Czechs expelled from the country under the postwar Benes decrees and Austrian demands for restrictions on the cross-border flow of Czech labor once the country joins the European Union. "Generally, things have been a bit strained, but relations are on quite a good level," said Budway, who works in Prague and spent five years in Vienna. Those strains were most visible late last year, when activists in Austria blockaded border crossings to show their concerns over safety at Temelin. The plant, which went on line in October, is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the Austrian border. The border protests angered the Czechs. Prime Minister Milos Zeman accused Vienna of blackmail before an agreement to study Temelin's impact on the environment was hammered out in December, ending the blockades. Others, like Temelin plant manager Frantisek Hezoucky and Communist Party Deputy Chairman Miroslav Ransdorf, accused their neighbors of indulging an Austro-Hungarian empire mentality. "In Vienna, they have forgotten that Austria-Hungary no longer exists," Ransdorf said in September. Hezoucky, meanwhile, said Vienna's criticism of the nuclear facility represented a "historical distrust of the Czechs." Jiri Schneider, a Charles University specialist in international relations and director of policy planning at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said he believes the old empire no longer plays a part in the mind-set of the current generation of Austrians. In many ways, he said, this generation sees itself as an equal partner with Czechs. Instead, he detects a problem of misperception created by decades of Cold War separation. "We don't know each other very well," he said. "Czechs are not aware of the nuclear and environmental concerns of the Austrians, for example. Ten years is not enough for us to really know each other. "The problem now is that Temelin has overshadowed a vast area of common interest and, in fact, is poisoning relations." Strategic partnership But Budway and others say the rhetoric surrounding Temelin is largely the creation of media hype and self-interested politicking. Beneath such squabbles are two nations with many common interests, especially in the context of an expanded EU, they contend. "Czech-Austrian relations are more than Temelin and the Benes decrees," said Gregor Schusterschitz, press attache for the Austrian Embassy. Vienna has proposed forming a "strategic partnership" with the Czech Republic and other Central European nations slated to join the EU over the next few years -- Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. Budway, who has worked closely with some of the key backers of the idea, says Austria sees the countries as potential coalition partners in an expanded EU. "It would mean creating a Central European bloc of allies ... to balance [the voting power] of Germany or France," she said. Schusterschitz is confident there is enough common ground between Austria and the former Eastern Bloc states for such an alliance. "We are all relatively small countries of comparable size, similar geography. We share a common history and cultural traditions. The mixture of the nations among one another is high," he said. He added that he hopes Vienna and Prague can iron out their differences before the next round of EU expansion in 2003 or 2004. "The first step is dialogue, to see what the fears are," Schusterschitz said. "What is important is that both sides are willing to talk." For Schneider, the partnership proposal demonstrates Vienna's desire to build bridges on the Continent a year after the EU imposed sanctions on the Austrian government for forming an alliance with Jorg Haider's far-right Freedom Party. "[It] shows that they felt painfully what it is like to be isolated," Schneider said. Kate Swoger's e-mail address is kswoger@praguepost.cz ***************************************************************** 16 Lithuania is boosting energy exports, but only for a while April 2001 / Business : Power surge Power surge That unwanted child of the Soviet nuclear family Lithuania's Ignalina power plant, born 1983 is wanted again. Despite EU requests that the plant's two reactors be decommissioned, Lithuania is determined to make a bit more money out of the plant before it dies. Hence the two new deals it struck last month to supply power to Russia and Poland. The deal with Russia alone could almost double the demands on Ignalina. The fine points of the contract aren't yet agreed, but Unified Energy System, Russia's sprawling national power utility, is asking its Lithuanian counterpart, Lietuvos Energija, to export 5,000 gigawatt hours of power to Belarus and two more to Russia's Kaliningrad enclave. That adds to up to almost as much power as Lithuania itself used last year. The second deal, with Poland, is a longer-term project that Lithuania has wanted for years. The two countries have agreed to set up a joint venture to link the Baltic state's grid to Poland's national power grid, PSE, by 2003. Poland itself doesn't want more power its mostly coal-fired plants already supply enough. But the link would allow Lithuania to add to Poland's power exports, which already go to Germany, Austria, Sweden, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. That would bring in some welcome cash for Lithuania, which used to be a big energy exporter to the Soviet Union. Ignalina's twin RBMK reactors can safely generate about 18,000 gigawatt-hours a year, according to Lietuvos Energija, while the country's other plants can manage another 12. But business has tailed off as the region's heavy industry ground to a halt. Besides, not all of Lithuania's usual customers can now pay up. Belarus fell $50 million behind on payments for Lithuanian energy in 1999, when Vilnius turned off the switch. The new customers may be a better bet, but the big problem is with the supplier. Lithuania's power plants are either expensive or doomed. Ignalina's first reactor, built to last until 2013, will be shut down in 2005, as Lithuania bows to EU pressure. The stigma of the plant's Chernobyl-type design has not faded, despite plenty of safety upgrades. As for the second reactor, Lithuania plans to make a decision by 2004. But the EU would like a timetable for decommissioning even sooner. Without Ignalina, Lithuania's biggest source of power is its gas and oil-burning plant at Elektrenai, just west of Vilnius. Elektrenai alone can generate enough power for Lithuania's current needs, and more. But generating electricity at Elektrenai costs about 2.5 times as much as at Ignalina, says Valdas Jurkevicius, director of Lietuvos Energija's commercial department. When Ignalina is finally shut down, there will be a big price hike, or Lithuania may even be forced to import. Not surprisingly, Lithuania resents the need to close Ignalina. So too does Russia, which likes being able to get its hands on cheap nuclear energy. Russia offered last year to rent Ignalina and keep it open for its full life expectancy. But the government in Vilnius, with its eyes on EU membership, rejected the offer. "A completely stupid idea," says Davidas Matulionis, the prime minister's foreign affairs advisor. "I regard it as a joke, nothing more." Eric Jansson © The Economist Newspaper Limited, 2001. All rights ***************************************************************** 17 Property values at risk if nuke dump approved April 04, 2001 By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- Trucking nuclear waste through Las Vegas would lower nearby property values anywhere from 3.2 percent to more than 33 percent, a city official said Tuesday. Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic told the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects that preliminary results of a study show the economic effect of a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain would be felt statewide. The mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being considered to store 77,000 tons of commercial and nuclear waste. Las Vegas could be a major transportation route for waste en route to a repository if it is approved. Jerbic said preliminary findings by Urban Environmental Research of Arizona, an independent environmental research firm, show that the nuclear-laden trucks, just rolling through Las Vegas without any accidents, would lead to a decrease in residential property values by 3.5 percent within a one-mile radius of the route. Commercial business values would decline 3.2 percent, according to the study. An accident in which a canister carrying nuclear waste rolls off a truck but doesn't release any radiation could cause a decrease of 7.9 percent to residential values and 7.4 percent to commercial values within a one-mile radius. An accident in which the cask is split and the radiation seeps into the atmosphere would result in the immediate deaths of an estimated five people, latent cancer in 5,200 persons and $1 billion in cleanup costs. It would lower values by 33.8 percent in residences and 31.9 percent in commercial business, it found. The study won't be considered in a final decision on whether Yucca Mountain becomes a nuclear waste repository, because the National Environmental Policy Act requires the Energy Department, which would build the repository, to consider only environmental impacts. But the social and economic information collected on the latest population figures will help the state and local governments in future lawsuits, said Robert Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency on Nuclear Projects. "It's more ammunition for the future," Loux said. That seems to be a fight that is sure to come. The state has already hired Tony Rossman, a San Francisco environmental lawyer, to help in the legal fight. Loux said his agency will start searching later this summer for attorneys in New York or Washington who are experts in handling matters before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "We have to fight the battle from within or they will come and destroy us," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said. Goodman said a lawsuit, if filed properly, would have a chance to succeed. If the suit could withstand an early motion to dismiss it, Goodman said, attorneys could then get into discovery and show this is a "political issue" and that "we were lied to." In fact, damages for the loss of property value due to nuclear waste transportation have been upheld in state courts. In a lawsuit brought by a New Mexico couple against the DOE for taking a corner of their property as a route for nuclear waste, the state Supreme Court granted $337,000 in damages because of the federal government's proposal to ship plutonium-laced waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project near Carlsbad. But first, speakers seemed determine to fight the repository in the court of public opinion. Many praised Gov. Kenny Guinn for putting aside $5 million to launch a public education program in other states to inform people regarding the dangers of transporting the radioactive materials through urban areas, and to pay for a legal defense. Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams said the nuclear waste would go through 43 major cities, as well as over Hoover Dam, and would threaten major water supplies. Williams, a member of the nuclear commission, endorsed the effort. Stephen Cloobeck, who is spearheading a grass-roots effort to unify opposition to Yucca Mountain, said a serious accident would actually mean a decrease in property values. For instance, he said no one would want to buy a Strip hotel if there was an accident of a large magnitude. Cloobeck envisions raising $10 million to $12 million in the battle to head off Yucca Mountain. He said $5 million would come from Guinn's proposal; $1 million from Clark County; more than $1 million from Utah and $5 million from private donations, mostly from properties along the Strip. He also suggested that when out-of-state politicians come to Las Vegas seeking donations that they be encouraged to commit to voting against the nuclear waste project. He hopes to have 400,000 to 500,000 people sign a petition, which he would place on the desks of every member of Congress. They may have more time for the information campaign. Loux told the commission that the schedule of the Department of Energy for recommending Yucca Mountain has "slipped." He said it was originally set for this summer but was delayed until late this year or early 2002. "I believe it will slip even further as we go down the road." Though much of the discussion centered on the dangers as they relate to residents of Clark County, Abby Johnson, the adviser to Eureka County on the issue, said the state needs to make sure routes for shipping the waste are not diverted through rural Nevada. "If it's not safe, it's not safe," she said. Sun reporter Mary Manning contributed to this report. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. * ***************************************************************** 18 AEA in talks with buyers after five years of misery The Scotsman Online - Scotland's best selling quality national newspaper AEA Technology, formerly part of the Atomic Energy Authority, looks set to put an end to five years of misery on the stock market, having entered into talks with potential buyers. AEA supplies technology to Railtrack and other rail industry operators, and provides technology-based environmental solutions. It also has a nuclear technology business, which it has been trying to sell. The company, which has made two profit warnings in the last six months, said yesterday it had received approaches "both for certain parts of the group’s businesses and for the company itself". AEA floated on the stock exchange at 280p in 1996. Although the shares reached more than £9 in 1998, they closed at 155p on Monday. Yesterday’s announcement boosted the shares, and they closed up 40p, or 25 per cent, at 195p. The company has been plagued by delays in spending decisions by its engineering software customers and at the Ministry of Defence, a major customer. The company employs about 4,500 people, including 230 at Thurso, in the North of Scotland. Expansion of the Thurso factory, which makes specialised batteries for battlefield communications, has been slowed down by the MOD’s delays. In February, the company said it had entered into negotiations for the sale of the nuclear business. However, the security implications of the business mean any buyer has to be vetted and approved by the industry regulator. The company was capitalised at about £140 million before the shares surged yesterday. Charles Pick, analyst at Prudential, said: "It would be a difficult company to sell as a whole. Companies are more likely to be interested in different bits. It’s possible a venture capital company might buy it whole, then sell the other parts on." Companies such as WS Atkins and Serco have been mentioned as possible buyers of the rail business. Rolls Royce, already in the defence business, may be interested in the entire company. However, AEA is likely to want to sell off at least the nuclear business separately before selling the remainder of the company. In the six months to 30 September, AEA reported turnover of £171.5 million, compared with £171.3 million for the same period in 1999. Net profit fell to £1.9 million, compared with £6.1 million. In June, AEA will reports its results for the year to 31 March. ***************************************************************** 19 Atomic Energy in takeover talks ITN - *"There can be no certainty that any transaction will result from these approaches" - AEA statement* AEA Technology, the former state-run Atomic Energy Authority, saw its shares rocket after it said it was involved in takeover talks. The group, which was formed out of the last major privatisation by the Conservative government in 1996, said there had been more than one approach. AEA, based at Harwell, Oxfordshire, is responsible for decommissioning and research at sites including Windscale and Dounreay. The company said the takeover could involve the entire group or just some of the its five business operations. It added: "There can be no certainty that any transaction will result from these approaches. "The board is investigating further whether the expressions of interest that have been received could accelerate the creation of value for shareholders." AEA's share price has been under pressure after three profit warnings in the space of two years, the latest coming in February. AEA, which employs 3000 people at sites around the UK, is already in separate talks with a preferred bidder for the sale of Nuclear Engineering, whose core activity is the decommissioning of nuclear plants. That deal is likely to take several months to complete because AEA needs approval from the industry regulator, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. The group also said it was considering a partial flotation of its Future Technologies intellectual property arm. ***************************************************************** 20 NUCLEAR WASTE: City officials vow to fight dump LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 State panel told property values would drop, Southern Nevadans health would be put at risk By SEAN WHALEY DONREY CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- Saying property values will decline even if nuclear waste is safely shipped through Las Vegas, city officials told a state panel Tuesday they will fight all attempts by the U.S. Department of Energy to build a high level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "The bottom line is we should not concede our position," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. To do so would put residents of Southern Nevada at risk because even DOE officials acknowledge the facility cannot be guaranteed safe, he told the Commission on Nuclear Projects. Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic told the commission that a study for the city performed by Urban Environmental Research of Arizona shows that property values will decline even if waste is shipped safely through Southern Nevada. The study shows that residential property values within one mile of a nuclear waste transportation corridor would decline by 3.5 percent, and commercial values would drop 3.2 percent, if waste was shipped without incident. If an accident occurred but there was no release of radiation, residential values within a mile of the transportation corridor would decline by 7.9 percent, and commercial values would drop 7.4 percent, according to the study, which is now being finalized. In the "nightmare" scenario involving the release of a plume of radioactive gas, there would be five immediate deaths and as many as 200 latent cancer fatalities, Jerbic said. It would take six months and $1 billion to clean up the accident, according to the company's computer modeling program. Residential property values within a mile of a nuclear waste route would decline by 33.8 percent, while commercial values would decline by 31.9 percent, following such an accident, he said. In 1992, the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, citing a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling, said that property values can indeed be driven down based on the public perception about transporting nuclear waste. New Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that a Santa Fe couple could collect $337,000 in damages because the federal government might haul radioactive waste near their land on a road to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, where plutonium-tainted waste is now hauled for disposal near Carlsbad, N.M. Las Vegas officials were joined by Clark County, rural representatives and private business interests in expressing support for the continued fight against Yucca Mountain. Support was also expressed for Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan to set aside $5 million to fight the repository through both the education of communities in other states along likely nuclear waste shipment routes and by hiring expert legal help to fend off construction of the repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Commission on Nuclear Projects, established in 1985 to oversee Nevada's interests in the proposed Yucca Mountain project, discussed Guinn's proposed $5 million Nevada Protection Account included in his 2001-2003 budget. Guinn has proposed spending $1 million on the out-of-state transportation education program and $4 million for the legal fight. In a letter to the panel, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera said he has encouraged his fellow commissioners to add $1 million to the fund. "Our initial data show that the Department of Energy's Draft Environmental Impact Statement is wrong when it predicts that Yucca Mountain will have no significant impact," Herrera said in the letter. "Nevada in general, and Southern Nevada in particular, will be seriously harmed if Yucca Mountain is approved for use as a disposal site." Also speaking to the panel was Stephen Cloobeck, president of Diamond Resorts International in Las Vegas, on his efforts to obtain financial and political support from Nevada businesses for the anti-Yucca Mountain effort. Cloobeck said he foresees no difficulty in raising as much as $5 million for the educational campaign. Review-Journal staff writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report. ***************************************************************** 21 Crews dismantling Rancho Seco plant start radioactive fuel move ContraCostaTimes.com *Published Wednesday, April 4, 2001 * ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO -- Crews dismantling the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant have begun the sensitive process of removing radioactive fuel rods from a pool where they gave cooled for more than 10 years. The rods will be stored in 21 helium-filled steel cans that will be placed in a concrete vault until the federal government can build a permanent waste site. began Monday after months of rehearsals. The operation involves workers from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, two cranes, and a special truck built for the one-third mile trip to the temporary waste site. "We're taking things very slow and careful. We're not marching to a time clock," said Steve Redeker, plant-decommissioning manager. Federal regulators say moving fuel is usually safer than operating a nuclear power plant but more dangerous than tending the fuel in the storage pool. Inspectors with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be at the plant until at least April 10 to oversee the move, expected to take up to two weeks. SMUD hopes to build a gas-fired plant on the site within four years. It will cost about $492 million to dismantle the plant. Crews still have to dispose of the reactor vessel. The plant was closed in 1989 after Sacramento-area voters passed a referendum calling for its closure. headlines from ContraCostaTimes.com ***************************************************************** 22 Rancho Seco Project Under Way The KCRA Channel - *Fuel Rods Containing Uranium Being Moved* SACRAMENTO COUNTY, 11:50 p.m. PDT April 2, 2001 -- The last time steam rose from Rancho Seco's twin towers was in 1989. Since then, 493 fuel rods, each carrying uranium pellets, have sat in a water in the plant's fuel building. [Rancho Seco Project Under Way] SMUD crews are now working around the clock to pull the rods out of the water -- so-called wet storage -- and into stainless steel containers, which will be stored in concrete. Dry storage is somewhat safer, SMUD officials said, but the primary reason for the transfer is to save money. SMUD officials said that they will save between $8 million and $10 million a year. "We have been practicing this process for over a year now, and we have very detailed procedures that we've worked out," plant manager Steve Redeker said. "We have gone to other plants and observed how they do it, so we fully understand exactly how to do this." The project could take nine months, Rancho Seco officials said, and marks another milestone in what Redeker simply calls reverse construction. *Copyright 2001 by TheKCRAChannel. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Workers to drill under tainted Flats building Denver Rocky Mountain News: News Operation key to see if chemicals seeped below By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer Rocky Flats workers will begin drilling Wednesday through the foundation of a heavily contaminated building to learn whether chemicals have seeped into the ground below. The operation is a key step in determining how much work will have to be done to clean up the site where nuclear weapons were produced -- and whether the job will be complete by the December 2006 target date. "It will give us a snapshot so we know what to do next," said Jeff Stevens, who oversees the project for Kaiser-Hill Company, the firm coordinating the cleanup. Preliminary results should be available in three months, but the complete study is expected to take 18 months or more, Stevens said. The issue of contamination beneath the buildings is being watched closely by the communities around Rocky Flats. Officials in those communities fear Kaiser-Hill or the U.S. Department of Energy will tear the buildings down, but ignore any contamination underneath. "At some point, Congress is going to say, `We've spent about as much on this project as we're willing to,' and kind of like Vietnam, they're going to declare victory," Boulder County Commissioner Paul Danish said Monday. Danish leads a group of local government officials who monitor the Rocky Flats cleanup. The study that begins Wednesday will focus on Building 771, the oldest of the structures where radioactive materials were processed and where numerous spills occurred. "It's a great case study for the worst we could see," Stevens said. Starting with the building most likely to have pollution under it could help meet the 2006 target date, he said. Hank Dalton, the assistant Rocky Flats manager for demolition and decontamination, said it's "a reasonable assumption" that some radioactive liquid seeped underneath the building. Among questions that will be asked is how deep any pollution goes and whether it is moving from underneath the building through groundwater. Also to be studied is whether contamination is close to structural supports beneath the foundation, which could alter the procedure for tearing down the building. Separately, officials are studying leaks from pipes that carried radioactive liquids between the numerous Rocky Flats buildings. Dalton said officials assume those pipes also leaked over the years, but no one is sure where any leaks occurred. Some of the pipes are as deep as 20 feet below the ground. April 3, 2001 2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 2 Energy Department lawyers ask judge to alter court order *April 03, 2001* By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER Energy Department lawyers are seeking to change a court order issued last week that largely muzzles the department from using two reports that were based on reviews of a laser project at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Department lawyers have asked U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to afford department officials more leeway to refer to the reports in public discussions. The court order, issued March 28, places restrictions on Energy Department discussions about a report prepared following an August review of the National Ignition Facility, except in limited cases such as responses to congressional inquiries. It requires the department to use specific disclaimers when referring to findings from either review in communications with outside agencies and individuals. The order "amounts to an improper, unilateral gag order. ... Plaintiffs remain free to express their opinions and allegations, but (the department) is barred from responding or making any public comment at all." And they also are requesting permission to complete a status report on the NIF laser project for department use. The project, which federal officials say will cost an estimated $3.5 billion to $4 billion, is a nuclear weapons research tool. The court's move to halt work on the report, which department officials were preparing to certify the cost and schedule of to Congress, "substantially harms" the department, lawyers state in court papers filed Thursday. Bernard Pleau, an Energy Department security agency spokesman, said Monday that department officials are hoping to deliver a NIF status report to Congress this week. Members of two nuclear watchdog groups -- Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment and the National Natural Resources Defense Council -- had called for the order to block the Energy Department from using the reports to validate the project's cost and schedule to Congress and the public. The groups charged -- both in a November lawsuit and in a Feb. 1 request for a temporary injunction -- that the reports were prepared following secretive, mostly in-house Energy Department reviews that violated federal openness laws. Department officials have argued that the reviews were exempt from these laws and that the full case has not been decided by the court. Howard Crystal, an attorney representing the watchdog groups, said Monday that he would only support minor clarifications in the language of the order but would disagree with major changes to the content of the order. "We disagree with (the department), as usual," he said. The order also bars the Energy Department from completing a report based on a follow-up NIF review that concluded March 2. Department lawyers are arguing that language in the disclaimers is "highly misleading" because it seems to imply that department review teams did not comply with federal openness laws. They introduce new language instead, though Crystal said he is opposed to the change because it could "water down" the disclaimers. NewsChoice.com ***************************************************************** 3 Alaska senators weigh in on jurisdictional dispute Posted at 6:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 3, 2001 BY KATHERINE RIZZO *Associated Press Writer * WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alaska's two senators on Tuesday joined a growing list of critics worrying that sick nuclear workers might wait too long for benefits if the Justice Department controls their claims. Sens. Frank Murkowski and Ted Stevens said the Labor Department should run a new program that's supposed to give lifetime medical care plus $150,000 to workers whose health was ruined by Cold War-era exposure to radiation, silica or beryllium. The two Republicans urged the White House to defy the wishes of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who does not want to run the program. Chao contends job-sickened nuclear workers would get their money and medical care sooner under the Justice Department, which runs a program that gives one-time payments to exposed uranium miners and people who lived downwind of nuclear test blasts. The Justice Department ``has the foundation on which to administer this program, and it would be inefficient, duplicative, and slow to attempt to establish a similar capacity at DOL while Americans wait for these benefits,'' Chao said. Chao's position has the backing of the chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees, and the chairman of the House committee that oversees the Labor Department. Opposing her are the people who pushed hardest to create the new program: lawmakers from states with beryllium plants that were vendors to the weapons program and plants that either were part of the nuclear weapons complex or that did work for the bomb program. Stevens is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a position that his allies hope will give his opinion on the jurisdictional dispute extra heft with the White House. The Alaskans have a special interest in the new program because it was crafted to put workers exposed to radiation during nuclear tests at Amchitka Island, Alaska, among the first in line for compensation. The law specifies that for certain ailing workers, the government will presume that particular kinds of cancer were work-related. Included in that category were workers exposed at Amchitka Island and workers at uranium enrichment plants in Piketon, Ohio, Paducah, Ky., and Oak Ridge, Tenn., whose jobs put them in contact with radioactive materials. The government is supposed to be ready July 31 to begin taking applications for the new benefit program. On Tuesday, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told Attorney General John Ashcroft he did not believe the department that Ashcroft heads has the infrastructure needed to quickly put the new program in place. And a bipartisan group of more than 30 House members, led by Reps. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., and Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, sent Ashcroft a letter asking for his position on the jurisdictional dispute and inquiring how the Justice Department would go about putting the program in place. The letter asked for a list of claims office locations Justice intends to open, its plans for mediating disputed claims, and other details. In response to repeated requests for Ashcroft's position on the jurisdictional dispute, the Justice Department referred all calls to the White House, which said it had no comment. An Energy Department hotline set up to answer questions about the program has received about 20,000 calls. The new program was modeled after a Labor Department program that already handles claims from federal workers with injuries or occupational illnesses, including chronic beryllium disease. The compensation program signed into law last year is for those who were on the payrolls of private companies that did work for the nuclear weapons program. The Energy Department preliminarily identified 317 sites in 37 states where exposed workers might qualify for benefits. AP-CS-04-03-01 1851EDT --> ***************************************************************** 4 U.S.-Russian Nuclear Nonproliferation Program Eliminates 4,500 Warheads, USEC Report to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Says Tuesday April 3, 4:46 pm Eastern Time Press Release U.S.-Russian Nuclear Nonproliferation Program Eliminates 4,500 Warheads, USEC Report to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Says Success of Megatons to Megawatts Implementation Continues BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2001-- In a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, USEC Inc. (NYSE: - news), a private sector company that serves as the U.S. government's executive agent implementing the historic Megatons to Megawatts program, documented the continuing success of the $12 billion, 20-year program that converts Russian nuclear warhead material into fuel for nuclear power plants. The report states that, to date, the equivalent of more than 4,500 nuclear explosives have been eliminated by conversion to nuclear fuel, which is purchased by USEC at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. Now in the seventh year of the agreement, the governments of the United States and the Russian Federation are 40 percent ahead of the original schedule in converting 500 metric tons of nuclear weapons-derived highly enriched uranium (HEU) into low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. USEC purchases the LEU fuel, ships it to the United States and sells it to its utility customers for use in commercial nuclear power plants. ``Since 1994, at the direction of the U.S. government, USEC has successfully implemented the Megatons to Megawatts agreement,'' said USEC President and CEO William H. Timbers. ``To date, approximately 113 metric tons of HEU have been converted into LEU, the equivalent of more than 4,500 nuclear weapons--thus eliminating enough nuclear explosives to destroy every large city in the world. ``The success of this agreement reflects the close cooperation of the U.S. government, the Russian Federation, USEC and Russia's executive agent, Tenex. We are proud to play a pivotal commercial role in reducing the threat of nuclear weapons. USEC's purchases make this program commercially self-sustaining, at no cost to the U.S. government,'' Timbers added. The Executive Summary of the report, Implementation of the U.S.-Russian HEU Purchase Program, follows. To access the report through the USEC website, go to , click News Room, then Recent News. To obtain a printed copy of the report, call USEC Corporate Communications, (301) 564-3391. Implementation of the U.S.-Russian HEU Purchase Program by USEC Inc. Report to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 28, 2001 Executive Summary This marks the seventh successful year for USEC as the U.S. executive agent for the 1993 government-to-government Russian Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Purchase Agreement. As called for in this nuclear nonproliferation agreement, USEC and the Russian executive agent, Techsnabexport (Tenex), signed a contract in 1994 that governs the commercial implementation of the 1993 agreement. This 20-year, $12 billion contract facilitates the conversion of 500 metric tons of nuclear weapons-derived HEU into low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel purchased by USEC for use in commercial nuclear power plants. The program has come to be known as Megatons to Megawatts. Russian shipments to USEC of weapons-derived LEU commenced in June 1995. Since then, USEC has received 84 shipments of 2,203 cylinders containing 3,303 metric tons of LEU-- an amount sufficient to meet U.S. nuclear fuel demand for two years. These seven years of implementation of the Megatons to Megawatts program clearly demonstrate that both the U.S. and Russian partners have been successful in making this 1993 agreement work. In doing so, the partners have reduced the threat to world stability posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials. The results are impressive. As of March 2001: 1. Approximately 113 metric tons of Russian warhead HEU have been converted to LEU fuel and purchased by USEC for use by its electric utility customers. 2. The 113 metric tons of HEU is the equivalent of more than 4,500 nuclear weapons--enough nuclear explosives to destroy every large city in the world. The conversion of this material eliminates its potential use as a nuclear explosive. 3. USEC and Tenex are 40 percent ahead of the original 1993, 20-year schedule to convert a total of 500 metric tons of HEU to LEU. This is equivalent to an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 nuclear warheads. 4. No taxpayer dollars are required for this program. USEC pays Russia hundreds of millions of dollars a year for these purchases--a total to date of about $2 billion. Russia vitally needs this hard currency to help offset the falling value of the ruble, to meet the terms and goals of the HEU agreement and for trade purposes. 5. USEC and Tenex have established a strong, flexible, responsive and cooperative working relationship. 6. USEC and Tenex reached agreement in May 2000 on new market-based commercial terms that would begin January 1, 2002, when the current terms expire. The new terms are under review by the respective governments. These achievements demonstrate that the Megatons to Megawatts program is working. Government nonproliferation and national energy security objectives are being met and sustained by commercial transactions. Implementation of the contact requires continuing interaction and responsiveness. USEC does not act unilaterally in this process. As executive agent for the government, USEC is subject to an ongoing consultative process that includes direction from the Administration before acting on contract matters. USEC has proven itself to be highly effective as executive agent under sometimes difficult circumstances. In fact, it has not been smooth sailing during the past seven years of implementing this agreement. A number of contentious issues have emerged, ranging from the appropriateness of USEC's privatization to issues of over payment for, and disposition of, the natural uranium portion of the deal. Still, the agreement has been a success story, and USEC is uniquely positioned to continue as the sole U.S. executive agent. USEC's global customer base, domestic enrichment operations, unique market experience, financial resources and continuing commitment have all contributed to the strong foundation that is essential to support the continuing implementation of this unique and challenging program. USEC Inc., a global energy company, is the world's leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. *Contact:* USEC Inc. Charles Yulish, 301/564-3391 Elizabeth Stuckle, 301/564-3399 ***************************************************************** 5 Don't buy this 'confirmation conversion' *April 03, 2001* Justice Department nominees who would deny justice to many, environmental agency nominees who oppose environmental protection -- President Bush has been regularly appointing foxes to guard the nation's henhouses. In that tradition, the president is now offering an arms control nominee who opposes arms control treaties. John Bolton, Mr. Bush's nominee for the position of undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is the latest prospective appointee who served in the Reagan and first Bush administrations. The man who would have the third position in the State Department has described supporters of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which has succeeded in ratcheting down the Cold War era nuclear menace, as "neo-Pacifists." His strategy for negotiations with North Korea is to make it clear that the U.S. is "indifferent" as to whether or not it has diplomatic relations with this potential nuclear power. His position on the United Nations, he declared on a videotape unearned by Senator Barbara Boxer of California, is that "there's no such thing as the United Nations." Just as Attorney General John Ashford promised at his confirmation hearing that he would uphold laws he had spent his Senate career undermining, Mr. Bolton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he would uphold treaties that he disagreed with and that he had experienced a change of heart on some issues. Committee Chairman Jesse Helms of North Carolina took umbrage when Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts wryly suggested that Mr. Bolton had undergone a "confirmation conversion," but Mr. Bolton at least had a chance to be heard. Nominees not in Mr. Helms' favor, such as former Massachusetts Governor and failed candidate for the Mexican ambassadorship William Weld, were sabotaged by the chairman's refusal to give them a hearing. While Mr. Bolton was selling his confirmation conversion last week, former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, who unlike Mr. Bolton has impressive credentials in the defense field, was telling the National Press Club "the most clear and present danger to the national security of the United States is the threat posed by nuclear as well as other weapons of mass destruction." Mr. Bolton's lack of support for arms control treaties that are proven successes and his support of President Bush's unfeasible and dangerously confrontational missile defense program means he would not use his critically important State Department position to enhance our national security. Senator Helms described Mr. Bolton as "the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon, for what the Bible describes as the final battle between good and evil." Rather than seeking someone to stand at Armageddon, however, the nation should be seeking appointees who will help the world avoid Armageddon, and Mr. Bolton is clearly not that kind of man. By approving terrible nominees like Mr. Ashcroft, the Senate has emboldened President Bush to bring more radical rightists in from political exile. Mr. Bolton provides the Senate another chance to stand firm for the nation's best interests. His nomination should be rejected. NewsChoice.com ***************************************************************** 6 US says sorry for latest sub blunder ITN - *Foster said the Navy had mistakenly informed Japanese authorities the submarine would stay outside the bay, and called the blunder inexcusable* The US has apologised to Japan after one of its nuclear powered submarines docked in a Japanese port without permission. The USS Chicago stayed in Sasebo for 20 minutes, breaking a 1964 accord requiring the US to give 24 hours notice before one of its nuclear-powered subs docks. The relationship between the two nations was already fragile after nine people were killed in a collision in February between a US Navy sub and a Japanese fishing boat. James Foster, acting deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Tokyo, blamed garbled communications for the blunder, according to a Japanese official. Foster said the Navy had mistakenly informed Japanese authorities the submarine would stay outside the bay, and called the blunder inexcusable, said the Foreign Ministry official, who refused to be named. A US Embassy official, who also demanded anonymity, said the US regretted the miscommunication and would take steps to prevent a recurrence. He would not confirm whether Foster apologised and refused to elaborate. The stop by the 6200-tonne submarine sparked a flurry of diplomatic fence-mending. In a phone call, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told Foreign Minister Yohei Kono the incident was unfortunate and promised greater vigilance, the ministry said in a press release. Earlier, Kono had demanded an immediate explanation, saying further port calls should be put on hold pending a full explanation. Foster's speedy response satisfied the Japanese government, said the Foreign Ministry official. The blunder came at a time when many Japanese are angry over what they perceive as US military arrogance - particularly after the accidental sinking of the Japanese fishing boat. Both sides are to discuss measures to prevent future submarine errors during an upcoming meeting. The 1964 accord is supposed to give time for local authorities to check radioactivity levels in ports before and after a US submarine visits. ***************************************************************** 7 Board to ask for review of burns [www.TheDailyCamera.com] By Beth Wohlberg *Camera Staff Writer* Local officials plan to ask the Department of Energy to pay for independent reviews of existing research on prescribed fires — before any more burns are conducted at Rocky Flats. At a meeting of the Rocky Flats Coalition of Governments Monday, board members voted unanimously to find out more information about how plutonium behaves in the environment and how it might be spread as the result of a burn. They also will ask the energy department to discuss sampling procedures in the buffer area that surrounds the former nuclear weapons plant and hold a public hearing to address controlled burns and alternative vegetation management. Officials with Rocky Flats say prescribed burns restore native prairie and reduce fuel loads, thereby diminishing the threat of larger fires later on. About 50 acres were burned last spring south of the Rocky Flats industrial area, but no prescribed burns are scheduled this spring. The energy department has conducted studies related to prescribed burns, as well as reviewed existing literature, and concluded that they do not pose a health risk to the community. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment agreed. Jeremy Karpatkin of the Department of Energy said the agency is still willing to work with the public. "We are open to working with the community to address their technical questions and seek out alternatives," Karpatkin said. "But based on what we know today, we think burning is necessary, effective and safe." U.S. Congressman Mark Udall, D-Boulder, has also requested that the agency convene a group of people to analyze results of the burn last spring. He sent a letter in July to the energy department after receiving several calls from constituents. Community members have expressed worries about contaminated ash blowing into residential areas after a burn. Two students from the University of Colorado asked the coalition to study alternatives for vegetation management, such as grazing goats. "There has been a lack of real sampling" in the buffer area, said Paula Elofson-Gardine, executive director of the Environmental Information Network Inc. in Lakewood. "Caution should be the hallmark here." *Contact Beth Wohlberg at (303) 473-1364 or wohlbergb@thedailycamera.com.* *April 3, 2001* ***************************************************************** 8 Ecology, EPA bug DOE on funding This story was published Wed, Apr 4, 2001 By John Stang Herald staff writer Hanford's regulators have fired another warning shot toward the Department of Energy about providing enough money to keep cleanup projects on their legal timetables. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington's Department of Ecology sent a letter last week to DOE, calling for adequate money in fiscal 2002 cleanup budget to meet all of the Tri-Party Agreement's legal obligations. "Compliance with the (agreement's) requirements is not optional," said the letter signed by Charles Findley, the EPA's acting Northwest regional administrator, and Tom Fitzsimmons, the Ecology Department's director. The letter is intended as a last-minute warning to DOE before it unveils its 2002 cleanup budget Monday, said Mike Wilson, the Ecology Department's nuclear programs manager. DOE usually gives its budget request to Congress for the following fiscal year by the end of each February, but this year, the only clue has been the Bush administration's indication that the nationwide cleanup budget might drop from this year's $6.25 billion to about $5.8 billion in 2002. The proposal sparked concerns in the Northwest because Hanford's share of the cleanup budget needs to increase from $1.5 billion in 2001 to about $1.85 billion in 2002 to meet all obligations in the Tri-Party Agreement, the legal pact that governs Hanford cleanup. The consensus in Hanford circles is that additional spending appears unlikely. The state is preparing to sue DOE to force the federal government to meet its deadlines. The lack of a budget proposal has stalled most Hanford planning for 2002 and 2003. "This has been the most frustrating year ... for obtaining information," wrote Gerald Pollet of Heart of America-Northwest in a letter to EPA and state officials. Without a budget request, the public has no way of judging whether additional funds are needed, he said. Regulators voiced similar concerns. "We agreed in the Tri-Party Agreement to share budget information and to have timely dialogues. We need to know which (projects) are funded and which are not," said Doug Sherwood, the EPA's Hanford site manager. In late March, DOE in Washington, D.C., forbade its field offices to publicly discuss 2002 budget figures until headquarters releases numbers on Monday. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All ***************************************************************** 9 IAAP commander says he'll test water The Hawk Eye Special: IAAP Wednesday, April 4, 2001 [Unknown dangers at IAAP] By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye MIDDLETOWN -- The commander of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant has pledged to sample drinking water wells of residents whose property may be affected by a large groundwater plume of explosives-contaminated water southeast of the plant. Those households whose wells are found to contain tainted water above safe levels will be offered bottled water and a connection to a safe water supply system, according to Col. Bruce Elliott. In a March 27 response to concerns expressed by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Elliott said "newly identified households in specific areas of concern will ... have their drinking water sampled." He also said the Army will offer those residents "permanent alternate drinking water supply," which likely would be the Rathbun water delivery system. Soon, the Army Corps of Engineers will begin drilling more test wells southeast of the plant to determine the extent of the pool of contaminated groundwater that has leached off the plant site. The plume, running in sand 20 to 60 feet below the surface, is believed to be about 3,000 feet wide and contaminated with up to 150 parts per billion of RDX. The worst contamination is found deep down, with only minor amounts of contamination at the surface, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. The plume generally runs along U.S. 61, north of the Skunk River, about two miles southeast of the plant boundary. Cleanup officials believe that contamination is not recent, that it flowed down Brush Creek as long as 40 years ago. In 1993, the Army paid to connect about 150 households to the Rathbun system after drinking wells in the area southeast of the plant were found to be contaminated with explosives. Fifteen residents declined the offer. For several years, some neighbors of the plant have been unsuccessfully fighting the Army to pay Rathbun's delivery costs. Two of the 15 neighbors recently contacted Harkin with concerns about their wells, and the senator called on the Army to ensure that every household in the area has safe drinking water. In a letter to Elliott, Harkin said news reports that county road crews are now required to wear protective gear when working near bridges over Brush Creek, prompted the two residents who get their drinking water from relatively shallow wells to contact him. One, Sherry Alexander of 11813 42nd St. in the Green Valley subdivision south of Brush Creek, said a pink residue often builds up on the pitcher of a water purifier her family uses. Army cleanup officials have long advised residents in the area not to use water from their wells. In his letter to Harkin, Elliott also said he is encouraging plant neighbors to attend the next meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board, the citizen panel that monitors the plant's Superfund cleanup. The RAB's next meeting is in May. Elliott said groundwater sampling will be discussed at the meeting. 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk ' ' '| ' ' '319-754-6824 FAX ' ' '| ' ' ' 1-800-397-1708 Outside Burlington [this is a line and that's all that it is] ©' 2000 The Hawk Eye, ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************