***************************************************************** 09/07/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.215 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Whistle-Blower Tip Triggers Investigation of Charlotte, N.C.-Based Power Firm 2 Guinn, Goodman wow Yucca crowd, and mayor gets bonus for brevity 3 Legal protection in nuclear accidents debated 4 Angry Nevadans Pack Yucca Mountain Hearing 5 Greens Going Nuclear 6 Reid calls for another Yucca hearing 7 DOE lobbies for renewal of insurance plan 8 O'Donnell misses out on interim committees 9 State Appeals Court Reverses Key Portions of Lower Court Ruling 10 Industry Joins in UES Debate - 11 Nuclear council returns with plutonium issue 12 Daily Events Report 13 IAEA Daily Press Review 14 Carolinas regulators want Duke Power audit 15 Energy Bill Doesn't Mention Arctic 16 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 01.36 | 29 August - 4 September 2001 17 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Friday, September 07, 2001 18 Con Edison Sells Indian Point 2, Its Last Major Electricity Plant 19 British Nuclear Fuels makes the case for new generation of reactors 20 White House Quiet on Cheney, Energy 21 BNFL pushes government for nuclear policy change 22 FSB hides the traces of their crime 23 Response will range over energy issues 24 Nevadans Trash Nuclear Mountain Storage Plan 25 Public Input Squelched at Yucca Mountain Hearing 26 Court opens door for state to pay damages in Ward Valley case 27 GAO May Sue White House to Get Info 28 GAO May Sue for Energy Info 29 President Bush supports the polluters' wish list 30 UK 'needs another 20 nuclear stations' 31 YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Reid wants DOE chief in Nevada NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 China denies violating nuclear agreement -- 2 Atomic museum changing its target 3 China nuclear gambit shows danger of Bush missile shield 4 W. should stick to sandwiches! 5 Israel Presses Russia To Abandon Nuclear Ties With Iran -- 6 The White House has started a new arms race using old, Cold War logic. 7 Army to connect IAAP neighbors to Rathbun water 8 Columbia County man complains of radiation 9 Bush Abandoning RECA 10 China's Nuclear Agenda 11 OUR OPINIONS: Nukes to proliferate once more 12 Delegation urges plan for plutonium at SRS 13 STRICKLAND URGES TAFT ADMINISTRATION TO ACCEPT FEDERAL APPROVAL 14 George W.'s nuclear policy is bordering on lunacy at this point. 15 Beryllium makers not liable for ill effects **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Whistle-Blower Tip Triggers Investigation of Charlotte, N.C.-Based Power Firm Ted Reed , The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune ( September 07, 2001 ) Sep. 6--A tip by an employee whistle-blower has triggered a two-state investigation into whether Duke Power Co. has overcharged Carolinas ratepayers by more than $100 million since 1998. The S.C. Public Service Commission, the N.C. Utilities Commission and the N.C. Public Staff said Wednesday they were investigating accusations of accounting irregularities by the Carolinas' largest utility, which provides electricity to about 2million customers in the two states. The agencies will hire an independent auditor to review more than 3,500 documents Duke has turned over. Never before have Carolinas regulators sought a third-party audit of Duke, said a Duke spokesman. Duke acknowledged Wednesday that it overcharged ratepayers by $12.75 million. But spokesman Joe Maher said, "Any allegation that we were deliberately misclassifying funds, that is not true." The primary accusation is that Duke credited stockholders with $84.5 million in insurance rebates between 1998 and 2000. The money should have gone to ratepayers and could have resulted in a rate reduction, said Gary Walsh, executive director of the S.C. commission. The refund came from a company that insures nuclear plants. Asked if Duke would refund money to its ratepayers, Maher responded: "You do what the regulators tell you to do." Walsh also said Duke charged ratepayers for $15 million in executive compensation in 1998, after routinely charging shareholders for such expenses in previous years. "This is as serious a matter as I have encountered during my 30 years at the commission, not only because of the magnitude of the dollars, but also because a plan was orchestrated to do this," Walsh said in an interview Wednesday. "We rely on our power companies when they report earnings to do it consistent with our commission orders," he said. "Clearly, this was not consistent with our orders." Walsh said Duke changed its procedures after the commission's 1998 decision to lower rates for another utility, South Carolina Electric &Gas, after that utility exceeded its allowed rate of return by $26 million. Regulators allow Carolinas utilities varying rates of return on investment, usually about 12 percent. N.C. regulators said they, too, are investigating Duke but would provide no details. Duke said Wednesday it reviewed allegations of 14 irregularities and found that it made mistakes in four cases. In a fifth case, involving the insurance rebate, Duke said it followed what it believed was a standard industry practice, but probably will change its practice this year. Maher said Duke is assisting in the commissions' review. "Anytime there is an allegation that we have not been paying attention to the regulatory accounting guidelines, it's a serious thing," he said. The accounting decisions were made in Duke Power's accounting and risk-management departments, a couple of levels below President Bill Coley, Maher said. "These issues are not monumental in terms of accounting," he said. "What makes them visible is the mistakes. We're perfectly willing to correct mistakes." In its report, Duke concluded it mistakenly overcharged ratepayers about $12.75 million, including $4.8 million in executive compensation, $5 million to close a merchandise sales business, $1.2 million to study four hydroelectric projects and $1.75 million for an insurance payment. Duke Energy, the parent company of Duke Power, also has been under scrutiny in California, where it has been accused of overcharging for power and manipulating power supplies to generate higher profits. The company has denied those charges. Walsh said claims of accounting irregularities at Duke came to his attention in June, when he was contacted by an anonymous Duke employee, who still works for the company. Walsh had a series of conversations with the employee, who revealed his identity and provided documents during a face-to-face meeting July 19. Walsh then brought N.C. regulators into the talks. In August, officials of the two commissions met with Duke, which began an internal investigation. The employee also anonymously called a Duke ethics line on July 16 to report the alleged discrepancies. He has since talked with outside lawyers retained by Duke to ensure that its ethics standards remain high, Maher said, noting that Duke has a "non-retaliation policy" to protect employee whistle-blowers. To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotte.com (c) 2001, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. ***************************************************************** 2 Guinn, Goodman wow Yucca crowd, and mayor gets bonus for brevity LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: COLUMN: John L. Smith Friday, September 07, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal COLUMN: John L. Smith If Wednesday's lengthy and surreal hearing on the Department of Energy's plan to develop a high-level nuclear waste repository proved nothing else, it showed that Gov. Kenny Guinn and his possible challenger, Mayor Oscar Goodman, can win over a partisan crowd. It turns out both are opposed to the Yucca project. Surprise, surprise. Guinn received the evening's quickest standing ovation after leading off the DOE roast with a stern admonishment of the process that figures to bring nuke waste to Nevada by 2010. Guinn can mangle a sentence, but he hit all the right notes and in the end rode a wave of applause. The loudest ovation was reserved for Goodman, who spoke briefly and flashed his badge in his now-patented promise to arrest anyone caught transporting high-level nuclear waste through the city. In the last six months, the man has flashed his badge more than Joe Friday. Most cheered Goodman's message. Surely others applauded his brevity. NUKE BUMP: Jenney Sartin, public information officer for Clark County's Nuclear Waste Division, has been told by two local groups to keep her informed views on the subject of the Yucca Mountain Project to herself. The Republican Men's Club and the Uptown Kiwanis recently rejected her attempts to get equal time at meetings in which the organizations welcomed speakers from the pro-Yucca perspective, including former Nevada Gov. Bob List, Sartin says. It's their right to be closed-minded, but Sartin says it makes her wonder what they're afraid of. "I'd like to think that we're a democracy and people are entitled to make decisions," Sartin says. "It was our hope to provide information to allow people to make informed decisions." The Clark County Commission has been a consistent critic of the DOE project. BIG MAC: A jury continued its deliberations Thursday in the Santa Ana trial of Michael Woods, who is charged with the 1989 murder of Horace "Big Mac" McKenna, an operator of a topless cabaret in California. The trial shed some light on the relationship between Woods and former associate-turned-prosecution witness Dave Amos with reputed Las Vegas mob figure Vinny Faraci. The Faraci link was mentioned several times throughout the proceedings, sources close to the case say. DIETL LAWSUIT: Richard "Bo" Dietl recently filed a lawsuit accusing former Mirage Resorts security executives Gene Harding and Tom Sheer of violating his privacy rights by improperly obtaining his confidential IRS files. The alleged file pilfering is the subject of a federal investigation. Now word is circulating that both men are shopping for attorneys. Harding currently works for Konami, a Japanese gaming company with offices in Las Vegas and a Nevada license. SAN GENNARO FEAST: Who says Las Vegas has no traditions? Not Anthony Palmisano, who operates the annual San Gennaro Feast and Las Vegas Street Fair. The event runs from Wednesday through Sept. 16 on Flamingo Road across from the Gold Coast. The Italian food extravaganza, which manages to include Mexican and Hawaiian themes, has been run by Palmisano's family for the better part of a generation. Fans of the city's eclectic entertainment scene will be impressed by the variety of acts, ranging from Tony Sacca and Sandy Hackett to Denise Clemente and John Earl's Boogieman Band. ON THE BOULEVARD: A Yucca meeting one-liner: "Maybe they should store the nuclear waste on the casino floor of the Aladdin. Humans never visit there." ... Former Clark County GOP Chairman George Harris surprised more than a few of his conservative colleagues Wednesday night when he spoke against the Yucca Mountain Project. Harris called the plan bad for business and compared the potential deadly media fallout to the economic woes suffered by Europe in the wake of mad cow disease. ... An autographed photo of Goodman is listed on eBay with a $9.95 purchase price. No buyers yet. ... Las Vegas entertainer and Sinatra pal Sonny King has gained guru status among documentary filmmakers, producers and fans of the city's golden age, so much so that he has been forced to get a privately listed phone number. Success is one thing, but a guy in his 70s has to get some sleep once in a while. Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@lvrj.com or call him at 383-0295. webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 3 Legal protection in nuclear accidents debated LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Friday, September 07, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal House energy committee discusses renewal of Price-Anderson Act, which is set to expire in August By STEVE TETREAULT DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Previewing an energy fight that could take place later this year in Congress, lawmakers on Thursday debated whether Energy Department contractors should continue to enjoy broad protection against lawsuits if they cause nuclear accidents. Leaders of the House's energy committee have set a goal to pass legislation this year to renew the Price-Anderson Act, the government-backed insurance program covering nuclear power catastrophes. The law, renewed three times since it was created in 1957, is set to expire again in August. As Congress begins its work, one area of controversy focuses on provisions in the law that indemnify Energy Department contractors that work with nuclear weapons, perform cleanup at former weapons plants and might someday haul radioactive waste to a proposed repository in Nevada. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said the law shields DOE contractors "from any and all public liability in connection with nuclear activities -- even with accidents resulting from a contractor's bad faith, reckless behavior, gross negligence or willful misconduct." "This confers upon DOE contractors a special status, which other federal contractors can only envy," he said. Companies that work on nuclear powered submarines for the Navy or handle rocket fuel for NASA don't enjoy that level of legal protection, he said. Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., countered the law "has worked well. Subjecting it to amendments would make nuclear efforts more costly and less safe." Nevada leaders have taken an interest in the bill, which could have direct and indirect effects in the state. Renewal of the Price-Anderson law would give nuclear utilities the financial assurances they seek to build more power plants, eventually creating more nuclear waste and confirming the need for a repository being proposed at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Also, companies hired by the Energy Department to transport nuclear waste cross country to a Nevada repository would be covered by the liability shield, said Bob Loux, director of the state Nuclear Projects Agency. Loux said contractors moving highly radioactive waste from trucks or trains into a repository also would be shielded if carelessness resulted in a catastrophic accident. At a subcommittee hearing Thursday, several Democrats said they will try to change the law. One idea floated would allow only the Justice Department to sue safety violators and put caps on damages that could be collected. Critics of the contractor protection said companies have less reason to operate safely if they are not fearful of getting sued. Francis Blake, Energy Department deputy secretary, said the lawsuit shield is needed to entice companies to work hazardous jobs for the department. Legal fallout from a catastrophic nuclear accident would bankrupt most all firms, he said. "If you are running a company, the issue of a nuclear incident would threaten the viability of your company," Blake said. Blake said the Bush administration opposes all efforts to eliminate or water down contractor protections. "If Congress fails to reauthorize Price-Anderson, we risk losing some of the best contractors that DOE relies on," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. While energy contractors can't be sued, they can be fined, Blake said. He said the Energy Department has fined about 65 firms a total $6 million over the past five years for nuclear safety violations. "We believe that is the more effective avenue," he said. "Also there's no reasonable cost-effective alternatives." webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 4 Angry Nevadans Pack Yucca Mountain Hearing Environment News Service: By Sunny Lewis LAS VEGAS, Nevada, September 6, 2001 (ENS) - Nevadans will not accept the nation's high-level nuclear waste being dumped at Yucca Mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Hundreds of angry people showed up at a Department of Energy public hearing in Las Vegas last night to express their objections. Simultaneous hearings were held in Carson City, Elko and Reno. Led by Governor Kenny Guinn and the entire Nevada Congressional delegation, who testified via satellite hookup from Washington, DC, speakers continued until well after midnight. A few expressed support for the construction of the permanent nuclear waste repository, but the overwhelming majority of the crowd was hostile to the Department of Energy (DOE) proposal. The DOE proposes to haul 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods and other high level radioactive waste from 70 storage sites in 46 states by road and rail to Yucca Mountain, the only site being considered for its permanent storage. [Guinn] Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, a Republican, delivers a grim, determined challenge to the Bush administration. (Photos © Sunny Lewis unless otherwise credited) Governor Guinn characterized the outpouring of opposition by the crowd in a positive light. "This is honest, constructive and impassioned public input on an issue that is paramount to the health and safety of every Nevadan, and every American whose home, school or place of business sits along the proposed paths that the deadliest substance on Earth, if DOE has its way, will be brought to Nevada." The governor and the overflow crowd expressed anger that the hearing was called with only a few days notice and before an environmental impact statement has been filed. The scientific evidence is not complete, Guinn said, yet the DOE has called this meeting to gather public comment on that evidence "prematurely" and over our "reasonable and faithful objections." He pledged to complain about the process in letters to President George W. Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "This fight transcends party affiliations, transcends socio-economic class, race or gender and galvanizes all Nevadans from every corner of the state in opposition," the governor said to a standing ovation. "We in Nevada will not stand for it." [Reid] Nevada Senator Harry Reid (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) Senator Harry Reid, a Democrat, called the hearing "unfair from the beginning." He criticized Abraham for failing to attend the Nevada hearings and charged the Bush administration with rushing Yucca Mountain through by limiting the public comment period to an additional 15 days instead of the 60 day extension requested by the Nevada Congressional delegation. Public comments on the possible recommendation of Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear dump are now due by October 5. Reid called transportation of the nuclear waste the most difficult issue. "It's in everybody's backyard," he said. "The Department of Energy won't tell us what railways they're going to use, what highways they're going to use because they know they would have to have an environmental impact statement, which I don't think they can get approved." Reid said the waste should be left where it is and dealt with in those locations. Senator John Ensign, a Republican, expressed outrage and said the hearing process "may be technically legal, it is certainly not the morally right way to handle these hearings." Ensign pointed out that DOE scientists differ from "outside scientists" on the safety of the Yucca Mountain proposal, and criticized the agency for holding the hearings before an official investigation into a possible conflict of interest on the part of one of its contractors is concluded. Warning that Yucca Mountain would cost $60 billion dollars, making it the "most expensive construction project in the history of the world," Ensign said the safest and cheapest way to handle the spent nuclear fuel would be to put it in dry cask storage on the sites where it is currently located. Dry cask storage is "good for 100 years," Ensign said which would give scientists time to explore promising new nuclear waste "recycling" technologies that would reduce the volume of the waste and the length of time it would be radioactive. Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons called the Yucca Mountain plan "a misguided policy," and said "disaster is a very real possibility." Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley, a Democrat, said the DOE's scientific evaluation concerning the repository's ability to safely contain the waste was "incredibly optimistic," and conformed only to the "lowest possible standards." The government should begin the decommissioning of Yucca Mountain, she said, because "Nevadans don't want this project." Western Shoshone native leader Corbin Harney told the hearing that his people had enjoyed the lands which include Yucca Mountain for hundreds of years until the federal government began atomic weapons testing on Shoshone lands. He accused the DOE of "telling lies after lies." [Harney] Western Shoshone leader Corbin Harney "Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to put any kind of nuclear waste," Harney said. "It's not a mountain to begin with, like they've been telling us, it's rolling hill. That's a moving mountain," said Harney. "It's got a snake there, it's going to continually move." "There are seven volcanic buttes there," Harney warned. "Underneath it is hot water that's causing a lot of frictions in that tunnel, and today they're telling you it's not dangerous. But how come, if it's not dangerous, many, many of my people have died from cancer caused by radiation." The crowd relentlessly heckled Gary Sandquist, a professor of mechanical engineering from the University of Utah who has spent 40 years monitoring nuclear weapons testing. During a tense few moments, moderator Barry Lawson, threatened to close the public hearing if the angry shouts did not stop, and some order was restored. Sandquist tried to convince the hostile audience that in what he called "this energy crisis" Americans need electricity, and that because 20 percent of the nation's power is generated by nuclear power plants, "we must store the nuclear fuel somewhere." Yucca Mountain is the best place to store it, he maintained in the face of hisses and boos. [crowd] Part of the standing room only crowd Speaker Bill Vasconi, co-chairman of the non-profit Nevada Nuclear Waste Study Committee, has worked for 17 years at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. He said Nevada should accept as a fact that Yucca Mountain will be the nation's nuclear repository and begin extracting financial concessions from the federal government. He envisioned federal funding for nuclear energy research centers and other educational institutions. The crowd reserved its loudest cheers for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman who said he is "the happiest mayor in the world" and wants to stay that way without worrying that a truck on its way to Yucca Mountain is going to turn over in Las Vegas spilling radioactive waste. Mayor Goodman described his inspection visit to Yucca Mountain in the company of two DOE officials. "After we viewed the site, I said to them, 'Can you tell me with any kind of certainty that this nuclear repository is safe?' He quoted one of the officials, Dr. Ritkin, as saying, "No one could ever say that with certainty." [Goodman] Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Gooodman said he will personally arrest any driver of a nuclear waste truck in his city. "Well if they can't tell us that we're safe, how dare they even consider bringing this crap here?" Goodman challenged. "If there is a spill, the driver doesn't have to worry because he's wearing a uniform, but the people around here within 42 square miles are having carcinogens put into the air that can give them cancer and kill them, and that's not going to take place as long as I'm the mayor of Las Vegas." Additional hearings will be held on September 12 in Amargosa Valley, adjacent to Yucca Mountain, and on September 13 in Pahrump, Nevada. The Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation, released August 21, and the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report, release May 7, are available on the Yucca Mountain Project website at: http://www.ymp.gov/ Public comments are being accepted on the Yucca Mountain Project website or by mail or fax to: Carol Hanlon, S Products Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, P.O. Box 30307 M/S 025, North Las Vegas, NV 89036-0707. Fax: 1-800-967-0739. Further technical information about Yucca Mountain is available at the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board website at: http://www.nwtrb.gov/ Environmental Press Releases ***************************************************************** 5 Greens Going Nuclear Marc Morano, CNSNews.com Friday, Sept. 7, 2001 Environmentalists have traditionally viewed nuclear energy as anathema to a healthy planet. But a growing number in today's environmental movement are expanding what it means to be green by supporting nuclear energy. Some highly regarded environmentalists are looking to nuclear power to help solve what they see as Earth's greatest ecological threat: the theory of global warming caused by humans. Among those promoting or advocating a re-examination of nuclear energy are French physicist Bruno Comby; former Clinton administration environmental adviser Jerry Mahlman; famed environmental leader James Lovelock; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Clinton's former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Nuclear energy is a cleaner energy source than fossil fuels but has suffered from the stigma of radioactive waste, a "not in my backyard" sentiment relating to nuclear plant location and waste storage, and the risk of nuclear incidents. But changes within the climate change debate and the nuclear power industry have resulted in changes in how more environmentalists and political liberals are warming to the idea of a fission-powered future. The Greening of Nuclear Power The group Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, headed by French author and physicist Bruno Comby, believes it makes sense for environmentalists to embrace nuclear energy. "There isn't any choice. The only question is how it's going to be done," said Comby, whose organization includes prominent environmentalist James Lovelock, a leader in the controversial "all species are equal" movement. Comby said his group was formed to bring nuclear advocates and environmentalists together to promote nuclear power as the best hope to fight energy shortages and climate change. The French physicist also believes a worldwide conversion to more nuclear power can be done expeditiously, and he points to his native country as an example. According to Comby, France went from zero percent nuclear energy production in 1973 to near 100 percent today. "Any other country that has the financial resources can also do it in 25 years, and having the financial resources is a question of commitment," said Comby, adding that nuclear power is "a very economical source of energy." Also calling for increased consideration of nuclear power is Princeton University scientist Dr. Jerry Mahlman, a former National Oceanic &Atmospheric Administration official, and environmental adviser to the Clinton administration. Mahlman has called for "a re-examination" of nuclear power in light of the growing need for cleaner emissions. "Twenty years ago, we weren't so worried about the cost of not using nuclear fission energy," said Mahlman. "The fact that countries like France and Japan have gone seriously into [nuclear power] without major environmental problems suggests that the U.S. overreacted 20 years ago." Mahlman's leanings toward nuclear power are fueled by his concerns about global warming. He believes climate change treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol are insufficient to solve the problem, telling Science magazine in 1997 that "it might take another 30 Kyoto's over the next century" to deal with global warming. So convinced is Mahlman about the threat of global warming, he told CNSNews.com that any skepticism of human-caused global warming is "baloney," saying that going nuclear may be the preferred option to combat the real or perceived buildup of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Radical Nuclear Policy Among the more unlikely supporters of nuclear power is James Lovelock, considered by many environmentalists as the "guru of the greens." Among his credits in the environmental movement is the "Gaia Theory." Named after the Greek goddess of Earth, the Gaia theory states that "earth is a living organism and all species are equal; it does not place man above the other species, it's just one of the living species on the planet," explained Comby. Lovelock's Gaia Theory, first promulgated in the 1970s, has become the ideological foundation of many of today's environmental laws, including endangered-species regulations and the philosophical thrust behind the animal rights movement. Lovelock is also considered to be the inspiration for Rachel Carson's best-selling 1962 book "Silent Spring," which has been credited with starting the modern environmental movement. While his green bona fides are beyond reproach, Lovelock, 82, lamented in the preface to Comby's book "Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy," that future generations would see the harm of global warming and "reflect regretfully that they could have avoided their miseries," by greater reliance on nuclear energy. He cautions, "I hope that it is not too late for the world to emulate France and make nuclear power our principle source of energy." So enthusiastic is Lovelock about nuclear energy, he even advocates the storage of nuclear waste in natural settings, making them too toxic to support human development. Lovelock stated in his writings earlier this year that "nuclear power, although potentially harmful to people, is a negligible danger to the planet," and asserts that "natural ecosystems can stand levels of continuous radiation that would be intolerable in a city." He notes that nuclear radiation can actually benefit plant and animal life. He claims the land surrounding Russia's Chernobyl nuclear plant, which experienced the world's worst nuclear reactor accident in 1986, "is now rich in wildlife, much more so than neighboring populated areas." He sees disposal of nuclear waste as an opportunity to promote forest conservation. "I wonder if instead we should use it as an incorruptible guardian of the beautiful places on Earth. Who would dare cut down a forest in which was the storage place of nuclear ash?" asked Lovelock. But Lovelock's idea of preserving wild lands with radioactive waste is shared by few. Greenpeace International spokesman Damon Moglen called Lovelock's idea of forest conservation via nuclear waste "ludicrous." "Anybody who thinks Chernobyl has somehow positively effected the environment needs a head cleaning", said Moglen. He added that Lovelock's idea to store nuclear waste in the forests in order to discourage development was "just foolhardy, utterly foolhardy." Greening or Glowing? In the political arena, old rules of environmentalism are also falling by the wayside. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, one of the Senate's most prominent environmentalists, is among those willing to give nuclear power a fresh look. Kerry, who received a rating of 86 from the League of Conservation Voters in 2000, down from a rating of 100 the year before, boasts on his Web site that he led the 1993 fight in the Senate to kill the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor program, which he called "environmentally unsafe technology." However, Kerry recently has been changing his tune. "I will not dismiss the potential for technology to solve the existing problems of nuclear power," said Kerry in a statement to CNSNews.com. "I approach the debate with an open mind and do not discount any technology or policy out of hand" Adding further to this political mix of greens reassessing nuclear energy is former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who came out strongly in favor of nuclear energy in May. At the annual meeting of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry advocacy group, Babbitt waded into the controversial issue of using the area around Yucca Mountain, Nev., as a nuclear waste repository, saying, "It's a safe, solid geologic repository," and described environmentalists opposed to nuclear energy as "deeply irrational." Some anti-nuclear environmentalists are baffled by this emerging coalition of pro-nuclear greens like Babbitt. "People who call themselves environmentalists - it confuses me as to why they would say nuclear is the answer," said Debbie Boger, described as an energy expert with the Sierra Club. While she acknowledges that it's "absolutely true" the nuclear industry has improved its safety record, Boger worries about the "potential for catastrophic accidents," and asks, "What kind of risks are you willing to take for that?" Some also see another issue: the threat of pro-nuclear greens derailing a broader environmental movement. Moglen of Greenpeace believes support of nuclear power by environmentalists risks undermining the broader agenda of the green movement. "With all respect to [nuclear converts], they should not be held up as the middle, they should be held up as the periphery," said Moglen. "We should not be sidetracked into talking about nuclear. It's irreverent in the climate change debate." On the question of fossil fuel alternatives, Moglen and others support wind and solar power, but Comby discounts such alternatives. "It is unrealistic to look at renewable resources. They are too expensive," he said, adding that solar and wind power aren't available 24 hours a day. Just Say 'Oui' to Nuclear Power Comby and other greens backing increased nuclear power often point to France as an example of how reactors have been used to provide electricity without negative effects on the environment. In fact, Comby noted that France has so much nuclear-generated energy, it exports much of its surplus power to neighboring countries, which have strict anti-nuclear policies. "So they are anti-nuclear and they end up buying nuclear electricity coming from France because they don't have enough," explained Comby, referring to Italy, Spain and Switzerland. When asked if the U.S. should model its energy infrastructure after France, Boger responded: "France has their own problems. They eat frog legs in France too. Just because they're doing it, we shouldn't follow in their footsteps." For its part, the nuclear energy industry welcomes green converts into the fold. "It's about time," said Chandler van Orman, an official with the Nuclear Energy Institute, a pro-nuclear group. "Nuclear power is clean, safe and reliable and it's affordable. Anyone interested in clean air or climate change has to look at nuclear as part of the solution." Regarding fission-based energy, the American nuclear industry is philosophically much closer to Lovelock than many of his environmental contemporaries, a fact he lamented to the London Independent. "I find that side of the green movement that considers everything chemical as harmful, produced by a nasty organization thinking only of its profits and never of the good of people or humankind, as rather absurd," said Lovelock. But many environmentalists are not persuaded by Lovelock and like-minded greens, and Moglen continues pressing the case for lifestyle changes rather than increases in nuclear power. "The U.S. needs to consider what the global impact is of driving SUVs and of this kind of extraordinary over consumptive attitude that we have gotten ourselves into," argued Moglen. Lovelock fired back, saying his fellow environmentalists "can't really be green without being involved with science." Copyright CNSNews.com ***************************************************************** 6 Reid calls for another Yucca hearing Las Vegas SUN September 07, 2001 By Mary Manning <> and Benjamin Grove The Energy Department should hold at least one additional public hearing in Las Vegas on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste plan, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., today wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Reid planned to send the letter today. Reid wrote that the first of three planned hearings in Nevada held Wednesday -- a tense, 8 1/2-hour meeting -- did not allow residents a fair chance to speak, Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said today. Reid also planned to write that Abraham's absence was "conspicuous." Reid had invited him. Abraham had cited a scheduling conflict. "I hope to get the entire delegation to ask Abraham for a full day of hearings," Reid said. "Why not hold hearings over a day, or even extend them over several days so more people can be heard?" As it stands, the DOE plans two more hearings Sept. 12 in Amargosa Valley and Sept. 13 in Pahrump, both from 5 to 9 p.m. The DOE is accepting written public comments until Oct. 5. But Reid wants a fourth hearing, possibly over two days, again held in Las Vegas. Nevada's four-member delegation is still fuming over the DOE-hosted Wednesday meeting that stretched past 2 a.m. The meeting at the DOE's Nevada Operations Office in North Las Vegas attracted more than 500 residents, and 133 testified. Nevada officials said the hearing was a debacle because so many people did not get to speak. About 100 people left by 10 p.m. because they would not be heard before midnight. Nevada officials objected to pro-Yucca speakers, some from out of state, speaking early, taking up the time of anti-Yucca Nevada residents. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., today said the Department of Energy, which manages the proposed Yucca project, should hold 10 meetings in Nevada and extend the comment period 60 days or more. "Nevadans need to be heard on this issue," Gibbons said. At issue is the controversial, DOE-managed plan to begin burying the nation's high-level nuclear waste -- 77,000 tons -- at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, by 2010 at the earliest. The plan has not been approved by the president, Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nevada officials oppose the Yucca plan. Clark County officials helped get people to the meeting with free shuttle buses that left the Clark County Government Center. The buses returned at about 10 p.m., one reason some people left early. Many people signed up to speak after they arrived. The speakers who spoke first had called in to get on the speaker's list by using a 1-800-number that appeared in newspaper advertisements about the meeting. Six of the first nine speakers favored the plan to bury waste in Nevada. "When I look back at the testimony provided, I found it quite odd that of the first nine people to speak, six were in favor of Yucca Mountain," Gibbons said. "I have never been to a town hall meetings in Nevada where two-thirds of the people were in favor of Yucca Mountain." Two Yucca proponents who spoke were Rod McCullum, a project manager for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's top lobby group, and Utah Prof. Gary Sandquist, who NEI asked to speak on its behalf. Sandquist paid his own way to the hearing, he said. Jerry Kuhaida, mayor of Oak Ridge, Tenn., where the DOE built nuclear weapons during the Cold War, also spoke in favor of the repository. "We believe that we have a right to be participants in the political process just as the residents of Nevada obviously do," NEI spokesman Steve Kerekes said today. "We're living by the same rules as everybody else." The NEI believes Yucca Mountain is suitable to accept commercial spent fuel from 103 reactors across the country, McCullum said. Thousands of scientists -- "the most credible minds we have" -- have studied Yucca Mountain for 20 years, he said. Radiation levels from the buried waste would be equal to that incurred from eating 20 bananas a year or flying from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, he said. "Your tourist industry will not suffer," McCullum said. "That is a myth. Yucca Mountain is the right thing to do. It is the responsible thing to do." Loud hisses and boos from the crowd drowned out further comments by McCullum. Five hours into the hearing just 36 people -- many of whom were elected officials -- had used their allotted five minutes to express concerns about the controversial repository project. Reid on Thursday also sent a letter to President Bush urging him to send Abraham to one of the Nevada meetings. "The hearing last night was a poor attempt to gauge public sentiment in Nevada regarding the proposed Yucca Mountain repository," Reid wrote to Bush, noting the meeting site was hard to access, a gauntlet of guards and fences intimidated those trying to reach the hearing, and facilities were crammed with waiting speakers. The DOE already has extended the comment period to Oct. 5, a 15-day extension. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., called that "a joke." She said the comment period should be lengthened as long as it takes to hold "the maximum number of hearings possible." Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he would like to have another hearing in Las Vegas after the DOE releases key reports, such as a final environmental impact statement; detailed, finalized transportation routes; and the findings of Inspector General's investigations into whether a law firm hired by the DOE to review Yucca paperwork had a conflict of interest by also acting as a paid lobbyist for NEI. "I think all of us feel that the DOE has been completely biased in everything it has done up to the point that the people in the state of Nevada don't trust them, and for good reason," Ensign said. Lake Barrett, acting director of the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, listened to testimonials through the night without saying a word. DOE officials typically do not comment during public hearings. "It was a very interesting hearing," he said as he dashed through sliding glass doors at the North Las Vegas building, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Also among those in attendance at the meeting was former Gov. Robert List, hired last month by NEI as a consultant to work with Nevada businesses and labor unions. List said he does not want a Yucca repository, unless it is proven scientifically safe. However, if the nuclear waste comes to Nevada, officials should at least talk about benefits, he said. List said he had not made any arrangements between NEI and any of the pro-repository speakers. "I'm hear to listen," he said before Wednesday's hearing. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 7 DOE lobbies for renewal of insurance plan Las Vegas SUN September 07, 2001 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- Congress needs to quickly renew a government plan that makes taxpayers -- not utility companies -- liable for catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents if cleanup costs spiral out of control, an Energy Department official told a House panel this week. Renewing the government insurance plan is a key to future proposals for constructing new nuclear power plants in America because private insurance companies won't insure them, experts have said. The 44-year-old insurance plan, called the Price-Anderson Act, was originally designed as temporary government aid, but it "works well and should be renewed by this Congress," Deputy Energy Secretary Francis Blake told the House panel. The act protects more than power companies -- it also shields DOE's private contractors from paying sky-high cleanup costs for an accident at a government nuclear research or waste site. The plan also makes taxpayers potentially liable for an accident involving a truck or train hauling nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain for permanent storage. A plan to bury the nation's high-level waste at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as early as 2010, has not been approved. The Yucca project is managed by the DOE. "The nuclear industry is the only industry in America that is absolved of any guilt or liability for any accident, even if it is their own fault," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who opposes renewing Price-Anderson. Still, renewing Price-Anderson is said to have majority support in Congress. Lawmakers have renewed it three times since its inception. The act works like this: nuclear power companies that own the nation's 106 commercial nuclear reactors (three are inactive) have insurance policies that require them to pay a maximum of only $200 million in damages for a nuclear reactor accident. If a cleanup cost more than $200 million, owners of the other 105 reactors agree to chip in up to about $88 million per reactor. If an accident was so bad that each of the 105 reactors anted up their $88 million share, it would add up to roughly $9.4 billion, Blake said. If the accident cost even more than that -- Chernobyl cost roughly $200 billion by some estimates -- taxpayers would pay. Critics say the plan amounts to an unique subsidy for an uninsurable industry. It's an unfair handout, said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the plan's most outspoken critic on the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. "Now is the time for the nuclear power industry to grow up, to meet its maker in the industry," Markey said. But supporters of renewing Price-Anderson said the DOE's contractors at its nuclear sites would not do business with the DOE if they had to pay their own insurance. And no power companies would ever build another nuclear plant without it, they said. "Price-Anderson we know clearly works, and it needs to be reauthorized soon, well before its August 2002 expiration, and without significant changes," Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., said. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, also said he wants to renew the act as soon as possible, saying it will "keep Americans protected in the unlikely event of nuclear accidents and ensure that cleanups continue uninterrupted at DOE facilities." In his written comments, Blake said the act is cost-effective, and there are no satisfactory alternatives to renewing it. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 O'Donnell misses out on interim committees Las Vegas SUN September 07, 2001 By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- Members of the Legislative Commission ostracized Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, when they met Thursday to appoint legislators to study committees. The commission is a bipartisan group of legislators that handles business when the Legislature is not in session. O'Donnell, who is not going to run for re-election, had requested to serve on at least 11 study or interim committees, but received no appointments. O'Donnell, when he announced his retirement, complained about Republican leaders in the Senate and their ties with lobbyists. The commission chose Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas to head the committee on health care. Other appointments were: * Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the committee studying misdemeanors. * Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the committee to study competition between local governments and private enterprise. * Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, to head a study of suicide prevention. * Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, chairwoman of the committee on providing state services to the disabled. * Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the standing committee on high-level radioactive waste. The commission, on the suggestion of Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, also created a subcommittee on wilderness. Rhoads said 4.4 million acres have been set aside as wilderness study areas in Nevada but Nevada's congressional delegation won't move on designating the areas for wilderness until there is a consensus in the state. Rhoads said he hoped this subcommittee could find this consensus. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 State Appeals Court Reverses Key Portions of Lower Court Ruling On American Ecology's Ward Valley Project Thursday September 6, 7:55 pm Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: American Ecology Corporation Damages Case Remanded For Trial BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2001--Jack K. Lemley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Ecology Corporation (Nasdaq:ECOL - news), today announced that the California Court of Appeal has reversed key portions of a lower court ruling in litigation filed by subsidiary US Ecology, Inc. to recover damages from the State of California for abandoning its duties in establishing a low-level radioactive waste (``LLRW'') disposal facility. The case is now remanded for trial. The ruling, issued on September 5, 2001 by the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, held that the State clearly had the authority to make contracts regarding establishment of the proposed Ward Valley LLRW disposal facility in the eastern Mojave Desert. The court further held that US Ecology adequately alleged that California had induced it to spend money based on promises that were later broken, writing, ``In this case, Ecology alleged facts that fit within the classic model of a promissory estoppel claim.'' ``This ruling is a clear victory for US Ecology,'' Lemley stated, adding, ``We are confident of our ability to prove these allegations and establish damages at trial.'' US Ecology's complaint seeks in excess of $162 million for recovery of site development expenses, interest, and lost profits. The three-judge panel also vacated the lower court's order permitting intervention in the case by several Ward Valley opposition groups and directed the trial court to reconsider the matter. ``US Ecology intends to vigorously pursue successful conclusion of this litigation to protect the interests of our shareholders,'' Lemley concluded. American Ecology Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a variety of radioactive, PCB, hazardous and non-hazardous waste services to commercial and government customers throughout the United States, such as nuclear power plants, medical and academic institutions, steel mills and petro-chemical facilities. The company provides scientific solutions that protect people and the environment. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Company is the oldest radioactive and hazardous waste services company in the United States. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations and beliefs regarding pending litigation. There can be no assurance that the Company will recover its investment or earn a return on the Ward Valley project, since the final outcome of litigation cannot be predicted. Failure to recover deferred site development costs would have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition. For further information, please refer to American Ecology Corporation's Reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: American Ecology Corporation Steve Romano, 208/331-8400 info@americanecology.com www.americanecology.com Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 10 Industry Joins in UES Debate - The St. Petersburg Times. General news from St.Petersburg and Russia #702, Friday, September 7, 2001 By Alla Startseva STAFF WRITER MOSCOW - More than 150 of the country's biggest producers and consumers of electricity packed Moscow's World Trade Center on Wednesday to hammer out a plan to create Russia's first independently regulated wholesale electricity market. As part of the sweeping overhaul of the national power grid that President Vla dimir Putin signedin July, the government has until the end of September to come up with a way to introduce competition into the industry and to break Unified Energy Systems' distribution monopoly. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khris tenko, the government representative on the project, has turned over that task to industry players themselves, giving them until Sept. 15 to put a blueprint on his desk. Faced with the task of forging a consensus across the industrial spectrum in such a short time frame, top executives of the companies - after six hours of highly charged negotiations - decided to elect an 11-person working group to come up with a single concept and charter for a nonprofit partnership to be called the Administrator of Trade System. The ATS, which is modeled on the country's main stock market, the Russian Trading System, will be in charge of regulating the electricity market and mediating conflicts and payment disputes. Of the 11 members of the working group, five represent the country's largest electricity consumers, five represent the country's largest producers, and one Arkady Volsky represents the powerful Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which he heads. The consumer faction includes executives from Russian Aluminum, or RusAl, the petrochemical giant Sibur, which is controlled by Gazprom, oil- pipeline monopoly Transneft, the Mikhailovsky and Lebedinsky ore-mining complexes and the Urals Mining and Metals Co., or UGMK. The producer faction includes UES, state-owned nuclear-power monopoly Rosenergoatom, and regional utilities Irkutskenergo, Tatenergo and Bashenergo. All federal ministries involved with the electricity market - Economic Development and Trade, Energy, Antimonopoly, Nuclear Power and the Federal Energy Commission - are prohibited from participating directly in the working group, but have appointed officials to advise it. Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said "the government doesn't have to participate directly in the creation of ATS, since it is not a direct producer or consumer of energy." But while no top government official was allowed in the working group, a former government official was: Alexander Livshits, former deputy prime minister and finance minister. Livshits, who is now deputy CEO of RusAl, the world's second-largest aluminum producer, was elected to head the group. Livshits called the gathering of so many companies from such a wide scope an "unusual spectacle" and a "first," but said the work ahead would not be easy. "Everyone has their own interests and vision on how the ATS should be created and, I think, we have a lot of work to do," said Livshits. In addition to the Khristenko deadline, the plan has to be feasible enough to be up and running by next summer, he said. Deputy Nuclear Power Minister Bulat Nigmatulin called for an emphasis on transparency mechanisms so "there won't be any price collusion." Most participants agreed that the main task would be to guarantee ATS' independence from the natural monopolies and other industry participants by limiting their participation in the ownership and management of ATS. The existing wholesale regulator, the Federal Wholesale Market of Electricity and Power, or FOREM, was established by presidential decree in 1996 at a time when the problem of creating an open energy market was high on the government's agenda. UES was given an 80 percent stake, with the other 20 percent going to Rosenergoatom. Instead of developing it into an open market, as was intended, UES turned FOREM into a clearing mechanism for power transactions carried out according to a generation schedule set by UES. "The creation of the system will eliminate the conflict of interest existing now, with UES being the parent company of FOREM," said Ilya Marshak, NIKoil analyst. Analysts, including Marshak, were at a loss to explain why UES would go along with a plan that will weaken its influence, if not its bottom line. UES board member Vladimir Dorofeyev said Wednesday that his company "is not going to pretend to try to claim a dominant role in ATS," and insisted that all players would be represented equally. "If we create a new open market, FOREM must delegate all its power to ATS," he said. "In order to defuse the situation, UES will have to share," said Livshits. The Moscow Times [ ] [Copyright] copyright The St. Petersburg Times 2001 ***************************************************************** 11 Nuclear council returns with plutonium issue In the Carolinas | The Sun News - Myrtle Beach, SC Friday, September 7, 2001 *****************************************************************