***************************************************************** 02/07/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.35 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 U.S. DOE's Transportation Plan to Congress 2 Government must compensate Nevadans for nuclear waste dump 3 Peco Court battle settlement 4 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.06 | 31 January - 6 February 5 Nuclear watchdog criticized 6 Taiwan Pres' Party Takes Hardline Stance On Nuclear Plant 7 Lawmakers refuse to talk until construction resumes 8 GOP Senators To Pitch Energy Bill 9 Contractors bail as nuclear power plant bickering continues 10 Justices advise `hold' on nuclear plant 11 Finance - BNFL says talking with EdF about nuclear contracts 12 Nuclear wasteland faces a new threat - 13 GOP Senators To Pitch Energy Bill NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 DynCorp's safety record wins it shining Star rank 2 Sick workers look to Bush team for help 3 Contract issues halt cleanup at K-25 site 4 Report to evaluate fate of Y-12 mercury 5 Uranium at plant tainted, company says 6 Critics question safety of fuel 7 Uranium In Wells Worries Residents 8 Depleted Uranium: NATO should find a less risky tank killer 9 Hoya sells components to U.S. nuclear weapons facility 10 GROUP RELEASES REPORT: PLUTONIUM, THE LAST FIVE YEARS_ 11 Islanders sue US Navy over bomb tests - 12 French warships not welcome in New Zealand. 13 Mock award for MoD's secrecy 14 Cold realities of Russia's Navy 15 AP: Government Reimburses Nuclear Weapons Contractors 16 Study to assess radiation emitted in fire _ 17 Waste tank rust at Hanford has experts puzzled ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 U.S. DOE's Transportation Plan to Congress Greeted with Skepticism, Doubt by Utilities Jan. 29, 2001 U.S. utilities are not confident that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will be able to fabricate and deploy waste acceptance capabilities or remove spent fuel from utility sites in a timely way. That was the bottom line for 23 reactor owners/operators who submitted comments to DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) in December on the draft Plan for Transport Cask Fabrication and Deployment of Waste Acceptance Capabilities. "The report was not produced after consultation with affected contract holders and does not otherwise meet the requirements specified" by Congressional appropriators in the FY 2001 energy appropriations bill, wrote an official with Progress Corp. in a comment letter to OCRWM. (Progress Corp. is the company formed by the recent merger of Carolina Power &Light Co. and Florida Power Corp.) "It does not demonstrate, as requested by the committee, DOE's ability to remove spent fuel from utilities sites, it does not demonstrate DOE's commitment to the timely removal of spent fuel, and it is not a plan for timely fabrication and deployment of waste acceptance capabilities," the official continued. "It is a report that at best lays out an incomplete strategy that does not have the concurrence of the contract holders and stakeholders." The final report, which was sent to House and Senate appropriators Jan. 19, included comments on the draft version from 33 organizations. Besides the utilities, commenters included the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), cask vendors and fabricators, and state regulators. _RSC Faces Financial, Practical Challenges_ Most commenters found the report lacking, despite OCRWM's pledge to "make maximum use of private industry capabilities." "While the industry endorses the concept of relying on the private sector, there is little in the report to enable the private sector to succeed," wrote NEI's Steven Kraft, Director, Fuel Supply and Used Fuel Management, in a Dec. 18 letter on behalf of the industry to the department. "Critically, the report does not recognize the substantial challenges, both financial and practical," that will face the regional servicing contractor (RSC). The linchpin of the department's transport strategy, RSCs are envisioned to provide all transportation casks, canisters, and ancillary lifting equipment, and all waste acceptance and transportation services to move spent fuel from contract holders' sites in four distinct regions to a federal facility. The concept figured prominently in OCRWM's September 1998 draft request for proposal (RFP) for waste acceptance and transportation services. _Waste Acceptance Obligation Unconditional_ Commenters also urged the department to immediately begin waste acceptance and transportation services acquisition, which, Kraft wrote, "should not be dependent on a decision on the siting of the repository." He continued, "The DOE obligation to begin waste acceptance and transportation is unconditional and independent of such a decision. Long lead times for transportation equipment design and procurement indicate that the process should begin now." DOE plans to issue an RFP in 2002, and award a contract for planning services to RSCs in 2004. Actual procurement and fabrication would not begin until 2006, and spent fuel would not be accepted until 2010, the scheduled date for the start of repository operations. _High Burnup Transport Not Considered_ But, NEI cautioned, that schedule does not include adequate time for modification of current cask designs to support the transport of fuel with high burnups and enrichments, incorporate burnup credit methodology to ensure more efficient transport systems, or for the development of single purpose transport casks. "DOE must be capable of transporting used fuel with burnups in excess of 45 GWD/MTU" because "much of the used fuel with burnup limits within the current transport cask limits of 45 GWD/MTU will be placed in dry storage by 2010," NEI wrote. The balance of spent fuel remaining in pool storage will have higher burnups, and many utilities will likely direct DOE to accept spent fuel directly from the storage pools rather than dry storage. ***************************************************************** 2 Government must compensate Nevadans for nuclear waste dump VIEWS Wednesday, February 7, 2001 3:06 PM *Letter to Editor* You leaders must begin to stand up like men for a change and demand true compensation. If we, as Nevadans, are forced to make a small portion of our state a nuclear waste site, we must demand these things: 1. The government must build a large electric generating plant, powered by nuclear means (the area will be perfect for such because of the waste products being stored there) at this waste site. 2. Nevadans receive free electric power. 3. No other areas to ever be picked for such waste in this state must be forever agreed on. 4. A thorough search must be made of underground water, and if a running river exists, all proposals for making this site a nuclear waste dump must be abandoned by EPA edict. 5. Only designated highways (so chosen by Nevadans) entering our state can be used for transporting "others'" nuclear waste to its destination. 6. All vehicles (trains included) must be accompanied by our own police/inspectors at our borders in order to doubly ensure safety. This department to be funded by the federal government alone. 7. Only Nevadans (four years a citizen of this state minimum) employed in this venture. 8. Nevada lawmakers must then reduce our sales tax to 3 1/2 percent and never, ever (by statute) increase it. The above demands must be met or the whole dump site must be abandoned. Otherwise, let every other state handle and store their own nuclear garbage. DEAN NEAL Carson City *Copyright, tahoe.com. Materials contained within this site may not be used ***************************************************************** 3 Peco Court battle settlement The Times Herald February 05, 2001 _By CARL HESSLER JR._ NORRISTOWN -- Montgomery County has received its first check, in lieu of taxes, from Peco Energy Co. pending the outcome of a court battle over the assessment of Peco’s Limerick Nuclear Generating Station. "The check has been received and cashed," county Solicitor Steven O’Neill confirmed last week, referring to the $567,000 payment Peco made to the county for the year 2000. "The money goes into the general fund. It helped us bridge our budgetary gap." Under an agreement finalized last month, O’Neill said the county is slated to receive another $567,000 check from Peco on April 30 in lieu of taxes for 2001. "We’re happy with the agreement. Some money is better than no money," O’Neill said. The county and Peco are embroiled in what has become a lengthy court battle over the $912.6 million assessment placed on the nuclear power plant. The argument over the actual assessed value of the plant and how much Peco owes each taxing authority has resulted in the company failing to pay anything to the local governments for the past two years. So attorneys for all parties recently hashed out an agreement whereby Peco would pay the taxing authorities interim monies in lieu of taxes while the court battle continues. In addition to paying the county, Peco will pay Limerick Township $106,723, according to O’Neill. The Spring-Ford Area School District will receive $1,048,735 for the period Jan. 1, 2000, to June 30, 2000, and $2,097,470 for the period July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2001, according to O’Neill. "The agreement is signed. This is an interim settlement pending a final court outcome," O’Neill said. According to O’Neill, the assessment dispute between the county and Peco is still awaiting a hearing in county court. Peco is attempting to have the $912.6 million property assessment reduced on its 305.5-acre nuclear power plant property off Longview Road in Limerick. Peco claims the plant has no value and that the assessment should be reduced to zero. After an assessment appeal hearing in 1999, the Montgomery County Board of Assessment Appeals agreed to reduce the original $939.4 million assessment by $26.8 million to $912.6 million. However, Peco filed another appeal in county court, claiming the $912.6 million assessment on the plant is "excessive, improper, unjust and contrary to law." The appeal to the Court of Common Pleas means a judge will have to determine whether the Limerick plant, which cost $7 billion to construct, has value for taxing purposes. "This is going to be a complicated land valuation process and we don’t know what the value is going to be. But nothing was not fair," O’Neill said. Under the $912.6 million assessment, Peco would have to pay about $15 million in taxes, about $2.5 million of that to the county, officials said. During a previous hearing, Peco attorneys argued that the estimated $1 billion cost to decommission the plant in the year 2026, if its license is not extended, exceeds the value of the land, giving the property no value. But attorneys for the Spring-Ford Area School District and Limerick Township, two of the taxing authorities affected by the assessment decision, argued the plant does have value. The attorneys argued that the decommissioning costs should not be considered when determining the plant’s real estate tax value. *©The Times Herald 2001* ***************************************************************** 4 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.06 | 31 January - 6 February 2001 A weekly summary of international news relevant to uranium and the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.06-1] Siemens AG of Germany and Framatome Group of France finalised their merger_ on 31 January. The newly-created Framatome ANP (for Advanced Nuclear Power) is expected to soon become a subsidiary of a holding company, called TOPCO, currently being established. *(Ux Weekly, 5 February, p4; see also News Briefing 00.50-1)* [NB01.06-2] A resolution demanding that Taiwan completes construction of its fourth nuclear_ power plant was approved in a 134-70 vote by the opposition-controlled legislature. The resolution ordered the immediate restoration of the US$5.4 billion Lungmen project, but urged the government to make a long-term plan to phase-out nuclear power. The government is not legally bound by the resolution. *(Fox News/Associated Press, 31 January)* Premier Chang Chun-hsiung proposed holding a referendum over the future of the uncompleted nuclear plant. *(Nuclear Market Review, 2 February, p2)* The legislative leader for President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party said that if the government decided to restart construction of Lungmen, the party would not oppose or support the decision. He said the party had backed off from its hard-line anti-nuclear stance for the sake of political stability and economic growth. *(Associated Press, 6 February; see also News Briefing 01.04-8)* _ [NB01.06-3] France and Germany agreed to resume shipments of radioactive waste_ at a summit in Strasbourg on 31 January. The agreement potentially ends the dispute over the return of German vitrified waste from Cogema's La Hague reprocessing plant. Germany suspended transports of radioactive waste in 1998. Cogema said it expects an initial shipment from France to Germany to take place as soon as the necessary authorisations are obtained, possibly by the end of March or early April. Cogema added that a second shipment of vitrified waste from La Hague to the Gorleben interim storage site in Germany would take place later in 2001, with shipments each way to follow at a rate of about two annually. *(SpentFUEL, 5 February, p2; see also News Briefing 00.31-12)* _ [NB01.06-4] US: Imports of uranium from Kazakhstan are not injuring the domestic uranium industry_, the US Court of International Trade ruled, supporting the July 1999 ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC). The ruling came following further attempts by USEC Inc and the Ad Hoc Committee of Domestic Uranium Producers to block imports of Kazakh uranium into the US. *(FreshFUEL, 5 February, p2; see also News Briefing 99.36-4)* _ [NB01.06-5] Australia: Further detailed information is required on the hydrology_ of the Honeymoon aquifer boundaries before the Federal Environment Minister, Robert Hill, will make a final decision on the uranium mine proposal. *(Environment Australia - Department for the Environment and Heritage, 1 February; see also News Briefing 01.01-3)* _ [NB01.06-6] US: The current energy crisis in California and other parts of the US_ reflects changes in the competitive electricity marketplace that are creating fundamentally new market opportunities for nuclear power, US nuclear industry executives have told Wall Street financial analysts. The country's 103 operating nuclear plants are forecast to set new performance and safety records for 2000. Furthermore, changing conditions are fostering a 'high level of confidence' that construction of new nuclear plants will begin later this decade. *(NucNet News, 40/01, 3 February)* _ [NB01.06-7] US: The generating capacity of Duane Arnold will be increased_ from the current 535 MWe to 565 MWe through improvements set to be completed by mid-2001. Nuclear Management Co, which operates the plant, is also considering building an on-site, dry storage facility for spent fuel. Preliminary construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in December, with completion planned in 2002. *(Ux Weekly, 5 February, p3; see also News Briefing 99.44-9)* _ [NB01.06-8] US: A decision on whether or not to approve of AmerGen Energy Co's_ US$93.8 million bid for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will reportedly be made by the Vermont Public Service Board within the next two weeks. *(Reuters, 31 January; see also News Briefing 01.04-17)* _ [NB01.06-9] US: A fire in an electrical switching room caused the automatic shut down_ of a reactor at the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, just 12 hours after it had been restored to service after a scheduled maintenance and refuelling outage. There were no injuries and no radiation was released. However, repairs and inspections could keep the reactor off-line for several weeks or longer, which could compound California's ongoing electricity crisis. *(Associated Press, 5 February)* _ [NB01.06-10] Canada: Ontario Power Generation (OPG) reported that its 12 operating_ nuclear reactors performed with an average capacity factor of 76.1% in 2000, about the same as in 1999. *(Nuclear Canada, 2 February, p1; see also News Briefing 99.32-5)* _ [NB01.06-11] Hungary: The capacity of the four reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant_ will be increased by between 8% and 12%, boosting capacity from the current 460 MWe to between 500 MWe and 510 MWe. Paks cited its sister Soviet-designed plant at Loviisa in Finland, which operates at this capacity, as a basis for the project. It is also planned to extend the life of the plant from the originally designed 30 years by between 10 and 20 years. The current operating licences for units 1 and 2 expire in 2008, while the licences for units 3 and 4 expire in 2010. *(East European Energy Report, January, p22; see also News Briefing 00.15-16)* _ [NB01.06-12] Russia: Plans for a US$1 billion project to construct a safe and technologically_ advanced reactor - called a VVER-640 - at the Leningrad Atomic Power Station (LAES) have been announced by Russian nuclear energy officials. However, groundbreaking for the new reactor could be as far as four years away, given financial difficulties. It is hoped that VVER-640s will gradually replace RBMK-1000s, which have long exceeded their 30-year life expectancy. *(St Petersburg Times Online, 6 February; see also News Briefing 96.27-4)* _ [NB01.06-13] Lithuania: A plan to shut down Ignalina-1, initiated by an earlier government,_ was approved by the country's new government on 31 January. The plan sets out a detailed schedule for permanent closure of the first unit by 2005. *(Nuclear Market Review, 2 February, p3; see also News Briefing 00.47-18)* _ [NB01.06-14] Czech Republic: CEZ will operate its Dukovany nuclear power plant 10 years longer_ than planned after recent examinations showed the plant to be in good shape. The facility will now have a 40-year life, with the last reactor being decommissioned in 2027. The Dukovany plant produced 13.588 TWh in 2000, providing 21% of Czech electricity. (*East European Energy Report, January, p28; see also News Briefing 99.33-8)* _ [NB01.06-15] UK: The amount of liquid high-level radioactive waste stored_ at British Nuclear Fuels plc's (BNFL's) Sellafield plant must be dramatically reduced, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has stated. The NII called for BNFL to reduce the amount of the waste from the current limit of 1575 cubic metres by about 35 cubic metres annually until 2012. After that, BNFL will only be permitted to store up to 200 cubic metres of the buffer stock required for the vitrification process. The NII has also specified controls on the amount of high-level liquid waste originating from the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP). In addition to the required stock reductions, BNFL has made a commitment to a programme aimed at developing further improvements in stock reduction. *(SpentFUEL, 5 February, p3)* _ [NB01.06-16] Ukraine: Nur Nigmatullin has been appointed 'state operator'_ of the country's nuclear power plants. As part of his duties, Mr Nigmatullin will continue to be deputy fuel and energy minister and president of EnergoAtom. He will also direct the State Department of Nuclear Energy, which is part of the fuel and energy ministry. *(NucNet News, 35/01, 1 February)* _ [NB01.06-17] Spain: The government announced its regulatory decision on the proposed merger_ of Endesa and Iberdrola - the two biggest domestic power groups, accounting for about 80% of Spain's electricity supplies. The government called for the companies to make disposals that would make room for two new entrants to the domestic power market. (Financial Times, 3 February, p19) The boards of Endesa and Iberdrola agreed to call off the proposed merger, claiming that they could not meet the conditions set by the government. *(Associated Press, 6 February; see also News Briefing 00.43-8)* _ [NB01.06-18] Germany: Dr Gert Maichel, chairman of RWE Power, has been appointed_ chairman of the German Atomic Forum following the resignation of Otto Majewski. The forum is a non-profit making union of organisations and individuals that support the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Germany.* (NucNet News, 36/01, 1 February)* _ [NB01.06-19] The US Senate is considering new legislation_ which calls for up to US$240 million to be spent on supporting university nuclear science and engineering programmes over the next five years. The bill also calls on the Department of Energy (DoE) to develop a graduate and undergraduate fellowship programme to attract new students and to help universities in recruiting and retaining new students. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has been welcomed the bill. *(NucNet News, 41/01, 5 February; see also News Briefing 98.48-17)* _*Correction*_: The shipment from France to Japan reported in last week's News Briefing (NB01.05-2) was incorrectly said to be the second such shipment of MOX fuel. The transport is in fact the sixth return shipment of vitrified waste from France to Japan. Previous News Briefing NB01.05 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Prepared by the Uranium Institute Information Service. All news ***************************************************************** 5 Nuclear watchdog criticized Thestar.com  > News > Canada Feb. 7, 2001. 03:48 AM Peter Calamai SCIENCE REPORTER OTTAWA - Nuclear power stations should get clear and precise safety grades in their report cards from the federal watchdog, rather than vague generalities amounting to ``could do better.'' That's the major criticism of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in the auditor-general's report released yesterday. The report says the nuclear commission uses a subjective, intuitive approach to rate the safety performance at the country's 22 CANDU reactors. The report criticizes the commission's current report cards where aspects of reactor safety performance are rated ``acceptable,'' ``conditionally acceptable,'' and ``unacceptable.'' More precise safety grades will be ready by the end of this year, the commission said yesterday. written permission of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. For information please ***************************************************************** 6 Taiwan Pres' Party Takes Hardline Stance On Nuclear Plant _Wednesday, February 7_ 6:11 PM SGT TAIPEI (AP)--The president's party urged the government Wednesday not to cave in to the powerful opposition party's demand to restart construction on Taiwan's fourth nuclear plant before discussing the project's future. The Democratic Progressive Party's hard-line position could make it difficult for President Chen Shui-bian to settle the nuclear dispute, which has rattled the volatile stock market and handicapped the island's minority government. On Tuesday, the government and opposition seemed to be close to a resolution. But the talks halted when the opposition stuck to its original demand that plant's construction begin again before talks continue. At a news conference Wednesday, DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen accused the party of blocking a resolution to the nuclear battle. He also urged the government not to give in to the opposition's demands. "This party urges the opposition coalition to consider the nation's interests and use sincerity to quickly negotiate a solution," Wu said. Without getting the opposition-controlled legislature's approval, the government decided to scrap the plant about three months ago. The move enraged lawmakers, who accused the government of violating the constitution. The plant, one-third complete, was the pet project of the previous National Party government. On Tuesday, the government offered to restart the project but said that after elections later this year, the new legislature should be able to vote on the plant's future. The DPP hopes that antinuclear lawmakers will win a majority of seats. The opposition refused to accept this condition and insisted that the government restart the project before negotiations begin again. Copyright 2000 Dow Jones &Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.* Copyright © 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Lawmakers refuse to talk until construction resumes The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-07 _Wednesday, February 7th, 2001_ _By Joyce Huang, Stephanie Low and Lin Chieh-yu_ STAFF REPORTERS A widely expected announcement to resume construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) encountered more obstacles yesterday after the Legislative Yuan called for an end to negotiations with the Executive Yuan until construction was resumed. Showing no signs of backing down, however, President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) urged both sides to continue negotiations. "No matter how you look at it, the DPP is the ruling party. We are in charge of handling this affair and managing this house," Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (ªô¸q¤¯) said, quoting the president at a press conference after the weekly meeting of the president's nine-man task force (¤E¤H¤p²Õ). "Let us actively negotiate to speedily resolve [this dispute]," Chiou quoted Chen as saying. Yesterday's struggle began early in the morning when Chiou delivered the Cabinet's four demands for negotiations to the legislature. The demands reiterated that the Cabinet was willing to resume the plant's construction in exchange for the legislature's cooperation in drafting a new energy law and its agreement that "future budgets" for the plant be allocated by the legislature slated to be elected at the end of the year. But in response, the opposition-controlled legislature held a two-hour, closed-door meeting and issued its strongest demand yet that only when construction resumes could negotiations continue. "The legislature, representing the majority of public opinion, has fully expressed its position towards the dispute over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, in accordance with the Constitution and the Judicial Yuan's constitutional interpretation," said Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (¤ýª÷¥­), reading out a joint statement by the opposition coalition. Wang reiterated that the door to negotiations between the opposition and ruling parties would be reopened as soon as construction work resumes. Discussions on enacting an energy law and working towards a nuclear-free country could then get started. At last night's press conference Chiou said that the Legislative Yuan's demand was too "tough" and accused it of creating an "atmosphere of conspiracy." Opposition lawmakers insist that there will be no negotiations, because of what they call the Cabinet's constitutional obligation to abide by a resolution they passed on Jan. 31, ordering the immediate resumption of the plant's construction. "The DPP has been making a different interpretation, which is misleading," said Cheng Yung-chin (¾G¥Ãª÷), KMT legislative caucus whip. During last night's press conference Chiou said that many DPP heavyweights felt that the opposition and its insistence construction resume first was just a weapon the opposition was wielding. "The opposition party seems to not want to end this dispute. It only wants to use the nuclear debate to pressure and to attack the government," Chiou said. This story has been viewed 475 times. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 GOP Senators To Pitch Energy Bill February 06, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican energy legislation to be introduced next week will focus on boosting clean coal technology, revitalizing the nuclear industry and finding new sources of oil and natural gas including drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge, according to a draft of the bill. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the committee that will take up the legislation, discussed the measure during an hour-long meeting Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney, who heads a presidential task force on energy. Murkowski said the meeting "revolved around the realization that we have an energy crisis in this country" and that ways must be found to produce more energy and rely less on oil imports. The legislation will outline a goal of cutting foreign oil imports from the current 56 percent to 50 percent by 2010, said Murkowski. It would require an annual report to Congress on progress toward meeting the goal. The Republican bill, parts of which will be met with stiff resistance from Democrats, is likely to be merged with a broad energy plan being developed at the White House. Cheney told senators that plan is expected to be completed in 45 to 60 days. But it is clear congressional Republicans and the White House are moving along parallel lines on the energy package, its importance magnified in recent weeks by the electricity supply problems in California and soaring natural gas prices nationwide. While the GOP legislation will include some measures aimed at boosting renewable energy sources and energy conservation its focus will be on boosting energy production. "It's a blank check to the oil, gas and nuclear industry," said Erich Pica, an economic policy analyst for Friends of the Earth. Among the bill's most controversial provisions will be opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. Most Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans oppose drilling in the Alaska refuge which is viewed by environmentalists as a national treasure needing protection. President Bush has repeatedly called for developing the reserve's oil and gas resources, maintaining it can be done while protecting the environment. While some senators contend it could jeopardize the energy package's approval, Murkowski said that both Bush and Cheney are convinced the refuge drilling provision should be in the bill. Despite the recent turmoil in the California electricity markets, the legislation does not attempt to address the broad question of electricity reliability, nor the national question of electricity deregulation. The draft legislation, however, calls for streamlining siting requirements on electric power plants, electricity transmission lines and natural gas pipelines. It also proposes: -A string of tax incentives aimed at promoting clean coal technology and continued reliance of coal, which currently produces more than half of the nation's electricity. -Tax breaks for oil and gas development, including for marginal producers and so-called "stripper wells." -A reduction in royalty payments for deep-water oil and gas developments. -New incentives, including federal payments, for increased power production from nuclear plants and to help design and develop a next-generation nuclear power plant. As Bush proposed during his campaign, the legislation would require that some of the proceeds from oil and gas leases in the Arctic refuge be used for research and promotion of renewable energy sources. It also proposes a revival of tax credits to homeowners who use solar, wind or other renewable energy; ratchets up the fuel efficiency requirements for federal vehicle fleets and provides general tax credits for hybrid gas-electric motor vehicles. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Contractors bail as nuclear power plant bickering continues The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-07 , February 7th, 2001_ _By Richard Dobson_ STAFF REPORTER Fed up with a more than three-month stoppage in construction, three of the contractors working on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) are seeking to annul their contracts with the Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, ¥x¹q). Ta Tung Construction (¤j´É), Yung Ching Co (¥Ã¼y) and Chang Yi Construction (Îë½Ë), whose contracts are worth a total of NT$1.3 billion, officially notified Taipower on Feb. 3 of their intentions to pull out of the project, according to Taipower. All of the companies cited unwillingness to weather additional losses due to further political wrangling -- which although appears tantalizingly close to resolution, could still drag on for months -- but none had yet requested compensation, Taipower said. But according to Huang Shou-ching (¶À¹Ø²M), director of the Nuclear and Fossil Fuel Department at Taipower, the timing of the notification, perhaps only days before the Cabinet orders work to resume at the Kungliao (°^¼d) site, is questionable. "By signalling their intention to walk away from the project now, it will strengthen their position if work is eventually resumed and when it comes time for compensation talks for losses incurred," Huang said. Integral to all contracts to build the nuclear plant is a condition that allows contractors to cancel their agreements and seek compensation if construction is delayed more than three months. The move by the three companies is the first notice of annulment by any of the 12 major contractors since that three-month deadline expired in late January. According to Huang, it could take at least three months to find replacement contractors and get work restarted on the various projects, of which none are more than 50 percent complete. Other executives have said it could take between six months to one year to replace contractors due to the political uncertainties that will remain with the project. Ta Tung is building the receiving dock for the reactors and water intake pipelines, Yung Ching is building the plant controller's training center and Chang Yi is charged with electrical switching and distribution equipment. Ta Tung's project, which alone is worth NT$1.2 billion, is the most important of the three according to Huang, who added the company has struggled with fierce opposition from local residents to construction work in the bay and along the coast. Indeed, Ta Tung executives told ERA News reporters yesterday that unless Taipower paid out a "reasonable amount of compensation for losses due to stalled construction and helped resolve the conflict with belligerent Kungliao residents, they wouldn't complete their contracts even if work is restarted." Taipower will hold off on responding to the companies for one to two days in the hope that the government will order a return to work on the plant and the contractors will withdraw their notifications of annulment. Other contractors and Taipower executives alike have previously fretted over a potential meltdown of construction if the exit of one or more of the main contractors sparked large-scale departures from the project. If Ta Tung holds to its plans, for example, delivery of the two 1,350-megawatt reactors being built by GE could be delayed for the time it takes Taipower to find a contractor to complete construction of a special receiving dock. This story has been viewed 482 times. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 Justices advise `hold' on nuclear plant The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-07 February 7th, 2001_ LEGAL ADVICE: Opposition lawmakers have said building the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should restart as a condition for talks, but some Grand Justices disagree _By Irene Lin_ STAFF REPORTER While opposition lawmakers yesterday demanded the immediate resumption of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|) as a precondition for negotiations with the Executive Yuan, some members of the Council of Grand Justices noted that construction should be suspended until a final decision is reached. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the justices noted that the Executive Yuan was not bound by the legislature's recent resolution that opposes the decision to halt the project, as the Executive Yuan has administrative authority over the enforcement of budgets and is held politically responsible for changes to budgets. In view of the latest development -- the opposition lawmakers' demand -- the justices said talks should take place first so that a decision can be made on whether to resume the project or not. In other words, the justices think that it is not reasonable for the Executive Yuan to reverse its decision to halt the project before negotiations even begin. The negotiations are required to sort out whether the Executive Yuan's decision [to halt the project] should be maintained. "What's the point of negotiations if the Executive Yuan has already decided to back down and resume the project now?" one of the justices said. The ruling by the Council of Grand Justices on Jan. 15 stated the Executive Yuan was obligated to "report" to the legislature over its decision to change major nuclear power policies by halting the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. However, the ruling did not say the Executive Yuan had to gain the legislature's consent for the policy change. Central to recent debates on the issue is whether the legislature's resolution -- against halting the controversial project -- is binding on the Executive Yuan. The council's ruling stated that if the legislature passes a resolution opposing the Executive Yuan's policy change, it is not only an expression of disagreement with the decision, but a "confirmation on effect of the budget in question." However, the ambiguous terms used in the ruling have allowed both the pro- and anti-nuclear groups to manipulate the ruling is to their own advantage. While the legislature maintains its resolution is absolutely binding, the Executive Yuan disagrees and believes it still has the final say on the issue. In view of the dispute, the justices made it clear yesterday that the Executive Yuan is not necessarily bound by the legislature's resolution, though it should hold due respect for the resolution and take it into account. According to the justices, under the check-and-balance principle, the legislature is in a position to supervise the dos and don'ts of the Executive Yuan. Nevertheless, they noted, since the Executive is the initiator and enforcer of government budgets, it has a final say on whether an expensive nuclear project should be scrapped or not. After all, they said, it is the Executive Yuan which has to shoulder the major responsibility for the budget policies. It would be awkward, they said, if the legislature -- which is not held responsible for the success or failure of policies -- should decide policy direction for the Executive, the justices said. This story has been viewed 394 times. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Finance - BNFL says talking with EdF about nuclear contracts February 6, 01:22 PM_ BNFL says talking with EdF about nuclear contracts LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - State-owned British Nuclear Fuels on Tuesday said it was in talks with Electricite de France about the possibility of winning nuclear fuel work from the French utility. "We are in discussion with Electricite de France about all areas of business within the nuclear fuel cycle," a BNFL spokesman told Reuters. BNFL is keen to win new business following an international scandal last year when it was discovered that some data on nuclear fuel shipments to overseas customers had been falsified. An investigation which highlighted "systematic management failure" led to a raft of contracts being cancelled and thwarted government plans for 1.5 billion pound 49 percent sell off. Despite the setbacks which led profits to evaporate, BNFL remains one of the largest nuclear groups in the world. It has a presence in nearly all parts of the nuclear pie, engaging in reprocessing nuclear waste, manufacturing nuclear fuel, designing nuclear reactors, running nuclear power stations and decommissioning nuclear facilities. In December the group said it will miss, for the third year in a row, its commercial targets for reprocessing nuclear waste at its 1.8 billion pound Thorp plant. France generates about 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. Comments to: news-admin@uk.yahoo-inc.com Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or ***************************************************************** 12 Nuclear wasteland faces a new threat - smh.com.au - World February 7, 2001 _Polluted Russia is poised to poison itself further, Craig Nelson reports from Muslyumovo. _ *__The Soviet Union paid a high price for breaking up the US monopoly on atomic weapons. The gently flowing Techa River curving through the southern Urals has been contaminated by five decades of radioactive discharges from a state-run factory that produced most of the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal. The village of Muslyumovo is 47 kilometres downstream from the plant. Critics say the Government is going to make a grim situation worse. Legislation to allow the Atomic Energy Ministry to import spent nuclear fuel is speeding through Parliament. Within months, tonnes of irradiated waste produced by nuclear power plants in Asia and Europe could be bound for storage and reprocessing in a region that doctors and environmentalists already call "the most contaminated area on earth". For nearly 40 years, the secret factory, known as Mayak, was the heart of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons production. It processed fuel for its first atomic bomb and assembled up to 40 per cent of its nuclear arms stockpile. From 1949 to 1956, Mayak dumped 76 million cubic metres of toxic nuclear waste into the Techa, according to a joint report by Norwegian and Russian experts. In 1957 a radioactive waste container at the plant exploded, sending a plume over a 1,000-square-kilometre area and exposing more than a quarter-million people to dangerous levels of radiation. About 10,700 residents of what is now called the "Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace" were moved away. But neither they, nor the so-called "liquidators" recruited to raze their contaminated farms, were given any explanation. It was not until 1989 that the Kremlin admitted an accident occurred. Today the level of radiation in the river near Muslyumovo is 400 curies, and the amount of radiation still absorbed by the residents of the village is 10 times the internationally acceptable levels, according to regional environmental officials. Looking back, Lubov Chuchkalova is horrified. "People swam in the Techa. They washed their clothes in it and they drank from it. Women raved how it made their hair soft," said Chuchkalova, a 42-year-old kindergarten teacher in Muslyumovo who grew up on the banks of the river. The health effects of the contamination have been devastating, a reality the Russian authorities try to hide. Health records are off limits. In 1992 and again last year, Muslyumovo's 4,500 residents, mostly ethnic Bashkirs, a local Muslim nationality, were transported to a regional hospital for examinations by specialists. They have never been told the test results. Local doctors also refuse to supply them with their medical records. However, experts quoted in the 1997 Norwegian-Russian study concluded that the region had experienced a 200-500 per cent increase in cases of radiation-related illnesses. To date, Mayak is responsible for releasing at least 16.7 million curies of radiation into the region's air, soil and water. By comparison, the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 released 5.8 million curies. The lower house of parliament, or State Duma, recently approved legislation that would multiply the 15,000 tonnes of nuclear waste Russia already has in temporary storage and keep Mayak solvent. Under the legislation, the Atomic Energy Ministry would import and store up to 21,000 tonnes of spent fuel, most of which would end up at Mayak, where it would be recycled for resale abroad or for use in Russia's nuclear plants. The bill's authors, which include the brother of one of the ministry's deputy ministers, say Russia could earn up to $US20 billion ($36.3 billion) over 10 years by entering the $US100-billion-a-year nuclear waste business. But the residents of cities and villages near Mayak oppose the plan, saying it would turn their already benighted land into a nuclear waste dump. Under a remedial 1993 law, the inhabitants of Muslyumovo are supposed to receive food rations due to traces of plutonium-239, strontium-90 and cesium-137 found in their food chain. However, no supplies have arrived in months, so residents must rely on food from gardens cultivated in contaminated soil. In an extraordinary political initiative, environmental groups around the country collected 2.5 million signatures for a petition demanding a public vote on the issue. But what would have been the first national referendum ever in Russia was quashed last month, when the Central Elections Commission rejected the petition on technical grounds. "Practically speaking, we are now powerless," said Natalie Mironova, president of the Movement for Nuclear Safety, a group that gathered the signatures of 57,000 citizens. "We live in another country now. We live in 'Nuclear Wasteland'." The plan still has to clear two more votes in the Duma, pass the upper chamber of Parliament and be signed by President Vladimir Putin. Easy passage is expected. _*_[go to top] [ WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 ] _In this section_ Sharon streets ahead but PM claims late turn Dreams of a peaceful future fade behind the sandbags Car bomb suspects face beheading After big promises, Gaddafi fails to deliver Disastrous memorial clean-up may have left Confucius lost for words Freud and Einstein on Holocaust bank lists Putin fires minister who failed to raise the heat Nuclear wasteland faces a new threat Frosty reception from Kostunica Red faces at oil fugitive's slow return Indonesian officer on multiple rape charges Minimum-wage jump blocked Estrada bid to regain presidency HIV cutting swathe through young black America Tight security for embassy bombs hearing Islanders sue US Navy over bomb tests Rescued from Siberia, records of US reds are read at last ***************************************************************** 13 GOP Senators To Pitch Energy Bill February 06, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican energy legislation to be introduced next week will focus on boosting clean coal technology, revitalizing the nuclear industry and finding new sources of oil and natural gas including drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge, according to a draft of the bill. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the committee that will take up the legislation, discussed the measure during an hour-long meeting Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney, who heads a presidential task force on energy. Murkowski said the meeting "revolved around the realization that we have an energy crisis in this country" and that ways must be found to produce more energy and rely less on oil imports. The legislation will outline a goal of cutting foreign oil imports from the current 56 percent to 50 percent by 2010, said Murkowski. It would require an annual report to Congress on progress toward meeting the goal. The Republican bill, parts of which will be met with stiff resistance from Democrats, is likely to be merged with a broad energy plan being developed at the White House. Cheney told senators that plan is expected to be completed in 45 to 60 days. But it is clear congressional Republicans and the White House are moving along parallel lines on the energy package, its importance magnified in recent weeks by the electricity supply problems in California and soaring natural gas prices nationwide. While the GOP legislation will include some measures aimed at boosting renewable energy sources and energy conservation its focus will be on boosting energy production. "It's a blank check to the oil, gas and nuclear industry," said Erich Pica, an economic policy analyst for Friends of the Earth. Among the bill's most controversial provisions will be opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. Most Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans oppose drilling in the Alaska refuge which is viewed by environmentalists as a national treasure needing protection. President Bush has repeatedly called for developing the reserve's oil and gas resources, maintaining it can be done while protecting the environment. While some senators contend it could jeopardize the energy package's approval, Murkowski said that both Bush and Cheney are convinced the refuge drilling provision should be in the bill. Despite the recent turmoil in the California electricity markets, the legislation does not attempt to address the broad question of electricity reliability, nor the national question of electricity deregulation. The draft legislation, however, calls for streamlining siting requirements on electric power plants, electricity transmission lines and natural gas pipelines. It also proposes: -A string of tax incentives aimed at promoting clean coal technology and continued reliance of coal, which currently produces more than half of the nation's electricity. -Tax breaks for oil and gas development, including for marginal producers and so-called "stripper wells." -A reduction in royalty payments for deep-water oil and gas developments. -New incentives, including federal payments, for increased power production from nuclear plants and to help design and develop a next-generation nuclear power plant. As Bush proposed during his campaign, the legislation would require that some of the proceeds from oil and gas leases in the Arctic refuge be used for research and promotion of renewable energy sources. It also proposes a revival of tax credits to homeowners who use solar, wind or other renewable energy; ratchets up the fuel efficiency requirements for federal vehicle fleets and provides general tax credits for hybrid gas-electric motor vehicles. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 DynCorp's safety record wins it shining Star rank This story was published Tue, Feb 6, 2001 _By John Stang_ _Herald staff writer_ DynCorp Tri-Cities Services is the first Hanford company to achieve a top ranking in a nationwide safety program. The company is scheduled to formally receive the federal Voluntary Protection Program's Star designation on Wednesday. Protection Technology Hanford also is expected to soon receive the same award. Both firms are subcontractors of Fluor Hanford. DynCorp manages Hanford's landlord functions such as maintaining roads and utilities and running the fire department. Protection Technology is in charge of Hanford's security. "This (award) is pretty much sought after," said Bob Frix, DynCorp's president. The Voluntary Protection Program, commonly called VPP at Hanford, was conceived by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and was later adopted by the Department of Energy. It stresses cooperation between managers and workers to improve safety habits and records. Several Hanford companies have been working toward earning a Star rating, which is the highest designation in the program. Besides the prestige, Star status cuts down on the number of safety inspections a company is required to go through. A few hundred companies in numerous industries have achieved this designation nationwide. A Star rating means DOE has examined and approved dozens of a company's programs, procedures and activities to improve safety. Frix praised heavy participation by DynCorp's union workers in mapping and installing the safety programs. DynCorp employs about 800 people, predominantly union workers. "It was a team effort. It was a bottom-up thing," he said. _Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 2 Sick workers look to Bush team for help February 7, 2001 By Frank Munger News-Sentinel senior writer Perhaps no group is more anxious to get a reading on President Bush and his Department of Energy than sick nuclear workers. The Cold War veterans, many of whom were involved in production of nuclear weapons, gained support for compensation during the Clinton administration -- particularly during the tenure of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Indeed, many of those afflicted with workplace-related illnesses thought they had loyal allies in Richardson and Dr. David Michaels, who the secretary brought to DOE to address the growing health concerns at Oak Ridge and other nuclear sites. There is a fear, however, that backsliding under Bush could come at a time when new momentum is needed for more comprehensive legislation. "I'm really concerned about that," said Vikki Hatfield, a Roane Countian whose father -- Leon Meade -- suffers from asbestosis and other serious health problems caused by his work at the government's Oak Ridge nuclear facilities. Hatfield became involved in the campaign while trying to get help for her father, and she has emerged as an articulate spokeswoman for nuclear workers. She's a member of the national Worker Advocacy Advisory Committee established last year by DOE. One of her priorities is to make sure all workers, past and present, have access to free medical screening to determine if they have health problems possibly related to workplace exposures to radiation, chemicals or other hazards. Hatfield said workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant aren't receiving the same screening opportunities as employees at some other federal facilities. Glenn Bell, a long-time Y-12 employee who suffers from chronic beryllium disease, is an outspoken advocate for sick workers, and he wasted no time in sharing his views with the new administration. In a Jan. 23 letter to Bush, Bell said the Energy Employees Illness Compensation Act passed last year was "the most bipartisan piece of legislation coined since I became aware of the process." But the compensation package is insufficient, and time to make changes is short, he said. "Many are too ill and too financially devastated to have that time," Bell wrote to President Bush. Although he would be eligible for a lump-sum payment and medical coverage, Bell said it won't cover the enormous cost of sickness and being labeled "damaged merchandise." And other, equally deserving workers wouldn't get anything under the plan because their illnesses are not as provable as CBD (which can be verified through blood results and other tests), he said. "The Congressional Record shows that the estimated cost of compensation for these victims would be less over a 10-year period than what the United States has spent on its involvement in the Balkans to date. But this issue should be about compassion and reality, not money. "The greatest nation on earth should be able to adequately provide for those who have given their allegiance, their health and, many, their lives for our country's defeat of communism. I urge this administration to fully support true justice for the Cold War veterans." * INSIDE DOE: A management squabble at DOE's Oak Ridge operations continues. Festering disagreements became more obvious recently during the controversy over land use on the government's Oak Ridge reservation. Some insiders have portrayed it as a showdown between Leah Dever, the Oak Ridge manager, and Dan Wilken, chief of administration. Dever reportedly sent two of her deputies to meet with Wilken last week and propose a special assignment that would have removed Wilken from his current position. Wilken, a member of the Senior Executive Service, reportedly declined the offer and apparently intends to fight any other attempts to reassign him. Dever came to Oak Ridge a year and a half ago, replacing Jim Hall in the top management post. She, of course, inherited a management team already in place, although she has brought in a few managers since then and created a new line of deputies. It's not clear whether management dissension within DOE's Oak Ridge office is fueled by differences in philosophy or personality, but land use has become the battleground. Hall and some of his top managers, including Wilken, had strong ties to the business community in Oak Ridge, and they promoted private use of surplus federal properties and set the stage for private development of DOE land. While Dever favors "reindustrialization" and other efforts to diversify the local economy, she has strong environmental interests and recently shelved a proposal to turn more of DOE's Oak Ridge acreage into an industrial park. The feud within the Federal Building could have significant ramifications outside it. Senior Writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News-Sentinel. He can be reached at 865-482-9213 or at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This column is also available on the Web at www.knoxnews.com/editorsview/munger/ [E.W. Scripps] Copyright © 1999-2001, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 3 Contract issues halt cleanup at K-25 site Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:21 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7, 2001 _By Paul Parson _ Oak Ridger staff Problems still linger for a cleanup project at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site. Decontamination and decommissioning related work in Building K-1420 at K-25 remains on hold while contractual issues are being resolved between the Department of Energy and Decon and Recovery Services of Oak Ridge, according to DOE spokesman Steven Wyatt. Decon and Recovery Services was awarded a $10 million contract to decontaminate and decommission the 80,000-square-foot building in 1997. The cleanup work was halted more than a month ago. At the time, Lance Escue, vice president and general manager of Decon and Recovery Services, told The Oak Ridger that the halt was because DOE had not obligated the necessary funds for the current work. "Decon and Recovery Services has submitted requests for equitable adjustment," Wyatt said. "We are evaluating these requests and continuing to hold discussions with Decon and Recovery Services on these and other issues." Wyatt did point out that Decon and Recovery Services is continuing to perform all safety related work and surveillance and maintenance of K-1420. Escue declined to discuss the current status of the work halt. K-1420, which was contaminated with uranium and other radioactive materials, was used to dismantle and clean up equipment from the gaseous diffusion processing buildings at K-25. K-1420 has been idle since early 1989. All Contents ©Copyright* The Oak Ridger * ***************************************************************** 4 Report to evaluate fate of Y-12 mercury Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:23 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7, 2001 _by Paul Parson _ Oak Ridger staff Officials with the Defense National Stockpile Center Tuesday announced a plan to evaluate alternatives for the long-term management or disposal of the Department of Defense's inventory of excess mercury. That excess includes around 673 metric tons of mercury stored at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, according to John Reinders, a spokesman for the Defense National Stockpile Center. The Defense National Stockpile Center operates as an international commodity broker of strategic and critical materials for the U.S. government, primarily to meet national security requirements. The center, headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Va., is a component of the Defense Department's Defense Logistics Agency. The mercury in question, according to Reinders, is stored at four locations in steel flasks -- 76 pounds of mercury per flask. The combined total of mercury currently stockpiled at Defense National Stockpile Center depot locations is 128,626 flasks totaling 4,408 metric tons. In Oak Ridge, 20,276 flasks of mercury totaling 673 metric tons are stored at Y-12. The other three storage locations are in Somerville, N.J., 75,880 flasks totaling 2,615 metric tons; Warren, Ohio, 16,355 flasks totaling 563 metric tons; and New Haven, Ind., 16,151 flasks totaling 557 metric tons. Reinders said an environmental impact statement will be prepared to help the center decide how to manage or dispose of the excess mercury. Some of the alternatives being considered include consolidating all the mercury at one location for long-term storage, mixing the mercury through a chemical stabilization process to reduce or eliminate potential environmental impacts and then storing or disposing of it, selling it or leaving it where it is currently located. However, there are currently no approved methods for disposal of mercury, according to information from the Defense National Stockpile Center. Mercury is a heavy, silver-white metal that is liquid at room temperature. High levels of exposure to certain forms of mercury can interfere with the nervous system of the human body and cause health problems that may include tremors, changes in vision or hearing, weakness, memory problems, headaches and nervousness. Mercury is still used in thermometers, barometers, cleaning solutions and mining and smelting operations, according to information from the Defense National Stockpile Center. All Contents ©Copyright* The Oak Ridger * ***************************************************************** 5 Uranium at plant tainted, company says *Wednesday, February 7, 2001* _Jonathan Riskind_ *Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief* WASHINGTON -- When southern Ohio's uranium-enrichment plant was privatized in 1998, critics assailed the deal because a valuable stockpile of government-owned natural uranium simply was handed over to the company. Now, in an ironic twist, the Piketon facility's operator says that as much as a third of the uranium -- an amount worth about $200 million -- might be contaminated and therefore useless on the commercial market. USEC, which operates the soon-to-be-closed plant, wants the federal government to replace the tainted uranium. "The material transferred was to conform to the specification for natural uranium, and USEC expects (the U.S. Department of Energy) to replace any nonconforming material once the testing program is concluded,'' the company said. The problem was mentioned in a news release announcing USEC's second-quarter earnings. It's too early to say what should be done, an Energy Department spokeswoman said yesterday. "The department plans to work with USEC to confirm the contamination and the extent of the problem,'' Lisa Cutler said. "Only after that would it be appropriate to start to explore possible technical and policy remedies.'' Almost 25 million pounds of natural uranium given to USEC by the government -- of a total of almost 75 million pounds -- might be contaminated with a radioactive material called technetium, USEC said. The company said it reported the problem to the Energy Department in December. The uranium-enrichment process turns natural uranium into a more-fissionable material that is used as fuel for commercial nuclear-power plants. Technetium, a byproduct of fission, might have gotten into the uranium after the material was stored in contaminated cylinders, one expert thinks. Those cylinders used to hold reprocessed uranium run through reactors at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state as part of a flawed, Cold War-era government recycling program. Ironically, it was this sort of reprocessed uranium that exposed workers at Piketon's Portsmouth Gaseuous Diffusion Plant and a sister plant in Paducah, Ky., to dangerous radiation. Last year, Congress approved a bill compensating workers made ill by such exposures. USEC, the country's sole producer of enriched uranium, plans to shut down the Piketon plant in June. That would leave USEC -- and the nation -- relying on the Paducah facility as the only domestic manufacturer of enriched uranium. A proposed $630 million plan to keep the Piketon plant on standby was approved by the Clinton administration in the fall but now is being reviewed by the Bush administration. As predicted by a number of critics, USEC has struggled financially since the $1.9 billion privatization. But taxpayers aren't responsible for bearing the cost of USEC's tainted uranium, said Thomas L. Neff, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor. He is a uranium-enrichment industry expert who criticized the privatization as contrary to national-security interests and a boondoggle. Neff and other critics, including Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the transfer of uranium was an overly generous giveaway that threatened the stability of the world uranium market and a U.S.- Russian deal to rid Russia of nuclear weapons. USEC might have been given 30 million pounds of uranium more than envisioned by the legislation that authorized the privatization. Domenici, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's energy subcommittee, made that charge shortly before privatization was made final in July 1998. He could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Neff said there was no warranty on the uranium. "It is unlikely the government will replace it,'' Neff said. "Why should the taxpayers take on another liability and give them (USEC) another asset?'' In any case, he said, much of the uranium in the government's stockpile is tied up by an agreement with Russia not to market natural uranium. jriskind@dispatch.com Copyright © 2001, The Columbus Dispatch ***************************************************************** 6 Critics question safety of fuel Augusta Georgia: technology@ugusta: Critics question safety of fuel 02/07/01 *Watchdog group say DOE should be more open * *Web posted Wednesday, February 7, 2001 * Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums. _By Brandon Haddock_ *Staff Writer* The U.S. Department of Energy must be more forthcoming about proposed plutonium-treatment plants at Savannah River Site, a nuclear watchdog group said Tuesday. Despite former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's pledge five years ago to create a more open, public agency, the Energy Department has become more closed in recent years, said organizers for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. ``The public shouldn't have to research to find out what the impacts of the government's decisions are,'' said Don Moniak, an Aiken resident and community organizer for the league, at a news conference in Augusta. ``It should be laid out as clear as day.'' In addition to the press conference, the group held a public meeting in Aiken, an event designed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Ms. O'Leary's last ``openness'' press conference. The league released its report *Plutonium: The Last 50 Years,* in which it details several purported shortcomings with federal plans to build new plutonium-processing plants at SRS. A government representative said the department operated with as much candor as was prudent, given the highly secret materials the proposed plutonium plants would handle. ``The department is committed to openness when possible, but at the same time we have an obligation to protect the nuclear-weapons information of the United States, and we will do that,'' said Jim Giusti, an Energy Department spokesman at the federal nuclear-weapons site. Plutonium is a highly toxic, radioactive metal used in nuclear weapons. To dispose of about 55 tons of surplus plutonium, the Energy Department plans to build three treatment plants at SRS, at a cost of about $1.4 billion. Local economic boosters and SRS supporters lobbied hard for the plants, which would create about 400 long-term jobs at the site. But some nuclear watchdogs have opposed the plants, particularly one that would convert surplus weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear-power plants. Critics said that plutonium-bearing fuels would be unsafe for use in civilian reactors, and that the use of such fuels would breach a political wall between the nation's nuclear-defense programs and its civilian nuclear-energy projects. _Reach Brandon Haddockat (706) 823-3409._ All contents © 1996 - 2001 *The Augusta Chronicle*. All ***************************************************************** 7 Uranium In Wells Worries Residents _Wednesday February 07 01:00 AM EST_ Water Has 50 Times The Acceptable Level High levels of uranium are occurring in well water along a southern Greenville County road and residents there say they're worried it's making them sick. State health officials are investigating and have told residents along Jenkins Bridge Road not to drink their tap water until they get some test results back. Lorie Barbey, who lives on the road is between Simpsonville and Fountain Inn, says that when one of her neighbors developed a benign brain tumor, a test turned up unusually high levels of the radioactive element in her body. The search for a source led to the kitchen tap. Health guidelines say that more than 30 micrograms of uranium per liter of water is cause for concern. Barbey told WYFF News 4's Beth Brotherton that a test of her well water turned up more than 50 times that amount. "We got on the Internet and started looking at what it can do to you," Barbey told News 4. "It can cause cancer and kidney failure. I was worried because I have a lot of cancer in my family." The state Department of Health and Environmental Control says that high levels of uranium can cause cancer, but he says it's unlikely in this case. "The potential danger if you drink two liters a day for 70 years can be an increased risk for some types of cancer," DHEC Spokesman Thom Berry told News 4. Still DHEC plans to test water from other wells in the area on Wednesday. Berry said that the high levels of uranium likely occurred from natural deposits of the material in the ground. It's ground that yields otherwise excellent well water. Barbey says that before the test results came back, she drank eight or so glasses of it a day. "It tastes great. We have the best tasting water you can find," she said. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! and . ***************************************************************** 8 Depleted Uranium: NATO should find a less risky tank killer The Dallas Morning News: Opinion: Editorial 02/07/2001 The depleted uranium artillery shell made its reputation as a prodigious tank killer during the wars in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo. It was effective because depleted uranium is among the heaviest and densest of metals. Fired from the cannons of A-10 Warthog jet fighter airplanes, it easily pierces tank armor. The crumbled hulks of numerous Iraqi and Yugoslav army tanks – and even those of U.S. army tanks hit by "friendly fire" – testify to its power. But the depleted uranium shell has become controversial because of some European governments' suspicions that it caused leukemia and other ailments in some soldiers and other people who served in the Balkans. In response to the furor, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environmental Program and the European Union are appropriately studying the risks to human health and to the environment from exposure to it. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of which the United States is one of 19 members, insists that depleted uranium is safe. The metal emits little radioactivity, the mutual defense body insists. However, the metal would appear to be quite less safe after it strikes a tank. For then a significant percentage of the shell turns to toxic dust, which can be inhaled or otherwise ingested. NATO commanders in Kosovo acknowledged the danger by warning troops not to approach contaminated areas. NATO's credibility on the question of whether depleted uranium is safe wasn't helped by the recent revelation that the shells used in Kosovo contained traces of plutonium, neptunium and americium – byproducts of nuclear reactors that are more radioactive than depleted uranium. Regardless of whether depleted uranium caused what the Europeans are calling "Balkans syndrome," people shouldn't stoically accept that battlefields must remain poisonous no man's lands long after the fighting has abated. Let NATO find an alternative to depleted uranium among the several that military experts believe are available. And let it accept responsibility for removing the environmental and health hazards that it created there so as not to tarnish its victories or to cause more harm to the people it fought to save. 1998, 1999 best online newspaper in the state Texas Associated Press Managing ***************************************************************** 9 _Hoya sells components to U.S. nuclear weapons facility _ _WASHINGTON Feb. 6 Kyodo - _A U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Hoya Corp. has delivered key components to a U.S. national laboratory meant to ensure safety and reliability of nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Hoya Corp. U.S.A., based in Fremont, California, has been producing laser glass slabs for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is now under construction in California, Lawrence Livermore officials said. The sale of laser glass slabs, a vital component for amplifying laser rays in a nuclear fusion process, to the U.S. nuclear laboratory is not subject to Japan's arms export control because the stabs are produced an overseas unit of the Tokyo-based company. The $3.4 billion NIF project, along with subcritical nuclear tests, is seen by the Energy Department as a core of U.S. technology to control safety of its nuclear weapons. The project, however, has been a target of criticism by U.S. antinuclear groups, which say the facility violates the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. The Energy Department, which is responsible for the development of U.S. nuclear weapons, says the facility is needed to ensure that U.S. nuclear weapons remain safe and reliable. The department, which is promoting the NIF as an important scientific tool for research into fusion energy, plans to begin partial operation of the NIF, the size of football stadium, in 2004. Construction of he entire project is set to complete in 2007. Lawrence Livermore officials said Hoya U.S.A. has produced more than 200 glass slabs during the first phase of production since June 2000. Phase II production is set to begin in November this year. Hoya is responsible for supplying half of more than 3,500 laser glass slabs needed by the NIF. The other half is supplied by Schott Glass Technologies, based in Duryea, Pennsylvania. ''Obtaining quality glass was one of the top technological and manufacturing issues our project faced. This achievement demonstrates that NIF's remaining technical challenges are rapidly being solved,'' NIF project manager Ed Moses said. 2000 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 10 _GROUP RELEASES REPORT: PLUTONIUM, THE LAST FIVE YEARS_ BREDL Press Release [BREDL logo] _BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE_ _Working to make our world better: One community at a time.__ PO Box 3487, Aiken, South Carolina 29802 __ __phone:__ (803) 644-6953, __fax:__ (803) 644-7369 __email: __donmoniak@earthlink.net__ __, __www.bredl.org_ _FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE_ February 6, 2001 _CONTACT:_ Don Moniak (803) 644-6953 Janet Zeller (336) 982-2691 The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) today released a three part report, *Plutonium, The Last Five Years* documenting plutonium hazards and inventories and revealing the Department of Energy’s mismanagement of its plutonium storage responsibilities. BREDL called on the Department of Energy to disclose it current plutonium and highly enriched uranium inventories and make safe, secure plutonium storage its number one priority; and for the new administration to reverse the trend towards increased secrecy in DOE’s nuclear weapons complex. The release of this report marks the 5th Anniversary of Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary’s last openness media conference, at which declassified estimates of plutonium and highly enriched uranium inventories were announced. *Plutonium, the Last Five Years* documents DOE’s inconsistent management of 26 metric tonnes of separated, unstable plutonium contained in more than 100,000 individual items and scheduled to be sent to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina or buried as waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. DOE’s mismanagement has included: + a failure to meet its own long-term storage criteria for six metric tonnes of highly dispersible plutonium oxide powder and more than eight metric tonnes of plutonium metals. + spending two years “studying” how to store ten metric tonnes of plutonium it plans to begin trucking this year from the Rocky Flats plant in Colorado to the Savannah River Site. The report also details how DOE mismanagement of 12,000 plutonium pits stored at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Plant in Texas is increasing the uncertainty of the reliability of its nuclear weapons arsenal and fueling demands for new plutonium pit production. At the present time, DOE is storing thousands of plutonium pits it calls “National Security Assets” in decades-old facilities and in containers unsuitable for long-term storage. The Department has not funded the procurement of new containers for its “enduring stockpile” plutonium pits. A review of the hazards of plutonium reveals similar disturbing trends with the 21 metric tonnes of plutonium contained in about 7,000 plutonium pits that DOE intends to truck to SRS this decade to be disassembled and converted for use in a plutonium fuel factory: + The Department is planning to treat plutonium oxide powders at temperatures that will operations at its plutonium fuel factory more vulnerable to explosions, leaks, and increased radioactive waste generation; + DOE and SRS have no apparent plan for preventing Chronic Beryllium Disease at SRS even though plutonium pit disassembly and conversion will convert SRS into one of the government’s largest processor of high purity beryllium. Finally, the report details how plutonium “disposition” facilities have been sold as “nonproliferation” missions at the same time DOE has secretly been planning and upgrading its capabilities to fabricate 100-500 new plutonium pits per year at SRS. “DOE’s own scientific reports point to plutonium as having the most complex chemistry of any element known to the human race, yet they are pursuing agendas that will put people and our environment at far greater risk from plutonium,” said Don Moniak of Aiken, South Carolina, Community Organizer for BREDL. “The Department of Energy is playing with something far more dangerous than fire. It is time to recognize plutonium as a liability and drop this crazy scheme to use it as fuel,” said BREDL’s Executive Director Janet Zellar. Executive Summary Part I: The Trouble with Plutonium Part II: The U.S. Plutonium Stockpile An Update on the Numbers Part III: Plutonium In Pits Endnotes (online Feb. 7, 2001) ***************************************************************** 11 Islanders sue US Navy over bomb tests - smh.com.au - World Wednesday, February 7, 2001 Home > World > Article *__New York: The people of a tiny Caribbean island which the United States Navy has used for 60 years as a bombing range, including firing depleted uranium shells, are seeking $US100 million ($185 million) in damages for an abnormally high cancer rate. Figures compiled between 1990-94 show that the 9,300 islanders of Vieques were 27 per cent more likely to get cancer than those on Puerto Rico, just to the west. But Dr Rafael Rivera-Castao, who lives on the island, says the rate has risen since then. "I estimate that the cancer rate here is now 52 per cent more than the Puerto Rico average." The case echoes reports of incidents of cancer among Balkans peacekeepers, following the use of uranium depleted ammunition during the US-led NATO bombing campaign of 1999. The US Navy says the Caribbean island offers the only terrain suitable for its military exercises. Mr John Arthur Eaves, the lawyer pressing for damages for one-third of islanders, said: "I think 100 million [dollars] may turn out to be at the lower end of the scale of what we might get from the navy. "We have already spent 7 million on preparing this case, which we wouldn't have done if we didn't think we had a very good chance of winning." Ms Nilda Medina, of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, said: "For years we have denounced the relationship between the military contamination and the exaggerated levels of cancer on Vieques. "The heavy metals and other chemical components from explosives dangerous to human health combined with the radioactive uranium projectiles jeopardise the life of Viequenses today as well as future generations." Vieques became a cause célèbre 21 months ago after a misdirected shell killed a civilian security guard, and became the catalyst for a re-examination of Puerto Rican relations with the US. Puerto Rico has been a US territory for more than a century and its commonwealth status gives islanders US citizenship, albeit with reduced rights and duties: they cannot vote in presidential elections and do not have to pay Federal taxes. Anti-US slogans are daubed throughout Vieques, a 29-kilometre-long island on which civilians are confined to the middle third. Last Sunday, as with every other, protesters rallied in the main town, Isabel Segunda, before driving in a convoy around the island blowing car horns and protesting through loudhailers. ***************************************************************** 12 French warships not welcome in New Zealand. Radio Australia News - 7/02/01: Anti-nuclear activists and some local leaders in New Zealand demand the government cancel a planned visit by two French warships The New Zealand government has cleared the visit by the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc, and an escort frigate. Peace activists claim the ships are nuclear capable and says New Zealand anti-nuclear law should be invoked to ban the ships from Wellington Harbor and prevent an official reception for the crews. New Zealand was at the forefront of international protests at France's nuclear testing program in the South Pacific. Relations between the two countries further soured when French agents bombed and sank the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbor in 1985. One crewman was killed in the attack, which sank the ship to prevent it sailing for the French nuclear test site to spearhead protests. (20:51:55 AEST) Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters ***************************************************************** 13 Mock award for MoD's secrecy _Matt Wells Tuesday February 6, 2001 The Guardian_ The Ministry of Defence came under fire at a ceremony to reward upholders of free speech last night. The department was handed a gong "for services to censorship" at the inaugural Index on Censorship awards, held in London. Judges said the MoD had made it "virtually impossible for anyone to expose malpractice within the armed or intelligence services" by pursuing a number of prosecutions under the Official Secrets Act. A jailed Iranian editor, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, received the award for most courageous defence of free speech. Mr Shamsolvaezin, former editor in chief of a now-banned newspaper, Neshat, was found guilty of "hurting Islam" and placed in solitary confinement. International whistleblower of the year was Gregory Pasko, a former officer in the Russian navy, who was jailed in November 1997 after revealing how military vessels were dumping radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. The awards were announced at a dinner hosted by television presenter Jon Snow. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 14 Cold realities of Russia's Navy WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2001 + While top brass plan to restore superpower status, others worry about hazards of decaying nuclear fleet. _By Scott Peterson _ Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor _VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIAN FAR EAST _ For Russia's Navy, the gap between hope and reality couldn't be wider in Vladivostok. Abandoned, half-sunken submarines crowd one of the city's bays, locked like beached Leviathans in the ice of the coldest winter in 50 years. Near one of the jutting relics, Viktor Kuzyanov, a former submariner, ice-fishes from a seat atop an upside-down enamel bucket. "We were the most powerful Navy in the world, and now there is nothing left," he laments. Russia's top Navy brass is developing a new naval doctrine that calls for transforming the country back into a strategic force on the high seas. But few specifics are known. After a decade of chronic underfunding, a shrinking fleet, low morale, and the dangerous decay of its nuclear-powered submarine force, skepticism runs deep in the West, and in Russia itself. _PAST GLORY:_ Tourists in Vladivostok visit an S-56 submarine that sank 10 enemy ships in World War II. Today's Navy faces challenges such as slashed funding and low morale. SCOTT PETERSON/LIAISON AGENCY Three Russian warships set out Jan. 15 toward India, in one of the longest naval deployments since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two-month mission "will demonstrate Russia's ability to proudly display its naval flag, [and] guarantee its national interests in the oceans," said a statement from the Pacific Fleet, based in this remote Far East port city. "I believe that this new century will see us leaving the docks and heading for the ocean," said Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov, the Navy's chief commander and a primary author of the doctrine, in remarks published in Moscow's Russia Journal. But dreams of reestablishing Russia's superpower Navy, analysts say, are a mixture of theater and illusion in a nation where impoverished sailors have taken to growing their own food, begging sponsorship from also-poor cities, and theft. "Obviously, to show its worth under [President Vladimir] Putin, the fleet feels the need to fly the flag," says Joshua Handler, a naval analyst at Princeton University in New Jersey. But the result is a "classic Potemkin village," in which a facade that all is well means that "none of the serious issues are being addressed. "The nuclear-submarine force is down to its last very thin mooring line," Mr. Handler says. "It's up against basic mathematics. The problem is they are trying to run a first-world fleet on a third-world economic base.... The Navy is walking on the edge of disaster here." For Mr. Kuzyanov, the ice fisherman, "the collapse of the Navy is a symbol of the collapse of the Soviet Union and all Russia." A red thermos of tea keeps the biting chill at bay while he twiddles his line, hoping for a catch. "It's very sad. It burdens my heart." It also burdens Western analysts and environmentalists, who worry about Russia's lack of money to deal with the risks presented by the aging and decommissioning of Navy ships - much less new hardware. Training and maintenance have been hardest hit, and Russian fleets have a history of dumping nuclear waste at sea, especially in fragile Arctic waters. The United States has spent $5 billion to safeguard nuclear material throughout the former Soviet Union - including a program to fund the safe dismantling of some 41 nuclear subs. The Kursk disaster, in which 118 sailors died when the sub sank Aug. 12, cast the spotlight on navy weaknesses and poverty. Newspapers were full of pictures later that month of the Russian aircraft carrier Kiev, which was sold to China for scrap. And hair-raising stories have emerged of sailors stealing critical parts to sell. "There is neither modernization nor rearming," says Grigory Pasko, a military journalist who spent 20 months in prison on treason charges for revealing the extent of Pacific Fleet polluting. "It is more profitable when a ship becomes old to make nails of it. The current slogan is 'Our fleet will return to the world ocean!' But this is only a slogan." Already 183 Russian nuclear submarines have been decommissioned, though some 143 are attack subs that won't be dismantled under existing US-funding programs, says James Clay Moltz, a nonproliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. The US Congress in August passed a law permitting possible expansion to include them, and Japan has contributed money as well. More than half of the subs still retain nuclear fuel, but have no crews and are "waiting for an accident to happen," says Mr. Moltz. While hunting for cash, he says, Russia seems interested in a deal with India to lease nuclear submarines begun in Soviet times. One, nearly complete, is still in dry-dock, but recently was loaded with nuclear fuel. President Putin has voiced strong support for the Navy, making a high-profile overnight stay on the sub Karelia in April. He also attended Admiral Kuroyedov's doctoral dissertation on naval strategy over the summer. But defense chiefs are debating whether to spend on strategic nuclear-missile forces or advanced conventional ones. Reining in fleet ambitions to match the shrinking overall military budget has proven difficult, with Russia moving - almost by default - to its historical strength as a land power. "They could get by with a coastal defense force. They have enough nuclear weapons on missiles in the middle of the continent," says Handler, the US-based naval analyst. "But instead they persist in trying to have a superpower, let alone a first world, Navy." For many Russians, though, such prestige is an article of faith. Fresh-faced sailors in thick black woolen coats still tour the S-56 submarine that sank 10 enemy ships during WWII. It sits beside the Pacific Fleet headquarters here. "I saw the Soviet Navy at its peak in the 1970s, when we controlled the oceans," recalls retired Maj.-Gen. Valeri Sofronov. "Back then, it was impossible to imagine the situation in the Navy as it is now." The new doctrine, he says, shows "people in government understand how bad the situation is. "Knowing the Russian soul," General Sofronov adds. "I'm sure these dark times will finish, and we will rebuild our great military and Navy again." [bullet] For further information: + The Russian Nuclear NavyBellona Foundation + 2001: a watershed for Russian defence?Janes + Russia Today Please Note: The Monitor does not endorse the sites behind these links. We offer them for your additional research. . Copyright 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All ***************************************************************** 15 AP: Government Reimburses Nuclear Weapons Contractors statenews.org - February 6, 2001 KATHERINE RIZZO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - When ailing workers or their survivors sue federal contractors over exposure to deadly chemicals or radioactive material at weapons plants, taxpayers routinely get the company's legal bill. The arrangement often frustrates those whom former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson liked to call Cold War veterans. "It's terrible,'' said Corrilla Kelly, the widow of a 27-year veteran of the Fernald uranium processing plant in southwest Ohio. "How do you fight all the money of the government?'' Her late husband, Herbert Kelly, spent eight years trying to get workers compensation for lung cancer he blamed on his workplace. He was challenged at every turn by government-reimbursed lawyers who suggested his illness was caused by cigarettes he had given up 15 years before getting sick. David Norgard, who worked at Brush Wellman Corp.'s Elmore, Ohio, plant and is suing the beryllium maker, said "it really did hit hard'' to learn the government reimburses the company for legal fees. "It's very upsetting,'' he said. "I think the company was responsible and the company ought to pay.'' Workers suing Brush contend the company could have done more to protect them from an incurable lung disease blamed on exposure to beryllium, a metal used in nuclear weapons production. Brush maintains that, through the years, it tried to protect the health of its workers based on what was known at the time. It also said it has helped employees with confirmed Chronic Beryllium Disease get state workers compensation. "To our knowledge, there is no current or former Brush Wellman employee with confirmed CBD who have not been successful in establishing a workers' compensation claim,'' said Hugh D. Hanes, the company's vice president for government relations. Some of the workers suing say that's not enough. Brush spokesman Patrick Carpenter said it was company policy not to discuss litigation, but that it defends lawsuits aggressively and pursues indemnification from the government whenever allowed by its contracts. For decades, military contracts have allowed companies that handle dangerous or radioactive material to be reimbursed for responding in court or before state workers compensation boards to employees who blame their illnesses on workplace exposure. Taxpayers also pick up the tab for lawyers to fight claims by weapons plant neighbors. How much the government has reimbursed Brush, other vendors, and the companies that ran its weapons plants during the Cold War era has not been documented. The Energy Department has no estimate, and because of the transition to the new administration could not make an official available to discuss the issue. The last time congressional auditors looked at the issue, in 1994, the General Accounting Office found that reimbursing contractors for the cost of litigation - not including the cost of fighting workers compensation claims - was $40 million in fiscal year 1992. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by lawyers for some of the workers showed that in just a handful of large cases, including a class action suit against the former operators of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, the government has paid outside lawyers more than $94 million. "In a normal lawsuit, the cost of litigation is part of the reasoning that goes into settling,'' said Louise Roselle, a Cincinnati lawyer who represents weapons plant workers and neighbors in lawsuits against the contractors. "These lawyers have no incentive to settle, and the government doesn't seem to care. We have four cases in this firm that are 10 years old or older. All four involve weapons plants,'' she said. "They could have settled a lot of cases for the money they've already spent.'' "It gives the contractors essentially unlimited resources to fight individual workers,'' agreed David Michaels, the Energy Department's top health official under Richardson. "But I could make the argument either way. The companies were paid lots of money to do this work, but their specifications were set by the federal government, which assumed a responsibility for what happened,'' he said. Some of the companies involved in the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb, worked for $1 a year but insisted on indemnification from lawsuits. Subsequent contractors were better paid for the dangerous, secretive work, but also were indemnified. In recent years, the Energy Department's legal office has reined in reimbursements for fighting workers with illness claims, Michaels said. A new law passed late last year also ordered the government to stop fighting claims from workers with specific illnesses that are easily connected to on-the-job exposure at a weapons plant. For others, the new law instructs the government to stop fighting the claims if special medical boards rule in the workers' favor. Those boards, have not yet been set up. Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All ***************************************************************** 16 Study to assess radiation emitted in fire _ Albuquerque Tribune Online: News Environment Department Risk Assessment Corp. _The Associated Press_ LOS ALAMOS -- Although Los Alamos National Laboratory officials insisted last summer that airborne radiation from the Cerro Grande Fire emanated from natural sources and posed no significant health risk, the state Environment Department is taking another look. The state agency announced Monday that it has hired a company to perform an independent assessment of risks to the public from exposure to radiation and chemicals that may have been released by the fire that ravaged areas of Los Alamos and the surrounding forest. The fire was started by officials as a prescribed burn in early May at Bandelier National Monument but blazed out of control, charring more than 47,000 acres in and around Los Alamos, including about 9,000 acres of laboratory property. The fire burned across several lab sites known to contain hazardous or radioactive contamination. "Based on current analyses, we believe that none of our neighbors or others who were in the path of the smoke were exposed to any significant additional health risk from laboratory contaminants as a result of the fire," Denny Erickson, director of the lab's Environment, Safety and Health Division, said last June. The Environment Department issued a statement Monday saying it has hired Risk Assessment Corp. to conduct a study. The company has done similar analyses at the former Rocky Flats weapons plant in Colorado and a nuclear site at Hanford, Wash., the statement says. The company also has done an analysis of radiation emissions at Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by anti-nuclear activists, the Energy Department said. Initially, lab officials said last year that monitoring data showed radiation normally emitted by burning vegetation measured two to 10 times above pre-fire measurements. The lab acknowledged in June that subsequent measurements were 10 to 20 times above background levels but still originated from natural sources in the vegetation, principally from the decay of natural radon. "We fully appreciate that people were concerned about the possibility of laboratory-derived pollutants in smoke released by the Cerro Grande Fire," Erickson said. The Environment Department statement also acknowledged those concerns Monday and said there would be opportunities for public participation throughout the assessment, with the first public meeting planned for late March. The state awarded the contract to Risk Assessment Corp. on Jan. 26, the agency said. The U.S. Energy Department gave the state Environment Department and an interagency task force $500,000 to commission the independent risk assessment. The Environment Department statement says the company "will assess risks to the public, emergency response personnel and firefighters from exposure to radionuclides and chemicals transported by air and surface water. The contractor will also summarize lessons learned from the fire regarding monitoring and public information efforts." Last June, Erickson said, air-monitoring data during the height of the fire between May 11 and May 14 showed spikes in alpha radiation particles 10 to 20 times higher than pre-fire periods. The data also showed increases of two to four times in beta radiation. Alpha, beta and gamma are types of radiation that can be emitted by either natural or man-made sources. Alpha is the least dangerous, gamma the worst. The lab said researchers found nothing in the gamma-radiation analysis to suggest "anything other than natural sources" and that uranium detected in samples appeared to be "from naturally occurring sources." Detection of nonradioactive heavy metals suspended in the smoke was at levels that "would not create any adverse effects on public health," the lab said. © The Albuquerque Tribune. ***************************************************************** 17 Waste tank rust at Hanford has experts puzzled This story was published Wed, Feb 7, 2001 _By John Stang_ _Herald staff writer_ Experts are scratching their heads over an unusually high amount of rust found within one of Hanford's huge underground radioactive waste tanks. "What we are doing is trying to get more information on it," said Dana Bryson, director of the operations projects division of the Department of Energy's Office of River Protection. That includes trying to find out if the double-shell tank's half-inch steel walls are getting thinner or weaker. The tank puzzling scientists is Tank AY-101 on the eastern side of the 200 East Area. DOE and its tank farms contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group have been inserting tiny robot vehicles equipped with video cameras and magnetic treads into the 2-foot-wide gaps between the inner and outer walls of the site's 28 double-shell tanks. Hanford has 53 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes, which it wants to eventually move from 149 older, leak-prone single-shell tanks to 28 newer and theoretically safer double-shell tanks. Meanwhile, the state of Washington has pressured Hanford to closely monitor how safe the double-shell tanks really are. Concerns have been surfacing in Hanford circles about the lifespans of the double-shell tanks before they can potentially leak. Hanford's monitoring includes sending the robot vehicles into the narrow gaps, which are at least 30 feet deep, to see if those walls could be weakening. In its latest round of checks, CH2M Hill sent the robots into the gap areas in seven double-shell tanks and found small amounts of rust on the inner and outer walls facing the gaps. But on the eighth tank, AY-101, the robot cameras found significant patches of rust, much more than what was found in the other tanks. Hanford's experts then took a look at previous checks conducted within Tank AY-101's gap areas. In 1992, very little rust was found in the gaps on the tank's north and south sides. More, but not abnormal amounts, of rust were found in the same areas in 1999. The latest inspection was completed Jan. 29 in the gap on the tank's west side to show major amounts of rust, said Dale Allan, CH2M Hill's double-shell tank and waste feed delivery project manager. That prompted CH2M Hill to file an "off-normal" report -- the lowest of three levels of urgency -- with DOE. So far, no indications have shown up of cracks or leaks in the tank's walls, Allan and Bryson said. CH2M Hill and DOE decided not to add more wastes to the tank until the excessive rust is understood. Hanford has limited the depth of AY-101's wastes to less than 6 1/2 feet. The 34-year-old Tank AY-101 is about 30 feet deep and can hold 1.16 million gallons of wastes. Right now, it contains radioactive sludge 3 feet deep on the bottom, topped by 3 feet of radioactive liquid -- overall totaling about 165,000 gallons. The heavy rust patches were found near the top of the outside of inner tank wall. Some rust was also found on the inner side of the outer wall. Bryson and Allan said the tank's low heat and air flow situations are possible contributors to the heavy rust patches. Hanford plans to spend the next two months sending robotic ultrasonic devices into Tank AY-101's gap areas to measure the thicknesses of the walls, so CH2M Hill and DOE can accurately track future corrosion and possible thinning of the walls. After the ultrasonic surveys, Bryson and Allan predicted another 1 1/2 months of studies to see if Hanford should worry about Tank AY-101's walls. _Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************