***************************************************************** 08/08/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.191 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Audit Accuses New York State-Owned Utility of Waste, Inefficiency 2 Protests against restart of nuclear power plant at Temelin 3 N-Waste Faces More Objections 4 Officials Scramble to Find Missing Nuclear Fuel Rods 5 Atomic plant talks to resume 6 Private Fuel Storage nuclear dump in the works. 7 Australia signs nuclear waste treaty with Argentina 8 Plan looks at FY 2002 waste burn 9 USEC makes cut to recycle tons of waste - 10 PACE negotiations scheduled to resume 11 Activists Object to DOE Plan 12 NRC Discrimination Task Group to Hold Meeting in Waterford, Conn. 13 NRC Names Stephen L. Rosen to Advisory Committee on Reactor 14 Perma-Fix Completes Equity Financing and Secures Credit Facility 15 Uranium in wells not man-made NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 DOE seeks aid for Y-12 protests 2 Compensation for Victims of Radiation Sickness Coming Soon 3 Hanford completes cleanup of nuclear fuel cell 4 Information center for DOE makes move 5 Our View: State throws needed support behind city's cleanup funds 6 Dale McConnaughay: On Pathway Observatory; Minter's congressional 7 Jacobs and AWS Awarded Waste Management Contract at Rocky Flats 8 West Shoshone Leaders Appeal to UN 9 Officials: Don't blow up buildings at Flats 10 City to test water wells more often ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Audit Accuses New York State-Owned Utility of Waste, Inefficiency Welcome to The PMA OnLine Power Report David Robinson , The Buffalo News, N.Y. Knight Ridder/Tribune ( August 08, 2001 ) Aug. 7--A stinging audit of the New York Power Authority charged Monday that the nation's biggest state-owned utility is moving forward with a series of "ill-defined and uncoordinated initiatives" that could cost more than $1 billion a year. The report issued by state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, a Democrat interested in running for governor next year, also accused the Power Authority of wasteful spending and inefficient management. In addition to questioning the Power Authority's role in efforts to increase power generating capacity in the electricity-starved New York City area, the audit also criticized the agency's travel spending, including the purchase last October of a new corporate aircraft that also is used to transport Republican Gov. George Pataki around the state. "This audit raises serious concerns about what the role of the largest state-owned utility in the nation will be in the new, deregulated environment," McCall said. "It also raises serious questions about (the authority's) decision-making process, management and staffing that must be addressed." The Power Authority shot back quickly, challenging the audit's accuracy and questioning its usefulness. Michael Urbach, the authority's senior vice president and the Pataki administration's former tax commissioner, complained about what he called the audit's "bogus criticism." "This is clearly the most expensive press release in state history, unfortunately wasting $2.3 million of our customers' dollars on political pronouncements and factual inaccuracies," said Michael Petralia, a Power Authority spokesman. Assemblyman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, chairman of the Assembly's Energy Committee, said he plans to hold hearings on the audit. "There are some very problematic areas, including the overall disdain for the Legislature and the overall mismanagement at a time when the energy crisis looms large for every consumer in New York," he said. The audit criticized the Power Authority on a wide range of issues: -- Power generation. McCall said the Power Authority's involvement in projects that could add about 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the New York City area could discourage private investment in power plants as the state moves to bring competition to its electric markets. "If electricity deregulation is going to be successful, (the Power Authority) must not use its market advantage to discourage private sector investment," McCall said. But the Power Authority said McCall's criticism was based on inaccurate assumptions that vastly overstate its plans to increase its generating capacity by treating some options the agency is considering as solid commitments. "These conclusions are simply wrong and unsupported by any (authority) action," the Power Authority said in a 39-page response to the audit. -- Travel expenses. The audit concluded that the Power Authority, which spent between $6 million and $7 million a year on travel between 1996 and 2000, could save money by having better control over its expenses. The report recommends that the authority sell one of the two corporate aircraft it owns. McCall criticized the authority's $5 million purchase of a second plane last October. While the agency's analysis said the new plane would save about $167,000 a year, the audit alleged that it will cost an extra $1.9 million over the next 10 years because the Power Authority understated the new plane's operating cost and overstated the cost of the commercial flights its executives would avoid. The Power Authority countered by saying the corporate aircraft are a "significant business and management tool, providing greater flexibility and productivity." McCall also said the authority has invested more than $600,000 in video-conferencing facilities that are designed to help reduce travel costs. But he said those facilities are underused, noting that the authority's St. Lawrence hydroelectric power plant uses video-conferencing two to three times more often than officials at the Niagara Power Project. "If the video-conferencing facilities at the Niagara plant were used more often, it is possible that the amount of travel expenses incurred for trips to the Niagara plant could be reduced," the audit said. -- Staffing. While the Power Authority has cut its staff in half following the sale of its two nuclear power plants, the agency's remaining 1,697-person work force likely could be trimmed by further reductions in its headquarters and support staff, the audit said. Those moves, which would reflect the authority's move out of the nuclear power business, could save about $10.5 million a year, the report estimates. The Power Authority said it is reviewing its staffing levels, although "any decisions made in haste could have significant ramifications throughout the authority" at a time when the utility industry is going through rapid changes and the agency is working on major projects. -- Power for Jobs. The economic development program, created by the State Legislature in 1997 to provide low-cost power for businesses that promise to create or retain jobs, should develop new ways to measure its performance beyond job-related indicators, the audit said. The program also should be more vigilant in ensuring that the companies receiving the power comply with the job creation or retention promises that were made when they received the cut-rate electricity, the report said. The Power Authority's Urbach said the emphasis on jobs was set by the State Legislature. "This type of gratuitous challenge to state policy is rampant throughout the report and has stained the audit process," he said in the agency's formal response. But McCall said the Power Authority was part of the problem, accusing it of withholding documents and limiting access to information requested by his auditors and a consulting company he hired to help with the review. He said that amounted to "delaying tactics" on the part of the authority. The Power Authority, which was created 70 years ago by the State Legislature, operates 10 generating facilities, including the Niagara Power Project, and more than 1,400 miles of transmission lines. The authority currently provides about a quarter of the electricity used in the state. To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffnews.com (c) 2001, The Buffalo News, N.Y. Distributed by Knight ***************************************************************** 2 Protests against restart of nuclear power plant at Temelin Welcome to The PMA OnLine Power Report Austria Presse Agentur ( August 07, 2001 ) Temelin/Vienna (APA) - The director of the nuclear power plant at Temelin Frantisek Hezoucky announced on Tuesday that the reactor would be restarted at the end of this week. The reactor was shut down in May this year for major repairs in the turbine and the replacement of several parts. The repair work had been completed now, and test runs could be continued, Hezoucky said. It might be necesserary to shut the plant down again soon to adjust a few technical details, he added. Hezoucky's announcement triggered protests in Austria. A high environmental ministry official said it had better been to delay the restart until the issue of concerns about the power plant's safety was settled. Temelin, which is just 60 kilometers from the Austrian border, has been the target for environmental protests because of its Soviet-era design. Anti-nuclear spokesman Heinz Hoegelsberger of the envrionmental organization Global 2000 called the planned restart a "scandal" and "the peak of the provocation". Greenpeace called for a referendum in Austria on the government's decisions on the Temelin issue. The environmental organization urged the government not to close the energy chapter of the E.U. membership negotiations with the Czech Republic in autumn to retain influence. Greenpeace spoke out against threatening to veto the Czech's E.U. accession. This would not help to shut down Temelin, but strengthened "nuclear hardliners" in the Czech Republic. Otto Gumpinger of the "Austria-Czech Anti-Nuclear Committee" demanded that the government should be adamant in the energy chapter of the the E.U. membership negotiations. He called for E.U. programmes to support the Czech Republic in abandoning nuclear power. Greens environment spokeswoman Eva Glawischnig said that in face of severe shortcomings in its security, it was "irresponsible" to restart the nuclear plant. Social Democrat (SP) environment spokeswoman Ulli Sima expressed a similar view. Copyright 2000 Austria Presse Agentur Ben.m.b.H (APA). All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 N-Waste Faces More Objections The Salt Lake Tribune -- August 8, 2001 BY JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE A Tooele County radioactive waste landfill faces new objections to its plans for "hotter" waste, including an unexpected challenge from the Air Force. Utah-based environmental and government watchdog groups have appealed the permit granted last month to Envirocare of Utah by the state Radiation Control Division. They raise health, safety and policy concerns about permitting the company to begin disposing refuse that is hundreds -- and sometimes thousands -- of times more radioactive than the waste the company is now allowed to accept. The appeals trigger an administrative hearing process that will take at least a few months and conclude with a decision by the policy-setting Radiation Control Board. Envirocare cannot begin taking the hotter waste until the Legislature and the governor sign off on the proposal. Envirocare, which has said it has no plans to push forward with its expansion for the time being, had no comment on the latest round of objections. The Air Force objection caused some surprise. Dale Murad, an attorney for the Air Force, said his agency wants the state to remove a condition in Envirocare's permit that would force users to prove they have export permits from the state where the waste originates. Not only is the federal government exempt from such requirements, he said, but federal agencies could not pay the waste-export fees many states require unless Congress specifically approves such payments. Bill Sinclair, director of the Radiation Control Division, pointed out that the export-permit requirement that the Air Force wants to remove is already in use in Utah as part of the Envirocare permit that has been in place for more than a decade. fahys@sltrib.com ***************************************************************** 4 Officials Scramble to Find Missing Nuclear Fuel Rods Environment News Service: By Joe Palenik HARTFORD, Connecticut, August 7, 2001 (ENS) - Northeast Utilities of Hartford, Connecticut is conducting an exhaustive investigation into the whereabouts of two nuclear fuel rods from the Millstone Power Station it formerly owned. The rods may be in a water pool on the site or they may have been shipped elsewhere for disposal. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC), which oversees operations of the country's nuclear fuel plants, requires that the location of all nuclear fuel be strictly monitored, including where all fuel rods are at any given time. The hot radioactive fuel is dangerous if not stored properly. [plant] Millstone Nuclear Power Station (Photo courtesy NRC) Millstone Unit 1 is being decommissioned, while the facility's other two units are still operating. Unit 2 produces 870 megawatts and Unit 3 generates 1,150 megawatts of power. One megawatt is enough electricity to power approximately 1,000 typical American homes. In January, Northeast Utilities sold all three Millstone nuclear generating units to Dominion, a Virginia based energy company. During a pre-sale inventory, the two fuel rods could not be found despite paperwork indicating that the rods were placed into a water pool at the plant in 1980. Spent fuel is stored either in water pools or in specially designed casks, both of which prevent deadly radiation from escaping into the environment. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are two possible scenarios surrounding the missing fuel rods. One is that the rods are safely stored on the site. The other is that they were transported elsewhere in a shielded cask. "It's up to the company to determine where the fuel is," said Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the Region 1 NRC office in King of Prussia, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Screnci said removal from the water pool would have triggered plant radiation alarms, which would have been recorded as a reportable incident to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That leads the NRC to believe that the rods are still safely stored on site. The other possibility, Screnci said, is that the rods were shipped off site in a shielded cask. If that did happen, there are no records to indicate where they could have gone. In September 1999, Northeast Nuclear Energy, a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, paid a $10 million fine after pleading guilty to an assortment of charges, including falsifying environmental records and giving the NRC false information on the qualifications of plant employees. Dominion referred a phone request for comment to Northeast Utilities. [pool] Spent nuclear fuel rods are stored in giant pools like this one close to reactor buildings. (Photo courtesy Cogema) Northeast Utilities spokeswoman Deborah Beauchamp said, "We, as a utility, account for spent fuel by conducting periodic inventories, and we create records of those inventories. So, the investigation includes a number of potential scenarios to explain the disposition or the location of the fuel rods." The investigation team includes 20 top level experts on nuclear power to probe various scenarios and includes interviews with former and present Millstone employees and exhaustive inspections of the fuel pool, control rod storage racks and fuel assemblies. All the inspections are being videotaped for documentation. The high-level radioactive rods could have been shipped in error to low-level radioactive waste dumps in Washington State or South Carolina, said Denny Galloway, supervisor of the division of radiation for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection(CDEP). The CDEP, which has an interest in the health and safety of the state's residents, participates in weekly conference calls with those states, Northeast Utilities and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The object is to keep all interested states and agencies appraised of new findings. "If they were in the fuel pool," Galloway said, "they wouldn't pose any threat to public health and safety. There was some speculation they were disposed of at a low-level waste site." If they are at a low-level site, there wouldn't be much of a problem, he said, because nuclear waste is handled safely at all sites. There would, he said, be issues of improper disposal of nuclear waste. © Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 Atomic plant talks to resume Messenger-Inquirer: News 8 August 2001 By Kimberly Hefling Associated Press PADUCAH -- It's a chess match that's pitted hourly workers at the nation's only uranium enrichment plant against their employer, USEC, with international implications. The workers find themselves going into contract talks today with what appears to be two choices: Strike for the five-year contract they want or bow to company pressure to allow the contract to be terminated within one year if USEC is unable to negotiate the terms it wants for buying Russian uranium. It's a decision the 700 Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Local 5-550 union members should not have to make, said Thomas Neff, senior researcher at MIT's Center for International Studies. "They're being made pawns in a game in which they are not players," Neff said. "The issues are totally unrelated. There's no necessary linkage other than politics." If the company gets what it says it needs to be economically viable, the workers could find themselves without a job in a few years because it could become cheaper for the company to buy Russian uranium than to produce it in Paducah, Neff said. And the nation could become more dependent on Russian uranium for nuclear power plants, Neff said. Half of all U.S. nuclear fuel now comes from Russia, Neff said. The hourly workers -- who have been working without a contract since last week -- initially threatened to strike last Friday morning. But after union workers voted to reject the contract Thursday, they agreed to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday. Some say they're willing at any time to hit the picket line. "To be honest, I was appalled they would tie their business items directly to my contract," Bill Cossler, an electrician who has been employed at the plant since 1993, said Tuesday. The company, which employs 1,500 people at its Paducah plant, is asking for three things pertaining to the purchase of Russian uranium: -- Remain the sole agent for the purchase of Russian uranium from dismantled warheads. -- Approval from the Bush administration on its contract offer to the Russians. -- Commerce Department approval to buy newly produced Russian commercial uranium. David Fuller, local president of the union, said he believes USEC is using the workers as leverage to get the Kentucky congressional delegation to battle on USEC's behalf. "I think USEC just wants to be more profitable and they want the cheap Russian stuff to do it," Neff said. Neff said USEC is putting Kentucky's congressional delegation in a tight position because he doesn't believe they have the power to get USEC wants it wants -- particularly because the Commerce Department is supposed to be an agency not influenced by politics, Neff said. "When you try to force people and their elected representatives to do what you want done with a negative consequence, they tend to not like it," Neff said. U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, a Republican whose western Kentucky district includes the Paducah area, said he believes the best solution is for the workers to sign a one-year contract. After a year, both sides will then know where USEC stands in terms of a deal with the Russians. "It would make sense to me to get a one-year contract, but I'm not the negotiator," Whitfield said. In a written statement, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on the situation. Two messages left Tuesday at the office of U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., were not returned. USEC was formed in the early 1990s as a government corporation. Its mission was to restructure the government's uranium enrichment operation. It was made the agent for a 20-year, $8 billion deal to buy 500 metric tons of uranium taken from Russia's dismantled nuclear warheads for use by nuclear power plants. Before USEC became private in 1998, it entered into a five-year, fixed-priced contract in 1996 with Russia to buy uranium at a discounted price, Neff said. The new terms USEC has proposed could give the company much greater profits, Neff said. In June, USEC took its Piketon, Ohio, plant out of production because of a market glut for nuclear plant fuel. On Aug. 1, the company reported earnings of $41.1 million for the fiscal year that ended in June 30, compared with $109.1 million in 2000. It also reported a 23 percent decline in revenues in fiscal year 2001, from $1.45 billion in 2000 to $1.14 billion in 2001. USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said USEC has no immediate plans to shut down the Paducah plant. "We've invested a lot of money into the future of the Paducah plant," Stuckle said. "We intend to operate the plant until a new, more efficient technology is deployed, which would be at least until the end of this decade." But Stuckle said it's imperative that it remain the sole agent with Russia for the purchase of uranium. In addition to the workers, it would also be good for the market, Stuckle said. "As sole executive agent, we can assure that the Russian material is put into the market in a responsible way that doesn't disrupt the market," Stuckle said. Neff said USEC is worried about another company purchasing the Russian uranium at a lower price and is resorting to using the workers. Even with a strike looming, Stuckle said she is optimistic the workers and USEC will reach an agreement. "We will continue to work with the union to try to achieve a satisfactory contract for all of us," Stuckle said. ©2000 Messenger-Inquirer ***************************************************************** 6 Private Fuel Storage nuclear dump in the works. The Earth Times/ENVIRONMENT: By Anjuli Bose By ANJULI BOSE On July 26, several consumer advocacy organizations released a report in Washington, DC, titled "Another Nuclear Ripoff: Unmasking Private Fuel Storage." The report criticized the eight nuclear energy companies that make up the Private Fuel Storage consortium (PFS), for seeking to build a privately owned dump for high-level nuclear waste in Utah. PFS has been planning to establish a storage facility on the Skull Valley Goshute reservation, approximately 45 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah. The PFS facility would store about 44,000 tons of waste, all above the ground, in 4,000 dry cask canisters. The Goshute encompasses 18,000 acres, of which the PFS facility would use only 820 acres, including a 99-acre restricted-access area for the casks containing the waste. However, several national public interest groups have expressed concern about the nuclear waste dump. "The nuclear utilities are attempting to use this as a 'half way house' for nuclear waste in order to circumvent the course of action, which includes more public participation, for establishing a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. They don't want to wait for a national public process, executive branch action, and a vote by Congress, they just want a place to dump their deadly waste without being slowed down by democracy," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Trusting this corporate conglomeration--a collection of corporations that has more often than not betrayed the public trust by both contaminating the environment and ripping off consumers--with responsibility for a project of this magnitude is bad public policy," said Ralph Nader. "Masquerading this as a solution for the nuclear waste problem just helps them promote the idea that more nuclear plants should be built and relicensed, rather than transitioning into a sustainable energy future." Copyright © 2001 The Earth Times All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Australia signs nuclear waste treaty with Argentina ABC News - Wed, 8 Aug 2001 Australia and Argentina have signed a nuclear energy treaty based on Argentina's responsibility for building a new research reactor in Sydney. The cooperation treaty was signed in Canberra by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries. The treaty was signed by Argentina's Dr Adalberto Giavarini and Alexander Downer. It will cover the Argentine company constructing a replacement for Australia's only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights south of Sydney. Australia presently sends spent fuel to France for reprocessing, but the treaty obliges Argentina to do the processing work if France becomes unavailable. The agreement allows export of Australian uranium to Argentina, which becomes the 26th country with a bilateral safeguards agreement with Australia. © 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 8 Plan looks at FY 2002 waste burn Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:54 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A draft plan has been released regarding burning waste in the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge incinerator during fiscal year 2002. The document states that a total of 231,040 pounds of newly generated incinerable liquids from Oak Ridge and 425,100 pounds of incinerable liquid waste from out of state is targeted for treatment in the Toxic Substances Control Act incinerator during FY 2002. Dennis Hill, spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs Co., DOE's environmental manager for Oak Ridge, said the incinerable liquids would include: + Wash-down water and liquid cleaning agents used for removing contamination from various surfaces, such as concrete pads, floors and walls. + Oils and other lubricants discovered in equipment during cleanup activities (Although those technically would not be generated during cleanup, they would be discovered and identified at that time); + Liquid residues and contents of filters used in water treatment activities, and things like that. "This does not include the legacy waste material itself, just those materials contaminated during characterization and remediation activities, and that meet the acceptance criteria for TSCA," according to Hill. The draft plan also states that a total of 197,687 pounds of newly generated incinerable solids from Oak Ridge and 302,991 pounds from out of state is targeted for treatment in FY 2002. Hill said some examples of newly generated Oak Ridge incinerable solids include protective equipment (coveralls, gloves, shoe covers, paper respirators, etc.) used during sampling and characterization of legacy waste, or similar equipment used in cleanup activities. "In short, anything that is exposed to or is contaminated by the waste or other contaminated material during characterization and remediation could be disposed of in the incinerator, as long as it met the TSCA acceptance criteria," Hill said. Bechtel Jacobs would not comment on how DOE's troubled FY 2002 environmental management budget might impact the incinerator's operations. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 9 USEC makes cut to recycle tons of waste - The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, August 08, 2001 Three groups' bids are finalists for the uranium conversion plant contract, which is expected to be awarded in October. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 Three groups of firms, including the U.S. Enrichment Corp. and two environmental cleanup companies with extensive local presence, have made the "short list" vying for a contract to recycle tons of hazardous uranium waste at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Advancing bidders, who submitted proposals March 1, are: --American Conversion Services, formed by plant operator USEC and CH2M Hill, a national environmental firm that has been working at the plant for more than a decade. USEC employs about 1,500 people at the plant, which enriches uranium for use in nuclear fuel. --Jacobs COGEMA, formed by Jacobs Engineering Group and COGEMA. Jacobs is a partner with Bechtel National in Bechtel Jacobs, which beat Foster Wheeler and others to become the Paducah plant’s lead environmental contractor. COGEMA, a French firm, is a world leader in nuclear fuel services and already operates conversion facilities. --Uranium Disposition Services, formed by Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power) Richland, Duratek Federal Services, and Burns and Roe Enterprises. Framatome, of France, is a world leader in nuclear reactor production. Duratek, a Maryland firm, has advanced nuclear waste disposal technology. Burns and Roe is a New Jersey-based architectural and engineering firm. "This is the short list of who will continue in the competition as we move toward a final award by the end of October," said Walter Perry, spokesman for the Department of Energy, which owns the plant. The winner will build facilities at Paducah and its closed sister plant in Ohio to convert depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into a safer material. Perry said construction must start by Jan. 31, 2004, but all other dates, including beginning operation, are subject to bidders' proposals. In 1998, Congress passed a law earmarking $373 million and requiring DOE to build facilities at each plant to recycle about 50,000 cylinders — roughly 14 billion pounds — of spent UF6. Most of the cylinders are at Paducah; others are at Portsmouth and a closed enrichment plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn. Depleted UF6 is hazardous and contains low-level radiation. It has no established commercial use, but the facilities would convert the waste to safer material while commercial applications are developed. Some past estimates have shown each plant would employ 100 to 200 people, depending on the level of government involvement. USEC Chief Executive Officer William Timbers has said his firm is aggressively seeking work, including the conversion project, outside its customary field of uranium enrichment. Losing bidders were: --Foster Wheeler Environmental Conversion Services, formed by BWX Technology Services, British Nuclear Fuels and Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp. BWXT, a leading uranium processor, is a partner with Bechtel National to manage a nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge. British Nuclear is a nuclear fuel processor that recycles DOE scrap nickel in Oak Ridge. Foster Wheeler, a New Jersey-based environmental firm, lost a bid with two other firms to be the lead environmental contractor for DOE at Paducah a few years ago. --General Atomics, a nuclear services firm in San Diego. It joined Honeywell for a pilot conversion facility a few years ago at Metropolis, Ill., where Honeywell runs a plant that makes raw product for USEC. A consortium of General Atomics and Texas Pacific Group unsuccessfully bid about $1.5 billion to buy USEC Inc. in 1998 before USEC was privatized. ***************************************************************** 10 PACE negotiations scheduled to resume The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, August 08, 2001 The talks will be the first since Thursday,when PACE members turned down USEC's contract offer by almost 99 percent. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 Bargaining was set to resume at 9 a.m. today, less than a week after union workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant soundly rejected a contract offer from U.S. Enrichment Corp. David Fuller, president of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Local 5-550, said PACE Regional Vice President Gerald Johnston would join the negotiations at J.R.'s Executive Inn. Johnston's jurisdiction is Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. "We've been accompanied by an international representative all the way in bargaining, but we haven't had an international officer involved until now," Fuller said. The talks will be the first since Thursday, when nearly 670 union workers rejected a contract proposal by what Fuller described as roughly a 99 percent margin. Union officials agreed to keep working under the old, five-year contract, which expired July 31. Fuller said there are no plans to strike, but that could change if the union feels it has reached a stalemate. "We'll stay (in negotiations) as long as there's any progress or hope that we'll continue to negotiate," he said. "We've agreed we'll give one day's notice before a strike, and we intend to honor that agreement." The last offer was rejected because of what Fuller called "substandard" wage and benefit provisions, and because the contract would have ended after a year if USEC failed to accomplish any of three goals regarding the purchase of Russian uranium. Fuller said it was unfair to tie work at the plant to the Russian deal, but USEC officials said that without its success, the company might have to cut costs. USEC says "blending" the higher-cost uranium enriched at the plant with the cheaper Russian uranium helps preserve plant jobs. ***************************************************************** 11 Activists Object to DOE Plan http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Oil&Gas/proakland.htm August 7, 2001 Question Why a Nuclear Industry Lobbyist is Heading the Department of Energy's Public Hearings on the Radioactive Metals "Recycling" OAKLAND, CA –Today Public Citizen and other citizen organizations are speaking out at a Department of Energy (DOE) hearing against a plan to allow radioactive waste to be recycled into consumer products or disposed of in landfills. Even though there is no public support for allowing the DOE to move forward with this scheme, they are continuing a "scoping project." The hearings, which were announced with little public notice, are being held to meet the agency’s legal obligation of obtaining public comments on their Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) process on the recycling of nuclear waste for commercial products and disposal as regular trash. "It’s obvious that the DOE doesn’t want anyone to attend this hearing in Oakland. If they really wanted public comments they would have held it at an easy-to-reach location," charged Jane Kelly, Director of Public Citizen’s California office. "Instead they gave us less than a month’s notice and are holding the meeting at a difficult-to-reach hotel at the Oakland airport." The Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a program - under heavy pressure from the nuclear industry - to unload vast quantities of radioactive scrap metal into municipal landfills and to "recycle" it into everyday household products and industrial materials. Currently, some radioactive wastes and materials - except some metals - can be released without restrictions from DOE nuclear weapons sites. DOE, in January and July 2000, put bans on releasing some radioactive metals, but the policy being discussed in the hearings would replace and supercede those bans. DOE’s process to authorize the release of radioactive metals from DOE nuclear weapons facilities begins with the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) being discussed in the hearings. The PEIS process has not had a promising start. The DOE initially contracted with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to perform the environmental review. SAIC is one of the companies that would profit from radioactive "recycling" at a major nuclear waste site in Tennessee. SAIC’s history of conflicts of interest on radioactive recycling led to the forced termination of its Nuclear Regulatory Commission contract. In late July, Public Citizen and others pointed out the current conflicts to DOE and the contract to perform the PEIS was dropped. "If the DOE can get away with it, they are going to follow the polluters golden rule: the solution to pollution is dilution," said Wenonah Hauter, Public Citizen’s Director of Energy and Environment. "That’s the reason they have selected a nuclear industry lobbyist to facilitate the so-called public hearings." Holmes Brown, who has been an employee of Afton Associates, Inc., is the facilitator for the DOE's hearings, which are being held in locations like Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Mr. Brown and Afton Associates have been paid advocates for the interests of radioactive waste producers for well over a decade, even receiving some funding indirectly from DOE itself to promote nuclear programs. "DOE has also failed to supply records of what radioactive materials have been and are currently being dumped into unregulated disposal and ‘recycled’ into everyday products," stated Kelly. "We are urging the Department of Energy to stop dispersing radioactive materials - such as concrete, soil, asphalt, plastics, wood, metals and more - into municipal landfills and the open marketplace, and to strengthen and expand its current bans on ‘recycling’ radioactive metal." The DOE hearings are at 2-5 PM and 8-11 PM. at the Holiday Inn Oakland Airport, 500 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, California. Activists will be available to speak to the media at the Citizen Group Information Table at 2:30. ***************************************************************** 12 NRC Discrimination Task Group to Hold Meeting in Waterford, Conn. Press Release - Region I - 2001-050 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-01-050 August 8, 2001 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov Public comments on proposals to improve the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's handling of discrimination concerns will be accepted by members of an NRC task group at a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 14, in Waterford, Conn. The session will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Waterford Town Hall, 15 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford. The NRC formed a Discrimination Task Group in April 2000 to evaluate and improve the agency's processes used in the handling of discrimination allegations made by nuclear industry workers. The task group subsequently prepared a draft report containing about 40 proposed recommendations. A copy of the report can be found at www.nrc.gov/OE,under the link for the Discrimination Task Group. To obtain public feedback on the proposals, the task group is holding a series of public meetings across the country, including the session in Waterford. At the conclusion of the meetings, the task group will develop final recommendations for consideration by the NRC Commission. Those members of the public who are unable to attend the Waterford meeting but who would like to offer comments on the draft report can submit them by Aug. 17 to the NRC's Office of Enforcement web site, at www.nrc.gov/OE,or in writing to Barry Westreich, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001. ***************************************************************** 13 NRC Names Stephen L. Rosen to Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Press Release - 2001 - 97 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. 01-097 August 7, 2001 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has appointed Stephen L. Rosen to its independent Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). During a career of more than three decades, Mr. Rosen has been involved in nuclear power plant research, design, licensing, construction, engineering, operations, maintenance and risk analysis of boiling and pressurized water reactors. Last February, he retired from the South Texas Project (STP), where he served as Vice President of Nuclear Engineering and Manager of Risk Management. Prior to joining STP, Mr. Rosen held management positions at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, including Vice President of Analysis and Engineering. Previously, he held management positions with Boston Edison. He received his Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering in 1962 and his Masters degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1967, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The ACRS was established in 1957 by the Congress to advise the former Atomic Energy Commission and subsequently the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with regard to the safety aspects of the proposed and existing nuclear facilities and the adequacy of related safety standards. The ACRS also performs other special assignments that the Commission may request, such as a review of the NRC research program. Other Members of the ACRS are: CHAIRMAN: Dr. George E. Apostolakis, Professor, Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. VICE-CHAIRMAN: Dr. Mario V. Bonaca, retired Director, Nuclear Engineering Department, Northeast Utilities, CT. MEMBER-AT-LARGE: Dr. Thomas S. Kress, retired Head of Applied Systems Technology Section, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. Dr. F. Peter Ford, Consultant and retired Program Manager, General Electric Research and Development Center, Schenectady, N.Y. Dr. Graham M. Leitch, retired Vice President, Limerick Generating Station, PECO Energy; retired, Vice President, Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co.; Member, Offsite Safety Review Committee, Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. Dr. Dana A. Powers, Senior Scientist, Nuclear Facilities Safety Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M. Dr. William J. Shack, Associate Director, Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL. Mr. John D. Sieber, retired Senior Vice president, Nuclear Power Division, Duquesne Light Company, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Graham B. Wallis, Professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. ***************************************************************** 14 Perma-Fix Completes Equity Financing and Secures Credit Facility to Fund Completion of Treatment Plant Tuesday August 7, 10:42 am Eastern Time Press Release Strategic Financings Advance Corporate Growth Plan ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2001--Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:PESI - news; Germany:PES.BE) announced today that it has completed a $7.7 million private placement equity offering and secured a $5.6 million senior subordinated credit facility. The proceeds of the equity offering and funds from the credit facility were used to repay short-term construction financing and to complete the company's new 125,000 sq. ft. facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The new facility will treat hazardous radioactive wastes using Perma-Fix's proprietary technologies. The senior subordinated credit facility, in the principal amount of $5.6 million, was provided by Associated Mezzanine Investors, LLC and Bridge East Capital, L.P. The credit facility has a term of five (5) years and includes detachable warrants. Ryan, Beck & Co., Inc. and Larkspur Capital Corporation were the placement agents and advised the Company on the transaction. The Company also completed the $7.7 million private placement equity offering, as commenced in April 2001, resulting in the sale of approximately 4.4 million units to accredited investors. Each unit is comprised of one share of the Company's Common Stock and one Warrant to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.75. Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, President of Perma-Fix, said, ``We are very pleased to have completed these strategic financings that will strengthen our Company and assist with the execution of our business plan and future growth. The funds have allowed us to pay off certain short-term debt and to complete construction of the recently acquired mixed waste treatment facility at the Department of Energy's K-25 weapons complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.'' Associated Mezzanine Investors, LLC located in New Canaan, Connecticut, focuses on sourcing and managing investments in middle market companies. The investments are generally in private subordinated debt securities with equity rights and typically range from $3 million to $10 million with maturities averaging five years. AMI's managing partners have significant experience in the development of private corporate investment transactions. Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a national environmental services company, providing unique mixed waste and industrial waste management services. The industrial services segment provides hazardous and nonhazardous waste treatment services for a diverse group of customers including Fortune 500 Companies, numerous federal, state and local agencies and thousands of smaller clients. The nuclear services segment provides radioactive and mixed waste treatment services to hospitals, research laboratories and institutions, numerous federal agencies including the Department of Energy and Defense and nuclear utilities. The Company operates eleven major waste treatment facilities across the country. This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' which are based largely on the Company's expectations and are subject to various business risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the Company, strengthening the Company, execution of its business plan and future growth. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While the Company believes the expectations reflected in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a variety of factors which could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described in this release, including without limitation, future economic conditions, industry conditions, competitive pressures, changes in governmental policy, and ability to successfully operate its treatment facilities. The Company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to forward-looking statements, or any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon forward-looking statements. Please visit us on the World Wide Web at ``http://www.perma-fix.com.'' Contact: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., Atlanta Dr. Louis F. Centofanti, 404/847-9990 or Strategic Growth International, Inc. Investor Relations: Stan Altschuler, 516/829-7111 sgi@netmonger.net or Media Relations: Stephanie Stern / Stan Froelich, 212/888-0044 sstern@sternco.com / sfroelich@sternco.com Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 15 Uranium in wells not man-made Denver Post.com Deer Creek Mesa water analyzed Theo Stein Denver Post Environment Writer --> Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - State and federal health officials say high uranium levels found in 11 wells in a Jefferson County subdivision are not caused by man-made radioactive byproducts, as some residents and activists have feared. Officials were to release their analysis of drinking-water samples taken from Deer Creek Mesa during a public meeting Tuesday night at Columbine Library in Littleton. "The bottom line is we found no industry-related materials in the groundwater samples that we took," said Jeanine Natterman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The tests did confirm that water in most of the wells contained more uranium than what's considered safe for municipal drinking-water systems. Uranium contamination is common in Jefferson County and other parts of the Front Range, she said. Officials also discovered that residents of "a couple" of homes were drinking the radioactive water. "When the tests came back, we immediately advised those residents about the results," Natterman said. "It's up to the private owner as to what they should do about it." Remedies include a filtration system that removes the minerals. But the analysis, conducted by the Colorado health department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, concluded that no man-made radionuclides were present. In May, some residents and environmental activists charged that preliminary tests did show traces of processed uranium. They charged that the contamination could have come from a former rocket development plant in Waterton Canyon now owned by Lockheed Martin, or a mothballed Air Force base and Superfund site located at the center of the Lockheed site. The activists based their claim on the percentages of various uranium isotopes listed in preliminary lab reports. State and federal officials said the concentrations of the different isotopes was consistent with naturally occurring uranium contamination. Two experts hired by Lockheed Martin said there was no way for groundwater to travel from the rocket plant to the Deer Creek Mesa area. "Therefore, whatever compounds have been found in Deer Creek Mesa wells are not attributable to the site," wrote Donald Runnels and Janet Johnson of Shepherd Miller Inc. in a statement released Tuesday. Lockheed Martin denied activists' speculation that the company mined or processed radioactive material at its Waterton facility, which is a few miles south of Deer Creek Mesa. Critics who had leveled charges against the company, including Adrienne Anderson, a professor at the University of Colorado, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. All contents Copyright 2001 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Oak Ridge seeks aid for Y-12 protests KnoxNews: Local By Bob Fowler, Anderson County editor OAK RIDGE -- It cost $12,500 for the City of Oak Ridge to handle the latest protests at the U.S. Department of Energy's Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, and officials are worrying that those costs will escalate in the future unless the city gets more help. "It taxed us about as far as we can go," City Manager Paul Boyer told City Council members Monday of the city's response to Sunday's Hiroshima Day demonstration. Boyer on Tuesday said the city "received absolutely no assistance (from DOE) in handling this. They view their job as protecting their property, and I think it's bigger than that." DOE officials "have law enforcement tools available to them that we don't have," Boyer said. He said protesters who trespass or block the entrance to Y-12 could face federal charges. Boyer said all 43 members of the police department were on duty Sunday to cordon off roadways for the estimated 250 demonstrators during their two-mile walk from A.K. Bissell Park to Y-12. Police officers on overtime were stationed at intersections along the route and at the Bear Creek Road entrance to Y-12, where a handful of counter-protesters had gathered. Police had to deal with a new brand of civil disobedience Sunday when several of the anti-nuclear weapons protesters scrambled across barbed wire fences at four locations around the boundary of Y-12, Boyer said. Twenty-three were arrested for trespassing, and 15 protesters were charged Monday after trying to block traffic at the plant. Boyer told council that city staff intends "to work with DOE to find more effective solutions to this situation." Vice Mayor Tom Beehan asked if state police could help out in future protests at Y-12. "They'll help out as best they can" Boyer said. Police and protesters Sunday viewed each other with "mutual respect," Boyer said, adding that the attitude "was a reflection of the way Mr. Hutchison runs this event." Ralph Hutchison is coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which sponsors the annual Hiroshima Day events. Organizers are forecasting up to 7,000 protesters at next August's Hiroshima Day demonstration, and a large crowd is expected next April when a popular alternative/folk music duo, the Indigo Girls, has committed to perform at a Y-12 protest. Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625 or bfowler@knoxnews.infi.net. Copyright 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 2 Compensation for Victims of Radiation Sickness Coming Soon The Salt Lake Tribune -- August 8, 2001 BY JIM WOOLF Money owed to 185 Utahns who became sick as a result of exposure to radiation during the Cold War should be arriving in mid- to late October, Rep. Jim Matheson announced Thursday. The Utahns are eligible for $10.2 million under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. But the money has not been available for more than a year because of federal budgeting errors. Members of Utah's congressional delegation help- ed get funding restored in a supplemental spending bill that President Bush signed July 24. "Finally, the government has kept its word to the people betrayed by the secrecy and deception that characterized this dark chapter in the history of the West," said the Democrat. "While I am sorry it took so long to keep faith with our citizens -- and some have died waiting for justice -- I am relieved to stand here today, not just with an empty promise, but with results." RECA provides between $50,000 and $150,000 to people who developed certain illnesses after being exposed to radiation from either open-air weapons testing or the mining, milling or transportation of uranium ore. So far, more than 1,500 Utahns have qualified for compensation under the 11-year-old law, and most were paid without delay. Claims from another 900 Utahns are being processed. Matheson's father, former Utah Gov. Scott M. Matheson, died of a cancer that might have been triggered by radioactive fallout, the congressman has said. Matheson did not mention any other members of Utah's congressional delegation -- all Republicans -- during a press conference on the steps of the Utah State Capitol, but they were heavily involved in the process of restoring funding. "Everybody knows the difference between a show horse and a workhorse, and the credit for solving the RECA funding issue belongs to the team effort put forward from start to finish," said Jeff Hartley, spokesman for Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Cannon introduced legislation earlier this year to restore the funding, said Hartley. Sen. Bob Bennett, a member of the Finance Committee, helped get it added in the Senate version of the spending bill. The money wasn't included in the House version of the bill, but Cannon and Bennett helped persuade Republican leaders to include the funding in a compromise between the two versions. "Congressman Matheson brought Democrats to the table, which helped," Hartley said. "But certainly he understands that without a team effort RECA would not have been funded, and I can't imagine that in his press conference that he suggested that the credit was his alone. Surely, he's above such blatant politicking." In an interview after the news conference, Matheson said he wasn't trying to take credit for solving the funding problem on his own. "There are a lot of folks who recognize the importance of this issue," he said. "This isn't just me talking. There are a lot of people in Washington who think this is the right thing to do." Matheson said he and several Western Democratic colleagues had a "big impact" on the funding decision. jwoolf@sltrib.com © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 3 Hanford completes cleanup of nuclear fuel cell Tuesday, August 7, 2001 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RICHLAND -- The cleanup of B Cell, the biggest radioactive research room west of the Mississippi River, has been completed at Hanford nuclear reservation. B Cell is a three-stories-tall room with 4-foot-thick concrete walls in the 300 Area of Hanford. Scientists, working behind 4-foot-thick windows, used remote-control arms and television cameras to study nuclear fuel and ways to glassify radioactive waste. By the late 1990s, B Cell became a huge nuclear-fuel storeroom, filled with piles of radioactive junk and a 6-inch layer of radioactive dust. At one time, an unprotected person stepping inside of B Cell would have been killed in less than two seconds by a fatal dose of radiation. B Cell and three smaller cells -- A, C and D -- are clustered around a contaminated airlock area in the 324 Building. B Cell remains a storage room for some spent nuclear fuel and for some contaminated cleanup equipment that will be used on the other hot cells. The legal deadline for cleaning up B Cell, under the Tri-Party Agreement, which sets the timetable for such projects at Hanford, was last November. Since contractor Fluor Hanford's efforts appeared to be sound, state regulators informally gave Fluor and the U.S. Department of Energy until July 31 to finish removing all the loose material in the cell, which they did. "We were driving people to the point of exhaustion," said Mal Wright, Fluor's director for the 324 Building deactivation project. "People were working overtime on evenings and weekends. They had a great feeling of ownership for the results." State regulators and the Department of Energy signed off on the cleanup late last month. B Cell's cut-up radioactive junk, debris and dust were packed into 57 large drums for storage in Hanford's 200 West Area until they can be transferred to an underground storage site at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Items in another 12 containers will be buried at Hanford's 200 West Area. The spent fuel now stored inside B Cell is in special containers and likely won't be moved for at least a couple of years, Wright said. The Tri-Party Agreement sets a deadline of Oct. 31, 2005, to clean out A, C and D cells. Eventually, the 324 Building and the neighboring 327 lab building will be demolished. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 Send comments to newmedia@seattle-pi.com ***************************************************************** 4 Information center for DOE makes move The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, August 08, 2001 The U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Information Center has moved from Kevil to the Barkley Centre on Memorial Drive in Paducah. The location, just off Interstate 24 across from Paducah Community College, is more accessible, said Don Seaborg, DOE site manager. The center has hundreds of documents related to environmental conditions at the plant, including maps, records, reports and reference material. Much of the information is accessible though a computer database. Information about cleanup efforts is also available. For hours of operation and other information, call the center at 554-6979. ***************************************************************** 5 Our View: State throws needed support behind city's cleanup funds effort opEd 1 Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8, 2001 In a clear case of better late than never, the state of Tennessee is getting behind the city of Oak Ridge by insisting that the U.S. Department of Energy abide by previously made commitments to clean up nuclear contaminated sites. Concern has been expressed by local government and oversight officials that Oak Ridge could stand to lose as much as $90 million in cleanup funds under the Bush administration's budget. "Tennessee has worked in good faith with DOE to establish a reasonable set of agreements, timetables and milestones to clean up the Oak Ridge Reservation," Justin Wilson, deputy for policy in Gov. Don Sundquist's administration, said in a letter to DOE officials in Washington. "DOE was required to consult with Tennessee if any of these milestones were changed. Yet DOE appears to be moving to alter major elements of these milestones in 2002 with no word to the state of Tennessee." The letter is strongly and appropriately worded, indicating the state will "pursue all necessary action to ensure that the United States meets its obligations to the people of Tennessee." We commend the action by the governor's office. It is vitally important, as we have noted on previous occasions in this space, that the state of Tennessee get behind the city of Oak Ridge's effort here, and that the city make more of that effort. Beyond the politically viable issue of a Republican state administration challenging a Republican federal administration to honor standing commitments, there is the issue of states' rights for a professed conservative Bush administration. States' rights proponents typically confer a power and sovereignty onto the states equal to that of the federal government. So how much equality can there be where Washington simply flaunts an agreement entered with a supposed equal? But suspend for the moment the politics of it all. How about if Washington just honors its commitments, and gets on with the full cleanup at hand? All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 6 Dale McConnaughay: On Pathway Observatory; Minter's congressional interest; Y-12 protesters Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 2:03 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8, 2001 Editor's Notebook Dale McConnaughay Just when some thought they might have heard the first, and last, of Will Minter's call for a Pathway to Science Observatory in Oak Ridge, a select City Council committee studying the future of the American Museum of Science and Energy is brushing the idea off and giving it the longer look it clearly deserves. This idea got off to a faltering start, but what is becoming increasingly apparent is that AMSE is going to need a big-ticket permanent draw if it ever expects to survive on the admissions charges it recently began to levy, under plans by the DOE to turn the marvelous facility over to local control and funding. Now, as for Minter, the ex-City Council member has not been out of the limelight long, but recently suggested that he will throw his hat in the Democratic primary for the Third District congressional seat currently held by Zach Wamp. By Minter's political calculation, Wamp will seek the Senate seat held by Fred Thompson, whom he expects to head back to Hollywood to lead the Screen Actors Guild. And Minter believes that with strong Democratic, independent and minority support both here and in Chattanooga, he just might pull off a win. Wil Minter This one could be worth watching. The e-mail arrived last week from a World War II veteran, a former prisoner of war who was being held on one of the Japanese islands when The Bomb was dropped 56 years ago this week. What represented in political hindsight an act of ruthless barbarity and aggression to the couple hundred protesters gathered in Oak Ridge this weekend, represented real hope for freedom from a long and treacherous captivity for these American POWs. I recall interviewing another POW back in Virginia a few years ago. This was during the 50th anniversary of the bomb and the brouhaha over the Smithsonian's Enola Gay exhibit. This elderly veteran's recollections of that hot summer day when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima were vivid a full half-century later. The sound, as I remember his explaining it, was somewhat muted from his prison camp many miles away, in a distant valley. But he recalled the tremor of the ground beneath his feet, the concussion from the bomb's impact with ground zero. And he knew, and his fellow POWs knew, that something big had happened. There was among these American prisoners who had been beaten, underfed and demoralized, a renewed will to live. The veteran who e-mailed last week, like his Virginia counterpart earlier, were outraged by today's pacifist revisionism, even as they dared not question the right of anti-war protesters to march and be heard. Rather, theirs remains a simple and honorable plea for a similar understanding by the protesters. Had that hard-won victory over the Axis powers not been achieved, much if not most of the world would have been plunged into a long darkness. The veterans simply do not need to be reminded of the freedoms that they fought, and died, to preserve. As predictable as the Stop-the-Bomb crowd is the August ritual of dropping charges against those arrested. Jim Ramsey Hiroshima will always stand as an anniversary. Fortunately, District Attorney General Jim Ramsey will not forever hold so key an office, and perhaps a successor will interpret the law in an adversarial manner that respects the distinct role of prosecutors. Among other contentions by the often contentious Ramsey, the state of Tennessee he says is not party to an earlier agreement reached between the City of Oak Ridge and the Department of Energy. Would this mean that trespassers and other scofflaws on or near DOE grounds enjoy a sacred sovereignty, an immunity from prosecution under Tennessee law? And would this include bingo-playing church ladies who, under the guise of protest, might take their games onto DOE property, escaping General Ramsey's reach? This is, after all, among the few areas for which the district attorney general has consistently demonstrated a prosecutorial fervor. Dale McConnaughay is editor of The Oak Ridger. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 7 Jacobs and AWS Awarded Waste Management Contract at Rocky Flats [Business Wire] Wednesday August 8, 7:45 am Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2001--Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC - news) announced today that Jacobs and Accelerated Waste Solutions, LLC (AWS) were selected by Kaiser-Hill Company for a waste management professional and operational services contract at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. Kaiser-Hill is DOE's managing contractor at Rocky Flats. Jacobs is a major subcontractor to AWS and Roy F. Weston, Inc. is the majority owner of AWS. Officials estimate Jacobs' share on this $95 million 5-year contract at $24 million. Jacobs will provide engineering; facility operations; waste certification and quality assurance; and environmental, safety, and health services for low-level radioactive and transuranic waste handling, packaging, certification, and shipment. In making the announcement, Jacobs Group Vice President Jim Thiesing stated, ``Successful execution of these critical waste management functions is essential to the safe, timely clean-up and closure of the Rocky Flats site. We remain committed to the Rocky Flats closure vision, and we are proud that Kaiser-Hill has selected the AWS/Jacobs team for this work.'' The new contract scope is in addition to facilities maintenance and site support services provided by Jacobs to Kaiser-Hill since 1998 through its wholly-owned subsidiary Rocky Flats Closure Site Services, LLC. That contract has options that run until mid-2003. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is one of the world's largest providers of professional technical services. With more than 20,000 home office employees, the company offers full-spectrum support to industrial, commercial, and government clients in diverse markets. Services include scientific and specialty consulting as well as all aspects of design, construction, and operations & maintenance. Any statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made in this release represent management's best judgement as to what may occur in the future. However, Jacobs' actual outcome and results are not guaranteed and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions (``Future Factors''), and may differ materially from what is expressed. For a description of Future Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, see the discussion under the section ``Forward-Looking Statements'' included in Management's Discussion and Analysis filed as part of Exhibit 13 to the Company's 2000 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Contact: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena Sherry Sweitzer, 626/578-6992 Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 8 West Shoshone Leaders Appeal to UN Las Vegas SUN August 07, 2001 GENEVA (AP) - A group of American Indians appealed for the United Nations to condemn what they said were abuses of their ancient land rights by the U.S. federal government. Leaders of the Western Shoshone said Tuesday they hoped a U.N. panel would back their case that the American government is trying to chase them off their ancestral territory, causing them physical, economic and cultural hardship and violating U.N. human rights treaties. "We are here hoping that the international community can put pressure on the United States to stop its discriminatory conduct against the Western Shoshone people," said tribal elder Carrie Dann. The Western Shoshone tribes - numbering about 6,600 - live mainly in the western states of Nevada, California, Idaho and Utah. Dann and her sister Mary have been a focal point of a dispute over land since the government sued them in 1974 for grazing livestock on federal land. The Shoshone delegation said the U.S. government has authorized the use of environmentally damaging cyanide for gold mining and approved military testing and nuclear waste storage on Shoshone lands. Some 85 percent of Nevada is federal land, and the Nevada Public Lands Act aims to sell it off to private companies, the Shoshone said. The Shoshone have asked a U.N. panel - the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - to condemn the United States, arguing that the U.S. action amounts to racism. A ruling by the committee in 1999 gave hope to indigenous groups around the world by declaring that Australia should suspend implementation of new land rights laws as they discriminated against Aborigines. The committee has been reviewing a report by U.S. authorities on the government's compliance with an international anti-discrimination treaty which the United States ratified in 1994. The panel is expected to issue its ruling on the U.S. compliance report next week. On Monday the U.S. Justice Department's newly confirmed civil rights head Ralph Boyd Jr. responded to the panel's questions about the Shoshone case. Boyd said that U.S. law stated that "as a result of European discovery the Native Americans had a right to occupancy and possession, but that tribal rights to complete sovereignty were necessarily diminished by the principle that discovery gave exclusive title to those who made it." At issue is the so-called 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley between the Western Shoshone and the United States, which took 23.6 million acres of land away from the tribes. Tribal leaders argue that the treaty - which they say was one of friendship - simply granted the United States limited access to the land and did not cede it to the federal government. In 1979 the Supreme Court ruled that the Ruby Valley treaty had made the U.S. government the trustee of the Shoshone, entitled to negotiate compensation for the land on their behalf. The court also approved a government offer of $26 million to the tribes. The compensation package has accumulated interest and is now worth $130 million. Dann said the Shoshone would never accept money for their land, because they believed it was sacred. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Officials: Don't blow up buildings at Flats Rocky Mountain News: Local sed plant's neighbors don't want demolition that uses explosives By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer Don't even think about blowing up buildings at Rocky Flats. That was the message Monday from local elected officials to the company cleaning up the defunct nuclear weapons plant. The company, Kaiser-Hill, wants to blow up a reinforced cinderblock guard tower in September to test the method for use on bigger structures. "I think it's a dumb thing to do -- profoundly dumb," Boulder County Commissioner Paul Danish said. Danish is among leaders of surrounding communities who meet monthly with Rocky Flats officials -- some of whom are thinking of blowing up some of the buildings. Jeff Stevens of Kaiser-Hill conceded that "in the last couple of years, the words explode and Rocky Flats in the same sentence has not been a good thing." But, Stevens said, a controlled explosion can be the safest and most cost-effective way to eliminate buildings after they have been decontaminated. Only a few buildings are sufficiently nontoxic to permit such a method, such as a large stack attached to Building 771. The stack was used for the release of air after it had gone through filters and is only slightly contaminated, Stevens said. But Westminster Mayor Pro Tem Sam Dixion said she doesn't believe the stack is clean. "That stack we know is polluted," Dixion said after the meeting. She said plans to blow up buildings are "scary." Steve Tarleton of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said it's unlikely any of the dust will ever leave the Rocky Flats site. Studies have shown that little pollution spread from the site after fires in 1957 and 1969, Tarleton said. But Dixion said she doesn't believe those studies, which did not include interviews with several women who had miscarriages after the 1969 fire. Stevens said getting rid of the buildings will not be easy because they were meant to withstand earthquakes and bombardment during a war. Building 371, once called the strongest building in Colorado, contains five times as much rebar as conventional buildings. One building extends four stories underground, and another was built into a hillside. Broomfield City Councilman Tom Brunner agreed with Stevens that reducing the demolition process to one explosion can minimize the danger from toxic dust. "So if they're going to blow things up," Brunner said, "you only have to leave town for one day." Contact Berny Morson at (303) 892-5072 or morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com. August 7, 2001 ***************************************************************** 10 City to test water wells more often Amarillo Globe-News: Local News: The city has decided to test its water wells more frequently, based on their proximity to contamination found in monitoring wells near the Pantex Plant. August 7, 2001 By Jennifer Lutz The city has decided to test its water wells more frequently, based on their proximity to contamination found in monitoring wells near the Pantex Plant.

"We're changing the schedule to monthly instead of quarterly because of the heightened potential that's there," said Emmett Autrey, city water production superintendent.

On Friday, Pantex Plant officials released information about findings of solvents benzene and toluene in five Ogallala Aquifer monitoring wells.

On Monday, BWXT, Pantex, the Energy Department and TNRCC officials presented information during the monthly Pantex Public Meeting at the Carson County Square House Museum in Panhandle. About 50 people turned out to hear about the recent solvent detections.

"Our jobs aren't done yet," said Dan Glenn, DOE's Amarillo area office manager. "We have to fully define the plume."

Last week, the city of Amarillo shut off one production well closest to a monitoring well that detected benzene at 4.8 parts per billion, with the regulatory standard being 5 ppb.

Late Friday evening, the city reopened that well after testing four wells north of the plant and the composite water of all wells in Carson County.

The tests did not detect any volatile organic compounds, to 0.1 ppb, Autrey said.

"What we're concerned with is what's in the water we're sending to our customers," Autrey said.

A sample taken in early July from the five monitoring wells found benzene from zero to 11 ppb.

Benzene is a carcinogen, carrying the potential to cause leukemia and cancers in livers, ovaries, lungs and breasts, according to information from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Carson County well field provides 36 percent of the city's water.

Amarillo blends the water with supplies from Lake Meredith and wells in Armstrong, Randall and Deaf Smith counties.

BWXT Pantex officials will continue drilling monitoring wells until the lateral and vertical contamination areas have been defined, said Brad Jones, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission regional director.

The plant does not have a time limit on when the boundaries must be found.

"It's their requirement on them," Jones said. "They have to show a good-faith effort in that regard, and from every indication I've received, that's very much their intent."

During Monday's meeting, audience members had as many questions as the presenters, especially on where and how the solvents reached the monitoring wells.

The sampling equipment will be checked to make sure it is not causing inaccurate results, and the Burning Grounds area on the north part of the plant will be further examined to determine whether an abandoned well is leaking solvents into the aquifer, said Boyd Deaver, BWXT environmental restoration manager.

The wells will be tested to evaluate the type of material used, and officials will look for other possible causes for the solvents in the samples, Deaver said.

"So you cannot definitely say the leading edge of the plume isn't under the water field?" asked Mavis Belisle with the Peace Farm, an environmental organization located south of the plant.

"I believe that is a true statement," Deaver responded.

Plant officials do not know how many more monitoring wells they will drill north of the plant. City officials also promised to keep a close eye on the situation.

"We're very concerned, as we ought to be, for the safety and health of the 180,000 or so of our customers," Autrey said. "We will do everything necessary to keep from getting any kind of contamination into the drinking water of Amarillo."

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