***************************************************************** 10/11/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.240 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Palo Verde Unit 2 Shuts Down, Expected to Return to Service in 2 Lawmaker proposes $2 bln/yr to protect US energy 3 US senators move to secure domestic energy sites 4 King: Feds should get spent nuclear fuel out of Yankee 5 Public barred from Mac reactor 6 Sellafield attack 'would dwarf Chernobyl' - report 7 It would be worse than Chernobyl 8 Demonstrators protest German nuke waste shipments 9 No disturbances as train with German nuclear waste crosses French 10 Belarus concerned about safety at Lithuanian nuclear plant 11 Hungarian nuclear plant gets own air defence missiles 12 Russian minister denies talks held on importing spent nuclear 13 Ukrainian nuclear reactor undergoes emergency shutdown 14 Bulgarian official says nuclear power deals with US firms not yet 15 Ukraine extends no-fly zone over Chernobyl 16 Nuclear reactor shut down in Ukraine for unknown reasons 17 Scientist raises nuclear plant terror fears 18 Attacks dominate Yucca talks 19 German Reaction to Terrorism: Shut Down Nuclear Plants 20 Report examines risk to nuclear containers 21 Shearon Harris waste expansion questioned by officials 22 Entergy's River Bend Station Completes World Record Refueling Outage 23 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-10-11 Number 195 24 Ariz. Palo Verde nuclear Unit 2 taken off line 25 Public barred from Mac reactor 26 IEER Report: Poison in the Vadose Zone 27 EUROTECH's Radiation-Resistant EKOR Sealer Successful in 28 Nye County YMP hearings today, Friday NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 nobel peace prize winners appeal; This War is Illegal; Folly of 2 US may have threatened nuclear attack on Afghanistan 3 Japan Pushing UN to stop N Weapons 4 India fears Pakistan might use nuclear weapons 5 Nuclear Workers Decry Comp Rules 6 Kursk salvage team races to pump water out of reactors, missile 7 Docking of Kursk delayed till next week 8 Hanford project a lesson in federal spending 9 Safety issues studied 10 Report: DOE facilities fail mock attacks 11 Another nuclear worker injured 12 Lawsuit claims US army stole nuclear lab land 13 Report predicts vit project will strain cities 14 Cleanup budget remains in limbo 15 Hanford needs plan, cash to stop fines 16 Mushrooming fear: Bin Laden getting hands on nuclear arms 17 Lawsuit claims US army stole nuclear lab land **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Palo Verde Unit 2 Shuts Down, Expected to Return to Service in About a Month Wednesday October 10, 5:45 pm Eastern Time Press Release PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2001--Operators of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station shut down Unit 2 this morning to replace 76 of the unit's 89 control element assemblies. The decision to remove Unit 2 from service came after planned inspection of Unit 3's control element assemblies - during its current refueling outage - identified degradation of its control element assemblies. Unit 2's control element assemblies are identical in design to Unit 3's. As a result, Palo Verde management took Unit 2 out of service to replace its control element assemblies. Unit 1 is not affected because its control element assemblies were changed out during its refueling outage this spring. All of Unit 2's control element assemblies operated as designed during its shutdown this morning, as did Unit 3's during its shut down for refueling Sept. 29. ``Safe, reliable operation of Palo Verde is our first priority, and we made this decision in the interest of prudence,'' said Jim Levine, executive vice president of APS Generation. ``Our customers use less electricity during this time of year, so it is a good time to perform this maintenance and get both Units 2 and 3 back up and running before the colder weather sets in.'' Replacement activities in Units 2 and 3 will not impact the schedule for Unit 3's refueling, which is expected to be complete in early November. The work in Unit 2 may take as long as a month to complete. Materials required to replace Unit 2's control element assemblies are at the site. Unit 1 continues to operate at full power. All three units produce approximately 1,270 megawatts of electricity. APS has adequate supply to meet customer needs. APS, which operates Palo Verde on behalf of the station's six other owners, is Arizona's largest and longest-serving electric utility and serves more than 857,000 customers in 11 of the state's 15 counties. APS, with headquarters in Phoenix, is the largest subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW- news). Contact: Arizona Public Service, Phoenix Jim McDonald, 602/250-3704 Cell: 602/321-3738 Sheri Foote, 602/250-2363 Cell: 602/684-1332 Website: www.aps.com ***************************************************************** 2 Lawmaker proposes $2 bln/yr to protect US energy USA: October 11, 2001 WASHINGTON - A Senate bill introduced yesterday would allocate $2 billion annually to the Bush administration's new homeland security office to patrol and protect U.S. pipelines, oil refineries and electronic transmission lines. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat from the oil-producing state of Louisiana, said her legislation had broad support among both parties to safeguard the nation's energy supply from potential attacks. "It's absolutely crucial that Congress take up an energy infrastructure bill before we leave here," Landrieu told reporters. "This would help us move in that direction." Congress aims to finish its work for the year by early November. Money for the program would come from the annual royalty payments made by oil and natural gas companies for drilling on federal offshore leases. The Interior Department collected nearly $4 billion in royalty payments last year, she said. Landrieu said her legislation did not specify what kinds of protection would be funded, but said military patrols and software upgrades were among the possible projects. Most private U.S. oil, gas and power companies have already beefed up their own security measures since the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center that killed at least 5,500 people. The attacks have raised concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. nuclear power plants, natural gas pipelines and oil refineries. "It's not fair to ask the industry to pick up the full tab, and there are some real issues of safety for communities around our nation," Landrieu said. Under her proposal, about one-third of the $2 billion would be earmarked for Louisiana, Texas and four other major energy states. The remaining 70 percent of the money would be spread among all 50 states. The program would be run by the new Office of Homeland Security, an anti-terrorist office headed by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, she said. Landrieu also said she was "disappointed" in the unusual step by the Senate Democratic leadership late Tuesday to halt Energy Committee work on a comprehensive energy bill. That legislation, which had not yet been completed by the committee, aimed to boost U.S. domestic production, encourage conservation and fund development of alternative sources. Landrieu said her energy security legislation could pick up some of those components, such as funds to buy more crude oil for the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve or drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge. "I still believe we have to work very hard on energy security legislation, which would include some stepped-up production, some stepped-up conservation measures and tripling or quadrupling of research and development," she said. Story by Julie Vorman REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 3 US senators move to secure domestic energy sites USA: October 11, 2001 WASHINGTON - Warning of cracks in security at U.S. oil refineries, pipelines and electric power plants, the Senate Energy Committee this week endorsed measures to protect private facilities from cyber-attack and guard huge federal hydroelectric dams in the West. The deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center have focused new attention on the vulnerability of American energy facilities. The Democrat-controlled Senate energy committee is looking at options ranging from restricting information on the Web about nuclear power plants to arming Bureau of Land Management employees. The energy panel will vote on specific measures on Thursday. Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said she would offer legislation to provide federal funds to all 50 states to protect oil and natural gas pipelines, refineries and other industry infrastructure from attacks or sabotage. Landrieu, a Democrat from a major oil-producing state, said the federal government needs to do more. Money for the program would come from royalties that energy firms have paid for federal leases for oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico. Landrieu did not specify how much money would be needed for the program. "I think the whole issue is of critical importance to our nation," she said at a Senate Energy Committee hearing. U.S. lawmakers, who have frequently railed against U.S. dependence on oil imports from the politically sensitive Middle East, emphasized that they are now concerned about the security of domestic energy. WESTERN DAMS, CYBER-ATTACKS New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman agreed to sponsor an amendment proposed by the Interior Department to beef up federal oversight at federal hydroelectric dams. The huge dams provide a large amount of electricity to consumers and businesses, especially in the West. John Keys, commissioner of Interior's Bureau of Land Management, testified that his agents need authority to carry weapons, make arrests and enforce vandalism and trespassing laws on the nation's 8 million acres of public land. "We have over 400 sites that need some security," Keys said. One amendment being considered by the energy committee would let the federal government hire extra security guards and perform criminal background checks at federally owned dams such as the Bonneville Power Administration in the Pacific Northwest. Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, a Republican, raised the specter of a cyber-attack on computer networks that control energy installations and urged legislation to protect them. Calling privately owned sites like oil refineries and power generation plants "a major national blindspot," Bennett has proposed to restrict government documents about the sites through requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act. Lawmakers laid out several scenarios that could disrupt U.S. domestic energy supplies. For example, a computer hacker might be able to disrupt a railroad line's computer that controls trains carrying coal to utility power plants. "Someone can break in one place and then have an impact somewhere else," Bennett said. Bennett also wants private companies and federal agencies to share information on Internet security breaches. NUKE PLANT INFORMATION The federal government already oversees private security measures at nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams. Some lawmakers want the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to remove from its Web site information about the location and safety features of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants. "I can't imagine the public needs to know the exact latitude and longitude of nuclear power plants," said Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski, a Republican. The lawmakers' push for more security at energy facilities reflects heightened concern about another possible attack in the United States, now that American troops have bombed radical Islamic forces in Afghanistan. Last week, an Alaska man was arrested for shooting a hole in the huge Trans Alaska Pipeline System that ships crude oil from Alaska's North Slope. The puncture forced the pipeline and oil production to temporarily shut down, delaying some 2.7 million barrels of crude oil set for delivery to the market. The bullet hole also caused the second-biggest oil spill the pipeline had seen, spewing some 6,800 barrels of crude. The incident was described by police as a random shooting, and not connected to any terrorist group or threat. Story by Chris Baltimore and Tom Doggett REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 4 King: Feds should get spent nuclear fuel out of Yankee Times Record News 10/12/2001 Bob_Kalish@TimesRecord.Com 10/10/2001 AUGUSTA — Gov. Angus King has told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's chairman that its new security requirements for Maine Yankee "are entirely unacceptable." In a letter sent last Thursday to commission Chairman Richard A. Meserve, King outlined the state's three requests to the commission, which oversees Maine Yankee, the closed Wiscasset nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. Chief among King's concerns is that part of Maine Yankee's property is being transformed into a spent-nuclear-fuel storage site, since the federal government lacks a repository for such waste. This issue is in the courts. King formally asked the commission to: — Move diligently to "transport spent nuclear fuel to a center of management in the same manner and with the same urgency that the Department of Energy routinely transports foreign reactor and defense-generated spent fuel." — Re-examine and update its "Waste Confidence Report" from 1990 to reflect the Sept. 11 attacks, the Internet and the increasing use of passive dry-cask storage for nuclear waste. "These circumstances raise significant safety and security issues for Maine, soon to be faced with stranded radioactive materials and an absence of abundant nuclear professional expertise normally associated with production or research activity," King wrote. — Rescind any measures and decisions in the report that change security at Maine Yankee after it is decommissioned. Specifically, King wants the commission to rescind the authorization that allows the "Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation," which is the term Maine Yankee has given to the area where spent nuclear fuel will be stored, to operate with a change in security. The state wants the federal agency to "maintain in the record that the same security measures required at the Maine Yankee plant as of today's date will apply in 2005 unless and until stranded radioactive material is removed from the site," King's letter shows. A spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C., Tuesday said the agency had not received the letter, due to the absence of mail delivery on Columbus Day. In a related development, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, also sent a letter to Meserve asking the commission to detail stepped-up security procedures for nuclear power plants that are in the process of decommissioning like Maine Yankee. "I would specifically like to know what is being done to protect the spent nuclear fuel on-site at the Maine Yankee nuclear facility and how the (commission) is working to assure the safety of the residents of Maine," Snowe wrote. Snowe would like to see all of the country's high-level waste "transported and secured in such a permanent, national depository as soon as possible." Maine Yankee closed in 1997. Decommissioning is scheduled to be completed by spring 2005. As part of the decommissioning process, the spent fuel now stored in water will be transferred to dry casks and remain on site indefinitely because the federal government has not found a place for storing spent fuel. The state and Maine Yankee have sued the federal government over its lack of progress in finding a suitable site. The suit is pending. ***************************************************************** 5 Public barred from Mac reactor Thestar.com/ Thu Oct 11, 2001 - Updated at 01:41 PM Thestar.com > News > Ontario Device is mostly used for research McMaster University's nuclear reactor has tightened up security and suspended public tours indefinitely as a precaution against terrorism. The reactor, commissioned in 1959, is primarily an academic tool for McMaster students and is used in research in radiation sciences. It also produces iodine used in prostate cancer therapy. Director Chris Heysel said the university reactor is subject to the same security regulations governing nuclear power plants, although it is hundreds of times smaller and it's a research reactor. Those measures have been reviewed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. "We are in full compliance with all federal regulations having to do with security of nuclear facilities," Heysel said. "We've taken additional measures that have been reviewed by both the university and the regulators in Ottawa, to ensure that they are adequate. I can't go into details, for obvious reasons." Heysel said it's unfortunate that public tours have been suspended, because the main impact will be on high school groups. "One of our biggest things is to get high school students through the reactor and introduce them to nuclear science and the stuff we do here." Every reactor in Canada is licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, formerly the Atomic Energy Control Board. When the McMaster reactor licence was renewed for three years in 1999, the board asked McMaster to accelerate work on updating its safety analysis report. Revisions started in 1996, but the AECB said progress had been slow. The report will be submitted in the next three months, Heysel said yesterday.(wed) In 1998, the AECB temporarily suspended a licence held by Hamilton Health Sciences Corp. to produce nuclear medicines. The licence was suspended because of repeated safety violations at McMaster University Medical Centre's nuclear pharmacy, including the mishandled cleanup of a radioactive spill the previous year. Heysel said that licence is separate from the one for the reactor itself, which has never been suspended. Torstar News Service Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All ***************************************************************** 6 Sellafield attack 'would dwarf Chernobyl' - report online.ie 11 Oct 2001 New Scientist magazine has claimed that a terrorist attack on the Sellafield nuclear complex in northern England could potentially be 44 times worse than the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The magazine said that if a hijacked jumbo jet crashed into the part of Sellafield where radioactive waste is stored, as much as half the waste would be ejected into the atmosphere. Sellafield has 21 concrete and steel storage tanks containing more than 1,500 cubic metres of high-level caesium-137 waste. That is around 90 times the level of waste released when the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl exploded 15 years ago. New Scientist claims a jumbo jet crash would break open the Sellafield storage tanks and release a plume of radioactivity into the air. The burning fuel would also continue to pump radioactive material into the atmosphere, while a collapse in the cooling system would cause surviving storage tanks to heat up and spew out more radioactivity within hours. The magazine said an incident like this "would contaminate large parts of Britain and, depending on which way the wind was blowing, Ireland, continental Europe and beyond. Some places would become inhabitable." Following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986, an exclusion zone of 4,800 square kilometres was established around the plant. Radiation spread so far that sheep in some parts of Wales still have to be tested before they are allowed into the food chain. So far, the disaster has caused 11,000 confirmed cases of thyroid cancer in Ukraine and Belarus. ***************************************************************** 7 It would be worse than Chernobyl scotsman.com The Sellafield reprocessing plant - on a busy air corridor just 50 miles from Lockerbie - could be the ‘perfect’ target for terrorists in a hijacked aircraft. Kate Foster (kfoster@scotsman.com) IF A hijacked airliner plunged into Sellafield’s nuclear reprocessing complex, the radiation that followed could cause more than two million cancer cases and make some places uninhabitable, scientists have warned. Gordon Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the impact would "almost certainly" break open some of the tanks containing high-level radioactive liquid waste, and the accompanying explosion would fling a plume of radioactivity into the atmosphere. He said: "The explosion and the fire would just be the beginning. The burning fuel would continue to pump radioactivity into the air. "Putting this fire out wouldn’t be easy. Fire crews struggled to damp down the fire after the Pentagon crash on 11 September, and they didn’t have deadly radiation to contend with. "A crash of such magnitude would probably destroy the cooling systems, too," he added. "Tanks that survived the initial impact would heat up and start to spew out more radioactivity within hours." The warning comes after fears were voiced that Britain’s emergency services are under-equipped and under-resourced to cope with terror attacks and not properly trained to deal with the casualties of chemical or nuclear warfare. Ministers responded to demands from firemasters with a £200 million package for emergency services, but fire sources have insisted that the biggest risk from terrorist attacks are nuclear or chemical installations. Contingency plans are currently being reviewed but, according to the Fire Brigades Union in Scotland, resources for such specialist training have not been made available. After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, an exclusion zone was set up around the plant and more than a quarter of a million people were resettled. Radiation spread so far that sheep in Wales still have to be tested to check they are safe to eat. So far, 11,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been reported in the Ukraine and Belarus. According to Mr Thompson, who has been investigating the high-level waste tanks for local authorities in Britain for the past five years, if a passenger jet were to plough into building B215 at Sellafield, which contains 21 concrete and steel waste tanks, as much as half of its 2,400kg of caesium-137 could escape into the air. Reprocessing involves dissolving old fuel rods in acid and extracting the plutonium. The leftover liquid, which contains a mixture of wastes including caesium-137, is stored in the tanks in B215. It is so radioactive the tanks have to be cooled constantly to prevent their contents from boiling and leaking out. Mr Thompson said: "The amount of caesium-137 that would be escape into the atmosphere is 44 times more than was released by Chernobyl ." He added: "Immediately after the attack, there would be widespread chaos as authorities tried to organise mass evacuations. In years to come, the death toll might be terrible." In a statement, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) said: "Major nuclear facilities, including reactors and highly active waste stores, are constructed to extremely robust engineering standards and incorporate large quantities of reinforced concrete as an integral part of the construction. "These facilities are resistant to many terrorist threats, including aircraft impact. Safety cases and contingency plans take these events into account." But according to a safety report published last year, the 21 high-level waste tanks in B215 have not been constructed to withstand crashing planes. It states: "There has been no specific design provision to protect against crashing aircraft." John Large, an independent nuclear engineer, has identified seven potential terrorist targets at Sellafield, including the high-level waste tanks and a store containing 70 tonnes of plutonium. He said all their radioactive inventories are published, and aerial photographs showing their precise locations are easy to get hold of. Mr Thompson says he is "disturbed" that Sellafield is storing so much high-level waste in such a dangerous form. He said: "BNFL is meant to solidify the liquid waste into blocks of glass to make it safer, but technical problems are holding up the process." Meanwhile, according to New Scientist, aviation sources have pointed out that every year thousands of large passenger jets fly along the coast near Sellafield, on their way from European airports to the west coast of the US. Lockerbie, where Pan Am Flight 103 crashed in 1988, is less than 50 miles away. But, according to Mr Thompson, Sellafield is not the only possible target for a terror attack. There are similar storage facilities in several countries, including the US and Russia. ***************************************************************** 8 Demonstrators protest German nuke waste shipments Planet Ark Environmental News: GERMANY: October 11, 2001 HOENHEIM, France - Anti-nuclear demonstrators gathered yesterday to protest against the rail-based shipment of atomic waste from German nuclear power plants to a reprocessing site in northern France. A Reuters reporter said about 50 people, including environmentalists and militant leftists, massed near Strasbourg but did not try to block trains carrying seven containers of radioactive waste to the plant in La Hague near Cherbourg. The shipments passed Strasbourg, near the German border, at about 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT). The operation had been scrapped twice at the request of the German government because of lack of police. This was the first shipment between Germany and France since the September 11 suicide attacks on the United States. Anti-nuclear campaigners said it was irresponsible to transport nuclear waste when there was an increased risk of guerilla attacks. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 9 No disturbances as train with German nuclear waste crosses French border BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 10, 2001 Koblenz/Woerth: The first nuclear shipment through Germany since the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September has largely been smooth. The train with spent fuel elements from the nuclear power plants of Stade, Brunsbuettel and Muelheim-Kaerlich crossed the German-French border as planned this evening... Source: ddp news agency, Berlin, in German 1801 gmt 10 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 10 Belarus concerned about safety at Lithuanian nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report by Belarusian news agency Belapan Minsk, 11 October: In the wake of the terrorist acts committed in the USA on 11 September, the Republic of Belarus, which has suffered all the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster [in 1986], has expressed its concerns about the efficiency of protection and defence at the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which is located very close to the Belarusian state border, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Pavel Latushka told a regular briefing held at the ministry today. The press secretary said that there was an active debate in Lithuania about the need to strengthen the protection and defence of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, noting that, despite statements issued by Lithuanian officials about the operation of the current air control system, the issue had not been actually settled. According to the press secretary, as of today, a number of questions remain unsettled between Belarus and Lithuania: - concerning the order of crossing the state border by foreign aircraft; - concerning establishing the order of mutual use of airspace by state aircraft; - concerning the organization and implementation of exchange of air-defence-related information on aircraft flight over the border area and during the crossing of the state border. "Considering this and taking into account the fact that an accident at the Ignalina power plant could pose a real threat to the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian side believes that Lithuania should take a more responsible and constructive approach in creating an efficacious system of control over airspace and in cooperating with its neighbours in the area of safety and defence at the Ignalina nuclear power plant," the press secretary stated. Source: Belapan news agency, Minsk, in Belarusian 1402 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 11 Hungarian nuclear plant gets own air defence missiles BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 10, 2001 Text of report by Hungarian TV on 10 October [Presenter] Air defence missiles have been installed in the southern part of the country and in the region of the nuclear power station of Paks [central Hungary], Chief-of-Staff Lajos Fodor has confirmed. According to Lajos Fodor, the step is not justified by any concrete threat, it is part of the tightened measures introduced after the 11 September terrorist attack [against the USA]. Since the change of the political system [the fall of communism in 1989], it has not happened that a separate installation gets its own air defence. [Reporter] Everything goes on as normal in Paks. Local residents say they have got used to living near the nuclear power station. The missiles defending the building have been mentioned only at the level of gossips. [Female resident] I heard about it only in passing, this morning. I cannot say anything about it. What do we say about it? If it is necessary, we have to cope with it, in our own interest, so that they can protect us, perhaps. [Reporter] Even the town's mayor does not know that the power station has got its air defence missiles. [Imre Bor, mayor of Paks] No. We learnt about it from the press, from statements made by the interior minister and the prime minister after 11 September, that the power station would have an increased protection. Since then, the local government has not received any direct information. [Reporter] Around the power station, nothing shows fear about a possible attack. Since 1989, there has been no precedent in Hungary for a special air defence for a building. According to information obtained by "Newsreel" [this programme], the Hungarian army installed surface-to-air missiles for the defence of the Paks nuclear power station. These weapons are able to destroy any aircraft, missile or helicopter which could perhaps threaten the building. It was Laszlo Meszaros, reporting for "Newsreel". Source: Hungarian TV2 satellite service, Budapest, in Hungarian 1815 gmt 10 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All ***************************************************************** 12 Russian minister denies talks held on importing spent nuclear fuel BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 11 October: The press service of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy has denied reports about the final phase of negotiations on imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia. "The Ministry of Atomic Energy has not held any negotiations with foreign partners about imports of spent nuclear fuel," a press release of the ministry says. "The ministry has not authorized any Russian or foreign organizations to hold such negotiations," it notes. "It will take several years for signing contracts on imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia," Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev said at a press conference several days ago. West European and Pacific countries may be the first possible partners of Russia in spent nuclear fuel imports, the minister said. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1025 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 13 Ukrainian nuclear reactor undergoes emergency shutdown BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Kiev, 11 October: Nuclear reactor No 4 was disconnected from the energy grid by the automatic safety control system at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station at 0646 [0346 gmt] today, UNIAN learnt at Enerhoatom's [national nuclear power company] public relations department. The cause of the emergency reactor shutdown is being studied. Ten of 13 reactors are functioning at Ukraine's nuclear power stations today. Repair works continue at reactor No 5 of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station and at reactor No 3 of the South-Ukrainian nuclear power station. Radiation levels at all the nuclear power stations is normal. According to Enerhoatom, 228.62m kWh of electric power was produced by the nuclear power stations over the last 24 hours. Source: UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 0800 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 14 Bulgarian official says nuclear power deals with US firms not yet completed BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report in English by Bulgarian news agency BTA web site Sofia, 10 October: The deals for the Maritsa East 1 and 2 power plants with US companies AES and Entergy are yet to be completed, State Energy and Energy Resources Agency chairman Milko Kovachev told journalists on Wednesday [10 October]. He is attending a seminar on State, Outlook and Future Projects for Bulgaria's Nuclear Energy Sector. The Kozloduy nuclear plant and the Maritsa East complex of coal-fuelled power plants ensure the stability of the domestic energy sector, Kovachev said at the forum. A strategic task for the government is phasing out of operation the nuclear plant's units 1 and 2. There are agreements part of the package of documents on the Maritsa East 1 and 2 deals - pertaining to the supply of coal, to waste storage and the use of byproducts - that are yet to be finalized and signed. The Bulgarian side and the European Commission hold different positions on some aspects of the talks on the decommissioning of units 3 and 4 of the nuclear plant. "Bulgaria cannot renege on the agreement with the European Commission but the only objective criterion for decision-making should be the safety of the units," he said. "Through the seminar, we are seeking support for the operation of units 3 and 4 beyond 2006," Bulatom managing board chairman Ivan Hinovski said. In his view, the Bulgarian side needs an independent assessment of the achieved level of operational safety. The management of the nuclear plant said that 60 per cent of the measures to modernize units 3 and 4 have been implemented. The national strategy for energy development will be updated by February 2002, Kovachev said. The state is not able to fund the construction of nuclear facilities and Western companies are expected to do that, he said. Safety will be the main criterion in choosing providers of fresh nuclear fuel, Kovachev said. The two-day seminar is organized by Bulatom and the British Nuclear Industry Forum. It is attended by 10 of the biggest British nuclear companies and representatives of the 17 members of Bulatom. On the second day of the forum, the participants will visit the Kozloduy nuclear plant. Source: BTA web site, Sofia, in English 10 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 15 Ukraine extends no-fly zone over Chernobyl BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 10, 2001 Text of report by Ukrainian Novyy Kanal television on 10 October The director-general of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Vitaliy Tolstonohov, said today that should any plane appear in the sky above the Chernobyl area without warning, this will be regarded as a terrorist act. Closed airspace has now been extended far beyond the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl plant. The closed plant will finally be put out of operation no sooner than the end of 2007. Thousands of units of nuclear fuel elements will have been stored there by that time. The plant chief made the following statement in order to calm the general public. [Tolstonohov] The flights of any aircraft over the Chernobyl plant zone are prohibited, and I think that the air defence forces will have sufficient time to see to it that this plane is downed. Any unexpected penetration will be regarded as a terrorist act. Source: Novyy Kanal television, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1600 gmt 10 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material ***************************************************************** 16 Nuclear reactor shut down in Ukraine for unknown reasons KPnews.com -- News about Ukraine Category: NATION 11 Oct 2001 The Associated Press KYIV, Oct. 11 - A nuclear reactor at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was shut down early Thursday for unknown reasons, nuclear officials said. Reactor No. 4 was shut down 6:46 a.m. local time (0446 GMT) by a safety control system, and plant workers are studying the incident's cause, the state nuclear Energoatom company said in a statement. It said the radiation level at all of the country's atomic power plants was normal. The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is Europe's largest as it operates six nuclear reactors. Only four of them are currently active. Ukraine operates 13 nuclear reactors at four atomic power plants, but some reactors are frequently halted due to malfunctions or scheduled repairs. Currently, only ten reactors are working in Ukraine. Ukraine was site of world's worst nuclear disaster after 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl atomic power plant, which was closed for good in December 2000. © 2000 SputnikMedia.net ***************************************************************** 17 Scientist raises nuclear plant terror fears BBC News | ENGLAND | 11 October, 2001, [Sellafield] Spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed at Sellafield A hijacked jumbo jet crashing into the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant would cause a disaster many times worse than Chernobyl, an American scientist has claimed. Part of the Sellafield complex in Cumbria, called B215, consists of 21 concrete and steel tanks containing more than 1,500 cubic metres of high-level radioactive waste. The impact of a jumbo jet crash there would break open some of the tanks, according to an article in New Scientist magazine. But BNFL, which runs the site, said the tanks are among the most robust buildings at the Sellafield site, and surrounded by a large biological shield. It is scaremongering at its worst based on such sensational scenarios that it borders on science fiction Jamie Reed, BNFL Gordon Thompson, of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, said the accompanying explosion from any crash would fling radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Afterwards the burning fuel would continue to pump radioactive material into the air - and putting out the fire would be difficult. In his Doomesday-scenario, the crash would be likely to destroy the cooling systems, causing surviving tanks to heat up and spew out more radioactivity within hours. But Jamie Reed, of BNFL, told BBC News Online: "At a heightened time of national security such as the present, the New Scientist article is a grossly irresponsible piece of writing. 'Increased vigilance' "It is scaremongering at its worst based on such sensational scenarios that it borders on science fiction." He said there was no reason to believe Sellafield, or any BNFL sites, were a specific target for terrorists. BNFL has reviewed security at all its buildings Mr Reed said: "However, the company takes its responsibilities for the safety of its buildings very seriously and the site, along with other government buildings, has increased its security and vigilance. "All plants on the site are subject to safety cases approved by the regulators. "In the light of the World Trade Center attacks, BNFL has been reviewing those safety and contingency plans." After the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986, an exclusion zone of 4,800 square kilometres had to be set up around the plant. Radiation spread so far that sheep in some parts of Wales still have to be tested to check that they are safe to eat. So far, 11,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been reported in the Ukraine and Belarus. Mr Thompson, who has been investigating the storage of high level waste in the UK for the past five years, believes as much as half the highly radioactive caesium-137 in the tanks at B215 could escape into the air. Writing in New Scientist he said: "That would be 44 times more caesium-137 than was released by the Chernobyl disaster. Widespread chaos "Four million terabecquerels of radioactivity would contaminate large parts of Britain and, depending on which way the wind was blowing, Ireland, continental Europe and beyond." Immediately after the attack there would be "widespread chaos" as authorities tried to organise mass evacuations. He said: "In years to come, the death toll might be terrible." There were safety concerns raised about the Sellafield site in September, ahead of Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett's decision to allow the £460m Mox plant to be commissioned. The plant will process mixed-oxide, a blend of plutonium and uranium that has been extracted from the spent fuel rods already "burnt" in reactors. Nuclear bomb Concern was raised about the possible risks associated with moving spent nuclear fuel, such as uranium and plutonium, from customers in Germany and Japan, and then in exporting the Mox fuel. Dr Frank Barnaby, of the Oxford Research Group, said: "If they can organise to capture four commercial airlines and fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, then they can certainly capture a ship on the high seas I would have thought." He said the material could then be used to make a nuclear bomb. But a BNFL spokesman said nuclear fuels could not be easily separated, and that terrorists would need their own nuclear reprocessing plant. ***************************************************************** 18 Attacks dominate Yucca talks LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Pahrump residents James Henry, left, and Piper Weinberg listen to speakers Wednesday at a Department of Energy hearing in Amargosa Valley on the government's plans for hauling nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Photo by Amy Beth Bennett. Thursday, October 11, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Concerns of terrorism cited by speakers opposed to nuclear repository By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL AMARGOSA VALLEY -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks proved a dominant theme during a Wednesday hearing on the government's plans for hauling lethal nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. One speaker said the plan to truck the waste to Nevada from throughout the nation is "on a moral par with Osama bin Laden." Another said there would be a greater risk of terrorist action if the waste remained at dozens of reactor sites across the country. And one Las Vegas resident noted that Nellis Air Force Range, where pilots from Middle Eastern nations have trained, is only a two-minute flight from Yucca Mountain. "That waste cannot be moved. It's too much of a terrorist risk," Frank Perna said. The hearing, organized by the Department of Energy, was initially scheduled for the day after the terrorist attacks. On Wednesday, about 55 people gathered at the Longstreet Inn for the hearing in this rural Nye County community, the closest population center to Yucca Mountain, which is 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. All but a few of the 32 speakers opposed putting nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. The overwhelming majority of those who spoke at a Las Vegas hearing last month also opposed the project. The final hearing is scheduled for 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Ruud Community Center in Pahrump. At the Wednesday hearing, Jennifer Viereck, of Tecopa, Calif., said she was concerned that contamination from the proposed repository could affect groundwater supplies and the Amargosa River. She also said she feared the government's plan for bringing the waste to Nevada could result in disaster. She said as many as 100,000 trucks carrying waste will travel through the nation's cities. For the government to say that "it is not responsible for transportation because it will be handled by the private sector seems to me to be on a moral par with Osama bin Laden turning loose thousands of trained terrorists, and then saying that he is not responsible for what happens because they made private decisions to hijack planes and kill innocent people," Viereck said. Ed Munton of Amargosa Valley said it makes sense to put the nation's 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste in a maze of tunnels deep inside Yucca Mountain rather than leave it at the reactor sites that currently store spent nuclear fuel. "What would be a better target, the Test Site or those 100 reactor storage areas?" Munton asked. Later he explained that Yucca Mountain, which straddles the southwest boundary of the Nevada Test Site, is more secure and more remote from heavily populated areas. Las Vegan Homer Johnson said he is a former Navy enlisted man who was trained to clean up contamination from nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. He said nuclear waste casks on trucks and railcars make for big targets. "There are weapons out there that can take them out just like that," he said. Kalynda Tilges, nuclear issues coordinator for Citizen Alert, a statewide environmental group, said people who live near reactor sites see the potential dangers of stockpiling spent fuel. "There's a reason they don't want it there -- It's not safe," she said. During the hearing, Abe Van Luik, a Yucca Mountain Project employee who said he spoke in his role as private citizen, said he believes Yucca Mountain is a safe site for nuclear waste. "It is not risk-free, but meets the ethical standard," said Van Luik, an Energy Department employee who is technical adviser to the project manager. "This is a safe activity if it is done right." His comments drew criticism from another speaker, Steve Frishman, a consultant and technical policy adviser to Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency. Frishman said Van Luik's statements represented a conflict of interest because they indicate he is prejudiced toward finding the site suitable, even though that determination will be made by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Frishman demanded that Van Luik's comments be withdrawn from the record. "I believe he should not get two bites of the apple in a public process," Frishman said. webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 19 German Reaction to Terrorism: Shut Down Nuclear Plants Environment News Service: BERLIN, Germany, October 10, 2001 (ENS) - German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin yesterday turned the screw on a nuclear power sector already due to be phased out by 2030 by threatening emergency plant closures in case of a credible threat of terrorist attack. Speaking at an industry symposium in Berlin, Trittin said nuclear security is at the top of his agenda following the September 11 assaults in New York and Washington. Their lethal impact underlined the importance of Germany's nuclear phase-out plan, Trittin stressed. Security would be guaranteed not by sealing aeroplane cockpits but by closing down nuclear power stations according to the government's plan, he said. [Trittin] German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin (Photo courtesy Leila Mead/) Trittin stressed the importance of reassessing current safety precautions to consider what extra measures might be needed in times of heightened danger. The environment ministry is currently awaiting a report from Germany's commission on reactor safety, requested following the events of September 11. Environment ministry sources confirmed that Trittin's hard line on nuclear security is also a response to recent revelations of safety lapses at the Philippsburg nuclear power station, which was ordered to close temporarily over the weekend. Germany will phase out its 19 nuclear power plants gradually after each has had a lifespan of 32 years. Nuclear power currently accounts for about 30 percent of all Germany's energy consumption. Always unhappy with the government's extended phase-out time line for the nuclear industry, environmentalists used the conference to reiterate their view that all nuclear stations must now be shut immediately. "There can be no guarantee of absolute security against such terrorist attacks," Friends of the Earth Germany (Bund) said in a statement. {Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: } © Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Report examines risk to nuclear containers Las Vegas SUN Today: October 11, 2001 at 10:32:56 PDT By Mary Manning AMARGOSA VALLEY -- A 1999 federal study found that anti-aircraft fire could penetrate a nuclear waste shipping container, but only a trace of radiation would be released if it did, a Department of Energy official said Wednesday. However, the DOE has not studied the threat from a fully fueled jetliner crashing into a nuclear container or a terrorist removing the end of a shipping cask to release the radioactive material inside, officials said. The revelations came during a public hearing on a DOE plan to store 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. More than 60 people from Nevada and California spoke in the rural community 12 miles southwest of the proposed repository, and their fears of more terrorist attacks dominated the hearing. The summary of the 1999 DOE Sandia National Laboratory report came from Lake Barrett, acting director of the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. It found, he said, that a weapon's fire could blow a hole in the double-walled transportation containers carrying nuclear waste. But it also found that if a container was ruptured by weapons fire, an amount of radiation the size of a man's thumbnail could be released, Barrett said. The DOE did study a scenario of a 737 jet crashing into a nuclear container at 340 mph, without a fire or explosion, Pam Adams, a spokeswoman for the DOE Yucca Mountain Project, said. The plane did not penetrate the container, she said. Other terrorist threats to nuclear waste shipments haven't been evaluated, Barrett told the group. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that would license a Yucca Mountain dump, does not require such scenarios, he said. But, Barrett said, it would be almost impossible to remove 10-inch steel bolts from the ends of a nuclear container. Using high-tech equipment, it takes about a day to open a container, he said. Science teacher George Tucker challenged the DOE to prove an acetyline torch or a power tool in the hands of a terrorist would not easily open a nuclear container. Containers proposed by the DOE would protect the nuclear waste inside two stainless steel walls with a lead shield in between layers to prevent radiation leaks. "I bet you I could cut right through the side with a power saw," Tucker said. Farmer Ralph McCracken said he has worried about Air Force training pilots crashing into a nuclear waste container at the mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, or into a radioactive cargo. Ralph and his wife, Deborah, said they have cowered inside their mobile home on Farm Road when low-flying jets zoom over their farm. "If Nellis Air Force Base can't keep track of their own jets, because they're flying so low, how do you track a clandestine plane?" he asked. "You've got a leaky mountain, leaky containers and you expect us to survive it all," McCracken said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged Nevadans in a prepared statement to keep challenging the Yucca Mountain repository. Reid said he is especially concerned about a terrorist attack on a nuclear waste container. "I challenge you not to give up," Reid said. "I promise you we will stop transporting nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. It would be vulnerable to a terrorist attack." All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 21 Shearon Harris waste expansion questioned by officials [newsobserver.com, Raleigh, NC RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A group of elected officials is asking the owner of Shearon Harris nuclear plant to reconsider its expansion of waste storage in light of the recent attacks in New York and Washington. A letter signed by 12 officials in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties also calls upon plant owner Carolina Power &Light Co. to distribute anti-radiation pills to nearby residents, change the way it handles radio active waste and update evacuation plans. "It's time for meaningful dialogue about safety," Gary Phillips, chairman of the Chatham County Commissioners, said Wednesday. "There are many of us who feel like we're on the 99th floor of the twin trade towers." A spokesman for CP, Keith Poston, denounced the letter as a publicity stunt. "We find that it's inappropriate that they're using such scare tactics at a time when the public is so concerned about the national crisis," Poston said. The company recently opened a third storage pool for used uranium fuel rods, despite the claims of Orange County commissioners and an environmental group, N.C. WARN, that it heightens the risk for a catastrophic nuclear accident. Poston said the company would not stop shipping nuclear waste by rail to the Harris plant or abandon its use of waste pools, despite requests by the elected officials to do so in the name of "decreasing the risk at all CP plants." Poston said the company also had no intention to update its evacuation plan, which the elected officials labeled "outdated," or to distribute potassium iodide, a substance people can take that guards against thyroid cancer from radiation exposure. In January, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopted a rule that encourages emergency officials to consider distributing potassium iodide as part of their nuclear accident strategy. But Poston characterized the request as "one of the more egregious examples of scare tactics." The elected officials also asked to meet with CP executives "to begin a process of reassessing risks at Harris and responsibly conveying risk minimization efforts to the public." Poston said the company has not decided whether to grant such an audience. At a press conference Wednesday, Orange County Commissioner Margaret Brown pointed out that opponents of CP's nuclear-waste expansion raised the possibility of terrorism long before Sept. 11. "We have always felt it needed to be very much considered as a possibility," she said. © Copyright 2001, The News & Observer. All material found on newsobserver.com ***************************************************************** 22 Entergy's River Bend Station Completes World Record Refueling Outage Thursday October 11, 9:28 am Eastern Time SOURCE: Entergy Nuclear ST. FRANCISVILLE, La., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- River Bend Station completed Entergy Nuclear's shortest and safest refueling outage when it restarted today. The 17-day outage was also the shortest refueling outage for any boiling water reactor of its kind in the world. The outage was completed in approximately half the time of River Bend's previous best. ``This record-breaking refueling outage is the product of commitment, dedication and teamwork by all our employees across the Entergy system,'' said Randall Edington, vice president of operations at River Bend. ``Their enthusiasm and energy level created this milestone achievement in this station's history.'' River Bend's performance demonstrates Entergy Nuclear's aggressive approach to improving its refueling outages and trims the Company's 2001 average refueling outage duration to 23 days, 6 hours. This commitment to improving plant performance benefits customers by providing a reliable source of power from safe, emission-free nuclear-fueled plants. Specifics of industrial safety performance during River Bend's refueling outage include: * No lost-time accidents * Only two incidents that fit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's definition of a "recordable" accident * A reduction by nearly half in first aid cases River Bend Station is a General Electric boiling water reactor model type six. The plant produces an average of 936 megawatts (maximum dependable capacity). Prior to the outage, the year-to-date capacity factor was at 100 percent. The nuclear businesses of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR- news) are headquartered in Jackson, Miss. Entergy, a global energy company based in New Orleans, is the third largest power generator in the nation with more than 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity, about $10 billion in revenue and over 2.6 million customers. Entergy's nuclear businesses encompass five power reactors at four locations in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana under regulatory jurisdictions, and four reactors at three sites in Massachusetts and New York. Entergy Nuclear has also signed an agreement to purchase the Vermont Yankee plant at Vernon, Vt., and expects to close that transaction in the second quarter of 2002. Entergy Nuclear also furnishes license renewal and decommissioning services to the U.S. nuclear power industry. Entergy Nuclear's on-line address is www.entergy-nuclear.com SOURCE: Entergy Nuclear ***************************************************************** 23 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-10-11 Number 195 1. Non-proliferation Pakistan envoy criticizes Russia's arms supplies to Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. (FT - 11/10) Afghanistan; Pakistan; Russian Federation 2. IAEA US government considers ways to enhance IAEA activities to prevent nuclear terrorism. (NW - 11/10) IAEA; United States of America 3. Illicit trafficking Europol, Estonia to cooperate in fight against smuggling of radioactive substances. (R - 10/10) Estonia 4. Terrorism US, UK move to counter bioterrorism threat. UK emergency services to be upgraded. Air defence missiles installed at Hungarian NPP Paks. (FT - 11/10) Germany; Hungary; United Kingdom; United States of America 5. Nuclear power Belgian government plans to introduce legislation to phase out country's use of nuclear energy. Bulgarian Government will not underwrite building new nuclear facilities. Russia has about 35 projects on construction of small NPPs, official says. (R - 10/10) Belgium; Bulgaria; Russian Federation 6. Nuclear safety DOE, NRC nuclear facilities target of increased security. Austrian court revives three-year old legal action over 'low safety levels' at Slovak NPP Mochovce. Various articles claim terrorist hit on Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant would release substantially more radioactivity than Chernobyl. (IRI; NUC; NW - 10/10) Austria; Slovakia; United Kingdom; United States of America 7. Chernobyl Experimental extraction of radioactive waste from shelter covering destroyed reactor scheduled; no funds for closing NPP Chernobyl in budget draft for 2002. No-fly zone over NPP Chernobyl extended. (FT; R - 10, 11/10) Ukraine 8. Radiation, health Strongly irradiated banknote confiscated in Russian airport of Kazan. (R - 10/10) Russian Federation 9. Radwaste, fuel Train with German spent nuclear fuel crosses French border without disturbances. (FT - 11/10) France; Germany 10. R Russia, Japan reach agreement on over 90 projects in different fields, including nuclear synthesis. (FT - 11/10) Japan; Russian Federation 11. UN UN resumes Afghan food convoys. (BBC - 11/10) Afghanistan 12. Miscellaneous 'Kursk' reaches dock, radiation level normal, inquiry into cause of disaster begins; further risks posed by vessel's-nose with stored torpedoes to be raised next summer. (BBC; FT; R - 11/10) Russian Federation ***************************************************************** 24 Ariz. Palo Verde nuclear Unit 2 taken off line Wednesday October 10, 6:37 pm Eastern Time (UPDATE: adds additional background in paragraph 4, ownership details in paragraphs 7,8) PHOENIX, Ariz., Oct 10 (Reuters) - Arizona Public Service said on Wednesday that the 1,270-megawatt Unit 2 at the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona was shut earlier in the day for unscheduled maintenance. The utility, a unit of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE:PNW - news), said the unit was taken out of service to replace its control element assemblies. It noted that the work ``may take as long as a month to complete.'' The neighboring 1,270-MW Unit 3 was taken down for a scheduled 35-day maintenance and refueling outage on Sept. 29. Arizona Public Service said it identified degradation during a planned inspection of Unit 3's control element assemblies. Unit 2's control element assemblies are identical in design to Unit 3's, the utility said. ``Replacement activities in Units 2 and 3 will not impact the schedule for Unit 3's refueling, which is expected to be complete in early November,'' the utility said. The 1,270-MW Unit 1 at the Palo Verde plant was not impacted as its control element assemblies were changed out during its refueling outage this spring. APS, Arizona's largest electric utility, has a 29.1 percent stake in the plant. The other owners are the Salt River Project (17.5 percent), Edison International's (NYSE:EIX - news) Southern California Edison (15.8), El Paso Electric (AMEX:EE - news) (15.8), Public Service Co. of New Mexico (NYSE:PNM - news) (10.2), Southern California Public Power Authority (5.9) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (5.7). Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 25 Public barred from Mac reactor Thestar.com/ Thu Oct 11, 2001 - Updated at 01:41 PM Device is mostly used for research McMaster University's nuclear reactor has tightened up security and suspended public tours indefinitely as a precaution against terrorism. The reactor, commissioned in 1959, is primarily an academic tool for McMaster students and is used in research in radiation sciences. It also produces iodine used in prostate cancer therapy. Director Chris Heysel said the university reactor is subject to the same security regulations governing nuclear power plants, although it is hundreds of times smaller and it's a research reactor. Those measures have been reviewed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. "We are in full compliance with all federal regulations having to do with security of nuclear facilities," Heysel said. "We've taken additional measures that have been reviewed by both the university and the regulators in Ottawa, to ensure that they are adequate. I can't go into details, for obvious reasons." Heysel said it's unfortunate that public tours have been suspended, because the main impact will be on high school groups. "One of our biggest things is to get high school students through the reactor and introduce them to nuclear science and the stuff we do here." Every reactor in Canada is licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, formerly the Atomic Energy Control Board. When the McMaster reactor licence was renewed for three years in 1999, the board asked McMaster to accelerate work on updating its safety analysis report. Revisions started in 1996, but the AECB said progress had been slow. The report will be submitted in the next three months, Heysel said yesterday.(wed) In 1998, the AECB temporarily suspended a licence held by Hamilton Health Sciences Corp. to produce nuclear medicines. The licence was suspended because of repeated safety violations at McMaster University Medical Centre's nuclear pharmacy, including the mishandled cleanup of a radioactive spill the previous year. Heysel said that licence is separate from the one for the reactor itself, which has never been suspended. Torstar News Service ***************************************************************** 26 IEER Report: Poison in the Vadose Zone Not for use before October 9, 2001, 10 a.m. Eastern time For further information contact: Arjun Makhijani, 301-270-5500 Beatrice Brailsford, (208) 234-4782 Bob Schaeffer, (941) 395-6773 NEWS RELEASE RADIOACTIVE AND CHEMICAL POLLUTION FROM NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPING ENDANGERS SNAKE RIVER PLAIN AQUIFER, LARGEST AQUIFER IN WESTERN U.S. More than one ton of plutonium is in shallow dumps Energy Department "Clean-up" Program Plagued by Poor Priorities, Inaction Washington, D.C., October 9, 2001: Nuclear waste dumped at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is polluting the Snake River Plain aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for 200,000 people, according to a new report. Poison in the Vadose Zone: An examination of the threats to the Snake River Plain aquifer from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), warns that this important water resource faces further contamination from the migration of long-lived radionuclides and hazardous chemicals from nuclear weapons production wastes buried at the site. The Snake River Plain aquifer is the largest unified aquifer in the western United States and the most important underground water resource in the northwestern U.S. Poison in the Vadose Zone is the first report to comprehensively compile and analyze the available data on the threat posed by plutonium and other transuranic materials to the Snake River Plain aquifer. "For fifty years, nuclear weapons production has resulted in large quantities of radioactive and hazardous chemical waste being injected directly into the aquifer, discharged into surface ponds, or dumped into shallow pits and trenches," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, principal author of the report and president of IEER. "These contaminants pose a serious threat to the lifeblood of the region, the Snake River Plain aquifer." According to the report, official US government data indicate that more than one metric ton of plutonium, packaged in nothing more than cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, or 55 gallon drums, was dumped into shallow trenches on the site in the 1950s and 1960s. Rain, snow, and occasional flooding of the trenches have already caused migration of some radioactive and hazardous materials towards, and in some cases into, the aquifer. Evidence has existed for more than 25 years that these long-lived radionuclides are migrating through the vadose zone to the aquifer much faster than anticipated. "Sound scientific work indicating threats to the Snake River Plain aquifer has long been ignored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)," stated Michele Boyd, co-author of the report and IEER's global outreach coordinator. "Plutonium and americium have been detected in the vadose zone, which is the unsaturated area between the ground surface and the aquifer, and in the aquifer since the 1970s. Plutonium is moving through the vadose zone to the aquifer thousands of times faster than assumed by a wait-and-see policy that dominates DOE's approach to clean-up of these dumps." While the threat to the Snake River Plain aquifer from the buried wastes increases, the DOE has focused on transporting "stored" transuranic wastes, which are kept in relatively secure conditions indoors at INEEL, to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. "Insufficient resources are being devoted to cleaning up of the buried transuranic wastes at INEEL," said Gary Richardson, Executive Director of the Snake River Alliance, a nuclear watchdog group of INEEL. "The DOE is essentially playing a shell game by moving wastes from INEEL to WIPP so that more waste can be shipped to INEEL. The DOE's Environmental Management Program has wasted enormous sums of money on poorly designed projects for managing buried wastes. Meanwhile, the DOE is continuing to dump wastes into unlined pits and trenches. A culture of denial seems deeply embedded in the DOE with regard to the threat posed by buried wastes." Paul Schwartz, Director for Water Policy of Clean Water Action, in welcoming the report said, "Activists and policy-makers should pay far more attention to the threat posed to the purity of critical water supplies in the United States by past radioactive dumping. Clean Water Action is certainly going to do so. There is no room for complacency when it comes to plutonium and americium." The DOE buried more plutonium containing waste at INEEL than at any other nuclear weapons site. Direct injection of radioactive and hazardous substances into the Snake River Plain aquifer and dumping of wastes into percolation ponds resulted in plumes of pollutants like strontium-90, iodine-129, and TCE in the aquifer. Some areas under the site are contaminated at levels far above the Safe Drinking Water standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While these standards do not apply to the water under INEEL, they do indicate the severity of the problem of water pollution due to past waste dumping and the need for clean-up. "The combined threat from the radioactive and hazardous chemicals in the buried wastes is enormous," continued Beatrice Brailsford of the Snake River Alliance. "Severe contamination of the Snake River Plain aquifer would have serious consequences for the health of the people and economy of Idaho. The Snake River Plain aquifer is the only source of drinking water for 200,000 people in southern Idaho and a major source of irrigation water for regional crops and fisheries. The produce grown in Idaho is eaten throughout the United States and in many other countries, including Japan, Canada, and Mexico. Idaho's trout farms, which rely on the groundwater, produce 75 percent of the commercial rainbow trout eaten in the U.S." The report recommends that: + buried wastes be recovered from the dumps and processed in order to stabilize them for storage, + all shallow land burial of radioactive wastes be stopped, + the vadose zone be remediated to the extent possible, and + a more vigorous groundwater monitoring program be implemented. "This will not be a simple project and will need to be carried out carefully, with due regard for worker safety," said Dr. Makhijani. "But it is a project that is essential for protecting the health of the Snake River Plain aquifer and also for security. If site control is lost, the dumps would be a potential nuclear weapons mine since they contain more than 200 nuclear bombs worth of plutonium." Copies of the full report are available upon request. Portions of the report are available on this web site. -- 30 -- Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Comments to Outreach Coordinator: ieer@ieer.org Takoma Park, Maryland, USA Posted October 9, 2001 ***************************************************************** 27 EUROTECH's Radiation-Resistant EKOR Sealer Successful in Macro-Encapsulating Demonstration for West Jefferson Facility Thursday October 11, 8:47 am Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: EUROTECH, Ltd. FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2001--EUROTECH, Ltd., (AMEX: - news), announced today that it completed a successful paid demonstration of its EKOR Sealer product for Battelle Memorial Institute at Battelle's West Jefferson Facility in Ohio. In this application, EKOR coated concrete shield blocks and demonstrated EKOR Sealer to be superior to conventional materials as a macro-encapsulant of hot cell walls and other radioactive contaminated components in West Jefferson's decommissioning program. Battelle will decommission five hot cells at the West Jefferson Facility and one hot cell at West Valley, New York. EKOR Sealer was tested for coating of the inner hot cell walls, shield doors and various other structures and equipment prior to diamond wire cutting them into manageable sizes for disposal. Hot cells were used for over thirty years of testing and evaluation of intact nuclear fuel elements from nuclear power plants. These structures have become highly contaminated and still contain an estimated 6,000 curies of activity in the form of metallurgical samples, contaminated equipment, sediment and fuel pieces, and distributed contamination on interior cell walls. The cells at West Jefferson contain about 13,000 cubic feet of transuranic material and a greater volume of low-level wastes. EKOR Sealer has demonstrated that the loose contamination in the hot cells can be fixed in place and safely contained while the cells are diamond cut for volume reduction and disposal. EKOR's strong adhesion and resistance to chemical and radioactive corrosion, make EKOR Sealer ideal for the hot cell projects. For additional information about Eurotech and its technologies visit the Company website . Certain information and statements included in this release constitute ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Federal Privates Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Contact: EUROTECH, Ltd. by ECON Investor Relations, Inc. DawnVanZant, 1-800-665-0411 ***************************************************************** 28 Nye County YMP hearings today, Friday Pahrump Valley Times By:October 10, 2001 After several delays and a fair amount of criticism, the U.S. Department of Energy will hold its two hearings in Nye County this week on the Yucca Mountain Project. The hearings will take place today at the Longstreet Inn and Casino in Amargosa Valley and Friday at the community center in Pahrump. Each hearing will last from 3-9 p.m. and be preceded by a poster session, during which DOE scientists will be on hand to answer questions from the public. They were to be the final two hearings of the current comment period, but Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham ordered 29 additional "field hearings" to be held in every county in Nevada and in Inyo County, Calif., through Friday. Abraham followed that up on Oct. 1 by announcing that the comment period would be extended through Oct. 19. The supplementary hearings began last week, and most of them have already been held. Among the few hearings left is one from 3-8 p.m. Thursday at the community center in Goldfield, which should at least partially satisfy Nye County officials who urged the DOE to schedule hearings in Beatty and Tonopah. The Department is seeking public input on its Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation for Yucca Mountain, which is the only site currently being studied as a permanent repository for 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste. Yucca Mountain is located in Nye County about 20 miles east of Beatty. Abraham had planned to provide President Bush with a recommendation on the suitability of the site before the end of the year. The public comment period for the Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation began May 4 and was due to expire on Oct. 5 after a previous extension. With the new date, the public has been given a total of 168 days to comment on the document. For additional information on the public hearings and DOE's Civilian Radioactive Waste Management program in general, call 1-800-967-3477 or go online to www.ymp.gov. ©Pahrump Valley Times 2001 Copyright © 1995 - 2001 PowerAdz.com LLC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 nobel peace prize winners appeal; This War is Illegal; Folly of Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 23:51:10 -0500 (CDT) ----- Forwarded message begin ----- From: Janne french and spanish versions available at IFOR Janne Poort - van Eeden IFOR's Women Peacemakers Program Assistant International Fellowship of Reconciliation, IFOR Spoorstraat 38 1815 BK Alkmaar, the Netherlands tel. +31.72.512 3014 fax: +31.72.515 1102 email: j.vaneeden@ifor.org web: www.ifor.org October 2001 "HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED" An Appeal to Restraint and a Call to Action in a Moment of Crisis by eight Nobel Peace Prize Laureates We are greatly saddened by the tragic events which took place on Tuesday, September 11th , in New York and Washington, D.C. We cannot yet fathom the magnitude of what has happened, and yet we feel impelled to speak in light of what we fear may be an escalation of violence in response. We extend our deepest sympathies and heart-felt condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to the people of the United States. Our prayers accompany you in this difficult period of loss and mourning. The many acts of courage on the part of the rescue teams and the generosity of the citizens of your cities and towns are an inspiration to all of us. Respect for the sacredness and inviolability of human life is a principal article of faith in each of the major world religions. We are heartened by the spontaneous expressions of solidarity by millions of men and women of good will, from all backgrounds, on every continent, and by so many religious and political leaders through the world who have spoken out against this barbarous act of terrorism. There is nothing which can condone an act which has cost the lives of thousands of innocent people. The perpetrators of this deed must be sought out and brought to justice. At the same time, we know that administering justice to those responsible will not resolve the deeper questions of the causes of terrorism. In this regard, we are mindful that every day innocent victims suffer and die in many parts of the world, their only crime being born in a particular place, or into a particular religion, or with a certain skin colour. In this moment of crisis we are confronted by a challenge whose outcome may determine the future of this first century of the new millennium. The UN General Assembly has declared the first ten years of the 21st century to be the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010). We believe that the time has come to implement that decision. Many have compared the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon to the attack on Pearl Harbour. But this is not 1941. In the past 60 years we have learnt many hard lessons about the downward spiral of violence and have been misled by false expectations about the ability of military power to solve problems. Sadly, our political leaders continue to take decisions which produce confrontation instead of negotiation. The result has been more death and destruction and an increasing sense of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness among us all. We therefore call upon the world community and especially upon the American people to take up the challenge which is presented to them in the midst of adversity. We recognise the need to respond quickly and decisively to these terrible acts of terrorism. Yet we appeal to the American government to refrain from military retaliation. Any actions taken must be guided by international law and fall within the bounds of the United Nations Charter. Furthermore we call upon the United Nations to organise in the very near future: -An international conference on terrorism which will investigate its root causes, propose measures to address those causes, and provide international standards to ensure that security needs are met and that the perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice. -An international day of commemoration for all the victims of terrorism with public manifestations of solidarity and programs for teaching peace education and the principles of nonviolence in schools and universities. Terrorism threatens the very principles to which our societies aspire and which are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The best response to those who would undermine democracy and the rule of law is to reaffirm those very values and institutions. In conclusion, we call upon the governments and peoples of the world to take concrete steps in developing a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence. The response of the United States and its allies should not be driven by a blind desire for vengeance, but rather a renewed determination to work for a peaceful and just world. The single great evil that must be opposed is not one group of people or another, but rather the fear and hatred that continue to find root in human hearts. Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize 1976 Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 1976 Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize 1980 Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize 1984 The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), Nobel Peace Prize 1989 Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Nobel Peace Prize 1992 Joseph Rotblat, Nobel Peace Prize 1995 Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 1997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE October 2001 "Human Life is Sacred" An Appeal for Restraint and a Call for Action by eight Nobel Peace Laureates We are pleased to announce the publication of the Appeal "Human Life is Sacred" by eight Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. In response to the tragic events in New York and Washington, D.C., eight Nobel Peace Laureates have taken the rare step of issuing a common statement in which they express their profound commiseration with the family and friends of the victims and appeal to the government of the United States to refrain from military action in retaliation. They emphasize that existing standards of international law must be employed in bringing those responsible for these barbaric acts to justice. At the same time, they call upon the United Nations to implement the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010). In particular, they call for a UN-sponsored conference to meet in the near future which will address the root causes of terrorism and take measures to alleviate them, while formulating additional steps to meet the current crisis of terrorist threats and guarantee public safety. They remind the world community of the need to teach children and youth the values of peace and nonviolence and call for an international day in honour of all the victims of terrorism which will be highlighted by educational programmes. The Appeal was launched by Mairead Corrigan Maguire at the initiative of Jonathan Sisson, who represents the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) at the UN in Geneva. Mairead Corrigan Maguire shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1976 with Betty Williams when the two women from Northern Ireland were honoured for their role in organizing public protest against the violence in their country. In speaking of her motivation to launch the Appeal "Human Life is Sacred", Mairead Maguire cited her belief that violence serves no purpose and that retaliation would only cause the deaths of many more people. "We understand the depth of feelings of loss and pain," she said, "but in our hearts we know that only love can heal each one of us. Let us each therefore begin to listen to our hearts." Other Peace Laureates, in signing the Appeal, emphasized the active role that the United Nations should play in responding to the crisis. Sir Joseph Rotblat, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 in recognition of his work for nuclear disarmament, commented that "if any military action is to be taken, it should be by the Security Council under the auspices of the UN." In a letter to President Bush immediately after the events, H.H. the Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate and co-signer of the Appeal, questioned the wisdom of violent retaliation, citing his own belief that "violence will only increase the cycle of violence." In all humility, he added, "But how do we deal with hatred and anger which are often the root causes of such senseless violence?" Other Co-signers of the Appeal include Betty Williams (Nobel Peace Prize 1976), Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize 1980), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize 1984), and Jody Williams (Nobel Peace Prize 1997). It is clear that no one people or nation alone can provide an answer to the deeper question of the causes of terrorism. The collective wisdom and action of the world community as a whole is needed. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates were instrumental in creating the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010). The Appeal of the seven Nobel Peace Laureates now calls upon the United Nations to implement that Decade as a forum of dialogue and education in the face of the threat of terrorism. People throughout the world are invited to undersign the Appeal "Human Life is Sacred" as a personal commitment to seek peaceful and nonviolent solutions in the face of violence in all its forms. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Jonathan Sisson, Coordinator of the Nobel Peace Laureates Appeal "Human Life is Sacred" and Representative of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) at the UN in Geneva * Biographical profiles of the eight Nobel Peace Prize Laureates who signed the Appeal are available at the following website : www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/index.html * Further comments by individual Nobel Peace Laureates on the tragic events in the USA can be read at the following website : www. thecommunity.com Suggestions for the use of the Appeal Each person or organisation could use the Appeal in its own grassroots activities, as it sees fit. Here follow some suggestions which may be of use to you and, of course, count on your own creative initiate in developing further activities : * Use the Appeal as part of a letter campaign to members of your local and national government or to the American Embassy in your country; * * Ask newspapers and magazines to donate space to print the Appeal or collect donations from co-signers who would add their names to those of the Laureates and thus pay for a printed advertisement in the press. * * Mention the Appeal in a letter to the editor of the local press; * * Use the formated version of the Appeal as a handout in demonstrations or as a poster to be displayed in shops and public places; * * Ask your members to spread the Appeal through their personal email network. In all of these efforts, it is important to emphasize that the wording of the Appeal should not be altered. It may be that events in the coming days and weeks will change the public debate, particularly if the expected military response takes place. But the Laureates stand by their position, proposing nonviolent solutions instead of the use of military force. Coordination Richard Deats and Janet Chisholm of FOR/USA have agreed to take on responsibility for the over-all coordination of information concerning the Appeal. All questions in this regard should be addressed to the following contact addresses : Richard Deats : fellowship@forusa.org Janet Chisholm : nonviolence@forusa.org FOR/USA, Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960, USA ------ Forwarded message end ------ -- Arachne V1.69, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/ =========================================== The Globe and Mail October 9, 2001 Say what you want, but this war is illegal By Michael Mandel A well-kept secret about the U.S.-U.K. attack on Afghanistan is that it is clearly illegal. It violates international law and the express words of the United Nations Charter. Despite repeated reference to the right of self-defence under Article 51, the Charter simply does not apply here. Article 51 gives a state the right to repel an attack that is ongoing or imminent as a temporary measure until the UN Security Council can take steps necessary for international peace and security. The Security Council has already passed two resolutions condemning the Sept. 11 attacks and announcing a host of measures aimed at combating terrorism. These include measures for the legal suppression of terrorism and its financing, and for co-operation between states in security, intelligence, criminal investigations and proceedings relating to terrorism. The Security Council has set up a committee to monitor progress on the measures in the resolution and has given all states 90 days to report back to it. Neither resolution can remotely be said to authorize the use of military force. True, both, in their preambles, abstractly "affirm" the inherent right of self-defence, but they do so "in accordance with the Charter." They do not say military action against Afghanistan would be within the right of self-defence. Nor could they. That's because the right of unilateral self-defence does not include the right to retaliate once an attack has stopped. The right of self-defence in international law is like the right of self-defence in our own law: It allows you to defend yourself when the law is not around, but it does not allow you to take the law into your own hands. Since the United States and Britain have undertaken this attack without the explicit authorization of the Security Council, those who die from it will be victims of a crime against humanity, just like the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Even the Security Council is only permitted to authorize the use of force where "necessary to maintain and restore international peace and security." Now it must be clear to everyone that the military attack on Afghanistan has nothing to do with preventing terrorism. This attack will be far more likely to provoke terrorism. Even the Bush administration concedes that the real war against terrorism is long term, a combination of improved security, intelligence and a rethinking of U.S. foreign alliances. Critics of the Bush approach have argued that any effective fight against terrorism would have to involve a re-evaluation of the way Washington conducts its affairs in the world. For example, the way it has promoted violence for short-term gain, as in Afghanistan when it supported the Taliban a decade ago, in Iraq when it supported Saddam Hussein against Iran, and Iran before that when it supported the Shah. The attack on Afghanistan is about vengeance and about showing how tough the Americans are. It is being done on the backs of people who have far less control over their government than even the poor souls who died on Sept. 11. It will inevitably result in many deaths of civilians, both from the bombing and from the disruption of aid in a country where millions are already at risk. The 37,000 rations dropped on Sunday were pure PR, and so are the claims of "surgical" strikes and the denials of civilian casualties. We've seen them before, in Kosovo for example, followed by lame excuses for the "accidents" that killed innocents. For all that has been said about how things have changed since Sept. 11, one thing that has not changed is U.S. disregard for international law. Its decade-long bombing campaign against Iraq and its 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia were both illegal. The U.S. does not even recognize the jurisdiction of the World Court. It withdrew from it in 1986 when the court condemned Washington for attacking Nicaragua, mining its harbours and funding the contras. In that case, the court rejected U.S. claims that it was acting under Article 51 in defence of Nicaragua's neighbours. For its part, Canada cannot duck complicity in this lawlessness by relying on the "solidarity" clause of the NATO treaty, because that clause is made expressly subordinate to the UN Charter. But, you might ask, does legality matter in a case like this? You bet it does. Without the law, there is no limit to international violence but the power, ruthlessness and cunning of the perpetrators. Without the international legality of the UN system, the people of the world are sidelined in matters of our most vital interests. We are all at risk from what happens next. We must insist that Washington make the case for the necessity, rationality and proportionality of this attack in the light of day before the real international community. The bombing of Afghanistan is the legal and moral equivalent of what was done to the Americans on Sept. 11. We may come to remember that day, not for its human tragedy, but for the beginning of a headlong plunge into a violent, lawless world. Michael Mandel, professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, specializes in international criminal law. ============================================= From: Anthony Tothe Another myth debunking article.-Tony Folly of aid and bombs George Monbiot Tuesday October 9, 2001 The Guardian Two weeks ago, Paul Wolfowitz, the US under secretary of defence, compared Afghanistan to a swamp, which must be drained to catch the snakes that hide there. His analogy may be rather more apt than he intended. Swamps, as everyone knows, are harder to get out of than they are to get into. On Sunday night, the west took its first, irreversible step into the morass. It may well prove to be the only simple one on an ever more uncertain journey. But there is now no going back. Once you have initiated military action, you are committed to it, and all further adventures in Afghanistan need be armed. It is not clear that either the British or the US governments has fully grasped the implications. Yesterday morning, some 15 hours after the air strikes began, the United Nations announced that it had halted convoys of food to Afghanistan. From now on, and for as long as the conflict lasts, the humanitarian aid that both Blair and Bush promised would be an integral component of this campaign must be delivered primarily with the help of the armed forces. But they don't seem to have any idea what this responsibility entails. The military answer to the country's crisis so far has taken the form of 37,500 yellow ration packs, dropped from transport planes into regions in which hungry people are believed to live. Each pack contains around 2,200 calories: roughly enough to sustain one person for one day. If you believe, as some commentators do, that this is an impressive or even meaningful operation, I urge you to conduct a simple calculation. The United Nations estimates that there are 7.5m hungry people in Afghanistan. If every ration pack reached a starving person, then one two hundredth of the vulnerable were fed by the humanitarian effort on Sunday. The US department of defence has announced that it possesses a further 2m of these packs, which it might be prepared to drop. If so, they could feed 27% of the starving for one day. Four weeks remain before winter envelops Afghanistan, during which enough food must be delivered to last until March. Yet the US is prepared to drop, at its own best estimate, barely one quarter of one day's needs. Some of these rations will, of course, be lost. Many, perhaps most, will be eaten by people who are not in immediate danger of starvation, as they are more mobile than the seriously hungry and better able to reach the packs. Some will remain untouched. One of the warring factions may discover that an effective means of eliminating its enemies is to remove the contents of these packs and replace them with explosives. This is just one of the problems associated with dispensing kindness at 20,000 feet: no one can be completely sure whose generosity they are about to enjoy. The usefulness of any feeding programme, moreover, is greatly diminished if it is not carefully targeted. People in different stages of starvation require different preparations. Children, especially infants, are more vulnerable than any others. Yet all the packs being dropped on Afghanistan are identical, and all are equipped only to feed adults. The packs contain medicine as well as food but, unlike aid workers on the ground, the pilots delivering them can offer no diagnosis. This blanket prescription is likely to be either useless or dangerous. So western governments have terminated what may have been an effective humanitarian programme and replaced it with a futile gesture. The bombing raids, moreover, have persuaded thousands to flee from their homes. Yet Afghanistan's borders remain closed, while the camps the UN is building in Pakistan will not be ready for another two weeks. The refugees have nowhere to go. The military strikes, Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, announced, would "create conditions for sustained... humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan". They have so far done precisely the opposite. But the purpose of the food drops is not to feed the starving but to tell them they are being fed. President Bush explained on Sunday that by means of these packages, "the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies". They will know it, for they know that gestures will not feed them. Hunger brooks no tokenism. It demands food, not a semblance of food. This show of generosity is, of course, designed to impress us as well as them. The yellow packages drifting on to the minefields of the Hindu Kush are likely to be the most, over the next few days, that we will see of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The hungry will die quietly on the forgotten trails through the mountains, huddled behind rocks, searching the streets of deserted cities, clawing for roots in the empty fields. The satellites that can count the shells stacked behind a howitzer cannot peer into the faces of the starving. And if, somehow, a sensible humanitarian mission resumed, the linkage established by both Bush and Blair between aid and ordnance, which sounds so bold and compassionate at home, could turn out to be disastrous in Afghanistan. If the humanitarian programme continues to be perceived as part of the military offensive, we could expect the dispersed guerrillas of a partly vanquished regime to slip into the feeding centres to lob a few grenades into the crowd. While it is not hard to predict how the humanitarian operation might end, it is rather more difficult to see how the military mission could be concluded. The Taliban have vowed to fight to the last breath. While many of their conscripts will desert, the hard core are likely to do just this. They dispersed some time before Sunday's attacks. Their anti-aircraft guns, tanks and planes were peripheral to the operation of what has always, in effect, been a guerrilla force. In confronting them, as Russian veterans have warned, we will be pummelling thin air. Rumsfeld has defined victory as the Taliban's "collapse from within". But this is not victory, only the beginning of the next phase of war. If, as Bush and Blair maintain, they aim to leave Afghanistan better than it was when they found it, then the west is committed to defend it against all oppressors, whoever they might be. This implies that if the Northern Alliance moves into the vacuum left by the nominal defeat of the Taliban, and establishes not the "broad-based" government of assorted extremists the west envisages but a narrow government of homogenous extremists, we must fight them too. So at what point do we stop fighting? At what point does withdrawal become either honourable or responsible? Having once engaged its forces, are we then obliged to reduce Afghanistan to a permanent protectorate? Or will we jettison responsibility as soon as military power becomes impossible to sustain? The consequences of this endless war may be dangerous for the west. They could be deadly for Afghanistan. Guardian Unlimited ) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ___________________________________ FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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You can also manage this function yourself by going to the list at Serious security flaws have left material used in the production of nuclear weapons vulnerable to terrorism, but consolidating plutonium and uranium for storage at the Nevada Test Site or underground in New Mexico could reduce the risk, a report said. The Project on Government Oversight, a non-partisan watchdog group based in Washington, released to the public Tuesday a 200-page report on security lapses and other unclassified information. More than 50 percent of the time, DOE facilities in Colorado, New Mexico and California failed mock terrorist attacks, according to the report. The Project on Government Oversight began preparing the report eight months ago, Danielle Brian, POGO executive director, said. About a dozen whistle-blowers contributed unclassified information, which provided evidence regarding the vulnerability of sites housing materials used in the production of nuclear weapons. In a prepared statement Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the House National Security Subcommittee, said he would initiate an investigation into the findings. "I am deeply troubled about a recent report indicating DOE still fails facility security training exercises more than 50 percent of the time even though the department is aware when the facility security training exercise is to take place," Shays said. "We want to know what DOE is doing to resolve this deficiency, both in the short term and in the long term." A means of securing nuclear weapons materials is consolidation, the report says, adding that it could take several years to complete such a move. Locations such as an underground bunker at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico or the Device Assembly Facility, a secure complex about the size of a dozen football fields at the Nevada Test Site -- about 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas -- provide options for housing the material. The $100 million Nevada facility was constructed for the assembly of nuclear devices tested at the site; underground experiments were halted in 1992. Another alternative outlined in the report would involve immobilizing the materials in glass blocks at the DOE's Savannah River, S.C., site. The process, however, would take years to complete. Nine of the government's nuclear weapons facilities, including the Test Site, are within 100 miles of cities with populations of more than 75,000, the report said. The report, referring to DOE documents, cited several instances in which security at nuclear weapons facilities had been breached. For example, in a security exercise at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, U.S. Army Special Forces seized heavy weapons-grade uranium, which they wheeled off in a garden cart. And at a DOE plant in Rocky Flats, Colo., a Navy SEAL team posing as terrorists cut a hole in a chain-link fence and took enough plutonium to construct several nuclear bombs, according to the report. Security personnel at the plant first saw the SEAL team as it was leaving the site. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 Another nuclear worker injured [St. Petersburg Times Online: Citrus County news ] Just after a temporary employee at the Florida Power nuclear plant is hurt by a falling tool Tuesday, another is burned. They are treated and released from the hospital. By CARRIE JOHNSON © St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2001 CRYSTAL RIVER -- A second temporary employee making repairs to the Florida Power nuclear plant was hurt Tuesday night, just hours after a worker was sent to the hospital when a cutting tool dropped and injured his ankle. The men were treated at Seven Rivers Community Hospital for minor injuries and released. They were expected to return to work Wednesday, said Mac Harris, a Florida Power spokesman. Harris would not release the names of the injured, but both were among the 900 workers from two Virginia-based companies contracted to handle a maintenance operation that started Sept. 29. The second accident occurred about 11 p.m. The worker, who is from the Atlantic Group of Norfolk, Va., was cleaning equipment in the switchgear room, where electricity is dispersed to different areas of the plant, Harris said. The man brushed against some electrical equipment that hadn't been turned off and received minor burns to his arm, Harris said. There is no radioactive material in the building where the man was injured. "The individual was not seriously hurt," he said. It was the second trip to the emergency room for a plant worker that night. At 6 p.m., an employee from Framatome ANP of Lynchburg, Va., working in the reactor containment building was injured when a cutting instrument suspended from a cable dropped from its clasp and fell on his leg. Because the man was working in a building where radioactive particles are present, he was accompanied to the hospital by radiation protection technicians and taken to a special decontamination room where he was scanned with Geiger counters. A low level of radiation was found on the man's clothing, but none was detected on his skin. The broken clasp has been replaced. Florida Power employees are still trying to determine why it failed, Harris said. The worker was using the cutting tool to slice through a stainless steel pipe that feeds into the reactor. The plant was placed on "stand-down" following the two incidents, which means all work ceased until the cause of the accident could be determined, Harris said. Work resumed shortly after both injuries. The temporary employees have been brought in to replace one-third of the plant's 177 fuel bundles, metal rods filled with uranium pellets, and shift the others to maximize energy production. The operation is expected to take one month. While the reactor is shut down, employees are working on emergency diesel generators and valves that control steam to the main turbines. Harris said the increased number of employees makes the plant more vulnerable to industrial accidents such as Tuesday's. "There's a lot more work going on, so there's a lot more opportunities for events to occur than the rest of the year," he said. -- Staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report. ***************************************************************** 12 Lawsuit claims US army stole nuclear lab land Thursday, October 11, 2001 LOS ALAMOS: Hispanic ranchers and their heirs sued the US Government on Tuesday, charging it stole their land in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb, took them for forced labour and subjected them to radiation experiments. The lawsuit filed in Santa Fe federal court is the second this year to allege the army forced Hispanic homesteaders off a sprawling plateau in the northern New Mexico mountains to make room for what later became the Los Alamos National Laboratory. While the earlier suit involving many of the same plaintiffs sought compensation for the lost land, Tuesday’s action seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for the abuse alleged by some 350 aging ranchers and their heirs. The complaint names as defendants Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, whose department owns Los Alamos, as well as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the army and its Corps of Engineers. “If we turn our eyes away from this type of atrocity, then we’re saying that the US Constitution is nothing more than a piece of paper,” said Joe Gutierrez, leader of Pajarito Plateau Homesteaders Inc, a non-profit corporation created to represent the individuals in the land expropriation case. A spokesman for Los Alamos did not return calls for comment. But the weapons research lab has declined to comment in the past on the earlier lawsuit. Los Alamos inherited the site used by the top secret Manhattan Project, the US programme which developed the world’s first atomic bomb during World War Two. According to the class-action civil rights lawsuit, about 30 families were living on the Pajarito Plateau when US Army troops and armed members of the Corps of Engineers appeared at their homes in late 1942, ordering them at gunpoint to collect their belongings and leave within 24 hours. –Reuters © 1995-2001 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D) Managed by I.STAR Sdn Bhd (Co No 422871-T). ***************************************************************** 13 Report predicts vit project will strain cities This story was published Wed, Oct 10, 2001 By Genoa Sibold-Cohn and Terry Hudson Herald staff writers An independent report released Tuesday revealed potential effects of Hanford's glassification project on the Mid-Columbia's police, schools and housing. The report, prepared by Perteet Engineering, Thomas/Lane and Associates and SCM Consultants, confirmed the four cities could be facing severe hits over the next four or five years, peaking in 2005. "This is one phase of a multiphase project that is going to have impacts on the community," said Bob Kelly, Kennewick city manager. The report and its findings were the topic of discussions Tuesday night at Richland School District and Kennewick City Council meetings. Officials are predicting the glassification process, known as the vitrification project, will bring 4,300 people by 2004 before the project's employment will drop. Until then, city government, emergency services and school officials are bracing for an overhaul on everything from police departments to classroom sizes. At the Richland School Board meeting Tuesday, Superintendent Rich Semler said the report shows the plant could bring many more students to the district. "Not all will bring children, and not all will choose to live in Richland," Semler said. "We'll pick up about 200 this year, peak at about 600 and then go down." Portable classrooms could be the answer. "We'll monitor the situation closely over the next six months," Semler said. "But we probably won't go to taxpayers for permanent structures for a temporary situation." The report predicts the plant will bring the Richland School District 188 students this year, with increases to 504 next year, 623 in 2003 with a peak of 653 in 2005, before the numbers decline. The report also predicts an increase of 418 students in Kennewick and 171 in Pasco for the peak year of 2005. Here are other findings concluded in the report: -- Kennewick and Richland would each have to hire 16 new firefighters and 23 new police officers by 2005. The additional emergency workers would cost Kennewick an estimated $1.4 million and Richland an estimated $2.9 million. Pasco, West Richland and Benton County would have to hire more officers and firefighters, spending an estimated $300,000 to $800,000. -- An estimated $145 million in sales tax would be generated over the next 10 years from the project and its workers. Only 11 percent would be returned to the cities, the report projected. -- Tri-City housing projections during the project call for an additional 1,767 to 2,383 rental properties, 1,470 to 2,205 owned units and 297 to 416 trailer spaces. As of August, the Mid-Columbia had 730 rental properties and 900 owned units available, the report stated. -- North Richland traffic and travel to the construction site would overflow during the project years, according to the report. Kelly presented Kennewick City Council members Tuesday with a grave picture of possible effects the Mid-Columbia could encounter with the 10-year project. Kennewick leaders want state officials to help find money to compensate the city for potential effects on schools and emergency services. Mayor Jim Beaver and Kelly plan to meet Thursday night in Kennewick with representatives from the 8th and 16th legislative districts to discuss the issue. In the meantime, Kelly has advised city council members to think of ways to mitigate the project's effect on Kennewick. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 14 Cleanup budget remains in limbo Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:49 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Still no fiscal year 2002 environmental management budget. Still no conclusion to the so-called comprehensive review of the Department of Energy's cleanup program. But there is optimism, one federal official says. Rod Nelson, assistant manager for DOE's Oak Ridge Environmental Management program, gave a brief update on cleanup-related issues to the Oak Ridge Site-Specific Advisory Board during its meeting Wednesday night at the Garden Plaza Hotel. The Site-Specific Advisory Board provides recommendations to DOE regarding the federal agency's cleanup efforts. Nelson said DOE is continuing to operate under FY 2001 funding levels due to a continuing resolution Congress passed earlier this month. He said that means no new cleanup projects have been started, but also that no existing efforts have been stopped. However, the continuing resolution expires Oct. 16. At that point, Congress will either have to pass another resolution or approve the budget, Nelson pointed out. There has been a lot of concern locally that Oak Ridge cleanup funds will be slashed by as much as $90 million in fiscal year 2002, which began Oct. 1. That could mean a drop from $423.7 million in FY 2001 to $332.457 million, with layoffs most likely following. "We are very optimistic that we are going to get some additional funding in our '02 budget," Nelson said. Nelson also addressed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and whether those events would impact the budget. "At this point, I have no way of knowing," he said. "I was fearful of that. I have not seen any adverse impacts." As for the review of the Energy Department's cleanup program, Nelson said there's no word on when it will be complete. The review was ordered earlier this year by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Nelson said that DOE headquarters officials involved with the review were in Oak Ridge last month doing work. However, he said no feedback regarding that visit has been provided to DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office. "We are disappointed," Nelson said. "We thought this thing was going to go quicker than it has." In addition, Nelson said he and Leah Dever, manager of DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office, met last month with Jessie Roberson, assistant secretary of environmental management within DOE headquarters. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 15 Hanford needs plan, cash to stop fines This story was published Wed, Oct 10, 2001 By John Stang Herald staff writer To stop getting fined $10,000 a week, Hanford needs to do two things. One: Submit a workable plan to the state on how the site will make up 16 months of lost time to start glassifying radioactive wastes by 2007. Two: Convince the state that Hanford will get the cash to make that plan work. The Department of Energy's Office of River Protection took care of the first step last week. DOE submitted a plan to Washington's Department of Ecology on how Hanford's delayed glassification project is supposed to recover and achieve a legal deadline of 2007 to glassify the first wastes into glass. The state still has to review and approve that plan. But DOE does not expect to know until late November how much money will be allocated to the glassification project in fiscal 2002, DOE officials told the Hanford Advisory Board's budgets and contracts committee Tuesday. Right now, Hanford's cleanup efforts are fumbling ahead in the dark. Fiscal 2002 began Oct. 1, but Congress and the Bush administration have not hammered out a federal budget for the current fiscal year. The administration is looking at 13 appropriations bills for 2002 that have more or less passed Congress. But new appropriations for the war on terrorism, a sluggish economy and a shrinking Social Security budget surplus have changed the financial climate. In the water and energy appropriations bill, the administration wants to spend $1.4 billion on Hanford cleanup in fiscal 2002, including $500 million on waste glassification. The U.S. Senate and House each want to spend slightly more than $1.8 billion on Hanford, including $690 million on glassification. The House's and Senate's Hanford appropriations are slightly different, and the two chambers are expected to reach a compromise later this month. Meanwhile, the Tri-Party Agreement, the legal pact governing Hanford's cleanup, required construction of the glassification complex to begin by July 31, 2001. But DOE expects to start construction about Nov-ember 2002. Consequently, the state fined DOE $5,000 for the first week after July 31 and plans to fine the federal agency $10,000 a week until it can prove the project will meet the 2007 Tri-Party Agreement deadline to begin glassification. DOE needs $690 million in fiscal 2002 to meet the state's requirement. DOE submitted the technical plans, which assume full funding plus construction starting in 2002, to the state last week to give the Ecology Department a head start on checking those plans, said Jim Rasmussen, director of the Office of River Protection's environmental management division. So far, the state has fined DOE $95,000 for missing the July 31 deadline. If DOE submits adequate budget figures around Thanksgiving, that fine will grow to $165,000. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 16 Mushrooming fear: Bin Laden getting hands on nuclear arms HoustonChronicle.com Oct. 11, 2001, 1:02AM Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Landlocked and impoverished, Afghanistan sits near four countries with nuclear weapons or nuclear ambitions: Pakistan, India, China and Iran. Leaders in the campaign against terrorism want to make sure these weapons do not fall into the hands of Osama bin Laden or other terrorists. Pakistan poses the most immediate concern. A military-ruled Muslim nation, Pakistan supports the U.S.-led strikes against bin Laden and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But that support has triggered protests and forced President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to reshuffle the senior ranks of the armed forces to prevent moves to destabilize his government. While Pakistani officials say the nation's nuclear devices are secure, a prolonged U.S. military campaign inside Afghanistan could fan anti-American sentiment and build support for the Taliban inside Pakistan. "The whole country is pretty shaky," said John Isaacs of the Council for a Livable World, an arms control advocacy group. "It's at least conceivable that the Taliban could perhaps seize some nuclear weapons, if not overturn the government. That's probably the scariest scenario of all in this current environment." Such fears are based on the prospect of Islamic extremists joining forces with Taliban sympathizers inside the Pakistani military. If Musharraf's government were toppled by these elements, it could make Pakistan the first radical Islamic regime with nuclear weapons. U.S. officials acknowledge that the alliance with Pakistan, which helped to create the Taliban and has harbored extremist groups, is delicate. Western officials long have been concerned about nuclear proliferation and tensions in the region, including the long and bitter conflict between Pakistan and India in the contested region of Kashmir. Just last week, a suicide attack inside the India-controlled portion of Kashmir killed 38 people. That led the State Department to consider adding to its list of terrorist organizations a Pakistani-based group suspected in the bombing. Western intelligence officials believe Pakistan has enough nuclear materials for roughly 30 to 50 nuclear weapons, and India slightly more. Now that the United States has turned Pakistan into an ally in its battle against bin Laden and his Taliban allies, it has been treading carefully a diplomatic line. ***************************************************************** 17 Lawsuit claims US army stole nuclear lab land The Star Online > News > World Thursday, October 11, 2001 LOS ALAMOS: Hispanic ranchers and their heirs sued the US Government on Tuesday, charging it stole their land in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb, took them for forced labour and subjected them to radiation experiments. The lawsuit filed in Santa Fe federal court is the second this year to allege the army forced Hispanic homesteaders off a sprawling plateau in the northern New Mexico mountains to make room for what later became the Los Alamos National Laboratory. While the earlier suit involving many of the same plaintiffs sought compensation for the lost land, Tuesday’s action seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for the abuse alleged by some 350 aging ranchers and their heirs. The complaint names as defendants Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, whose department owns Los Alamos, as well as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the army and its Corps of Engineers. “If we turn our eyes away from this type of atrocity, then we’re saying that the US Constitution is nothing more than a piece of paper,” said Joe Gutierrez, leader of Pajarito Plateau Homesteaders Inc, a non-profit corporation created to represent the individuals in the land expropriation case. A spokesman for Los Alamos did not return calls for comment. But the weapons research lab has declined to comment in the past on the earlier lawsuit. Los Alamos inherited the site used by the top secret Manhattan Project, the US programme which developed the world’s first atomic bomb during World War Two. According to the class-action civil rights lawsuit, about 30 families were living on the Pajarito Plateau when US Army troops and armed members of the Corps of Engineers appeared at their homes in late 1942, ordering them at gunpoint to collect their belongings and leave within 24 hours. –Reuters e @ thestar.com.my: © 1995-2001 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D) Managed by I.STAR Sdn Bhd (Co No 422871-T). ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************