***************************************************************** 10/05/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.261 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 [smygo] Chomsky: Small Nukes Biggest Threat To Mankind 2 US lawmaker wants nuclear plants protected 3 Pollutants dumped into lake 4 Auditors inspect nuclear waste disposal at 2 institutes 5 India to build Russian-aided nuclear power plant 6 Favourable breeze our only hope in N-plant disaster 7 Court order sought to halt N-plant project 8 Sellafield safety boss seeks to calm Irish fears 9 UPDATE - UK generator wants no-fly zones over its N-plants 10 Plan for public authority to decommission nuclear plants 11 UK energy needs will be met by nuclear power 12 Austria demands Czechs yield on N-plant 13 Bigger, hairier problems call for new debate over uranium use 14 Government accused of U-turn on nuclear energy 15 Energy Department takes over waste pile near Colorado River 16 UNLV to host public meeting on nuke waste 17 Nuclear cask arrives in time for Yucca tour 18 State confident with Millstone emergency plan State News 19 DOOMSDAY SCENARIO 20 JAPAN'S ENERGY CHIEF RALLIES SUPPORT FOR FUKUI NUCLEAR REACTORS 21 Perma-Fix Reports Double-Digit Increases for Third Quarter And 22 Radiological institute to inspect Sellafield safety 23 Science academy says nuclear reactor important to research 24 Shipment on hold 25 Status of cancer isotope proposal is uncertain 26 Letter from Gov. Guinn to NRC Chairman Meserve re: objection to 27 Letter from Gov. Guinn to NRC Chairman Meserve re: Equal access 28 Pollutants dumped into lake 29 Nuclear experts warn of threat from 'dirty bombs' 30 Spent nuclear fuel pools seen vulnerable to attack 31 Taguchi: PETT, YMP oversight funding appear secure 32 MOAB: A Toxic Pile 33 Our Nuclear Plants 34 Shipment on hold NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Russia Steps Up Nuclear Security 2 US ready for shoot-out if Pak nukes fall into extremists hands 3 New radwaste storage in Krasnoyarsk 4 Nuke-Toting Gangs in Russia Pose a Threat to the West 5 Russia boosts steps to thwart "nuclear terrorism" 6 INEEL, Japan join to clean up industry 7 Nuclear threat and missile defence 8 Nellis adds wing to manage test range 9 Berkley calls for expedited NTS cleanup 10 Fundamentalists won't get their hands on Pak nukes: Rumsfeld 11 Marshall Islanders press claim for nuclear suffering, exile 12 Terrorist-Depleted-Uranium, Bgt 13 Kursk Probe Stalled Over Explosives 14 Pakistan won't explain detention of scientist 15 Pak considering shifting N-arsenal to China 16 Concerns about bin Laden's nuclear plans 17 Budget has money for INEEL cleanup **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 [smygo] Chomsky: Small Nukes Biggest Threat To Mankind Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 22:35:45 -0600 (CST) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo http://rediff.com November 3, 2001 Small nukes biggest threat to mankind: Chomsky Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi Noted intellectual Noam Chomsky on Saturday said weapons of mass destruction, especially small nuclear devices, posed the greatest threat to countries all over the world. One of America's most prominent political dissidents, Chomsky said small nuclear weapons, particularly those weighing less than 15 pounds, could be smuggled into almost any country with relative ease. Even in a highly advanced country like the US, studies had shown that the possibility of such a nuclear weapon being smuggled in had a greater chance of succeeding than a military strike using ballistic missiles, he said while delivering the D T Lakdawala memorial lecture. Chomsky emphasised the danger posed by thousands of nuclear devices currently believed to be in former Soviet republics and scores of nuclear scientists left "with no work" following the break-up of the Soviet Union. He attributed the rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons to the failure of the US to agree to some sort of protocol on controlling the spread of weapons of mass destruction as far back as the 1950s. Speaking on the theme 'Peering into the abyss of the future', Chomsky lashed out at the US intervention in developing parts of the world, the role of the corporate world in supporting power systems and the ongoing arms races. Lacing his remarks with dry wit and his trademark irreverent attitude towards the establishment, Chomsky said democracy and human rights were in danger of becoming "endangered species" due to the policies of global powers that received the support of the elite and powerful. Referring to the ongoing US strikes against Afghanistan, he said it had even become "unpatriotic" to question the working of power. "But it is patriotic to agree to corporate tax cuts," he quipped. Chomsky accused the US administration of "quietly endorsing" China's efforts to resume nuclear testing so that it could press ahead with its ballistic missile defence. "It's convention for an attack to be called defence," he said. Describing New Delhi's support for the US's National Missile Defence programme as "astonishing", Chomsky said the move could have far-reaching consequences for India and other countries in its neighbourhood. The US, he said, was alone in the race for militarisation of outer space. The development of space-based weaponry would only serve to increase American influence all over the world. All space-based defensive assets would be heavily dependent on satellite communications. Given the vulnerability of satellites, however, the US would have to seek "full spectrum dominance" and this could lead to the development of laser and nuclear weapons that could bring instant death to any part of the world, Chomsky said. On the brighter side, he pointed to a "sharp acceleration" in the human rights culture and democratic control over certain sectors achieved through popular struggle as phenomena that could bring greater change. "These developments are important if the momentum can be sustained," he said. Indo-Asian News Service -- Dan Clore mailto:clore@columbia-center.org Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_ http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587154838/thedanclorenecro Lord Werdgliffe: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/ Necronomicon Page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/necpage.htm News for Anarchists & Activists: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo "It's a political statement -- or, rather, an *anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!" -- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in _Detective Comics_ #608 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Epil Stop & Spray Painless Hair Removal. Spray on and wipe off! Just $24.95 at Youcansave.com http://us.click.yahoo.com/gC2sGD/6jNDAA/ySSFAA/2bSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: smygo-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 2 US lawmaker wants nuclear plants protected Planet Ark WASHINGTON - A Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives called last week for the Bush administration to post National Guard units at all operating or decommissioned nuclear reactors to protect them against attack. Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a longtime critic of the nuclear power industry, also urged the stockpiling of potassium iodide to give to residents who live near such facilities in the event of an accident or attack that results in the release of radioactive material. Markey also told a news conference the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should drop its opposition to developing new security regulations at the nation's nuclear plants in wake of the deadly Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington. "The time for action is now," said Markey, who won committee approval earlier this week for his proposal requiring the NRC to write new rules to step up protection of nuclear power plants against a sophisticated, coordinated attack. The proposal was attached by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to a reauthorization of the Price-Anderson Act, which allocates federal funds to cover nuclear operators in the event of a mishap. Neither the full House nor the Senate has taken up the measure. The House could take it up in the next few weeks. Governors of several states have ordered National Guard units to duty to protect nuclear power plants in light of heightened government warnings against an imminent attack. Markey said the plants were vulnerable to attack, and the nuclear industry had not adopted adequate safeguards. Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 3 Pollutants dumped into lake Thestar.com/ Nov. 5, 2001. 02:13 AM `Nuclear has often been described as clean energy, but obviously it's not' Brian McAndrew Environment Reporter Ontario's nuclear power plants are getting away with dumping lethal amounts of water pollutants in the Great Lakes, according to provincial records obtained by an environment group. The Pickering and Darlington nuclear plants on Lake Ontario and the Bruce on Lake Huron make up three of the top five industrial facilities in Ontario that dumped toxic wastes into the water that were powerful enough to kill fish and other aquatic life, the records show. "Nuclear has often been described as clean energy, but obviously it's not," said Jerry DeMarco, managing lawyer at the Sierra Legal Defence Fund. The information was contained in water pollution violation records obtained by Sierra, a Toronto environmental law clinic, from the environment ministry for 1999, the most recent complete files available. In tests performed on waste-water discharges from the plants, the Darlington nuclear plant discharged effluent lethal to rainbow trout 33 times in 1999. It happened 11 times at the Pickering plant and six times at the Bruce plant on Lake Huron. In a report being published today, Ontario, Yours to Pollute, Sierra found industries violated the water pollution laws on 3,296 occasions, down slightly from 3,363 in 1998. Sierra wants the ministry to begin enforcing water pollution laws more stringently and to bring more of the offending industries to court, where fines can run into millions of dollars and corporate officials can be jailed. "It's ludicrous that they let them go on for years at a time without citing them for the violations," DeMarco said. Industries can often stall ministry investigations by making small attempts to reduce pollution emissions, DeMarco said. The report lists what Sierra describes as the Filthiest Four: Chinook Group Ltd., a Sarnia chicken feed manufacturer with 557 water pollution discharge violations, the highest number for the second year. Stepan Company, a chemical manufacturer near Orillia with 537 violations. Praxair, a chemical manufacturer with 228 violations at four facilities in Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, Maitland and Mooretown. Ontario Power Generation, with 187 violations at three nuclear plants and five coal-burning facilities. Ministry spokesperson John Steele defended the methods used to deal with industries that don't fully comply with water pollution regulations. "Taking a company to court doesn't clean up the problem," Steele said, adding the ministry's system of cleanup orders forces companies to invest in pollution controls. Steele said Chinook has invested $2 million in pollution control technology and has hired a consultant to prepare a report on how to improve water pollution discharges. Praxair has made improvements in Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie but remains under investigation by the province. No decision on laying charges has been made, Steele said. Stepan installed $1 million worth of pollution control equipment and should meet water pollution regulations in 2002, he said. Ontario Power uses chlorine to disinfect cooling water and kill zebra mussels and that chemical was responsible for the violations, he said. The electricity utility has been given until 2002 to fix the problem and the ministry is reviewing its proposal for dechlorinating the cooling water. The number of pollution control orders issued by the ministry rose to 1,265 in 2000 from 307 in 1999, Steele said. The report said Sierra could find just 11 charges laid by the ministry in 1999. Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers ***************************************************************** 4 Auditors inspect nuclear waste disposal at 2 institutes KYODO NEWS TOKYO, Nov. 5, Kyodo - The Board of Audit is inspecting two nuclear energy research institutions and the education ministry, which supervises them, for failure to completely dispose of nuclear waste stored at their facilities, according to sources related to the case. The two institutes are the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) and the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). They store low-level nuclear waste generated during research activities at their atomic power reactors and also accept such waste from other research entities, according to the sources. The board said the institutes have much lower disposal rates than commercial nuclear power plants. If the institutions dispose of the waste, the state can cut expenses used for storing waste and constructing new storage sites, the sources said. The JNC generates about 6,000 200-liter drums of nuclear waste annually and was storing a total of about 166,000 drums as of the end of fiscal 2000. Storage expenses for that year totaled 3.7 billion yen. The institute can store 212,000 drums. The JAERI produces about 3,400 drums per year and currently stores about 154,000 drums at its facility. Its storage expenses for fiscal 2000 were about 2.2 billion yen. The institute can hold up to 179,000 drums. But the JNC and the JAERI lag behind in waste disposal since a law governing the disposal of waste generated by research institutes is still being discussed by the Nuclear Safety Commission. Rules for commercial nuclear power plants are regulated in the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law. The board plans to urge the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry to establish the law, related regulations and a disposal system as part of an effort to promote the disposal of nuclear waste at research institutions, the sources said. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 5 India to build Russian-aided nuclear power plant Planet Ark NEW DELHI - India will build a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant with technical and financial assistance from Russia, a government statement said late on the weekend. The plant was approved by a cabinet panel a day before Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee begins a trip to Russia, the United States and Britain to promote New Delhi's interests in a post-Taliban Afghanistan. Vajpayee is due to meet President Vladimir Putin during his November 4 to 7 visit in Russia. "The project will open a new window for the country in the high technology area of advanced Light Water Reactor technology and wide-ranging scientific and technological cooperation...in the vital field of atomic energy," the statement said. The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs approved spending of 131.7 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) for the power project. India would spend 67.55 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) and rest would be funded by soft credit from Russia, India's friend during the Cold War era. Construction would begin next May on the nuclear power station, to be built at Kudankulam in the Tirunelvelli district of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The first unit of 1,000 MW will start generating power in 2007 and the second unit will begin a year later, it said. Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 6 Favourable breeze our only hope in N-plant disaster Irish Newspapers - Date: Mon November 5th 01 IN THE event of a terrorist attack on the Sellafield nuclear plant those on the East Coast would pray the wind is at their backs to blow radioactive fall-out away from Ireland. The greatest threat to people on this side of the Irish Sea in the event of such a calamity would be the risk of developing cancer in the ensuing years, the 'Safety at Sellafield' conference in Dundalk was told yesterday. Such cancers could result in 30 deaths per 50,000 head of population, especially along the east coast. Dr Tom O'Flaherty, chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), said radioactive clouds would be released if an aircraft crashed into the High Activity Storage Tanks or the 35-year-old Calder Hall reactors at the plant. The RPII has estimated that it would take several hours for the nuclear fallout to reach this country. John Clarke, head of safety at British Nuclear Fuels, told the forum his company believed that Sellafield is 'a safe place.' Security against terror attacks had always been factored into the company's plans but he conceded that there would be a serious loss of life, primarily among the 10,000 workers on the site, if there was an attack on the plant similar to those in the US on September 11. Minister of State for Energy Joe Jacob said the government was committed to using every diplomatic and legal means to have Sellafield closed. The forum was organised by Senator Fergus O'Dowd (FG). Richard McCullen © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 7 Court order sought to halt N-plant project online.ie : News The Irish Examiner 05 Nov 2001 By Cormac O'Keeffe THE Government will seek a court order on Friday to halt the controversial new MOX nuclear plant at Sellafield if the British Government insists on going ahead with it. Minister of State Joe Jacob said Ireland had sought the establishment of an international arbitration tribunal under a UN convention to resolve the dispute. He said this would take some time and that the Government would seek an injunction in the meantime. "In the event that the UK does not voluntarily suspend the authorisation of the MOX plant on November 9 2001, Ireland will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to order an immediate suspension of the authorisation of the MOX plant and international transports, pending any decision of the arbitration tribunal," he said. Speaking at a Fine Gael-organised conference in Drogheda, he said the tribunal, which is based in Hamburg, Germany, had the power to order a binding injunction. Conference organiser and Fine Gael senator Fergus O'Dowd called for an immediate no-fly zone, as opposed to a restricted flying zone, over Sellafield. Government advisor and head of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland Dr Tom O'Flaherty said there were grounds for concern over two plants at Sellafield if targeted by terrorists. He said the old high-activity storage tanks contained very large quantities of radioactive substances, and feared that a failure in the cooling systems or an external impact could lead to their release. A spokesman for BNFL, which operates Sellafield, said it had invited the Radiological Protection Institute to discuss the company's re-examination of its safety systems, following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the Department of Public Enterprise has nearly completed an updated National Emergency Plan, to deal with nuclear accidents. A full mock National Emergency Plan exercise will take place on Saturday. ***************************************************************** 8 Sellafield safety boss seeks to calm Irish fears Planet Ark DUBLIN - A safety boss at Britain's Sellafield nuclear plant last week sought to soothe Irish concerns about the facility amid fears it could be the target of a terrorist attack. Ireland last month launched a legal challenge to the expansion of Sellafield, and its longstanding objections to the plant just 180 km (110 miles) across across the Irish Sea on England's northwest coast have been fanned by the September 11 hijack attacks on the U.S. "Whether it's a potential target or not I really don't know," said John Clarke, head of health and safety at Sellafield, in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE. "In terms of how safe it is, I believe it is a safe plant. I believe it's safe under normal conditions, I believe it's as safe as we can reasonably make it under accident conditions." On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said an act of nuclear terrorism was for more likely than previously thought. A report commissioned by the European Union and leaked to the media two weeks ago said an accident at Sellafield could cause greater damage than the Chernobyl explosion in the Ukraine in 1986. Irish commentators have voiced fears that a plane attack similar to those carried out against New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington could result in a devastating release of radioactive material off Ireland's east coast. "There would be potential for a quantity of radioactive material to be released, but I don't think we should overestimate what we are talking about here," said Clarke. "Undoubtedly there would be significant damage, but what I have said is we believe the extent of any radiation released would be bounded by our existing emergency arrangements." The Irish government reacted with fury last month to Britain's decision to allow the commissioning of a mixed oxide (MOX) plant at the Sellafield site, and vowed to pursue "every legal avenue" to stop it. Norway also expressed concerns over Sellafield recently, calling in Britain to halt emissions from the plant. Britain first established nuclear facilities at Sellafield - formerly called Windscale - in the 1940s, and the world's first commercial nuclear power station opened there in 1956. Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 9 UPDATE - UK generator wants no-fly zones over its N-plants Planet Ark LONDON - British Energy, the UK's largest nuclear power generator, last week urged the government to put in place no-fly zones over the company's power stations. "We have been telling the government we want no-fly zones over our power stations," group spokesman Bob Fenton told Reuters. The issue of nuclear safety has been thrust into the limelight after the September 11 attacks in the U.S. and calls on Thursday by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency for governments to improve security around installations. Fenton said there was a lot of interest in nuclear safety especially after several media organistions overflew on Thursday British Energy power stations with small aircraft and helicopters. "There are media stunts going on at the moment, but I am not sure what they prove. We could have told them there are not any no-fly zones," he said. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said some nuclear sites such as military installations and several power stations operated by state-run British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) did have no-fly zones. "The CAA can put in place no-fly zones, but the request has to come from the government," a spokeswoman at the authority said. BNFL said it could not comment on security at its plants. A spokesman from the Office for Civil Nuclear Security, the body that oversees issues relating to the security of civilian nuclear sites, said no-fly zones were a safety rather than security issue. "No-fly zones are not there for security purposes, they are there for safety purposes," he said, adding that security at all nuclear installations was under review. The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, which handles aviation matters was not immediately available for comment. Putting in place no-fly zones to cover Britain's 35 reactors is a long way off what other nations with nuclear power stations have done. Last month France put in place ground-to-air missiles at its La Hague reprocessing site and said it will use warplanes to shoot down any hijacked aircraft threatening nuclear installations. The DTI said last week no military equipment had been installed at the country's nuclear plants, although this did not mean the possibility was not being looked at. Story by Matthew Jones Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 10 Plan for public authority to decommission nuclear plants By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political Correspondent Published: November 4 2001 20:49 | Last Updated: November 4 2001 21:40 Plans for a new public authority to take responsibility for decommissioning nuclear reactors are being hammered out in Whitehall in order to push through the part-privatisation of British Nuclear Fuels. Government insiders have confirmed that the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry are working on plans for a Liabilities Management Authority to take over the estimated £34bn decommissioning costs. Ministers and officials at the DTI believe transferring BNFL's liabilities to a separate state body is the only way that the planned partial privatisation can take place. BNFL admitted last month it was "technically insolvent" because its liabilities for cleaning up after the closure of nuclear plants and the disposal of nuclear waste were running at up to £34bn, while it had about £235m of shareholders' funds in the balance sheet. Splitting off the liabilities for the clean-up would leave BNFL free to be sold-off although privatisation is unlikely to take place before 2004 at the earliest. Insiders said there was "no argument" between the DTI and Treasury, but there were a number of issues to be settled before an announcement could be made. The DTI is expected to confirm plans for a liabilities management authority at Christmas. The issue of the future of civil nuclear power is becoming an increasingly sensitive one for ministers. An energy review, due to report in the next few weeks, is expected to recommend that the atomic industry is exempted from the climate change levy - the "green" energy tax. The review is understood to argue that as nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide, it offers a clear route to delivering targets in reducing greenhouse gases. But an insider has said it is likely to be "far less positive than is being predicted". Suggestions that it will recommend the building of 15 plants to replace Magnox reactors were rubbished by one source on Sunday as "going even further than the industry has asked for". However, the review is widely expected to set out the case for a "balanced" set of energy producers that offers a range of supply. This would see the option of between five and 10 reactors being built. ***************************************************************** 11 UK energy needs will be met by nuclear power The Scotsman Online - scotsman.com Fraser Nelson Westminster Editor NUCLEAR power stations are expected to be given a new lease of life by a government review with 15 reactors being replaced. Brian Wilson, the energy minister, is understood to have been successful in arguing that power stations due to be decommissioned after 2010 should be renewed. The recommendation is expected to be published within the next few weeks in a Cabinet Office review on Britain’s long-term energy needs. The seven-member review team has concluded that Britain’s electricity demands are set to balloon over the next 50 years. Failure to replace the nuclear power stations, it has found, would leave a gap which could not be filled by fossil fuels or renewable energy. At present, 15 of Britain’s nuclear power stations are due to be decommissioned between 2010 and 2020. The report is expected to recommend that new reactors are built within almost all of these sites. Events since 11 September are understood to have helped the argument to keep nuclear power in Britain as an alternative to oil imports from potentially unstable countries. The report is expected to conclude that nuclear power is expensive but "should be used to improve the diversity" of energy sources. The weekend press reported that the Cabinet Office has agreed to build 15 new nuclear power plants, rather than renew the reactors. Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary, said she was baffled at this suggestion: "I saw the team who are doing this review a couple of weeks ago and they certainly did not mention that to me." Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth director-designate, said that the renewal of nuclear energy "beggars belief". "There are abundant sources of sustainable energy in Britain including wind, solar and wave power," he said. "Yet the policy seems to be increasingly in favour of out-dated and expensive nuclear technology." Nuclear power generates half of Scotland’s electricity and 22 per cent for the UK as a whole. George Foulkes, the Scotland Office minister, was seconded to the committee to represent Scotland’s interests. As energy policy is reserved to London, the review deals with the future of Hunterston power station in Ayrshire, Torness in East Lothian and Chapelcross in Dumfriesshire. The UK government cannot decide to build more plants itself, but it can give permission for private companies to do so. The Scottish executive has the power of veto over any new reactors north of the border. Mr Wilson, MP for Cunninghame North, has said he is keen to see a Hunterston C built. The alternative, he believes, would be hundreds of job losses. The Cabinet Office review has taken evidence from a variety of organisations, including the Scottish executive and the Scottish Tory party. British Energy, which operates Hunterston B and Torness, is calling for government support to build power stations next to the current plants - in effect, an extension. However, such companies are likely to ask for substantial subsidies as the cost of building new reactors is so high. ***************************************************************** 12 Austria demands Czechs yield on N-plant Planet Ark VIENNA - Austria's vice-chancellor said on the weekend that the Czech Republic would have to change its position on the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant if it is to join the European Union. Vice-chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer was speaking one week after Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel rejected the idea of a veto of Czech EU entry for putting the Temelin plant - which lies only 60 km (about 40 miles) from the Austrian border - on line. "If the Czech Republic wants to become an EU member, the government had better change its stance on the Temelin issue," Riess-Passer said in an interview on Austrian state radio. Even though Schuessel is against a Czech EU veto, his conservative People's Party opposes putting the plant into operation and would like to see it decommissioned. But Riess-Passer's far-right Freedom Party, which governs in coalition with Schuessel's party, refuses to budge on Temelin and wants to keep the Czechs out of the EU if they open the plant. "We will not yield on this," former Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider, who still dominates the populist grouping and sits on the policy-making coalition committee, told Reuters in September. The Czech government, which hopes to join the EU in 2004, has adamantly rejected Austria's calls to keep Temelin out of operation. The plant's first reactor was shut down on Wednesday after a leak was discovered in a pump, the CTK news agency reported. It quoted a Temelin spokesman as saying the problem would force the plant to go off line for about three weeks. He did not say whether there had been any radioactive fluid associated with the leak. Last month, the Soviet-designed plant boosted output at its first reactor to 75 percent of total capacity. Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 13 Bigger, hairier problems call for new debate over uranium use KnoxNews: Sci/tech By Frank Munger, News-Sentinel Senior writer This threatening new period has restoked concerns about nuclear terrorism and brought fresh scrutiny to security of U.S. nuclear facilities, particularly nuclear power plants. It also has renewed debate about the use of highly enriched uranium - or other materials of bomb-making potential - as fuel in nuclear research reactors. The fear, of course, is that the fissile material could be stolen and ultimately converted into some type of first-generation atomic weapon by terrorists. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a conservative organization with an almost impossible oversight mission, last week acknowledged the risks of nuclear terrorism and pushed for upgrades in safety and security of nuclear facilities and nuclear materials. The Nuclear Control Institute applauded the international agency's position, but said it was way overdue and still inadequate. Not surprisingly, the institute called for bigger steps to combat nuclear proliferation and stem the potential for nuclear terrorism. "For more than two decades, we have urged the IAEA and the nuclear power industry to take seriously the risks of terrorists stealing bomb-usable nuclear materials and attacking nuclear plants," Paul Leventhal, the institute's president, said in a statement distributed to the news media. "The need for action, not rhetoric, is long overdue," Among other things, Leventhal urged the IAEA to call for elimination of highly enriched uranium from research programs. "Enormous progress has been made, with the vast majority of the world's research reactors having already converted to low-enriched uranium alternatives," he said. "However, the IAEA is silent about a new research reactor in Germany, to be licensed to use up to 360 kilograms of bomb-grade (uranium) fuel by the year 2010, equivalent to dozens of bombs." Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor is another facility often cited in these discussions. The Oak Ridge reactor uses a uranium fuel core with an enrichment level in the "high 90s," according to Larry Boyd of the U.S. Department of Energy's reactor oversight team at ORNL. That means the uranium consists of more than 90 percent U-235, the fissile isotope, and that's plenty of punch for a bomb. Generally speaking, the higher the enrichment the lesser amount of material needed for a crude device. By contrast, commercial nuclear reactors typically use uranium fuel with an enrichment level of only 2 to 4 percent. Although research reactors elsewhere have been converted to low-enriched fuel, that's never been a serious consideration with the High Flux Isotope Reactor. A fuel test was conducted at another lab reactor, the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, before it was shut down in 1987, and the results reportedly were not satisfying to scientists. "It would essentially cripple the reactor," Boyd said. "Even using the most advanced fuel-fabrication technology, it would result in a significant reduction in power level and (neutron) flux." The reactor would still be useful, the DOE official said, but it would no longer be a world-class research reactor. Along with a reactor in Russia, the ORNL facility has the highest neutron concentration available anywhere, and that's vital for scientific experiments, he said. The High Flux Isotope Reactor has been shut down for more than a year for maintenance, repairs and a series of upgrades, but the laboratory could receive approval for restart as early as this week. A DOE team from Washington was in town last week to evaluate final changes made following the reactor's operational readiness review. Ed Lee, the reactor manager, said the first few months of operation will be devoted mostly to testing and checking out systems - especially since new equipment has been installed. "You'll do things like take measurements around the beam ports and check what all the radiation levels are," he said. "You have to do a lot of testing because the reactor was torn down to a level it hasn't been since it was built (in the 1960s)." There will be a limited amount of isotope production during the first few months but probably not many neutron-scattering experiments, Lee said. Lee said the readiness review went well, and he said input from the DOE overseers will help make the operations better. However, he said he was uncomfortable discussing issues pertaining to the reactor's uranium fuel. James Roberto, associate director of ORNL, also declined comment. A federal audit in the mid-1980s lambasted the Oak Ridge laboratory for lax security regarding the fuel storage at the reactor. At the time, the highly enriched uranium was stored in a building near the reactor with little protection other than a chain-link fence. "We haven't done that in a long time," Boyd said. According to the DOE official, the reactor's barrel-like fuel assemblies are stored in a vault at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant (about 10 miles away) until it's time for reloading. With a fuel cycle of 22-26 days, the ORNL reactor is reloaded about every five weeks or so. Boyd said delivery of uranium fuel to the reactor is a high-security operation. The enriched uranium is transported from Y-12 in the same trucks used to haul nuclear weapons, and Boyd said armed guards and a SWAT team accompany the vehicle. "It's the appropriate security for that type of material," he said. The shipments take place at unannounced times to foil would-be onlookers. Boyd recalls a situation a few years ago where a security-cleared DOE worker involved in environmental monitoring happened to wander too close to the delivery truck and was quickly escorted out of the area, much to his dismay. "Given the current situation, I'm sure you'll probably see even bigger, hairier guards than before," Boyd said. Senior writer Frank Munger can be reached at 482-9213 or by e-mail at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This weekly column on science and technology also is available on our Web site at http://www.knoxnews.com/science/munger/. Copyright 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 14 Government accused of U-turn on nuclear energy Independent News © 2001 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd By Anna Whitney 05 November 2001 Friends of the Earth has accused the Government of being "pro-nuclear" after a review of energy policy suggested that 15 nuclear power stations could be built in Britain to replace the current stock of ageing generators. The review of energy needs for the next 50 years, which is being done by the Cabinet Office's performance and innovation unit, will conclude that the existing 15 generators be replaced. It says that the building of new power stations will be necessary "insurance" after Britain becomes a net importer of oil and gas, according to reports. If the moves are approved, they would renege on Labour's promise in its 1997 manifesto that there was no case for nuclear power – although the pledge was dropped in this year's general election manifesto. Building the power stations would mean that about 22 per cent of the country's energy would continue to be provided by nuclear power. Tony Juniper, director designate of Friends of the Earth, said that the Government's stance "beggars belief". There were several alternative sources of sustainable energy in Britain, including wind, solar and wave power. He said yesterday: "The policy seems to be increasingly in favour of the out-dated and expensive nuclear technology of the 20th century." A modern energy policy involving renewable energy could reduce emissions while creating jobs and new industries to supply growing global markets, he said. "That message is clearly not getting through and there is a growing impression that the government is not green." A spokesman for the Cabinet Office refused to speculate on the review, which is expected to announce its conclusions at the end of the year, and added that all types of energy sources were being considered. But the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, said on GMTV's Sunday programme that she was "baffled" by the claims that 15 power stations could be built. She said: "I saw the team a couple of weeks ago who are doing this review of energy policy out of the Cabinet Office and they certainly did not mention that to me. What we are looking at is the whole of our energy policy, looking ahead 50 years to make sure that we can deliver a sustainable economic policy, a sustainable energy policy, that will meet our economic needs, but will also of course meet our environmental needs." Ministers have expressed fears that allowing nuclear reactors to cease operation gradually would leave the country vulnerable by relying on oil and gas from unstable regions. ***************************************************************** 15 Energy Department takes over waste pile near Colorado River [SignOnSanDiego] By David Hasemyer UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER November 3, 2001 The U.S. Department of Energy has taken possession of a 10.5 million-ton pile of radioactive waste that has been contaminating the Colorado River in southeastern Utah, a step widely seen as critical to safeguarding the region's drinking water. The department's acquisition of the pile this week prompted environmentalists, politicians and water officials to reiterate their hopes that the mess will be moved away from the river. It will be years before the pile is cleaned up. The 130-acre heap, which sits 750 feet from the river's edge near Moab, Utah, is the toxic remnant of nearly 30 years of processing uranium for atomic weapons and nuclear reactors. One study shows it is leaking 28,000 gallons of polluted gunk into the river daily. Although the toxicity is diluted over the river's thousand-mile course south and officials say there are no immediate dangers, fears remain that the pollution is threatening the drinking water for Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Under the Clinton administration, then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson called for moving the pile once the department gained control of it. The current administration has not committed to that task because until now Energy did not have authority over the pile and because of the uncertainty in finding the hundreds of millions of dollars it will cost to move it. Department executives have unofficially indicated in the past that moving the pile would be preferable to trying to clean it up and leave it in place, as was recommended by a plan approved years ago by another federal regulatory agency. Since the uranium mill that produced the pile closed in 1982, the heap has been under the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a federal agency with neither the money nor the expertise to move it. In January 2000, a complex political deal was reached that granted the Energy Department authority over the pile. The Energy Department's official position is that it still must do further studies; meet with water, environmental and political leaders; and get a better sense of how much money will be available to tackle the project, said Tracy Plessinger, a project manager. "We at least have things moving forward, perhaps not as fast as we'd like but there is progress being made to resolve this," Plessinger said. One of the first steps will be for the Energy Department to submit a reclamation report to the National Academy of Sciences for evaluation. That report has been completed, but it makes no recommendations on the final disposition of the pile. It may be a year before that recommendation is made. Everyone from small town politicians and big city water officials to environmental activists and conservative politicians, who all have fought for years to get it moved, believed the key to winning that battle was to have the Energy Department take over the pile. "This is an important step because it brings us closer to realizing the complex agreement that allows these tailings to be relocated to another place where it will not imperil the health of 20 million people in the lower Colorado River basin," said Adan Ortega of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. © Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 16 UNLV to host public meeting on nuke waste Las Vegas SUN November 05, 2001 By Mary Manning < [manning@lasvegassun.com] > Six nationally recognized scholars, expert in public perceptions of nuclear waste risks, are coming to UNLV. The panel's theme is "The Science, the Law and Who Gets the Risks." After brief presentations by the experts starting at 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 14 in Wright Hall, Room 103, the public can discuss the issues with the professionals. The UNLV town hall meeting will be taped and given to Nevada's congressional delegation and other officials. The meeting is sponsored by UNLV's Department of Political Science and the Division of Continuing Education. There is no charge for the event, but those wishing to attend should call UNLV's Division of Continuing Education at (702) 895-3394 to reserve a seat. Panelists include Steve Frishman, Nevada's technical coordinator for the Agency on Nuclear Projects; Kristin Shrader-Frechette, a philosopher and mathematician who has calculated risks from a proposed repository; Craig Walton, a philosopher and director of UNLV's Institute for Ethics and Policy Studies, who considers the Yucca Mountain Project unjust; Bob Halstead, a transportation expert who has warned officials about terrorist threats from a Yucca Mountain repository before Sept. 11; Marvin Resnikoff, a physicist who has calculated nuclear waste transportation risks; and Paul Slovic, a psychologist who has studied people's perceptions of risk and the threat a nuclear repository would have on Nevada's tourism economy. The town hall is free and parking is available. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 17 Nuclear cask arrives in time for Yucca tour Photos: The public gathers on Yucca Mountain | A NAC-LWT Transportation Cask | Identification plaque on a NAC-LWT Transportation Cask | Project employee Richard White | Mark Peters describes drift scale test Las Vegas SUN November 05, 2001 By Mary Manning YUCCA MOUNTAIN -- The first high-level nuclear waste shipping container arrived empty at Yucca Mountain on Saturday, in time for 572 visitors to see it. But the shiny stainless steel container almost didn't make it to the mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, in time for the tour. By late Friday morning, the state Department of Transportation still had not issued a permit for the container, which weighed 30,000 pounds more than is allowed on Nevada roads, to travel the state's highways. By Friday afternoon Nevada Department of Transportation Director Tom Stephens personally approved a permit for the empty container, all 110,000 pounds of it, to travel the state's highways to appear at a daylong open house at Yucca Mountain, the site being studied for a national high-level nuclear waste dump. The open house attracted people from Las Vegas, Beatty, Pahrump and Southern California. Visitors rode buses to the site under the strictest security imposed at the Yucca Mountain Project. They walked into the exploratory, 5-mile-long tunnel and looked at the shipping container sent by NAC International. If the Department of Energy, the president and Congress approves Yucca Mountain as the world's first high-level nuclear waste repository, up to 100,000 trucks could carry stainless steel shipping containers like the NAC one to the site for 30 years. It cost the DOE and nuclear ratepayers $300,000 for the one-day tour. Most of the cost was for renting the container from NAC International, DOE spokesman Allen Benson said. Judy Treichel, executive director of Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, handing out information packets on nuclear waste as visitors boarded buses at the Las Vegas Science Center on Meadows Lane, shook her head in disbelief at the price tag. "The DOE says it can't afford to continue scientific studies, yet they can pay for this tour," she said. Many people on the tour were opposed to bringing 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, but said they were curious about the project. Many visiting the mountain had lived in the area less than 10 years. Retirees Bob and Leah Dobyne had heard about it from a local television newscast and wanted to tour the site. Las Vegas residents Martha and Jack Campbell said they don't want nuclear waste in Nevada. "Besides fighting this, we are fighting zoning battles, too," she said of their life in the northwestern part of the Las Vegas Valley. "We are against it," the Campbell's neighbor, Julie Head, said. Inyo County, Calif., resident Jason Warren disagreed with burying the nuclear waste 18 miles east of the California border. "The whole project is wrong -- economically, socially and culturally -- and it affects every aspect of society," he said. If the president and Congress approve the site, it would not be ready to receive nuclear waste until 2010 at the earliest, DOE's chief scientist Michael Voegle said. Scientific studies are ongoing inside the mountain. A giant heating test, warming Yucca's rock up to 392 degrees Fahrenheit, will be shut down in mid-January, Yucca Mountain test manager Mark Peters said. Then it will take four years for the rock to cool enough for scientists to finish studying the interaction of water, chemistry and heat to see how the combined effects might react with buried nuclear waste. The DOE is studying whether hot water might corrode the containers, he aid. Photos: The public gathers on Yucca Mountain | A NAC-LWT Transportation Cask | Identification plaque on a NAC-LWT Transportation Cask | Project employee Richard White | Mark Peters describes drift scale test Las Vegas SUN main page All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 18 State confident with Millstone emergency plan State News Sunday, November 04, 2001 Associated Press WATERFORD — The state has a comprehensive plan to evacuate southeastern Connecticut should a terrorist attack or an accident result in a radiation leak from the Millstone Power Station. The plan, detailed in a report that takes up two large binders, covers everything from the medical response needed to the number of buses required to evacuate local schools. "We're very confident of our plan," said John Wiltse, director of the state's Office of Emergency Management. Thousands of details in the report have been ironed out over 20 years, including the communication each town would have with Millstone to determine if a mass evacuation would be necessary. The Connecticut Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have conducted annual drills in Waterford and the surrounding towns of Groton, East Lyme, Ledyard, New London and Montville. The drills test each town's ability to handle a variety of emergencies at the nuclear power plant complex, from a minor security breach to a full meltdown. In an evacuation, food, shelter and water would be provided by towns bordering Millstone. Wiltse said there has never been any specific threat against Millstone and any future threat would be "extremely remote." Gov. John G. Rowland recently deployed National Guard troops to Millstone and the Connecticut Yankee nuclear plant in Haddam, which is being decommissioned. It is impossible for the nuclear reactor at Millstone to explode like an atomic bomb, since the uranium in regular, commercial nuclear reactor fuel is not enriched enough. What officials worry about is a complete reactor meltdown. According to David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer and a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the temperature rises in a plant's core so much during a meltdown that the uranium fuel rods would melt through the bottom of the reactor. The fuel rods would sink about 50 feet beneath the plant, react with ground water, and produce large explosions of radioactive steam and debris that would affect nearby towns. Lochbaum also is worried about the potential for an attack on the spent fuel rod pool next to the reactor. "An attack on those spent fuel pools would be much more catastrophic," Lochbaum said. A successful attack could empty the water from the pool, causing the spent fuel to overheat and create a radioactive fire that could contaminate much of the region, he said. Anti-nuclear activists on Saturday called on Millstone's owners, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, to make radiation-blocking potassium iodide pills available to anyone living within a 25-mile radius of the plant. The pills act to block radioactive iodine by saturating the thyroid gland with stable iodine. "The health of our children and families may depend on it," said Joseph Besade, a member of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. © 1997-2001 American-Republican Inc. ***************************************************************** 19 DOOMSDAY SCENARIO WAR :: INQ7.net Nuclear war looms in fight vs terrorism Posted: November 05, 2001 By Michael Thurston, Agence France-Presse VIENNA - The television images of passengers' jets hitting the World Trade Center on September 11 made the blood go cold. But many experts admit there could be even worse to come: the terror war could yet go nuclear. And the big question on everybody's mind is, what, if anything, can be done to prevent it? Whether by slamming an aircraft into a nuclear power plant, detonating an atomic device in a major US city, or building a so-called radioactive "dirty bomb," the N-options would have been inconceivable barely two months ago. But the events of that bright September day in New York changed the stakes forever, says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog body. "The willingness of terrorists to commit suicide to achieve their evil aims makes the nuclear terrorism threat far more likely than it was before September 11," said IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. Fears of the next terror wave have centered in recent weeks on anthrax, cases of which have multiplied in the US and begun to spread elsewhere. But at a special session of the UN-linked agency in Vienna last week, the nuclear terror threat was in the spotlight. And experts were unremittingly pessimistic about the world's chances of stopping it. Few doubt that chief terror suspect group al-Qaeda would be willing to go nuclear. The only real question is whether they can obtain the means. "As the events of September 11 make clear, for the al-Qaeda organization there is no constraint against mass casualty terrorism," said Jerrold Post, a US expert who gave evidence at the trial over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, linked to Osama bin Laden. Post said, "From a psychological point of view, the thresholds have already been crossed. There is no reason to think that the choice of weapon would be a constraint, except insofar as (he) lacks the required technical expertise." IAEA chief ElBaradei described a nuclear bomb in terrorist hands as the "doomsday scenario." "That is obviously the most horrific scenario but in our judgement the most unlikely scenario," he said, but added: "Nothing is excluded... We need to take account of that possibility." For others, since September 11, the nightmare scenario is a jetliner crashing into a nuclear power plant. IAEA officials insisted last week that such a scenario would not "automatically" lead to an uncontainable disaster, stressing the "robust" nature of nuclear reactor protection. But according to the environmental agency Greenpeace, a disaster on the scale of the 1986 Chernobyl accident could rapidly follow. "In a worst-case scenario... within a very short period of time, less than one hour, the reactor would begin to meltdown. A catastrophic release of radioactivity on the scale of Chernobyl would follow," said a statement. A third major concern in terms of nuclear terrorism would be a so-called "dirty bomb": a combination of radioactive materials that could be detonated by conventional explosives. For the IAEA this is in fact the most credible threat. "The number of radioactive sources in the world is vast," said an IAEA report. "Security of medical and industrial radiation sources is disturbingly weak in some countries." The IAEA, which is seeking a 15 percent increase in its budget to face the new threat, called the Vienna conference a "brainstorming session" to come up ideas for an initial report by the end of November. But the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI), a Washington-based atomic lobby group, said the IAEA response was too little too late. "The single most important step the IAEA should take is to call for an immediate halt in production and use of atom bomb materials," in nuclear power and research programs," said NCI head Paul Leventhal. "The need for action, not rhetoric, is long overdue," he added. While there are a variety of views on the form nuclear terrorism could take, most experts agree action must be taken. "If we fail to act on this agenda now, how shall we explain ourselves on the morning after a nuclear September 11?" asked Harvard expert Graham Allison, in the latest edition of the Economist. www.inq7.net ***************************************************************** 20 JAPAN'S ENERGY CHIEF RALLIES SUPPORT FOR FUKUI NUCLEAR REACTORS Source: Asia Pulse Story Filed: Monday, November 05, 2001 12:58 AM EST TOKYO, Nov 05, 2001 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- The government's key energy policy official Monday called on the governor of Fukui to support the construction of two more nuclear reactors in the prefecture, which already has the heaviest concentration of nuclear power facilities in Japan. At a meeting with Governor Yukio Kurita in Fukui Monday morning, Hirobumi Kono, director general of the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, appealed for support in building the third and fourth reactors at Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga plant. The state-run power company plans to build the nation's first advanced pressurized water reactors, each with a capacity to produce 1.53 million kilowatts, which would make the plant one of the largest in the world. The company has been preparing environmental assessments and plans to bring both reactors online by 2010. Neither Fukui Prefecture nor the host city of Tsuruga has given the go-ahead for the project yet. (Nikkei) (C) 2001 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Utilities Energy ***************************************************************** 21 Perma-Fix Reports Double-Digit Increases for Third Quarter And First 9 Months of 2001 Monday November 5, 8:49 am Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. * Revenues Rise 13% to $17.4 Million and EBITDA Increases 48% * Nuclear Segment Posts Significant Growth, Revenue Increases 59% * Treatment Commences at Oak Ridge Plant ATLANTA, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: PESI [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pesi&d=t] - news; BSE: PES [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pes&d=t] - news; Germany: PES.BE) today reported double-digit increases in revenues and income before a non-cash write-off of financing fees for the third quarter of 2001, driven by strong results from the company's nuclear waste facilities. Consolidated revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, totaled $17,386,000, a 13% increase from $15,360,000 for the comparable 2000 period. The company recognized a net loss applicable to Common Stock of $613,000, or $.02 per share, for the third quarter, due to a non-cash write-off of $1,440,000 in financing fees, compared to net income of $606,000, or $.03 per share, for the same period of 2000. The company also reported that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter increased 48% to $3,015,000 from $2,032,000 for the same period of 2000. For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, consolidated revenues -- boosted by a tripling of revenues from the nuclear waste processing business -- increased by approximately 24% to a record $53,938,000, compared to revenues of $43,441,000 for the same period of 2000. For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, the net loss totaled $1,931,000, or $.08 per share, compared to net income of $377,000, or $.02 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2000. EBITDA for the nine months ended September 30, 2001, rose more than 46% to $6,405,000, compared to $4,384,000 for the same period of 2000. The company said that its strong increases in revenues and EBITDA for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2001 were principally driven by growth within the company's nuclear segment, and reflects the favorable impact from the recent expansion of the company's advanced mixed waste treatment facility in North Florida, inclusion of the operating results of the Diversified Scientific Services, Inc. (``DSSI'') mixed waste treatment facility in Kingston, Tennessee, acquired on August 31, 2000, and inclusion for the first time of the revenues from the East Tennessee Materials and Energy Corporation (``M&EC'') mixed waste treatment facility located within the Department of Energy (``DOE'') K-25 complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, acquired on June 25, 2001. During the third quarter, the construction phase of the 150,000-sq.-ft. M&EC facility was completed, Perma-Fix's advanced waste technologies were installed, and treatment commenced at M&EC. The net loss for the quarter and nine month period reflects higher financing fees, including the write-off of $1.44 million of prepaid financing fees associated with the repayment of certain M&EC construction financing, and interest expense associated with the various financing efforts. The acquisition and these expansion efforts of the company's nuclear segment, including completion of the recently acquired Oak Ridge mixed waste treatment facility, also resulted in additional operating and overhead expenses during the period. Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, president and chief executive officer, commented: ``We are very pleased with the rapid growth in revenue and improved EBITDA. Excluding the non-cash financing fee write-off, we would also have shown improved profitability for the quarter. With our two mixed waste facilities now fully integrated and operational, and the recent acquisition of the Oak Ridge mixed waste facility, which became operational in the third quarter of 2001, we are focused on expanded mixed waste market penetration and increased revenues within this segment. Revenue for our nuclear segment increased from approximately $4 million in the third quarter of 2000 to $6 million for the same period of 2001 and from $7 million in the first nine months of 2000 to $21 million for the nine months of 2001.'' ``With the financing efforts behind us, the construction of the M&EC mixed waste treatment facility at the Oak Ridge DOE K-25 weapons facility now complete, and waste being processed under the DOE's Broad Spectrum contracts, we expect mixed waste revenues to reflect further growth. With these mixed waste assets in place, we anticipate that 2001 revenues will reach approximately $75 million, including approximately $7 million from M&EC.'' Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a national environmental services company, providing unique mixed waste and industrial waste management services. The industrial services segment provides hazardous and nonhazardous waste treatment services for a diverse group of customers including Fortune 500 Companies, numerous federal, state and local agencies and thousands of smaller clients. The nuclear services segment provides radioactive and mixed waste treatment services to hospitals, research laboratories and institutions, numerous federal agencies including the Department of Energy and Defense and nuclear utilities. The company operates eleven major waste treatment facilities across the country. This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' which are based largely on the company's expectations and are subject to various business risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the company's control. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the company, growth within nuclear services, mixed waste market penetration and increased mixed waste revenues, and 2001 revenues reaching $75 million, including $7 million from the M&EC facility. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While the company believes the expectations reflected in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a variety of factors which could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described in this release, including without limitation, future economic conditions, industry conditions, competitive pressures, the ability of the company to apply and market its technologies, or the DOE's failure to abide by or comply with the Broad Spectrum contracts or to deliver waste as anticipated. The company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to forward-looking statements, or any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon forward-looking statements. Please visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.perma-fix.com [http://www.perma-fix.com] . FINANCIAL TABLE FOLLOWS PERMA-FIX ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, (Amounts in Thousands, Except for Share Amounts) 2001 2000 2001 2000 Net revenues $17,386 $15,360 $53,938 $43,441 Cost of goods sold 10,814 10,190 37,071 29,739 Gross profit 6,572 5,170 16,867 13,702 Selling, general and administrative expenses 3,557 3,138 10,462 9,318 Depreciation and amortization 1,141 903 3,173 2,617 Income from operations 1,874 1,129 3,232 1,767 Other income (expense): Interest income 7 10 23 31 Interest expense (782) (556) (2,317) (1,407) Interest expense- Warrants -- -- (234) -- Interest expense- financing fees (1,651) (15) (2,474) (43) Other (29) 89 (47) 184 Net income (loss) (581) 657 (1,817) 532 Preferred Stock dividends (32) (51) (114) (155) Net income (loss) applicable to Common Stock $(613) $606 $(1,931) $377 EBITDA $3,015 $2,032 $6,405 $4,384 Net income (loss) per common share: Basic $(.02) $ .03 $(.08) $ .02 Diluted $(.02) $ .03 $(.08) $ .02 Number of shares and potential common shares used in computing net income (loss) per share: Basic 29,551 21,720 25,016 21,427 Diluted 29,551 26,208 25,016 25,717 SOURCE: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Radiological institute to inspect Sellafield safety ireland.com - The Irish Times - IRELAND Monday, November 5, 2001 An invitation to inspect the safety measures put in place at Sellafield since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US has been accepted by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, it was announced at a conference in Drogheda at the weekend. The conference on Safety at Sellafield, organised by Fine Gael, heard that the prevailing south-west winds would be Ireland's best and possibly only real defence against radioactive fall-out arising from a terrorist attack or nuclear accident at Sellafield. The greatest threat to people on this side of the Irish Sea arising from a disaster at the plant would be the risk of acquiring long-term cancer. Such cancers could result in 30 deaths per 50,000 head of population, especially along the east coast. Radioactive clouds would be released if an aircraft crashed into the high activity storage tanks used to store radioactive materials or the ageing Calder Hall reactors, which had been operating since 1956, Dr Tom O'Flaherty, chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, warned. Analysis by the institute had found that it would take several hours for the nuclear fall-out to reach this country while those who remained indoors would be at one-third the risk of those outdoors. In the event of a major accident involving the storage tanks, a 23 km an hour east wind would carry a radioactive dose of 35.7 millisieverts to those outdoors and 12 millisieverts to those indoors on the east coast within eight hours, according to Dr O'Flaherty. "If a population of about 50,000 were affected, the result would be something like 30 fatal cancers in later years," he said. A disaster affecting one of the Calder Hall reactors would have 20 per cent of the impact of an accident in the high activity storage tanks, but would pose other risks, he added. "There would be radioactive iodine involved resulting from an accident at Calder Hall and that would create a risk of thyroid cancers in children unless iodine tablets were taken." Mr John Clarke, the head of safety at British Nuclear Fuels, told the forum that the company believed that Sellafield was a safe place and security against terror attacks had always been a factor in the company's plans. He conceded that there would be a serious loss of life primarily among the 10,000 workers on the site if there was an attack on the plant similar to those on September 11th. The safety regulations for the operation of the plant were set by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, part of the British Health and Safety Executive, while the matter of a no-fly zone was an issue for the British Ministry of Defence, Mr Clarke added. "There is a no-fly zone around Sellafield and there has been for many many years. I appreciate that a number of people have called for the extension of the no-fly zone but that really a matter for the UK government to decide. We will comply with any requirements that are set by the government." Mr Clarke said safety had been reviewed at Sellafield after the September 11th attacks and he invited the radiological institute to discuss its concerns with BNFL. Dr O'Flaherty said it would accept. The forum was organised by Fine Gael senator Mr Fergus O'Dowd and was addressed by Minister of State for Energy, Mr Joe Jacob. He said the Government was committed to using every diplomatic and legal means to have Sellafield closed. The Fine Gael spokeswoman on environmental protection, Ms Deirdre Clune, described the recent go-ahead for the MOX plant at Sellafield as "outrageous". ***************************************************************** 23 Science academy says nuclear reactor important to research ABC Sci-Tech - 05/11/01 : Mon, Nov 5 2001 9:09 PM AEDT The Australian Academy of Science has questioned Labor's decision not to back a new research reactor to replace one at Lucas Heights in Sydney. Labor's decision has been welcomed by the Greens, but attacked by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister says the decision would rob Australia of a valuable tool for scientific research and the treatment of cancer. The academy's secretary of science policy, Professor Michael Barber, says a state of the art reactor is critical to the national interest, both in health care and research. He says Labor's Knowledge Nation plans offer many positives and is important to Australia. However, he warns a knowledge nation is scarcely possible without a research reactor. © 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 24 Shipment on hold SouthBendTribune.com: November 5, 2001 Nuclear waste not passing through, but feds say terrorist attacks were not a factor in the decision. By MATTHEW S. GALBRAITH Tribune Staff Writer A planned rail shipment of nuclear waste will not pass through Indiana any time soon. But the federal government has disputed a claim by anti-nuclear activists that terrorist threats were behind the decision. "We've suspended the rail shipment, but not for the reason they're saying," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy. "They're wrong, and we've said as much before." Davis was responding to a recent news release issued by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The anti-nuclear agency based in Washington claimed possible terrorist activity derailed plans to transfer high-level spent nuclear fuel from New York to Idaho. The train would have traveled without public announcement through 10 states -- including in Indiana from Fort Wayne to Lafayette -- with a cargo of 125 highly radioactive fuel assemblies, according to NIRS. It had been scheduled to depart no later than October from the West Valley Demonstration Project, a fuel storage site in New York, for the Idaho National Engineering and Environment Laboratory. Davis said the shipment was suspended because it would have affected the government's cleanup activities at the Idaho site, which he said has been used in reactor research and nuclear fuel production. The transcontinental trip reportedly has been postponed until at least April 2002, but Davis could not confirm a specific month. Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist at NIRS, said the government is not admitting publicly the terrorism and security concerns. "We're relieved (the Energy Department) has recognized the extreme danger this proposed shipment would have created and chose instead to suspend the shipment," Kamps stated in the release. Davis, however, said the statement is "categorically incorrect" and does not serve the public's need for accurate information. Anti-nuclear groups in every state along the 2,300-mile route joined last summer to protest one of the largest single shipments of commercial irradiated fuel in U.S. history. Despite government safety assurances, a cross-country tour was launched to raise concerns about the dangers of a radiation-releasing crash to local communities. The terrorist attacks Sept. 11 provided new ammunition in terms of warning what would happen in the event of an attack. "Just as police and firefighters were on the front line of the (Sept. 11) attacks, so would emergency responders be called upon to protect our communities," said Chris Williams, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. "They need to be thoroughly trained and well equipped to deal with radiation emergencies," added Williams, "and not caught off guard, as our government agencies have been by the bioterrorism attacks." Davis said nuclear waste transports were suspended on a case-by-case basis after Sept. 11 and after airstrikes began Oct. 7 in Afghanistan. Energy officials have said the New York-to-Idaho shipment would be tracked by satellite, and emergency responders in communities along the route would be informed. The anti-nuclear activists say thousands of nuclear waste shipments will follow on the nation's railways and highways if plans are approved for other waste disposal facilities in Nevada and Utah. [http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbtprivacy.html] ***************************************************************** 25 Status of cancer isotope proposal is uncertain Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:06 a.m. on Monday, November 5, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Did someone jump the gun in announcing it or has the Department of Energy at long last issued a final request for proposals for a private company to convert a stockpile of Oak Ridge nuclear material into a weapon against cancer? As of this morning, no one could verify which scenario was correct. DOE headquarters on Friday issued a press release stating that it would begin accepting the proposals. However, the agency did not post the request online, as the press release indicated it would. Headquarters' public affairs representatives were either not available to discuss the request this morning or did not return phone calls. One official did tell The Oak Ridger "to call Steven Wyatt in Oak Ridge." Wyatt, chief spokesman for DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office, said he could not confirm if the final request for proposals had officially been issued or whether the press release was issued prematurely. DOE announced in September 2000 that it planned to work with the private sector to provide a long-term supply of bismuth-213, which has shown promise as a tool for treating cancer. A draft request for proposals was released in January. Bismuth-213 is a decay product of uranium-233. Oak Ridge National Laboratory stores around 1.5 metric tons of uranium, containing 450 kilograms of U-233, that was originally produced at DOE's nuclear defense production plants, according to information provided by DOE. For the past two years, DOE has provided bismuth-213 for clinical trials at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia and it is also being explored in the treatment of lung, pancreas and kidney cancer. In a treatment process known as Alpha Particle Immunotherapy, the bismuth-213 isotopes are bound to monoclonal antibodies that attack the site of a tumor, minimizing the impact on surrounding tissues. DOE's request for proposals links the extraction of bismuth-213 with the cleanup of the ORNL facility that houses the U-233. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 26 Letter from Gov. Guinn to NRC Chairman Meserve re: objection to the process by which the NRC concurred in the DOE proposed new siting guidelines (10 CFR Part 963) OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR One Hundred One North Carson Street Carson City, Nevada 89701 KENNY C. GUINN Governor November 2, 2001 Honorable Richard A. Meserve, Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Dear Chairman Meserve: I am writing in objection to the process by which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concurred in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed new siting guidelines (10 CFR Part 963) for the Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository site. The fact that this concurrence was given without any opportunity for the State of Nevada, affected local governments, or the public to comment or provide input is disconcerting given NRC's expressed desire to conduct its Yucca Mountain activities in a manner that promotes public involvement and confidence in the NRC's independence and objectivity. A review of the correspondence between the State and NRC demonstrates that the State has long expressed a justifiably strong interest in the scope and timing of the concurrence process, and that NRC acknowledged and supported this interest. In your letter of June 21, 2000, to Robert Loux, Executive Director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, you stated NRC would promptly notify the State and other interested participants of its decision with respect to the concurrence process, however, such notice was never provided. In a subsequent letter to Mr. Loux dated October 19, 2001, you notified the State that the concurrence process had already taken place, and that NRC concurred in the new DOE rule on September 24, 2001. Interestingly, Mr. Loux and representatives from local governments met two days later with an NRC commissioner and NRC staff and were assured of NRC's intent to take into consideration Nevada's concerns regarding the concurrence process. At no time during the September 26th meeting were the Nevada representatives informed that concurrence had already been given. I am deeply concerned with the manner in which the concurrence process was handled. I am requesting that, in the future, every decision made and action taken by NRC with regard to the Yucca Mountain program be carried out openly, with ample opportunity for public as well as state and local government input. Sincerely, --/s/-- KENNY C. GUINN Governor ***************************************************************** 27 Letter from Gov. Guinn to NRC Chairman Meserve re: Equal access to draft plan for the possible review of a license application from DOE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR One Hundred One North Carson Street Carson City, Nevada 89701 KENNY C. GUINN Governor November 2, 2001 Honorable Richard A. Meserve, Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Dear Chairman Meserve: It has come to my attention that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed a draft plan for the possible review of a license application from the Department of Energy (DOE) for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site. Staff at the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects have been informed by reliable sources within the Yucca Mountain project that the aforementioned plan was provided by NRC staff to DOE's legal counsel, Winston & Strawn, who in turn provided it to management at the Yucca Mountain Project. Nevada's licensing counsel subsequently requested a copy of the licensing review plan from Mr. Bill Reamer of the Commission's staff. Counsel was advised that the plan was not available to anyone outside the NRC, and NRC has refused to provide a copy to Nevada. Given that this key document is apparently now in the possession of DOE and its licensing counsel, I believe it is unfair and improper to deprive the State of Nevada of the opportunity to review the plan at this time, since all parties to the potential licensing proceeding should have the same opportunities for access to relevant materials. Accordingly, I'm requesting that you provide my Office with a copy of this document forthwith and that a copy be placed in NRC's public document room. I look forward to your prompt attention to this request. Sincerely, --/s/-- KENNY C. GUINN Governor ***************************************************************** 28 Pollutants dumped into lake Thestar.com  > News > Ontario Nov. 5, 2001. 02:13 AM `Nuclear has often been described as clean energy, but obviously it's not' Brian McAndrew Environment Reporter Ontario's nuclear power plants are getting away with dumping lethal amounts of water pollutants in the Great Lakes, according to provincial records obtained by an environment group. The Pickering and Darlington nuclear plants on Lake Ontario and the Bruce on Lake Huron make up three of the top five industrial facilities in Ontario that dumped toxic wastes into the water that were powerful enough to kill fish and other aquatic life, the records show. "Nuclear has often been described as clean energy, but obviously it's not," said Jerry DeMarco, managing lawyer at the Sierra Legal Defence Fund. The information was contained in water pollution violation records obtained by Sierra, a Toronto environmental law clinic, from the environment ministry for 1999, the most recent complete files available. In tests performed on waste-water discharges from the plants, the Darlington nuclear plant discharged effluent lethal to rainbow trout 33 times in 1999. It happened 11 times at the Pickering plant and six times at the Bruce plant on Lake Huron. In a report being published today, Ontario, Yours to Pollute, Sierra found industries violated the water pollution laws on 3,296 occasions, down slightly from 3,363 in 1998. Sierra wants the ministry to begin enforcing water pollution laws more stringently and to bring more of the offending industries to court, where fines can run into millions of dollars and corporate officials can be jailed. "It's ludicrous that they let them go on for years at a time without citing them for the violations," DeMarco said. Industries can often stall ministry investigations by making small attempts to reduce pollution emissions, DeMarco said. The report lists what Sierra describes as the Filthiest Four: + Chinook Group Ltd., a Sarnia chicken feed manufacturer with 557 water pollution discharge violations, the highest number for the second year. + Stepan Company, a chemical manufacturer near Orillia with 537 violations. + Praxair, a chemical manufacturer with 228 violations at four facilities in Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, Maitland and Mooretown. + Ontario Power Generation, with 187 violations at three nuclear plants and five coal-burning facilities. Ministry spokesperson John Steele defended the methods used to deal with industries that don't fully comply with water pollution regulations. "Taking a company to court doesn't clean up the problem," Steele said, adding the ministry's system of cleanup orders forces companies to invest in pollution controls. Steele said Chinook has invested $2 million in pollution control technology and has hired a consultant to prepare a report on how to improve water pollution discharges. Praxair has made improvements in Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie but remains under investigation by the province. No decision on laying charges has been made, Steele said. Stepan installed $1 million worth of pollution control equipment and should meet water pollution regulations in 2002, he said. Ontario Power uses chlorine to disinfect cooling water and kill zebra mussels and that chemical was responsible for the violations, he said. The electricity utility has been given until 2002 to fix the problem and the ministry is reviewing its proposal for dechlorinating the cooling water. The number of pollution control orders issued by the ministry rose to 1,265 in 2000 from 307 in 1999, Steele said. The report said Sierra could find just 11 charges laid by the ministry in 1999. ***************************************************************** 29 Nuclear experts warn of threat from 'dirty bombs' | csmonitor.com from the November 05, 2001 edition The ruthlessness of the Sept. 11 attack triggered alarms from scientists meeting in Austria Friday. By Sonya Yee | Special to The Christian Science Monitor VIENNA - Before commercial airliners were used as guided missiles, few experts viewed x-ray materials as potential terrorist weapons. But now, in the wake of Sept. 11, experts are warning that not just nuclear weapons, but other radioactive materials - widely used in medicine, agriculture, industry and research - as well as civilian nuclear installations, could become weapons in the hands of terrorists. Experts meeting in Vienna Friday at a conference on nuclear terrorism called on the international community to act quickly to impose better safeguards for nuclear and radioactive materials. The security of nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and the countries of the former Soviet Union must also be ensured, they said. The ruthlessness of the Sept. 11 attacks makes it clear that the risks of a nuclear terrorist act are higher than previously thought, says Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, which organized the conference. Commonplace radioactive materials - such as those used in radiotherapy or for the preservation of foodstuffs - could be fashioned into a crude "dirty" bomb that could be detonated with conventional explosives, the experts note. "There are few security precautions on radiotherapy equipment, and a large source could be removed quite easily, especially if those involved had no regard for their own health," says Abel Gonzalez, the IAEA's director of radiation and waste safety. A "dirty" bomb would not necessarily result in a high number of casualties. "But contamination in even small quantities could have major psychological and economic effects," Gonzalez says. Similarly, an attack on a nuclear power plant would not automatically mean a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl. Most nuclear power plants were built to withstand natural disasters and accidental crashes of small aircraft. But the design of most reactors did not take into account the potential for an attack like that on the World Trade Center, and IAEA experts acknowledge that they are not sure how bad the fallout would be if a fully fueled jetliner crashed into a nuclear reactor. An attack by well-trained terrorists is "a much larger threat than civilian nuclear security systems are generally designed to deal with," says George Brunn of Stanford University. Security procedures at nuclear power plants are already under review in the US and across Europe. A number of countries have restricted airspace around plants and posted additional guards. France has deployed antiaircraft missiles near its plant for spent nuclear fuel in La Hague. Russia has announced that it is stepping up training of personnel at its facilities. But experts warned that the vast nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union remains dangerously vulnerable - less to attack than to theft. Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network has in the past attempted to buy nuclear material stolen from the former Soviet states. There have been frequent reports that not all of the former USSR's nuclear weapons can be accounted for, although the Russian government has denied these claims. Pakistan's nuclear weapons are also seen as a security threat, because of the country's current political instability and former close ties with Afghanistan's Taliban regime. Mr. ElBaradei said that safeguards for Pakistan's arsenal - which is not under the purview of the IAEA - appear to be sufficient. But there are fears that the country's nuclear weapons could end up in the hands of pro-Taliban forces if the government were destabilized. Despite the dangers, conference speakers say that the chances of terrorists setting off a major nuclear bomb remain small, due to the difficulty of acquiring the necessary high-grade materials and expertise. The experts agreed that safeguarding all nuclear materials should be a counterterror priority In the short term, the IAEA estimates that it needs between $30 million and $50 million annually in additional resources. The IAEA has been underfunded in the face of an ever-increasing workload, and earlier this year the Bush administration had moved to cut funds that help Russia dismantle its nuclear arsenal. But governments may now be more willing to pay the price for greater security. For further information: • Combatting Nuclear Terrorism [http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/Focus/Nuclear_Terrorism/] , • International Atomic Energy Agency [http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/] • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace [http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/default.asp] • Nuclear Control Institute [http://www.nci.org/nci-nt.htm] • Nuclear Terrorism [http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/nuclear.cfm] Center for Defense Information Please Note: The Monitor does not endorse the sites behind these links. We offer them for your additional research. Following these links will open a new browser window. Copyright © 2001 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights ***************************************************************** 30 Spent nuclear fuel pools seen vulnerable to attack - 11/5/2001 - ENN.com Monday, November 05, 2001 By Reuters SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--While the United States steps up security at its nuclear power plants, energy experts warn the plants' fuel dumps are far more vulnerable than reactors to attack by anyone trying to spread radioactivity. "Spent fuel has never gotten the same attention as the reactor ... as a result you don't have the same level of security and safety as exists for the reactor," David Lochbaum, a former nuclear plant engineer now with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters. "Because it's a softer target and has greater consequences, terrorists may elect to go after the spent fuel," he said. Security has been tightened at the 103 nuclear power plants in the United States, the source of 20 percent of the country's electricity, since the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks that killed about 4,800 people in New York and the Pentagon. Amid U.S. calls for increased vigilance at strategic sites worldwide, the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency warned on Thursday that an act of nuclear terrorism was "far more likely" than previously thought. Since Sept. 11, much of discussion in the nuclear industry has focused on whether an aircraft could penetrate the steel and concrete containment building surrounding a plant's reactor. But nuclear experts are warning that guarding on-site storage facilities for these same reactors' highly radioactive spent fuel is also a critical issue that must be addressed. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the U.S. nuclear industry, needs to devote more attention to this issue, agency spokesman Victor Dricks said. DE FACTO WASTE DUMPS When most of the energy is wrung from the radioactive pellets used to run the power plants, the spent fuel is tightly sealed in water-filled, on-site pools. Water is needed to cool the fuel, which gives off heat and radiation for many years after it is removed from the reactor. Over the years, the pile of spent fuel from U.S. reactors has grown to more than 40,000 metric tons, enough to bury a football field under 15 feet of waste material, the Washington-based industry group Nuclear Energy Institute said. About two-thirds of this fuel is kept in underground pools, which provide far better containment than for the third stored in above-ground buildings. But most of these pools are housed in far less robust structures than the reactor containment vessels, which are designed to contain the equivalent of a small nuclear explosion should things go badly wrong in the reactor core. Though the walls of waste storage pools are thick, reinforced concrete lined with steel, the roofs are made of "pretty insubstantial material" like sheet metal, Lynnette Hendricks, director of licensing at Nuclear Energy Institute, told Reuters. And while the pools lie within high security areas, there are fewer locked doors and safety barriers between spent fuel and the atmosphere than surrounds the fuel in the reactor. Another concern is the vulnerability of the pools' cooling systems. "If you knock out that system, there are no automatic back-up systems," Lochbaum said. If the water boils or drains away, the discarded fuel would overheat, either melting or catching fire, threatening to release a radioactive cloud. POTENTIAL CONCERNS The pools, initially designed as temporary containers, can withstand earthquakes, tornadoes and other natural calamities, but were not built to withstand acts of sabotage. "The pools are not designed to withstand the impact of a jetliner, but they are relatively small ... it would be extremely difficult for an aircraft, even if deliberately targeting one, to hit one," said Dricks of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. When most of the country's nuclear reactors were designed in the 1960s and 1970s, it was assumed their radioactive waste would be shipped off to a central repository or reprocessing facility. But commercial reprocessing was never successfully developed in the United States, and plans to open a permanent disposal site in Nevada have already been delayed 12 years until around 2010 -- if it opens at all. While legislators, power companies and environmentalists squabble over what to do with the spent fuel, storage space in the temporary facilities gets ever more crowded. "Now (pools) hold considerably more (spent fuel) than in a reactor," said Gordon Thompson, a nuclear scientist and executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies, an independent think tank based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It only takes about five to six years of operation for a power plant to produce more nuclear waste than it holds in its reactor, and the biggest of these pools now holds seven to eight times as much fuel as in a reactor, said Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Copyright 2001, Reuters ***************************************************************** 31 Taguchi: PETT, YMP oversight funding appear secure Pahrump Valley Times By RICH THURLOW, EditorNovember 02, 2001 The likelihood that Dept. of Energy funding for the Yucca Mountain Project won't be as high as requested by the Bush administration does not necessarily mean Nye County will suffer, Commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi said Wednesday. Taguchi, in Washington, D.C., along with Commissioner Henry Neth to lobby on Nye's behalf, said he has not reason to believe the Dept. of Energy's Payment Equal to Taxes agreement will be impacted if the lower budget figure is approved. Taguchi is also optimistic Nye County will continue to receive funding to conduct its own independent site characterization study on Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is the only site being studied as a repository for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. The Bush administration was seeking $445 million for YMP issues, which would be used for site recommendation and a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Congressional negotiators this week settled on $375 million. Nye County is in the middle of a four-year, $38 million PETT agreement. PETT is the theoretical amount that would be paid in taxes if work at Yucca Mountain were being conducted by a non-government entity. The bulk of the $10 million Nye received in January was placed in a number of endowment funds, and another $10 million is expected in January. Nye County has also used federal funds to conduct its own oversight on the geology at Yucca Mountain, and now uses much of the money to drill wells designed to trace the possible flow of contaminants from the Nevada Test Site into Amargosa Valley. Taguchi said PETT hadn't been specifically addressed in talks he's had. "I can't speak for DOE, but I believe it (the agreement) will be honored." Oversight funding should also continue to flow to the county, Taguchi said, "simply because we are getting closer and closer to site recommendation." Nye's lobbying efforts have focused on the successes of its own oversight program, and "the fact we have a different relationship" regarding Yucca Mountain. The commissioners have adopted a position of neutrality in regard to the YMP, Taguchi noted, which is almost universally opposed by other government bodies in the state. "We feel that relationship keeps the doors open and the lines of communication very, very clear," Taguchi said. "I believe we'll be OK with oversight funding and PETT. There hasn't been any indication in the meetings that they are in jeopardy." ©Pahrump Valley Times 2001 ***************************************************************** 32 MOAB: A Toxic Pile by Deborah Block INTRODUCTION In the last few months, "This Week" reporters have been travelling across the United States on historic U.S. Route 50. This week we head for the desert… to Arches National Park in the western state of Utah. Arches is known for its scenic landscapes and wildlife. But to some, it's come to be known for a pile of waste left behind from over twenty-five years of uranium mining. Deborah Block has more on the toxic pile. NARRATOR Just off Route 50, in the western state of Utah, is a spectacular natural wonder. Arches National Park in Moab, Utah contains stunning landscapes with unusual rock formations, colorful canyons, and vast plateaus. But the park and nearby town face environmental problems from an unwanted next door neighbor - a huge, abandoned tailings pile-toxic waste from uranium mining. The U.S. government has cleaned up similar mining sites. But according to environmentalist Bill Hedden, this pile will take a lot longer to clean up. BILL HEDDEN "Now they're left with the biggest, most polluting one of all. Getting rid of this stuff is very expensive." NARRATOR For more than 25 years, until it went bankrupt, the Atlas Minerals company mined uranium here - a metal used for nuclear bombs and reactors. Exposure to uranium causes health problems, including cancer. Residue from uranium and the chemicals used to extract it from rocks are in this 37-meter deep pile. And the waste is leaking into the nearby Colorado River. Jerry Banta, top official at Arches, fears the pile might contaminate plants and animals in the park if flooding or an earthquake occurs. JERRY BANTA "The concern is that at some future time if there was some kind of a catastrophic event…that, that would some how affect the stability of the pile, and could expose more of the materials into the Colorado River and the water drainage's, which might affect Arches National Park." NARRATOR One chemical used in uranium mining, ammonia, has killed so many fish in the river, that according to Bill Hedden, four species are on the endangered list. BILL HEDDEN "It's so poisonous that the government last year went in and put fish in little cages in the river. Near the tailings pile every one of those fish died within the first hour it was put in the river." NARRATOR The river is popular for recreational activities. It also provides drinking water for 25 million people in three U.S. states and part of Mexico. Residents of Moab, Utah - the tourist town next to the park - are concerned about dust from the pile. Moab official, Kim Schappert, says people worry the dust is affecting their health. KIM SCHAPPERT "Whenever there's a big dust storm I get calls on the telephone. Whenever I see people in the grocery store they want to know what are we doing about this." NARRATOR Government officials and environmentalists have been debating the best way to stop the contamination, which is expected to continue for hundreds of years. Most say the only answer is to move the pile to a place that would safely contain it. BILL HEDDEN "The stuff is like thick toothpaste and it can be loaded into railcars…so as long as they pay attention to keeping the pile, the working face of it wet, it's fairly easy to move it and put it into a real good disposal site that will keep it away from the environment." NARRATOR Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy was given responsibility to clean up the site. But until Congress allocates the millions of dollars needed to move the pile, Arches National Park and the people nearby will continue to be threatened by the toxic waste. Deborah Block, VOA TV, Moab, Utah -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, see: Arches National Park - http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm [http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm] Grand Canyon Trust - http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/home.htm [http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/home.htm] Atlas Minerals & Chemicals Inc. - http://www.atlasmin.com/ [http://www.atlasmin.com/] ***************************************************************** 33 Our Nuclear Plants November 5, 2001 Our Nuclear Plants o the Editor: While emergency response teams prepare for additional terrorist threats ("San Jose Emergency Plans Set Example," news article, Oct. 29), the nuclear industry and federal regulators are twiddling their thumbs. In tests by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since 1992 to evaluate nuclear plant antiterrorism measures, 47 percent of reactors failed to thwart mock terrorist ground attacks. President Bush's energy plan calls for dozens of new nuclear reactors that would create more dangerous terrorist targets. But we will never be prepared until we phase out existing reactors, establish a fast-track program to exploit the potential of energy efficiency and step up power production from renewable energy sources like wind, biomass and geothermal power. SCOTT DENMAN BRENT BLACKWELDER Washington, Oct. 29, 2001 The writers are, respectively, executive director, Safe Energy Communication Council; and president of Friends of the Earth. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 34 Shipment on hold SouthBendTribune.com: November 5, 2001 Nuclear waste not passing through, but feds say terrorist attacks were not a factor in the decision. By MATTHEW S. GALBRAITH Tribune Staff Writer Moving a dangerous cargo A planned rail shipment of nuclear waste will not pass through Indiana any time soon. But the federal government has disputed a claim by anti-nuclear activists that terrorist threats were behind the decision. "We've suspended the rail shipment, but not for the reason they're saying," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy. "They're wrong, and we've said as much before." Davis was responding to a recent news release issued by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The anti-nuclear agency based in Washington claimed possible terrorist activity derailed plans to transfer high-level spent nuclear fuel from New York to Idaho. The train would have traveled without public announcement through 10 states -- including in Indiana from Fort Wayne to Lafayette -- with a cargo of 125 highly radioactive fuel assemblies, according to NIRS. It had been scheduled to depart no later than October from the West Valley Demonstration Project, a fuel storage site in New York, for the Idaho National Engineering and Environment Laboratory. Davis said the shipment was suspended because it would have affected the government's cleanup activities at the Idaho site, which he said has been used in reactor research and nuclear fuel production. The transcontinental trip reportedly has been postponed until at least April 2002, but Davis could not confirm a specific month. Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist at NIRS, said the government is not admitting publicly the terrorism and security concerns. "We're relieved (the Energy Department) has recognized the extreme danger this proposed shipment would have created and chose instead to suspend the shipment," Kamps stated in the release. Davis, however, said the statement is "categorically incorrect" and does not serve the public's need for accurate information. Anti-nuclear groups in every state along the 2,300-mile route joined last summer to protest one of the largest single shipments of commercial irradiated fuel in U.S. history. Despite government safety assurances, a cross-country tour was launched to raise concerns about the dangers of a radiation-releasing crash to local communities. The terrorist attacks Sept. 11 provided new ammunition in terms of warning what would happen in the event of an attack. "Just as police and firefighters were on the front line of the (Sept. 11) attacks, so would emergency responders be called upon to protect our communities," said Chris Williams, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. "They need to be thoroughly trained and well equipped to deal with radiation emergencies," added Williams, "and not caught off guard, as our government agencies have been by the bioterrorism attacks." Davis said nuclear waste transports were suspended on a case-by-case basis after Sept. 11 and after airstrikes began Oct. 7 in Afghanistan. Energy officials have said the New York-to-Idaho shipment would be tracked by satellite, and emergency responders in communities along the route would be informed. The anti-nuclear activists say thousands of nuclear waste shipments will follow on the nation's railways and highways if plans are approved for other waste disposal facilities in Nevada and Utah. the South Bend Tribune unless otherwise specified. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Russia Steps Up Nuclear Security Monday, Nov. 5, 2001. Page 5 Reuters Russia is stepping up training of personnel at its nuclear facilities to combat possible nuclear terrorist attacks amid Europe-wide fears that such installations could be targeted, a Defense Ministry official said Friday. "[We are taking] measures for the preparation of our staff so that they will be able to understand and identify the threats," Viktor Kholstov, head of the radiation, chemical and bacteriological defence troops, told a news conference. Kholstov's statement follows a warning by the global nuclear security watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose director said Thursday that an act of nuclear terrorism was "far more likely" than previously thought. Russia Steps Up Nuclear Security Monday, Nov. 5, 2001. Page 5 Reuters Russia is stepping up training of personnel at its nuclear facilities to combat possible nuclear terrorist attacks amid Europe-wide fears that such installations could be targeted, a Defense Ministry official said Friday. "[We are taking] measures for the preparation of our staff so that they will be able to understand and identify the threats," Viktor Kholstov, head of the radiation, chemical and bacteriological defence troops, told a news conference. Kholstov's statement follows a warning by the global nuclear security watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose director said Thursday that an act of nuclear terrorism was "far more likely" than previously thought. IAEA director-general Mohamed El Baradei called on countries to take an inventory of security risks at their nuclear power plants, given concern that al-Qaida tried to acquire nuclear material. A former aide to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden testified to a U.S. court in February that he had been asked to obtain uranium for the organization. /www.moscowtimes.ru ***************************************************************** 2 US ready for shoot-out if Pak nukes fall into extremists hands rediff.com US edition: November 5, 2001 T V Parasuram in Washington The United States will be prepared for a shoot-out between its troops and Pakistani troops if President Gen Pervez Musharraf is removed from power and the country's nuclear weapons are in danger of falling into the hands of fundamentalists or Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden. "In case of an uprising in Pakistan or if Musharraf is overthrown by forces friendly to Taleban or bin Laden, the 2,200 troops of the 15th Marine Expeditionary unit cooped up on the assault ship USS Peleliu, presumably itching for action, could be sent to safeguard Pakistan's nuclear weapons and materials to keep them away from Osama or other terrorists, a media report said in Washington on Sunday quoting sources. Even unassembled nuclear bomb parts could be dangerous, it said. 'A radiological weapon', a conventional explosive device used to scatter radioactive material, would be nearly as devastating as an actual nuclear bomb, producing fallout that could render an American city uninhabitable for years, Newsweek said. The material, said Newsweek, could come from a weapons programme or a civilian facility, such as a nuclear power plant. Pakistan's nuclear weapons are dispersed across several secret locations, and some elements of the armed forces surely would resist attempt by foreigners to take control of them. "But if it comes to that," said Newsweek, "a shootout with Pakistan might be preferable to nuclear terrorism in the United States." Whether US Marines would actually be needed for such a task, and whether they could pull it off, remains unclear, the weekly added. PTI ***************************************************************** 3 New radwaste storage in Krasnoyarsk Zheleznogorsk The Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk still operates one of its three plutonium-producing reactors. This section also delivers information on spent nuclear fuel handling and the incomplete reprocessing plant RT-2. Minatom confirms that radwaste from spent fuel reprocessing will be stored near Krasnoyarsk. Rashid Alimov, 2001-11-05 16:44 In the turn of October, press service of the Ministry for Nuclear Energy (Minatom) commented on the information, published by the Ecodefence! environmental group. The group says spent nuclear fuel storage site is under construction 30 kilometres from Krasnoyarsk-26 (Zheleznogorsk). Minatom's statement begins with the words "the mentioned information is false”, but the statement itself actually confirms that the construction is underway. Ministry's answer to the environmentalists says that not spent nuclear fuel, but radioactive waste, including long-lived fission products and actinide elements. The actinide elements refer to a range of isotopes, including plutonium and uranium. The waste will come from reprocessing of spent nuclear at RT-2 plant, which is currently under construction in Krasnoyarsk-26. In Ecodefence's view, such phrases are used only to draw a veil over the dumping foreign nuclear waste in Russia. "Minatom's disclaimer only proved our correctness," the Ecodefence! co-chairman Vladimir Slivyak says. "In fact, Minatom misleads Russian citizens, while naming a dump site a "long-term storage site." Governor's appeal Early in October, the Kemerovo county governor Aman Tuleev appealed to the Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov to make public the data, pertaining to building of the storage site. In his view, new information proves, that despite Minatom's assurances, spent nuclear fuel would be imported to Siberia not for reprocessing with return of the waste products, but for eternal dumping. "Siberia is going to become a dump site for foreign nuclear waste, causing problems for environment and human health. The issues of transportation and dumping of spent nuclear fuel have not been solved so far," Tuleev's says in the appeal. The bills, favouring spent nuclear fuel imports to Russia for storage and reprocessing were signed by the President after parliament's approval, despite negative attitude of 90% Russian citizens as polls show. The Minatom officials persuaded MPs to legalize imports of foreign spent fuel, referring to the two advantages. Firstly, spent fuel will be reprocessed, not reposited. And secondly, the imports would bring $20bn, at the price of $1000 for one kilo. Today as the bills are approved, Minatom admits that storage term may be much longer than said earlier - it may last for thousands of years. At the same time, the first import of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria is being carried out now at the price of $620 per kilo. Tonnes of radwaste Spent nuclear fuel is to be brought into the country, despite the tonnes of domestic radioactive waste being accumulated. Environmental situation around Russian nuclear industry plants remains difficult, and Minatom's representatives have to admit that. For example, an article by V.Rybachenkov published in the Nuclear Control magazine No.4, in which the author favours spent fuel imports, but also has some doubts: "Russia is facing a great number of tasks in this field [of nuclear environmental safety]. According to some Western experts, only three Russian nuclear plants in Chelyabinsk-65, Tomsk-7 and Krasnoyarsk-26, have produced more than 95% of all the radioactive waste found in the world. Those wastes are dumped on the surface and into the underground water systems." Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 4 Nuke-Toting Gangs in Russia Pose a Threat to the West November 5, 2001 Talk about itE-mail storyPrint By DAVID SATTER, David Satter is a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the author of "Age of Delirium: The Decline and Political cooperation is only one of the things that the West needs from Russia. We also need a measure of order within Russia itself. Without a drive against Russia's internal lawlessness, Russia could align itself with the West completely and still be a base area for Islamic terrorism. This is because Russia has huge amounts of poorly guarded weapons of mass destruction and powerful organized crime groups that have the ability to obtain and sell them. Russia has enough plutonium and uranium to make 33,000 nuclear weapons stored at 50 scientific centers guarded by soldiers who are frequently underpaid. It also has vast quantities of nuclear waste that could be used to make crude bombs capable of contaminating large areas. It has the world's largest inventory of chemical weapons--40,000 tons--and a wide variety of bacterial cultures, including drug-resistant anthrax, smallpox and plague. On Vosrozhdeniye Island, a former Soviet open-air biological weapons testing site 600 miles from Afghanistan, there are enough anthrax spores buried in metal drums a few feet below the surface to kill the world's population several times over. Russian and Chechen criminal organizations are involved in the transport and marketing of heroin from Afghanistan. And according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Osama bin Laden used these criminal organizations to launder money for the Taliban, with his cut being from $133 million to $1 billion a year. In the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Japanese doomsday sect Aum Shinrikyo, the production design for the manufacture of sarin was given to the sect by Oleg I. Lobov, Russia's former first deputy prime minister, for $100,000, according to testimony at the trial of those accused in the attack. In recent weeks, there have been reports in the Russian press that Bin Laden has bought several suitcase nuclear bombs from Russia that have not been used only because they are protected by Soviet codes requiring a signal from Moscow before they can be detonated. Under these circumstances, it is as important for Russia to crack down on organized crime as it is for the Muslim world and the West to eliminate any network capable of facilitating terror. Russia's job would seem to be relatively easy. The activities of Russia's organized crime groups, which have extensive business holdings, have been documented not only by law enforcement but also by their commercial competitors. The Russian Internal Affairs Ministry has been in a position to crack down for years; it needed only a signal from political authorities. This didn't come from former President Boris N. Yeltsin, or so far from President Vladimir V. Putin. In 1997, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh told the House International Relations Committee that there was a serious possibility that Russian criminal gangs could get nuclear weapons and that Russian organized crime constituted a direct threat to U.S. national security. Now, with the entire world under threat from Islamic extremists, the United States needs to ask our new ally Putin to begin to eradicate this danger, even at the expense of the system of robber capitalism that has grown up in the past decade. For information about reprinting this article, go to http://www.lats.com/rights/register.htm Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times ***************************************************************** 5 Russia boosts steps to thwart "nuclear terrorism" Planet Ark MOSCOW - Russia is stepping up training of personnel at its nuclear facilities to combat possible nuclear terrorist attacks amid Europe-wide fears that such installations could be targeted, a Defence Ministry official said last week. "(We are taking) measures for the preparation of our staff so that they will be able to understand and identify the threats," Viktor Kholstov, head of the Radiation, Chemical and Bacteriological Defence Forces, told a news conference. "There are detective stories about transporting nuclear substances. But we should take into consideration the possibility of such a situation in real life," he said. Kholstov's statement follows a warning by the global nuclear security watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose director said on Thursday that an act of nuclear terrorism was "far more likely" than previously thought. Kholstov did not elaborate on the measures, but other officials have said security has also been stepped up at the country's nuclear facilities. The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in then Soviet Ukraine killed dozens in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and exposed more than five million Europeans to increased levels of radiation. NUCLEAR MATERIAL Since the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, there have been a number of cases of nuclear material being stolen from poorly-guarded former Soviet nuclear facilities, sparking grave concern in the West. In 1994, three men were arrested at Munich airport carrying 363 grams (12.8 ounces) of weapons-grade plutonium from Moscow. IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei called on countries to take an inventory of security risks at their nuclear power plants, given concern that al Qaeda - the militant group blamed for the September 11 attacks in the United States - had tried to acquire nuclear material. A former aide to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, testified to a U.S. court in February that he had been asked to obtain uranium for the organisation. Kholstov said Defence Ministry staff were being trained to deal with chemical and biological weapons along with the threat of "nuclear terrorism". Russia inherited the world's largest chemical stockpile from the Soviet Union and is aiming to destroy its 40,000 tonnes of toxic agents by 2012. But Kholstov said there were no biological weapons in the country, categorically excluding any link between the U.S. cases of anthrax and Russia or the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of 12 former Soviet republics. Russia's chief medical officer Gennady Onishchenko told the news conference that the CIS had only had enough anthrax for medical purposes, and that trade in the bacteria was impossible. Story by Clara Ferreira-Marques Story Date: 5/11/2001 © Reuters News Service 2001 ***************************************************************** 6 INEEL, Japan join to clean up industry IdahoStatesman.com Monday, November 5, 2001 Idaho lab, Obayashi study how to contain contaminated sites The Associated Press IDAHO FALLS -- The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and a Japanese company have teamed up to deliver technology that could help industry with environmental challenges. The partnership with Obayashi Corp. of Tokyo is focused on developing and producing a system to contain contaminated sites, landfills and underground storage tanks. "Compelling collaboration is a key factor in creating real-world solutions," said Lyman Frost, laboratory technology transfer director. "This arrangement drives the INEEL to find the most persuasive sources of knowledge and experience, and to join forces to reach meaningful outcomes." The Advanced Containment System can tunnel beneath areas of concern. The subsurface barrier is continuous and contains instruments that will measure its long-term performance. "The working relationship between the INEEL and Obayashi dates back several years," program manager Kevin Kostelnik said. "This license agreement is another important step that will allow us to move this environmental solution from our research institutes into real-world field applications." The two license agreements were signed in a formal ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. "These license agreements make available technology to both countries which will be important to protecting each country's environment and which will enhance the welfare of each country's citizens," Frost said. The Obayashi Corp. is one of Japan's five largest construction, engineering and design organizations. The company's civil engineering technology division conducts extensive research to work to find solutions for environmental problems and tests materials for nuclear facilities. The Idaho laboratory is the U.S. Department of Energy's lead laboratory for environmental management. The laboratory develops practical solutions to real-world environmental problems that face government and private industry. ***************************************************************** 7 Nuclear threat and missile defence The Times MONDAY NOVEMBER 05 2001 FROM MR MALCOLM K. SAVIDGE, MP FOR ABERDEEN NORTH (LABOUR) Sir, The Prime Minister has expressed concern that terrorists could obtain nuclear weapons and, as Sir Edward du Cann wrote (letter, September 27), that gives added urgency to the need to combat terrorism. As he also indicated, “son of Star Wars” missile defence is impotent against the smuggled weapon, which terrorists or “rogue states” would surely use in preference to a rocket. An intercontinental ballistic missile launch site would be liable to satellite detection and a conventional pre-emptive strike. Certainly any testing would be visible and a successful missile attack would invite immediate nuclear annihilation. Smuggled weapons could be used with no prior warning, create confusion as to their source and be used for blackmail if subsequent retaliation were considered. Across the political spectrum, those of us who are concerned over missile defence fear that it is not simply internationally divisive and destabilising, but that it is distracting attention and diverting resources from dealing with a far more real threat. A van driving round with a fairly small nuclear weapon could obliterate Westminster and Whitehall, and indeed possibly Buckingham Palace at the same time. Yours sincerely, MALCOLM K. SAVIDGE (Convener, All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation), House of Commons. October 31. Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided ***************************************************************** 8 Nellis adds wing to manage test range Las Vegas SUN November 05, 2001 By Ed Koch The Air Force Air Warfare Center today added a fourth wing to improve day-to-day control of the Nevada Test and Training Range. The 98th Range Wing at Nellis Air Force Base was created by the deactivation of the Range Management Office, which also was a military unit. "The move is to provide more efficiency," Nellis spokeswoman Lt. Kelly Cahalan said. "It will result in fewer levels of management by eliminating an office under the Air Warfare Center and replacing it with its own wing." The new wing joins the 53rd Wing, which is in charge of test and evaluation; the 99th Airbase Wing, which provides support structure; and the 57th Wing, the flying operations group. The 53rd is stationed at Elgin Air Force Base, Fla., while the 99th, 57th and new 98th are stationed at Nellis. Col. Wilhelm Percival, who had run the Range Management Office from August 1998 to May 1999 before leaving to serve in Portugal, has returned to Nellis to take command of the new wing. The standup ceremony, held this morning at the base, included the activation of two groups and four squadrons under Percival's command and was to be attended by Nellis AFB Commander Maj. Gen. L.D. Johnston and the other three wing commanders. The new wing will provide integrated management structure for the 2.9 million-acre Nevada Test and Training Range and the Leach Lake Tactics Range near Barstow, Calif. The Nevada Test and Training Range has more than 1,600 targets and is the only range in the free world that can host highly sophisticated training exercises that simulate full-scale battlefield exercises, Cahalan said. The lineage of the 98th Range Wing can be traced to the 98th Bomb Group that flew B-52 Liberator bombers from Palestine, North Africa and Italy during World War II. It was deactivated in 1976. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Berkley calls for expedited NTS cleanup Las Vegas SUN November 05, 2001 Nuclear blasts may have contaminated ground water By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., asked today that the Nevada Test Site be placed on the federal environmental cleanup priority list because of potential ground water contamination from underground nuclear explosions. In addition, Berkley said that if a nuclear repository is built at Yucca Mountain on the western edge of the Test Site, the combined radiation contamination would exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's radiation limit. Berkley based her request on a 1988 Energy Department study of the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Up to 300 square miles might be contaminated with both radioactive and toxic wastes from more than 1,000 nuclear weapons explosions conducted over 35 years, according to unclassified DOE documents. Of those, 260 blasts were deliberately set off under or near the ground water system, the documents say. "As of today, much of this waste continues to leach radioactivity to the ground water system that flows unimpeded from the NTS to public and private aquifers in the states of Nevada and California," Berkley wrote to EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. After the DOE completed its studies, the Test Site ranked in the worst 10 percent of the nation's 1,200 Superfund sites, including such polluted areas as the Stringfellow acid pits in Southern California. However, the EPA has never made a decision to clean up the site. About half of the nation's Superfund sites have been cleaned up. Berkley also requested Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to suspend action expected later this year or early next year on recommending Yucca Mountain as the world's first high-level nuclear waste repository until the Test Site ground water can be evaluated and the EPA can make a decision. Spokesmen for the DOE and EPA had not seen the letters this morning and declined to comment. In her request, Berkley asked that more monitoring wells be drilled near the Test Site's northwestern boundary, where some of the largest atomic bombs were tested. A scientific panel reviewing the Test Site's ground water monitoring made a similar suggestion in 1999. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Fundamentalists won't get their hands on Pak nukes: Rumsfeld rediff.com US edition: November 5, 2001 Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi Unites States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld does not think Pakistan's nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of fundamentalists. Addressing a joint press conference on Monday with Defence Minister George Fernandes in Delhi, he pointed out that countries like Pakistan, which possess nuclear weapons, knew the dangers posed by them and therefore had put in place measures to manage them and ensure their security. "I personally do not believe there is a risk of the nuclear weapons falling into the hands of fundamentalists in Pakistan," Rumsfeld said. Asked about the ongoing war in Afghanistan, he said adding it was the only way to deal with these people (terrorists). Answering a pointed question about the US reluctance to fight terrorism in Jammu &Kashmir, Rumsfeld said that the war against terrorism was a global one and that the war in Afghanistan was only the first phase. Referring to the US sanctions on India, Rumsfeld said that some economic sanctions had been lifted but those pertaining to nuclear technology and missiles are under discussion. He said that he had invited Defence Minister George Fernandes to the US to continue these discussion. ***************************************************************** 11 Marshall Islanders press claim for nuclear suffering, exile theage.com.au, Breaking News Source: AAP|Published: Monday November 5, 1:40 PM MAJURO, Nov 5 AFP - A group of Pacific Islanders who have had to put up with nuclear fallout exposure, cancer and miscarriages, not to mention the hardships of life in exile, have finally had their day in court. Rongelap Islanders appeared before a panel of judges, in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro, on the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which is considering their class action suit for damages from US nuclear testing in the 1950s. The third and final phase of the Rongelap Islanders' claim for damages due to hardships suffered during the 47 years since their atoll 660 kilometres north-west of Majuro was engulfed in radioactive fallout from the 15 megaton ``Bravo'' hydrogen bomb test on Bikini - was argued before the tribunal at the end of the week. The tribunal is one arm of a package amounting to $US270 million ($A533.28 million) that the United States provided as compensation for the health and environmental damage caused by its 67 nuclear tests. So far the Nuclear Claims Tribunal has awarded - but doesn't have the funds to pay - the Bikini and Enewetak atolls more than $US1 billion ($A1.98 billion) in compensation. Rongelap is expected to be awarded compensation running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Rongelap Islanders have been living in exile since 1985, when they moved to avoid further exposure from the still-radioactive environment. Although US officials disputed their claims at the time, subsequent independent scientific studies have confirmed that the atoll needed a nuclear cleanup to make it safe for habitation. Washington has provided funding to launch rehabilitation work on one of Rongelap Atoll's more than 60 islands. The testimony from Rongelap Islanders produced tears and high emotions as elders recounted experiencing diarrhoea and vomiting from severe radiation poisoning arising from the Bravo test fallout in 1954. In many cases skin burns and hair loss also followed. Traditional chief Michael Kabua said when people in the Marshall Islands lose their homeland, they are ``faced with problems that affect their human rights, freedoms and traditions''. He described the Rongelap people, who now live in exile scattered across the Marshall Islands and in the United States as ``homeless''. John Anjain, the magistrate of Rongelap in 1954 and whose son died before his 20th birthday from leukaemia, sat next to his niece, Senator Abacca Anjain-Maddison as she read his brief narrative of the Rongelap experience. He told of Rongelap Islanders' suffering the immediate effects of radiation poisoning from the fallout, and being evacuated to the US Navy base at Kwajalein Atoll, 400 kilometres north-west of Majuro, two days after the test. At Kwajalein, US doctors made them take showers three times a day for weeks in an attempt to remove the heavy dose of fallout from their skin. Three years later, they were told by the doctors that their home atoll was now safe and it was time to go home. ``It's true Rongelap is still contaminated,'' Anjain said the Americans had told him. ``But it's not that dangerous.'' After the islanders returned home in 1957, doctors told them that they would not experience any health problems. But, said Anjain, it proved to be just the opposite. Within a year, Rongelap women began having stillbirths and giving birth to severely deformed babies, he said. In 1963, the first thyroid tumours and cancers appeared, he said. Five years later the first of many Rongelap people were sent by American doctors to hospitals in the United States for thyroid surgery, he said. The tribunal is not expected to issue a ruling until early next year. Copyright © 2001 The Age Company Ltd. Any unauthorised use, ***************************************************************** 12 Terrorist-Depleted-Uranium, Bgt Gulf War widow calls for depleted uranium tests on overseas forces MURRAY BREWSTER HALIFAX (CP) - Any of Canada's military personnel who end up in combat zones during the war on terrorism should be tested for exposure to depleted uranium, says the widow of a Gulf War veteran. "I am begging that this country and the United States take care of these people and their families," said Sue Riordon, whose husband died with a high level of the heavy metal in his bones. "Immediately upon touching home soil, all of them should be tested. That would be the smart and prudent thing to do." Riordon has been fighting a running battle with the federal government to acknowledge the apparent health risks of low-level exposure to the radioactive substance that some believe is linked to the Gulf War Syndrome. She proposes a basic urine test. "For our people in uniform, it would be an act of good faith," she said. "It's wonderful to support and stand together in a crisis, but there will be a crisis when they come home." Depleted uranium is used to coat artillery shells and other munitions, making them harder and more likely to penetrate the thick skin of armoured vehicles. Canada doesn't use the weapons, but the United States employed them in the Gulf War and Kosovo. It's not clear whether they're being used in Afghanistan. The weapons became an issue in Canada a couple of years ago after an independent autopsy on Capt. Terry Riordon showed he died with a high level of the radioactive substance in his body. Despite the public attention to the issue, the Canadian Forces said it's not interested in a specific testing program for returning veterans. "When our soldiers go overseas they're not at risk, on a large scale, to depleted uranium exposure," said Lieut. Hollie Ryan, a spokeswoman for the Defence Department in Ottawa. Canada has committed warships and aircraft to the fight, but the biggest risk of exposure would be for combat infantry. If any Canadian personnel came in contact with the depleted uranium, Ryan said, they would know what to do. They've been issued gas masks, for example, and the means to register radiation. "We do not anticipate having to treat depleted-uranium casualties." During the 1991 Gulf War, several American vehicles were hit by their own fire and soldiers ended up with pieces of depleted uranium embedded in them. Those casualties are thought to be at the greatest risk for long-term health problems. Another school of thought suggests just being in areas where depleted uranium shells have exploded could be a health hazard. During the blast, the radioactive coating is pulverized into a fine dust that can be inhaled. There's research that suggests it can make its way through the blood stream, settling in the bones where it might cause long-term health problems. That is what Riordon believes happened to her husband in 1991, but the military doesn't classify the dust as a major health risk. "Terry died of heavy-metal toxicity and radiation poisoning from serving his country overseas during a crisis, the same as our men and women are doing to today," she said. "How many deaths do we need? How many people are going to suffer the agony he did?" The Canadian Forces tested veterans who served in the Gulf and in the former Yugoslavia said it found no evidence of depleted-uranium exposure. © The Canadian Press, 2001 ***************************************************************** 13 Kursk Probe Stalled Over Explosives Monday November 5 10:49 AM ET MOSCOW (AP) - Investigators rummaging through the gutted carcass of the Kursk (news [http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news? p=%22Kursk%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw] - web sites [http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Kurs k] ) nuclear submarine were forced to retreat after they found undetonated explosives scattered around its forward part, a top prosecutor said Monday. More than 330 pounds of explosives from torpedo warheads were blown into the Kursk's second and third compartments by the powerful blasts that sank the submarine, chief prosecutor of the Northern Fleet Vladimir Mulov said, according to the Interfax news agency. The explosives were found Sunday night and safely removed by Monday morning, and prosecutors resumed their work, Mulov said. The submarine was lifted from the Barents Sea floor and brought to dry dock last month - more than a year after it sank during a naval exercise, killing all 118 men aboard. Investigators have pulled 56 bodies from the Kursk since it was raised, and 49 of them have been identified, Mulov said. Another 12 bodies were removed by divers during an operation last year. Funeral services were being held around the country for the sailors whose bodies were recovered. Navy specialists have also removed 16 out of the Kursk's 22 Granit cruise missiles, but had to suspend the work because deformations in the hull didn't allow taking the remaining weapons out by crane in a normal fashion. The navy will cut them out of the Kursk hull along with their containers when the submarine is dismantled. Investigators hope that a close study of the wreck would help determine the cause of the Kursk's sinking on Aug. 12, 2000. The disaster was triggered by a practice torpedo which exploded, causing a detonation of combat torpedoes in the bow. Officials said the initial explosion could have been caused by an internal flaw, a collision with another vessel or a World War II mine. Next year, the navy plans to raise fragments of the Kursk's bow, which was sawed off and left on the seabed because of fears it could break off and destabilize the lifting. Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Pakistan won't explain detention of scientist Published Monday, November 5, 2001 Relatives say nuclear expert's calls to Taliban leader questioned By JUAN O. TAMAYO Knight Ridder ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The recent arrest of a top Pakistani nuclear expert was triggered by U.S. intelligence reports that he had repeatedly telephoned the supreme Taliban leader after Sept. 11 but - according to the expert's relatives - only to discuss building a flour mill in Afghanistan. Bashir-ud-Din Mehmood and two other nuclear experts aroused speculation that Pakistani officials suspected they might be helping Osama bin Laden obtain nuclear weapons. U.S. officials have been concerned that bin Laden, a Taliban ally and suspect in the terror attacks, could get his hands on a nuclear bomb or radioactive material. The Pakistani government has declined to explain the detentions of Mehmood, Abdul Majeed and Mirza Yusuf Baig, all retired senior officials of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission. But relatives of Mehmood said Sunday that Pakistani investigators told them U.S. government officials claim he telephoned Taliban leader Mohammed Omar several times since Sept. 11. "We were told the calls were monitored and that the Americans apparently found something mysterious in them," said one of the relatives, who like the others asked to remain anonymous. Mehmood was in contact with Omar in recent weeks, the relatives added, but only to discuss a charity group's plans to build a flour mill in Kandahar. Pakistani investigators took Mehmood's home computer last week and asked relatives about his views on bin Laden, the relatives added. They said close family members were allowed to see him Saturday at a military hospital in Rawalpindi, where he was taken after he developed an irregular heartbeat. Access to him was cut again Sunday, they said. ***************************************************************** 15 Pak considering shifting N-arsenal to China [http://www.indian-express.com] Monday, November 05, 2001 LONDON, NOVEMBER 4: PAKISTAN is under pressure to move all or part of its nuclear weapons to China for safekeeping from fundamentalists and it is apprehensive of pre-emptive strikes on its nuclear sites by America, India or Israel to prevent the weapons falling into fundamentalist hands, media report said today quoting Pakistani sources. The threat to weapons widely regarded as the Pakistan military’s ‘‘crown jewels’’ has forced Islamabad ‘‘to consider removing warheads to China, Pakistan’s closest strategic ally in the region,’’ the Sunday Times reported. The prospect that loose warheads might be loaded onto helicopters or moved around a region foaming with fundamentalist turmoil is adding to fears in Washington that the war in Afghanistan might provoke a nuclear crisis. According to the report, Abdul Sattar, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, insisted last week the arsenal was secure. But Washington officials have expressed mounting alarm that any coup attempt against General Pervez Musharraf, the military President, might put Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal at risk. Pakistani generals were appalled by one authoritative American report last week that an elite Pentagon undercover unit, trained to disarm nuclear weapons, was exploring plans for a mission inside Pakistan. (PTI) ***************************************************************** 16 Concerns about bin Laden's nuclear plans - smh.com.au - World Monday, November 5, 2001 Home > World > Article By John Tagliabue in Vienna Experts are divided about whether Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's plans include the use of nuclear materials, but they agree on the urgent need for improved security at nuclear power stations and of fissionable material. Speakers at a conference on nuclear safeguards said a lack of control at nuclear facilities in numerous countries meant it was impossible to prevent pilfering and the sale of highly enriched uranium and plutonium that can be used in bomb-making. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which organised the conference, reports 175 cases of trafficking in nuclear material since 1993, including 18 cases that involved small amounts of highly enriched uranium or plutonium. What is unknown is whether these numbers represent the extent or just the tip of the problem. But some experts said a more immediate danger stemmed from the potential destabilisation of Pakistan. A coup by Islamic fundamentalists opposed to President Pervez Musharraf's support for US strikes against the Taliban, they suggested, threatened to deliver the country's nuclear weapons arsenal into the hands of a Muslim fundamentalist government. The secretary-general of the agency, Mohammed el-Baradei, said no information was available on whether bin Laden and al-Qaeda had nuclear weapons. "We are not addressing only the issue of al-Qaeda; we are addressing the whole phenomenon of nuclear terrorism." There was no evidence that nuclear scientists were co-operating with terrorists like al-Qaeda, he said.. But other experts stressed that religious militants such as bin Laden and al-Qaeda did not appear to share the inhibitions of other Middle East terrorist groups on weapons of mass destruction. "There is no reason to think the choice of weapons would be any constraint," said Professor Jerrold Post, of George Washington University. The New York Times, The Washington Post ***************************************************************** 17 Budget has money for INEEL cleanup The Spokesman-Review.com - November 3, 2001 Crapo says amount for cleanup $800 million more than Bush wanted Associated Press BOISE -- The state's congressional delegation believes the multibillion-dollar energy budget sent to President Bush this week has enough cash for the federal government to meet next year's nuclear waste cleanup deadline in eastern Idaho. Congressman Michael Simpson said the delegation worked tirelessly to convince lawmakers of "the crucial need for environmental management funding in order to maintain cleanup schedules and meet compliance agreements." The appropriations bill for the current budget year includes $800 million more than Bush wanted for nuclear waste cleanup at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and other federal sites, and $170 million more than was spent in the last budget year. "The Department of Energy cannot afford to produce another budget that shortchanges INEEL," U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo said. The delegation is "committed to resolving the environmental problems at the INEEL to safeguard the aquifer and the people, environment and economy that depend on it." Instead of the $76 million reduction in waste cleanup financing Bush had proposed, the budget boosts cleanup cash by $62 million for last year's level. Simpson said the impetus for the additional cash is the requirement that the Energy Department move 15,000 drums of plutonium-contaminated waste out of the INEEL by the end of next year. That deadline is in the state's unprecedented 1995 nuclear waste cleanup agreement with the federal government. The state could intervene legally and essentially disrupt federal radioactive waste management efforts by denying the Energy Department use of the INEEL until it complies with the deadline. Many problems have driven the federal government further off schedule for meeting the deadline, the biggest being a moratorium on all waste shipments essentially since September's terrorist attacks. ***************************************************************** 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. 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