***************************************************************** 7/12/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.171 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Putin Gives Green Light To Nuclear Fuel Imports 2 Ukrainian Nuclear Reactor Faulty 3 S.Korea Plans 10 More Nuclear Plants 4 One-Sided Editorial? 5 NRC to Meet With AMEREN/UE to Discuss Safety Performance at 6 Radioactive monazite parked at ministry 7 ONLINE CHAT WITH SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV) 8 GREENPEACE CONDEMNS PUTIN FOR GIVING GREEN LIGHT TO NUCLEAR WASTE IMPORTS 9 Heat is on to check N. Korea's nuclear program Refusal would 10 Putin nods nuclear waste import monitored by special commission 11 Former resident heads nuclear-power group 12 Accident At Nuclear Plant 13 Sellafield Engineers Wrestle With Rogue Nuclear Hotspot 14 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Thursday, July 12, 2001 15 Law OKs import of nuclear waste 16 Greens outraged as Putin signs nuclear imports law 17 Innovative campaigner who set out to clip Concorde's wings and to NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Air Force: No Search for Lost Nuke 2 New Kennewick office to aid ill Hanford workers 3 Russia Issues List of Closed Cities 4 Navy Drops Padre Island for Bombings 5 Colo. Nuclear Plant Problems Cited 6 U.S. program excludes some ill N-workers 7 Punjab adopts policy against contamination of cotton 8 Rocketdyne, feds react 9 Senate bill adds money to hasten cleanup 10 Notice of Intent Issued for an EIS on Scrap Metals Disposition 11 IEER: Workers Subjected to Dangers Should Be Compensated and 12 Security chief: Flats violations hushed up 13 Senate approves funding to aid radiation victims 14 Bush set to open nuclear test floodgates ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Putin Gives Green Light To Nuclear Fuel Imports Thursday, Jul. 12, 2001. Page 3 The Associated Press President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a hotly debated law on imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia but proposed that any such imports be subject to approval by a special commission. The legislation is anathema to environmentalists, who argue that it would turn Russia into a nuclear dump. Proponents of the law have argued that Russia could earn $20 billion over the next decade, importing some 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel for storage and reprocessing. While signing the law, Putin also sent parliament a bill proposing that any nuclear imports be subject to approval by the newly formed commission, chaired by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Zhores Alferov, Putin's press service reported. The commission is to include 20 people, five from Putin's administration and an equal number each from the government, the State Duma and the Federation Council. The legislation on imports of spent nuclear fuel rods won parliamentary backing last month despite environmentalists' opposition and opinion polls showing that most Russians were against the idea. Critics say rampant corruption combined with Russia's spotty nuclear safety record cast doubt on the country's ability to safely handle the spent fuel. Environmental activists also point to the large stockpile of Russia's own nuclear waste that is in need of treatment. The U.S. State Department also has criticized the bill and demanded that strict safety measures be put in place. More than 90 percent of potential imports would need U.S. approval, as most of the world's nuclear fuel includes material of U.S. origin. Russia imported spent Finnish nuclear fuel until the 1990s and continues to import some spent fuel from nuclear power plants that were built in Eastern Europe under Soviet-era contracts. Reuters The Moscow Times ***************************************************************** 2 Ukrainian Nuclear Reactor Faulty July 11, 2001 KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - A reactor at Ukraine's Yuzhna nuclear power plant came to a near-halt after a malfunction in its circulation pumps, officials said Wednesday. Two pumps at the No. 2 reactor broke down Tuesday, forcing workers to reduce the reactor's output by 90 percent until Wednesday morning, said the state nuclear company Energoatom. The reactor is currently working at 81 percent capacity, Energoatom said. No radiation leaks were reported in the incident, the second at the plant in less than a week. On Friday, one of Yuzhna's three reactors was halted due to a malfunction in its steam generator. Ukraine relies on nuclear power for about 40 percent of its electricity, but the country's aging reactors are often shut down due to minor malfunctions or for repairs. In December, Ukraine permanently closed down the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 S.Korea Plans 10 More Nuclear Plants Today: July 12, 2001 at 4:50:27 PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said Thursday it plans to build 10 more power-generating nuclear reactors by 2011 to meet its growing electricity demand. A long-term plan, adopted by a government committee chaired by Prime Minister Lee Han-dong, calls for the country to build two reactors by next year, two more by 2006, two more by 2008 and four more by 2010 and 2011. If the plan goes smoothly, South Korea will have 24 nuclear power plants by 2011 and will be able to meet nearly 40 percent of its electricity needs with nuclear power. South Korea now gets 40.9 percent of its electricity from nuclear generation. Some of the plants are already under construction, said officials at the Ministry of Science and Technology. All but two of the new reactors will have a generating capacity of 1 million kilowatts each. The other two will have a 1.4 million-kilowatt capacity each. South Korea has the technology to build nuclear power plants on its own. It can produce reactors and other key equipment. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 One-Sided Editorial? The Salt Lake Tribune -- Thursday, July 12, 2001 I had to respond to the article by Scott D. Northard (Tribune, op-ed commentary, July 1). I find it ironic that the project manager for Private Fuel Storage would accuse The Salt Lake Tribune of printing a one-sided editorial. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Let's address a few key points here: 1. Nevada does not want to host the permanent facility for nuclear storage. Several of their politicians have made clear that they will block any efforts to store waste at Yucca Mountain. Thus, any temporary facility in Utah will likely become a permanent facility, despite reassurances in the commentary. 2. Scott D. Northard admitted himself that dry storage of the waste locally on the nuclear plants that produce them is a safe option. He merely finds it inconvenient to do so. 3. Utah does not produce any of the nuclear waste, with the possible exception of small research reactors. The states that benefit from the cheap production of nuclear waste should also accept the responsibility and hazards of storage of this waste. Kudos to Gov. Mike Leavitt for seeing through this charade. Acceptance of this waste would be a terrible mistake. CHRIS EVANS Midvale © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 5 NRC to Meet With AMEREN/UE to Discuss Safety Performance at Callaway Nuclear Station Region IV -- 2001- 38 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 No. IV-01-038 July 12, 2001 CONTACT: Breck Henderson Phone: 817-860-8128 Cellular: 817-917-1227 e-mail: bwh@nrc.gov The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with officials of Ameren/UE on Thursday, July 19, to discuss the results of NRC's annual assessment of safety performance at the Callaway Nuclear Station near Fulton, Missouri. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Capitol Plaza Hotel, 415 W. McCarty St., Jefferson City, Mo. The public is invited to observe the meeting. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to answer questions. A letter sent from NRC Region IV to Ameren/UE, which addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis of the meeting discussion, is available from the Region IV Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr/.Current safety performance information for Callaway is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALL/call_chart.html. ***************************************************************** 6 Radioactive monazite parked at ministry Daily Yomiuri On-Line Yomiuri Shimbun A truck containing 13 tons of the radioactive mineral monazite was parked temporarily in a parking lot at the Education, Science and Technology Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday after residents of Yamanashi and Chiba prefectures objected to the cargo being stored in their areas. Monazite, a mineral that emits low-level radiation, is sometimes used as a therapeutic additive in hot springs. It is a controlled substance under the law governing nuclear reactors and radioactive materials. The monazite in question was reportedly imported from Thailand 20 years ago by the director of a nonprofit public corporation. The man, living in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, stored the monazite in seven locations without informing authorities. In June 2000, a man who had a grudge against the monazite's owner stole some of the substance and sent a packet of powdered monazite to the prime minister's official residence. Investigators traced it back to the owner, who was criticized for improper storage of the material. The government warned him to store the material more safely. In March, he collected all the monazite in his possession in a storage facility in Enzan, Yamanashi Prefecture. Confronted by angry local residents, he tried to move it by truck Tuesday night to a storehouse on the outskirts of Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture, only to have the same problem there. People living near the storehouse quickly learned of his plans. Along with Katsuura city officials, citizens turned up at the storehouse to stop the material's delivery. The owner consulted science ministry officials who had been called to the site by Katsuura city officials, and he was allowed to transport the monazite to a ministry building as the only option available. Copyright The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 7 ONLINE CHAT WITH SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV) July 11, 2001 How will the Senate change under Democratic leadership? What issues will the new majority push to the forefront? Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the newly appointed Majority-Whip, will be on the Washington Post's online chat room to take questions and comments on the Democrats thin majority in the Senate, how this new balance of power will effect Washington and politics in general. The Senator will also discuss issues that are currently being debated in Congress such as a Patients' Bill of Rights, Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare, President Bush's Energy plan and Yuccca Mountain. For more information contact: Andrew Kenneally at 202-224-6986 WHO: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) WHEN: Friday, July 13, 2001 12 a.m. Nevada Time 3 p.m. EDT WHERE: www.washingtonpost.com A link to the chat is also available on Senator Reid's website under Contact and News Room: http://reid.senate.gov ***************************************************************** 8 GREENPEACE CONDEMNS PUTIN FOR GIVING GREEN LIGHT TO NUCLEAR WASTE IMPORTS 11 July 2001 Moscow: Greenpeace today slammed the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for endorsing changes to the country's environmental law which pave the way for vast radioactive waste imports to Russia. Under the Russian constitution, the legal amendments enter into force with today's Presidential signature. "Greenpeace will oppose every single ounce of nuclear waste that enters Russian territory. It will use all possible non-violent means to protect Russia from this nuclear invasion," said Tobias Muenchmeyer* of Greenpeace. Putin's signature marks the end of a 10 month decision making process, during which public opposition against the import of radioactive waste has escalated. It has become a main public political issue in Russia. According to a recent opinion poll commissioned by Greenpeace, 79.5 percent of the Russian population wanted President Putin to block nuclear waste imports. "On becoming President, Putin vowed 'to protect the sovereignty and independence, security and integrity of the state and to serve the people faithfully'. With this signature Putin has broken his vow. This decision is against the will of the people and allows the import of radioactive waste that will pose a threat to Russians for hundreds and thousands of years to come. Putin is selling Russia and betraying his people," said Vladimir Chuprov, energy expert of Greenpeace in Russia. Over the last 10 days, Greenpeace in Russia has observed large scale propaganda in the Russian media promoting the import of nuclear waste. Counter arguments and critical voices of environmental experts and organisations appear to have been excluded from the media. "This has all of the hallmarks of the old authoritarian Soviet State, when there was no freedom of opinion. This propaganda shows that the President is afraid of debate and public opinion," added Chuprov. The scale of potential nuclear waste exports to Russia will depend upon utilities and governments in the so-called 'client' states exporting their nuclear waste as well as on U.S. Government authorisation, as the U.S. controls up to 90 percent of the spent nuclear fuel in the world. Germany, one of the countries identified by the Nuclear Ministry 'Minatom' as a key customer for Russian nuclear fuel services, has already denounced exporting its radioactive waste to Russia. Last month, Germany's Environmental Minister Juergen Trittin said: "Russia's offer to reprocess nuclear waste from the West and place it in interim storage is an irresponsible gamble with the health and safety of the Russian people." "Greenpeace urges all nuclear countries to back the German position by taking full responsibility for their nuclear waste and to phase out nuclear power in order to stop the production of more nuclear waste," said Muenchmeyer. The permission for importing radioactive waste, being promoted by the cash-strapped 'Minatom', will turn Russia into the world's nuclear waste dump. Minatom wants to import up to 20,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Spain over the next ten years - in contracts it claims will be worth up to $21 billion. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Tobias Muenchmeyer, Nuclear Campaigner, Greenpeace International in Berlin, Tel: +49 170 86 66 052 Vladimir Chuprov, Greenpeace Russia, Tel: +7 095 257 41 22 Notes to editors: *Tobias Muenchmeyer, Greenpeace's expert on Russian nuclear issues, was declared persona non grata by the Russian Foreign Ministry in December 1999 and has been banned from entering Russia ever since. No reason has been given why Muenchmeyer is no longer allowed to enter Russia, except that it "is in the interest of state security" to deny him a visa. Greenpeace is campaigning to overturn this undemocratic decision which strikes at the heart of free speech. PHOTOS AND VIDEO of victims of radioactive pollution from the Russian nuclear facility 'Mayak' are available from Greenpeace Communications, Lucy Clayton (video) or John Novis (photo) Tel: +31- 20- 524 9580 ***************************************************************** 9 Heat is on to check N. Korea's nuclear program Refusal would complicate diplomacy By Barbara Slavin USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- Before North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear program in 1994, the reclusive dictatorship declared that it had less than 4 ounces of plutonium, a fraction of the 9 to 13 pounds it takes to build a nuclear bomb. Experts scoffed at the claim, but the Clinton administration agreed to put off the day when North Korea would have to come clean. That day of reckoning is approaching. North Korea faces growing pressure to let foreign inspectors verify its nuclear past. But the North is balking, and that could complicate efforts by President Bush to revive a dialogue. A North Korean government newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said this week that the country ''has no intention to respond to the U.S. proposal for the resumption of dialogue while allowing its sovereignty to be infringed upon.'' It was referring to Bush's offer on June 6 to talk, but with an emphasis on the need to verify agreements. U.S. officials say they have not received a formal response. The North's failure to open its facilities for complete inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1993 led to a crisis that brought the United States and North Korea to the brink of military confrontation. The 1994 pact ended the crisis and prevented the North from amassing plutonium for dozens of nuclear weapons. But U.S. officials estimate that the North had already become a fledgling nuclear weapons state, in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it signed in 1985. ''The North probably has one or two nuclear bombs,'' CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin said in a speech at Texas A University in April. The analysis is based on possible production at the North's declared nuclear site at Yongbyon. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, says tests run by the IAEA in 1993 suggested that the North had separated more plutonium from spent reactor fuel than it admitted and may have also removed evidence of plutonium metal used in nuclear weapons. Others speculate that North Korea could have obtained additional bomb material from Pakistan or through other methods. Joseph Bermudez, a military intelligence expert who writes for Jane's defense publications, sketched a worst-case scenario in a new book, Planning for a Peaceful Korea. He posited that the North had stockpiled enough material for up to 12 nuclear weapons and aimed to build 30 bombs by 2015. ''The half-witted, insipid Americans were euphoric and boasting to the world of their victory over us,'' Bermudez, pretending to be a North Korean official, wrote about the 1994 agreement. ''The reality is, however, quite different.'' Bermudez speculated that the North had mastered a technique, electromagnetic isotope separation, for uranium enrichment. ''We know that the North Koreans pursue redundancy and that nuclear weapons have a high priority,'' Bermudez says in an interview. ''It's not that I firmly believe what I wrote. I was just trying to think outside the box.'' Until the North allows inspections, everybody has to guess what it might be hiding. Adding to the mystery, North Korea at times has sought to encourage overestimation of its nuclear prowess to increase its leverage over nervous neighbors and the United States. In 1999, U.S. satellite photos raised concern about a cavern in a mountain at Kumchangri, about 25 miles northwest of Yongbyon. The North allowed U.S. inspection of that one site in return for food, but the site was empty. Nevertheless, ambiguity about the North's nuclear program must be resolved to permit construction of two civilian nuclear reactors by a U.S.-led consortium, the Korean Peninsula Economic Development Organization (KEDO). The project, a key part of the 1994 agreement, is several years behind its target finish of 2003. Charles Kartman, a former State Department expert on Korea who now heads KEDO, says contractors have prepared the site by literally moving a mountain and putting in roads and other infrastructure. In a few months, he says, they will be ready to begin excavation and next year, to pour concrete. ''The sequence is that at some point prior to delivering key components, North Korea will have to have satisfied the IAEA,'' he says. Mohamed el Baradei, IAEA director general, says it could take three to four years to uncover the North's nuclear history by testing soil samples and examining reactor logs and other documents. He adds that the North Koreans are first demanding a delivery schedule for completion of the $4.6 billion reactor project. U.S. officials say a draft schedule might not be approved until fall. The question mark over the North's nuclear record would probably have caused problems even if Democrat Al Gore had been declared the victor in the U.S. presidential election. But Bush's outspoken disdain for North Korea -- in contrast to President Clinton's more conciliatory approach -- is not making new contacts easier. Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun are both due to attend an Asian security forum in Vietnam on July 24, but no formal meeting is planned. ''Warming relations is only possible through senior level contacts like what the Clinton administration tried to do,'' says Joel Wit, a former U.S. official who helped implement the 1994 freeze. ''Otherwise, these technical issues will just bog everything down.'' © Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Putin nods nuclear waste import monitored by special commission Pravda.RU Jul, 12 2001 10:17 2001-07-12 Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has decreed to set up a special commission to monitor import of irradiated elements of foreign manufacture to Russia. The commission is supposed to be looking into every specific case. Renowned Russian physicist Academician Zhores Alferov, a Nobel prize winner, has been appointed to chair the commission, the presidential press-service said Wednesday. Apart from Academician Alferov, 20 people are yet to be included in the commission– 5 from the President, 5 from the Federation Council (upper house), 5 from the State Duma (lower house), and 5 from the government. President Putin simultaneously introduced a bill in the State Duma stipulating that each particular case of the import of nuclear waste should be “cleared” by the above commission. Along with the decree “Of a special commission for regulating the import to the territory of the Russian Federation of irradiated elements of foreign manufacture,” the President also singed into law the bills “Of inserting supplements to the federal law “Of nuclear energy use”, “Of inserting supplements to the article 50 of the RF law “Of environmental protection,” and also “Of special environmental programmes for the rehabilitation of polluted areas.” Academician Alferov has stressed that all the money Russia is to receive for the import of wasted nuclear fuel to its territory will be allocated through the budget. The money will go to improve the state of nuclear facilities, develop new technologies for the processing and storing wasted nuclear fuel, improve environmental protection, he is quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. Academician Alferov aslo said that the first batches of radioactive cargoes may not arrive very soon. "In 2001, we will not have take any imports-related decisions", said the Nobelist. RIA 'Novosti' ***************************************************************** 11 Former resident heads nuclear-power group St. Joseph News-Press Friday, July 13, 2001 Directors of the Institute of Nuclear Power Organizations on Wednesday elected a St. Joseph native to be the organization’s president and chief executive officer. Mike Evans, a 1963 graduate of Christian Brothers High School, succeeds James T. Rhodes, who retires in September. Mr. Evans, 56, retired as president and chief operating officer from Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. in September 2000. Before the New York job, he served in senior management positions at Kansas City Power & Light Co. While with that company, he helped design the Wolf Creek Generating Station in Burlington, Kan. Earlier, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program. INPO, headquartered in Atlanta, is a nonprofit corporation established by the nuclear utility industry and dedicated to promoting safety and reliability at nuclear electric generating plants. He resides now in Rye, N.Y. His mother, Louise Evans, resides in St. Joseph. Portions ©2001, The News-Press, St. Joseph, Missouri ©1998-2001 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 Accident At Nuclear Plant The Whitehaven News Thursday, July 12, 2001 Calder Hall may escape any costly effects from a radioactive fuel rods accident at its sister nuclear generating plant over the border at Chapelcross. Twenty four rods were dropped two feet on to a reactor floor during a routine refuelling operation. No more refuelling will take place at either Chapelcross or Calder Hall until operators BNFL discover exactly what went wrong at the Annan power station. Calder Hall will be unaffected as there is no need to refuel. Three of the four electricity-producing reactors are working to full power and the other will be up and running by the end of this week after being shutdown for its annual maintenance. BNFL say the reactor was completely refuelled before the Chapelcross accident. There was no radiation risk from the Chapelcross incident. BNFL said a remote controlled basket which changes the fuel rods came loose as it was being lowered into a cooling pond and fell. "We are not investigating anything at Calder until we see what has to be learned from Chapelcross," said the spokesman. ***************************************************************** 13 Sellafield Engineers Wrestle With Rogue Nuclear Hotspot The Whitehaven News Thursday, July 12, 2001 The Sellafield watchdog committee has heard that engineers are currently trying to solve a rogue "hot spot" that has started in a tank of highly radioactive liquid waste. Director of Sellafield, Brian Watson told the site Liaison meeting, at Whitehaven, that: "Elevated temperatures in one of the high-level waste tanks is a point of focus for us.'' The highly active liquor tanks have to be kept cooled and agitated to prevent boiling and discharge of radiation. Afterwards Mr Watson explained that it was a "small area of raised temperature" and agitation of the sediments would remove the cause of the problem. He said the Nuclear Installations Inspecorate was satisfied with the handling of the issue. The meeting had an embarrassing moment, when a member of the public appeared to harangue the assembled councillors and BNFL experts demanding "more compensation" for victims of contamination incidents. The man wore a face mask which it was unclear was for medical reasons or to keep his identity private. He said: "I am an ex-B30 man...look at me..I will protest at your future meetings asking for more funding for Ponds West Division.'' He then left after newly elected chairman, Coun David Moore, said the time for questions was at the end of the session. The B30 complex was nicknamed Dirty Thirty because of its high levels of contamination from the de-canning in ponds of old Magnox fuel assemblies. The meeting heard from Mr Watson that BNFL was "looking to the government to end the uncertainty" over the Mox plant, which he said was within weeks of being able to handle plutonium. He said the company had customers lined up for 40% of the plant's load. The government has held back from giving Mox the green light for four years. There was political embarrassment when nobody supported Coun Carni McCarron-Holmes when she asked for more than the single representative allowed on the SLLC, from Allerdale. There was also set to be a battle for the post of vice-chairman of the committee when both Coun George Usher and Coun John Henney had their names put forward. However, when Coun David Moore indicated the need for a secret ballot, Coun Henney withdrew. ***************************************************************** 14 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Thursday, July 12, 2001 ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Thursday, July 12, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC Item ID: 011920202 Accession Number: ML010330370 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:11:27 PM Title: 02/22/2001 Meeting With NRC And San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Re Installation Of A Dry Cask Storage System For Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920209 Accession Number: ML011870502 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:12:20 PM Title: 05/09/2001 - NRC Viewgraphs for Public Meeting on 10 CFR 50.46 Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920208 Accession Number: ML011870498 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:12:14 PM Title: 05/09/2001 - Summary of Meeting with Interested Stakeholders Regarding Risk-Informed Changes to 10 CFR 50.46 Author Affiliation: NRC/RES/DRAA/PRAB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920002 Accession Number: ML011840422 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:11:16 AM Title: 06/14/2001 Meeting Summary with Pacific Gas and Electric Company Re End-of-Cycle Performance Assessment at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRS Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920003 Accession Number: ML011840435 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:11:24 AM Title: 06/20/2001 Meeting Summary With Entergy Operations, Inc. Re End-of-Cycle Performance Assessment at Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRS Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920004 Accession Number: ML011840418 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:11:31 AM Title: 06/21/2001 Meeting Summary with Energy Northwest Re End-of-Cycle Assessment at Columbia Generating Station Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRS Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920005 Accession Number: ML011840380 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:11:41 AM Title: 07/02/01 - Ltr R Boyle, US Dept of Transportation, re Acceptance review of Model No. RAJ-II Package Application (71-3029) Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/SFPO Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920110 Accession Number: ML011800525 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:32:08 AM Title: 07/10/01 Meeting with Tennesse Valley Authority Re: NRC Annual Performace Assessment of Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-II Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920012 Accession Number: ML011860034 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:12:47 AM Title: 6/21/2001 Meeting Summary with TXU Electric Re End-of-Cycle Performance Assessment for Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DRP/RPB-A Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920038 Accession Number: ML011830030 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:16:10 AM Title: LER 01-002-00 for Dresden Nuclear Power Station Unit 3, Reactor Scram Due to Reactor Recirculation Run-Up and Trip on 04/27/01. Author Affiliation: Exelon Generation Co, LLC Document/Report Number: LER-01-002-00 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920039 Accession Number: ML011830335 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:16:14 AM Title: LER 01-002-00 for Nine Mile Point Unit 2, Rated Thermal Power Exceeded when Recirculation Flow Control Valve Malfunctioned on 05/24/01. Author Affiliation: Niagara Mohawk Power Corp Document/Report Number: LER-01-002-00 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920040 Accession Number: ML011830021 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:16:19 AM Title: LER 01-002-00 for Oconee Nuclear Station Unit 2, Reactor Pressure Vessel Head Leakage Due to Stress Corrosion Cracks Found in Several Control Rod Drive Nozzle Penetrations on 04/28/01. Author Affiliation: Duke Energy Corp Document/Report Number: LER-01-002-00 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920047 Accession Number: ML011860471 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:16:59 AM Title: Manual Reactor Scram Due to Increasing Drywell Pressure. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-III Document/Report Number: PNO-III-01-020 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920188 Accession Number: ML011920199 Date Added: 7/11/01 12:13:34 PM Title: Meeting on Discrimination Task Group draft report. Author Affiliation: NRC/OE Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920120 Accession Number: ML011910278 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:33:26 AM Title: Press Release-01-063: NRC Invites Public To Submit Nominations For The Advisory Committee On Reactor Safeguards. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-063 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920218 Accession Number: ML011910538 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:14:24 PM Title: Press Release-01-073: NRC Renews License for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 for an Additional 20 Years. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-073 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920222 Accession Number: ML011920131 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:14:48 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-036: NRC To Discuss Preliminary "White" Finding On TMI 1 Corrective Actions Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-036 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920223 Accession Number: ML011920136 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:14:53 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-037: NRC To Meet With Constellation Nuclear To Discuss Performance At Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-037 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920232 Accession Number: ML011920149 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:15:40 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-038: NRC To Meet With Entergy Nuclear Generation Company To Discuss Performance At Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-038 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920233 Accession Number: ML011920172 Date Added: 7/11/01 2:11:03 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-039: NRC To Meet With Exelon Generation Company To Discuss Performance At Limerick Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-039 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920234 Accession Number: ML011920181 Date Added: 7/11/01 2:11:09 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-040: NRC To Meet With Amergen Energy Company To Discuss Performance At Three Mile Island 1 Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-040 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920235 Accession Number: ML011920188 Date Added: 7/11/01 2:11:13 PM Title: Press Release-I-01-040: NRC To Meet With AmerGen Energy Company to Discuss Performance at Three Mile Island 1 Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-040 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920236 Accession Number: ML011920203 Date Added: 7/11/01 2:11:18 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-015: NRC To Meet With Progress Energy/CP&L Officials To Discuss Safety Performance At Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-015 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920274 Accession Number: ML011920389 Date Added: 7/11/01 5:11:15 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-016: NRC To Meet With Virginia Power Officials To Discuss Safety Performance At North Anna Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-016 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920275 Accession Number: ML011920406 Date Added: 7/11/01 5:11:19 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-017: NRC To Meet With Progress Energy/CP&L Officials To Discuss Safety Performance At Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-017 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920281 Accession Number: ML011920437 Date Added: 7/11/01 5:11:39 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-018: NRC To Meet With Virginia Power Officials To Discuss Safety Performance At Surry Nuclear Power Plant Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-018 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920285 Accession Number: ML011920484 Date Added: 7/11/01 5:11:56 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-019: NRC To Meet With Duke Energy Officials To Discuss Safety Performance At Oconee Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-019 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920228 Accession Number: ML011920113 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:15:21 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-025: NRC To Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Safety Performance At The Prairie Island Nuclear Power Station Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-025 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920221 Accession Number: ML011920099 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:14:44 PM Title: Press Release-IV-01-035: NRC To Meet With Entergy To Discuss Safety Performance At Arkansas Nuclear One Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-IV/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-IV-01-035 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920227 Accession Number: ML011920104 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:15:17 PM Title: Press Release-IV-01-036: NRC To Meet With Arizona Public Service To Discuss Safety Performance At Palo Verde. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-IV/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-IV-01-036 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920122 Accession Number: ML011910530 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:33:34 AM Title: Speech-01-014: Decommissioning, Waste Disposal And Public Confidence In The 21st Century. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/GJD Document/Report Number: Speech-01-014 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920123 Accession Number: ML011910542 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:33:39 AM Title: Speech-01-015: Safety: The Foundation Upon Which Economic Value Is Built. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/JSM Document/Report Number: Speech-01-015 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920219 Accession Number: ML011920058 Date Added: 7/11/01 1:14:29 PM Title: Speech-01-016: Research: The Vision And Needs Of Regulators. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/RAM Document/Report Number: Speech-01-016 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920083 Accession Number: ML011830464 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:28:14 AM Title: Summary of Meeting to Discuss Maanshan Event.. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/ORA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920088 Accession Number: ML011830323 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:28:52 AM Title: Transcript of 483rd Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Meeting, June 6, 2001, pages 1-259.. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: ACRST-3158 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920089 Accession Number: ML011830333 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:29:35 AM Title: Transcript of ACRS 483rd Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Meeting on June 8, 2001, pages 260-310. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: ACRST-3158 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 011920095 Accession Number: ML011830321 Date Added: 7/11/01 9:30:57 AM Title: Yucca Mountain Project Branch - U. S. Geological Survey (YMPB-USGS) Progress Report, May 2001. Author Affiliation: US Dept of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 15 Law OKs import of nuclear waste [Chicago Tribune] Thursday, July 12, 2001 July 12, 2001 MOSCOW, RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin signed into law Wednesday a plan to permit Russia to import spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing, but proposed setting up a council to have final say on the imports. Liberals and environmentalists say the plan would turn Russia into a nuclear dump. The legislation won parliamentary backing last month despite opinion polls showing that most Russians were against the idea. Proponents say Russia could earn $20 billion over the next decade, importing 22,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel for storage and reprocessing. While signing the law, Putin sent parliament a bill that would subject nuclear imports to approval by a commission headed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Zhores Alferov. The commission would include 20 people, five from Putin's administration and an equal number each from the government and parliament's upper and lower houses, both of which approved the waste import plan. Alferov backs the plan, saying the committee "represents a genuine step toward public opinion." ***************************************************************** 16 Greens outraged as Putin signs nuclear imports law Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | US now holds the key to Russia's global waste dump Special report: Russia Amelia Gentleman in Moscow Thursday July 12, 2001 The Guardian Russian environmentalists responded with fury yesterday to President Vladimir Putin's decision to sign legislation allowing spent nuclear fuel to be imported, protesting that it would turn Russia into a dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste. He did so in the face of overwhelming public opposition and widespread scepticism. The new law could earn Russia as much as £15bn from the import of about 20,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel in the next 10 years. The atomic energy ministry, Minatom, successfully pushed the plan, promising that the money earned by storing and possibly reprocessing other countries' spent fuel would be spent on cleaning up contaminated sites and improving safety in the nuclear industry. But environmentalists say Russia has the worst nuclear safety record in the world, and that its own nuclear waste is stored in such dangerous conditions that it would be irresponsible to increase the amount. The preliminary plan is to send most of the spent fuel for storage at two of Russia's biggest nuclear sites: the 40-year-old Mayak site in the Urals and Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. "After a series of accidents, Mayak is now considered to be the most contaminated spot on earth," Tobias Muenchmeyer of Greenpeace said. "The state of both of these sites clearly demonstrates that Russia is the worst possible place to [take] nuclear waste." There is also concern that the money earned will not be spent in a transparent way. Minatom has a reputation for secrecy, and Yevgeny Adamov was sacked as atomic energy minister in March in the face of corruption allegations. A leaked report by parliamentary investigators claimed that he was involved in a series of business deals connected with his ministerial brief and environmentalists alleged that he had personal financial interests in promoting the legislation. Traumatised by memories of the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, most Russians are firmly opposed to the idea of nuclear waste imports: an opinion poll earlier this year showed that 89% disapproved of the proposal. The prospect of nuclear waste being carried through the country by road and rail has caused further unease. "This decision allows the import of radioactive waste that will pose a threat to Russians for hundreds of thousands of years to come. Putin is selling Russia and betraying his people," Vladimir Chuprov, a Greenpeace Russia energy expert said. The leader of the liberal party Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky, said the plan "harms Russia's national interests and will have dire consequences for its future generations". Russia hopes to import spent fuel rods from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Germany and Switzerland, undercutting the services offered by the British and French reprocessing industries. But Germany has already said it will not send radioactive waste to Russia. Last month the environment minister. Jürgen Trittin, described the plans as "an irresponsible gamble with the health and safety of the Russian people". Alexander Rumyantsev, the new Russian atomic energy minister, said it would be several years before the imports began arriving, adding: "We hope that during this time we will be able to do intensive work to increase safety." The plan cannot be realised without US approval. More than 90% of the potential imports needs to be cleared by America because it includes material of US origin. The US state department recently criticised the legislation. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 17 Innovative campaigner who set out to clip Concorde's wings and to halt the superpower arms race Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search Richard Wiggs Guardian Thursday July 12, 2001 Richard Wiggs, who has died aged 72, was a man whose campaigning zeal was never without suitable and rewarding goals - first in the 60s, when he founded the Anti-Concorde Project, and then in 1985, when he set up the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. I first met him in 1984, when our local disarmament group enlisted his support and - of equal importance - the unlimited use of his duplicator. Gradually, I became aware of the measure of this extraordinary man, who had the facility and intellectual gifts to become expert in any field into which his curiosity led him. Wiggs was born and brought up in Letchworth, attended the local grammar school and developed an interest in fossils. At the age of 18, he became employed by the Natural History Museum, where his wish to develop this boyhood enthusiasm was frustrated by National Service. Although too young to be a conscientious objector in the second world war, he nevertheless stuck to his principles and was sent to work in a land army camp in Sussex. Afterwards he went to college in Lyme Regis, where he studied art and geology and trained as a teacher. Returning to Letchworth, he taught for 10 years in a primary school and later in a school for children with learning disabilities in the village of Weston. His skills as a campaigner were honed in the 1960s. He was active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on a national level, and also, typically, organised a speakers' corner - in Hitchin Market Place - in line with his lifelong commitment to local affairs. The 1960s also gave birth to Concorde, the first passenger carrying supersonic air craft. As a green way ahead of his time, Richard made a thorough study of the mechanics and implications of supersonic flight, focusing in particular on the work of Professor Bo Lundberg. He came to the conclusion that any such aircraft were inherently unsafe. In addition, they presented serious threats to the environment, including the sonic boom, huge fuel consumption, and the destructive effect that high altitude aircraft have on the ozone layer - something that did not become of general public interest and concern for at least another 20 years. In 1966, Wiggs wrote to the Times inviting people to join him in opposing supersonic transport. The support enabled him to take full-page advertisements in the national press to promulgate scientific information: an innovative and highly successful way of campaigning. He was invited to the US, where he lobbied congressmen and senators, gave evidence to a congressional hearing and spoke to residents' associations near airports in New York, Washington and Boston. In 1971 he published his definitive work, The Case against Supersonic Transport? A possible testimony to the effectiveness of his campaign was that only 14 of an initially anticipated 500 aircraft were ever built. In 1985, in response to the spiralling superpower arms race, he used the same campaigning techniques to found and run the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. In this he was backed by a distinguished committee that included leading scientists such as Professor Sir Neville Mott and Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat. He also loved to direct his energy into local controversies. His successful campaign to make the Leasehold Reform Act include Letchworth Garden City within its terms eventually enabled Letchworth leaseholders to buy their freeholds. His other campaign was born out of his love of music. The Rural Music Schools Association, set up to provide music lessons for children from rural areas, had been bequeathed Esther Seebohm's large house and grounds (where, incidentally, Richard's grandfather had been head gardener) in the middle of Hitchin. In 1977 the association decided to wind up its activities and sell the property. Richard's attention to detail led him to discover that the property was not actually owned by the association, even though they had the use of it. Letter writing, campaigning, meetings - including, famously, the association's AGM in London, when he hid a microphone in a rolled umbrella to record the proceedings and discombobulate the opposition - resulted in the association, now under the name of Benslow Music Trust happily staying in business. Even though he became quite seriously disabled by a rare auto-immune form of emphysema, he remained a tireless letter writer and e-mailer, and the many people who received his support and encouragement were probably equalled by the number who experienced his trenchant criticism and smarted under his acerbic prose - he did not suffer the foolish, the pompous or the self-aggrandising gladly. He regularly attended Benslow council meetings, and after the Paris Concorde crash revived the Anti-Supersonic-Transport movement. He was devoted to trees, planting a veritable forest in his large garden in Biggleswade. Latterly, he decided to develop his musical talents and installed a grand piano in the organised chaos of his office. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, whom he married in 1953, three daughters, two grandsons and a parrot. Richard John Wiggs, campaigner, born June 4 1929; died July 5 2001 Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Air Force: No Search for Lost Nuke July 11, 2001 SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A 7,600-pound nuclear bomb dumped off the Georgia coast 43 years ago should be left undisturbed beneath the ocean floor, the Air Force concluded in a report Wednesday. "It is in the best interest of the public and the environment to leave the bomb in its resting place and remain categorized as irretrievably lost," the Air Force report said. The report says the bomb does not have a key plutonium capsule that could cause a nuclear explosion. But the bomb's metal casing does contain some radioactive uranium and the explosive power of 400 pounds of TNT. Derek Duke, an ex-military pilot whose questions about the bomb prompted Rep. Jack Kingston to push for the report, said he believes the weapon may still pose a threat. Duke said an April 1966 letter to the chairman of Congress' Joint Committee on Atomic Energy from the Department of Defense classified the bomb as a "complete weapon." The Air Force concluded months ago that the letter was erroneous. It cites a transfer receipt on the bomb from Feb. 4, 1958, that lists it as a "simulated" weapon - meaning the nuclear capsule had been removed. A B-47 bomber on a training flight was forced to jettison the bomb when it collided with another plane in February 1958. The weapon landed off Tybee Island, near Savannah, in Wassaw Sound. Kingston, a Republican, said he was confident in the report's findings. "I'm happy to hear that the people living, working and playing on Tybee Island are safe," he said. Tybee Island Mayor Walter Parker, whose beach community has 4,000 residents and thousands of summer visitors, said the Air Force should look for the bomb. "There's been so many conflicting documents that have come to light, I don't know how they can say there's not a problem," Parker said. "They should at least locate it and determine whether it's safe or not." The report estimates the bomb is 8 to 40 feet deep and is buried beneath 5 to 15 feet of mud and sand, safely clear of boats. "The public is not going to come into contact with this bomb," said Maj. Cheryl Law, an Air Force spokeswoman. The uranium in the bomb poses a low risk of contamination, the report concluded, and the explosives have no risk of detonating unless the bomb is disturbed. However, an attempt to remove the bomb would mean a "serious explosion hazard" for recovery workers, the report said. The report said there would also be a risk of breaching an aquifer that is a major source of drinking water for the region. The Air Force said searching for the bomb would take up to five years and cost up to $11.4 million. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 New Kennewick office to aid ill Hanford workers This story was published Wed, Jul 11, 2001 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer The Department of Labor plans to open a Kennewick office to help ill Hanford workers or their survivors apply for compensation shortly before a July 31 deadline. The center at 1029 N. Kellogg St. should open the week of July 23, although the exact date has yet to be announced. Federal officials are advising workers and former workers to file their claims by July 31, since medical benefits on accepted claims will be paid retroactively to that day. Under the new Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, $150,000 will be paid to nuclear workers or certain of their survivors if the worker fell ill because of workplace exposures. Workers and former workers also could receive medical care for the illness. At Hanford, workers with any type of cancer will be considered for compensation. They'll be required to file medical information and as detailed a work history as they remember. Then the government will consider whether their exposure to radiation at Hanford or other Department of Energy nuclear sites as likely as not to have caused the cancer. If the worker has died, a spouse may apply for the compensation. Those who were dependent on the worker at the time of his death, such as a child in college, also may apply. Workers with lung diseases because of exposure to beryllium or silica also are eligible for compensation. Those with chronic beryllium disease from an allergy-like reaction to breathing tiny particles of the exotic metal would receive $150,000. Workers who test positive for sensitivity to beryllium would receive medical monitoring paid for by the government. The resource center also is expected to offer help in filing state worker compensation claims, even if previous claims have been denied. DOE has ordered its contractors to stop fighting state claims that show merit. Workers who have illnesses such as asbestosis may qualify for the state program, even if they are not eligible for federal compensation. The Labor Department, which is administering the federal compensation program, has a toll-free number at 866-888-3322 for information and order claim forms. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 3 Russia Issues List of Closed Cities Today: July 12, 2001 at 3:45:28 PDT MOSCOW (AP) - Formalizing restrictions that date back to Soviet times, the Russian government has issued a list of about 90 cities, towns and villages that are normally closed to outsiders for security reasons. The order, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, was published in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Wednesday. Kasyanov said the order was intended to officially establish the names of the settlements. The list includes the nuclear centers of Zheleznogorsk in Siberia and Snezhinsk in the Ural Mountains, the chemical center in Shikhany in the Volga River region, and the Arctic naval bases of Polyarny, Severomorsk and Vidyayevo. All the sites on the list have been closed to visitors since Soviet times. But in the Soviet era, their residents often enjoyed high wages and other government privileges; now many are struggling for survival, with diminished government subsidies since the 1991 Soviet collapse. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 Navy Drops Padre Island for Bombings Today: July 12, 2001 at 8:25:32 PDT PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) - The Navy removed Padre Island from a list of potential warfare training sites to replace controversial Vieques Island, a spokesman said. The Navy instead will focus its search on sites that already have training facilities because it needs to end bombing at Vieques by 2003, Capt. Kevin Wensing said. The news heartened environmentalists, who opposed the training because it would have taken over 20 miles of national seashore that is a haven for a host of endangered species. "I'm delighted, but because they did the original planning in total secrecy, I'm not sure I accept what they're saying as the final word," said Pat Suter, chairwoman of the Coastal Bend Sierra Club. Gov. Rick Perry had also said he was "deeply troubled" by the potential for environmental damage to the world's longest undeveloped barrier island. The island's white sand beaches, interior grasslands and ephemeral ponds are home to protected species like Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, piping plovers and redhead ducks. Tourists come for sunbathing, wind surfing and fishing, but even a tire tread on a dune can draw a $5,000 fine. The Navy now uses Vieques for training that includes ship maneuvers, amphibious landings and anti-mining procedures. Residents have protested the shelling and complained about health damage, especially since a civilian security guard was killed in 1999, and President Bush has pledged to end shelling there by May 2003. On the Net: Padre Island National Seashore: http://www.nps.gov/pais Navy: http://www.navy.mil All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 Colo. Nuclear Plant Problems Cited Today: July 12, 2001 at 10:37:10 PDT DENVER (AP) - The former chief security officer at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant said it had serious security problems five years ago and people who complained faced retaliation from the federal government. Edward McCallum, now an anti-terrorism official with the Defense Department, told a federal judge Wednesday that the government barred investigators from looking into security complaints for a month. He also said he believed he was the target of retaliation for exposing security risks at the now-closed plant 16 miles northwest of Denver. Jennifer Thompson, a spokeswoman for Kaiser-Hill Co., which is cleaning up the plant under a federal contract, acknowledged there were security problems in 1996. But she said the problems have been fixed and the company is getting satisfactory ratings from the Energy Department, which operated the plant. U.S. Magistrate Patricia Coan is hearing testimony this week on a motion to dismiss a $400 million lawsuit filed by three former security workers at Rocky Flats. Named as defendants are Kaiser-Hill, security contractor Wackenhut Services and EG Rocky Flats, a former operator of the plant. The plaintiffs are seeking to recover money paid to contractors, claiming they ignored security in a rush to clean up the plant. McCallum, who testified for the plaintiffs, was allowed to speak only after the government put a specialist in the courtroom to advise both sides on what matters were official secrets that could not be discussed. McCallum said Rocky Flats officials made misleading statements when they said the plant had no serious security deficiencies. "I don't know if I would use the term 'cover-up.' I was aware of deficiencies that existed over numerous years that were not corrected," McCallum said. McCallum also said he was prevented from testifying about some of the problems before Congress, and the government tried to prevent other whistle-blowers from going public. The plant, which closed at the end of the Cold War, still holds 14 tons of weapons-grade plutonium and six tons of enriched uranium. The government hopes to turn Rocky Flats into a wildlife preserve. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 U.S. program excludes some ill N-workers Strict time limits Buffalo News - ROBERT KIRKHAM/Buffalo News Angela Giansante of Lockport, whose father died of cancer after working at Simonds Saw & Steel, asks a question during a town meeting Tuesday with Labor Department officials in the University Inn in Getzville. ROBERT KIRKHAM/Buffalo News "Nobody knew that stuff was dangerous back then. You just went there to work every day. I just want to be compensat-ed," said Charles Goodman, a former Simonds Saw &Steel worker. News Staff Reporter 7/11/01 Every day for 24 years, Charles Goodman treaded across the cracks in the floor at Simonds Saw & Steel in Lockport. In 1981, doctors diagnosed the Albion resident with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he recently had a cancerous kidney removed. Goodman is convinced that those dirty cracks in the floor - filled with remnants of the radioactive cobalt used in steel production until the late 1950s - are to blame. When Goodman became ill, he was only 46. And after that, he said, his life was "never the same again." During his battle with lymphoma, he lost his job, his home, his car and his health insurance. A year later, his former employer, too, went bankrupt. Goodman hoped that a new federal law would help him get back some of what he lost while fighting his illness. "Nobody knew that stuff was dangerous back then," he said. "You just worked went there to work every day. I just want to be compensated." The law - the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act - allows for a compensation package of $150,000, plus additional benefits for medical treatments, to people who contracted radioactive cancer, beryllium disease or chronic silicosis after working at sites that did nuclear weapons work during World War II and the Cold War. Thirteen Western New York locations, including Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna and Electrometallurgical Co. and Titanium Alloys Manufacturing in Niagara Falls, are on the list of facilities involved. But Goodman learned at a town meeting Tuesday that his employment dates fall outside the narrow period the Department of Energy has specified for exposure to hazardous materials - and, consequently, eligibility for compensation. Under the guidelines, only workers employed during active use of the hazardous materials are eligible - even though most local radioactive sites were never cleaned up after production ceased. The new law takes effect on July 31, and Labor Department officials at Tuesday's meeting at the University Inn in Getzville said they expect to begin making judgments and paying claimants by fall. To file a claim, patients or their survivors must provide proper documentation of their illness and an employment history to be reviewed by the four district offices established by the Labor Department. The office closest to Western New York will be set up in Cleveland. "The government wants to thank you for the work you did to keep our country safe," Department of Energy Office of Worker Advocacy representative Josh Silverman told the crowd of about 200. "You may have worn coveralls instead of uniforms, but you were the foot soldiers of the nuclear industry. This program is certainly not perfect, but it's a major step forward." However, he called some parts of the law "nebulous" and admitted that the program is likely to be fraught with hurdles, especially in Western New York, where the facilities involved were privately owned or have shut down. As former employees age - or die - exact employment dates may be difficult to pin down, and abandoned plants will likely be unable to help. During the meeting - one of about 60 nationwide this summer - former employees and survi- vors of deceased employees pointed to several wrinkles in the new law. Among them: strict rules governing which survivors are eligible for compensation and possible difficulties obtaining cooperation from the local medical community when putting together the records necessary to file a claim. But the chief grievance cited by former employees cited involved the employment dates eligible for compensation. At facilities where cleanup efforts were never undertaken, employees may have been exposed to hazardous materials for years after their use ended. "This stuff is toxic," said one former Simonds employee. "It's not like it just washes off with water." Consequently, the dates may be subject to change as the Department of Energy receives more information about activities at the private and shut-down plants, said Roberta Mosier, deputy director of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. In October, Peter Bartholomew's doctors at Roswell Park Cancer Institute gave him six months to live. He has already stolen three extra ones from a season they predicted he'd never see. Like Goodman, he worked six years at Simonds. And also like Goodman, his tenure at the mill falls outside the Energy Department's cutoff for eligibility. He said he plans to file a claim anyway. "I'm already living on borrowed time," said the Gasport resident. "Why give up now? You've just gotta hang in there." A last-minute location switch from the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo to the University Inn left several former energy employees at the wrong meeting site Tuesday. Labor Department representatives will hold two more two meetings today at the Adam's Mark, at 1 and 7 p.m. Copyright © 1999 - 2001 The Buffalo NewsTM ***************************************************************** 7 Punjab adopts policy against contamination of cotton -DAWN - National; 13 July, 2001 By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, July 12: The Punjab cabinet on Thursday banned the supply of contaminated cotton, permitting only cotton cloth bags for packaging. The meeting at Civil Secretariat, presided over by Governor Lt-Gen Muhammad Safdar (retired), also decided to increase the minimum length of service for compulsory retirement from 10 to 20 years and to hand over the 103 kilometre Lodhran-Khanewal highway to the National Highway Authority. The cabinet was informed that cotton had been planted on six million acres in the Punjab this year compared to 5.89 million acres last year. The germination of plants and their per acre population, it was told, were satisfactory. It decided to run a media campaign to create awareness among farmers about proper picking, storage and supply of cotton and to offer training in keeping cotton free of contamination. After receiving a detailed briefing on the subject from the officials concerned, the cabinet adopted a policy regarding the supply of quality cotton. The meeting approved the proposed amendment in Section 17 of the Cotton Control Act, 1966, making it compulsory to pack phutti in bags made only of cotton cloth and banning the supply of contaminated cotton. The meeting had been told that implementation of the policy would result in an increase in the price of Pakistani cotton and its products in the international market. This would not only help farmers get a better price for their produce but also benefit the textile exporters, it was told. The meeting decided to run the campaign against contamination of cotton in the entire cotton zone. Rahim Yar Khan was selected as the model district on account of its large contribution. The cabinet decided that the dealers, traders and ginners of cotton, too, should be trained in proper storage of cotton. Market committees, too, would be asked to protect cotton from contamination. The additional chief secretary informed the cabinet that the federal government and other provincial governments had provided for compulsory retirement of their employees after 20 years of service whereas the term in the Punjab was 10 years. The cabinet decided to amend Section 12 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974, to increase the length of service from 10 to 20 years.The cabinet decided to transfer the operational rights and the right of way of the Lodhran-Khanewal road to the National Highway Authority for widening it on the pattern of the GT Road. Ownership of the right of way shall remain with the Punjab government. The operation of the road would be transferred after signing of a contract and the NHA would undertake its widening and dualization under a build-operate-and-transfer arrangement. © The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2001 ***************************************************************** 8 Rocketdyne, feds react July 12, 2001 By Beth Barrett Staff Writer Department of Labor and Boeing Co. officials responded quickly Wednesday to public disclosure that thousands of former San Fernando Valley nuclear workers who might have been made ill by radiation exposure could be entitled to assistance. Labor Department officials agreed to set up a satellite office in the Los Angeles area to process claims by former San Fernando Valley nuclear workers who did Cold War work at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, and related facilities, Congressman Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard, said Wednesday. The verbal commitment by the head of the nuclear workers' compensation program came after the Daily News reported in Wednesday editions that the region was being shortchanged in program services, despite up to 6,000 former Rockwell International workers who did Department of Energy contract work for decades and now could be eligible for $150,000 each and lifetime medical benefits. "I think it wasn't that there wasn't much interest prior to the story, but rather there was not much knowledge," said Gallegly, a former Simi Valley mayor. "They said if we made the request, they'd set up the satellite office in the L.A. area to help workers fill out applications. A satellite office means to me a permanent type of facility, a modular unit or a storefront. It doesn't mean a bus driving through the community." Gallegly said he expects a "very short turnaround," with input from a local citizens advisory group on the best location. The disclosure that the lab also handled beryllium metal, which produces a dust that can cause fatal lung disease, also qualifies former beryllium workers there for a new Department of Energy contract testing program, said Mike Lopez, the Oakland Department of Energy official overseeing environmental restoration of the DOE portion of the lab. Officials with Rocketdyne Propulsion &Power, a business unit of The Boeing Co., which purchased Rockwell, said the company is independently setting up its own beryllium testing program that will be even more rigorous than the government's program. Blythe Jameson, the company's manager of environmental communications, said about 80 former beryllium workers have been identified so far, most of them retired, and that an aggressive outreach is planned to notify them of the testing program, which should be set up in a few months. "We have an active retiree group and newsletter to track them down," Jameson said. Jameson said the company decided on its own to go beyond what the DOE is doing and to include any workers who historically worked with beryllium. Positive readings for beryllium sensitivity make workers eligible for continued monitoring under the Department of Labor's compensation program, and they would receive health benefits if beryllium disease -- characterized by scarring of the lungs -- develops. Pete Turcic, who oversees the compensation program in Washington, D.C., and who said Tuesday that the program had gotten little interest from Southern California workers, said after the Daily News story appeared Wednesday there was a measurable jump in calls to the agency's hotline. Rocketdyne officials said they only received one call, noting that the information was previously dispensed to employees through an online newsletter with a link to the Department of Labor. Turcic was the official who Gallegly said gave the verbal commitment that the satellite office would be set up in Los Angeles. Turcic was interviewed for this story prior to that conversation, and he could not be reached later in the day. Turcic, in the interview, acknowledged more could be done for Southern California, including a town hall meeting, depending on an analysis of the calls and other factors. But he said the current schedule is so tight, it would be difficult to do anything before July 31. While there is no deadline on workers filing for compensation and medical claims, the medical benefits can begin as early as July 31 for those who file on that date. "We're trying to plan it the best we can," Turcic said. Bonnie Klea, a West Hills bladder cancer survivor who worked nine years at the company, entering high-security areas without a radiation badge or safety training, said the commitments to a processing center and to testing former workers for beryllium sensitivity was a victory. "Oh, my gosh, I'm very excited, I can't believe it," Klea said. "I think this is a step in the right direction to notify the workers they could be at risk and to get them tested. Though it has been many years since workers have been exposed, many cancers and beryllium poisonings develop after many years. "By being warned, we can tell our doctors and take care of our health." A Los Angeles Newspaper Group Newspaper ***************************************************************** 9 Senate bill adds money to hasten cleanup The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Thursday, July 12, 2001 In addition to the $9 million the bill allots to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup, it includes kidney cancer as a compensatory disease. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 A Senate bill headed for conference adds kidney cancers to the list of diseases covered by nuclear workers' compensation and includes another $9 million to hasten cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The Senate approved the measures Tuesday night by a vote of 98-1. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Louisville, said the Supplemental Appropriations Bill included his request for $18 million in plant cleanup funds — $9 million more than contained in the House version — and his amendment to include kidney cancer in the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act. A conference committee will work out differences in the House and Senate bills. McConnell said he anticipates "a speedy resolution," noting that the funding is above $78 million already provided for plant cleanup this fiscal year. However, the combined amount of $96 million falls about $30 million short of what the Department of Energy needs next fiscal year toward a 2010 deadline to clean up most of the plant's contamination. In the original compensation act, passed as part of the 2001 Defense Authorization Bill, kidney cancer was not on a list of diseases qualifying for compensation. McConnell said the amendment guarantees benefits to workers with kidney cancer. "The goal of the original legislation we worked so hard to pass last year was to establish a program which benefitted all deserving employees, and this takes yet another step in that direction," he said through a news release. Current and former workers and some survivors are eligible for $150,000 lump-sum benefits if they have been diagnosed with specific types of cancer assumed to have been caused by work at the Paducah plant. Those employees also are eligible for reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical expenses from the date they file their claim. A Department of Labor claims center opened July 2 in the Barkley Center at 125 Memorial Drive, off U.S. 62 near Paducah Community College and Interstate 24. It is the first of 10 centers nationwide to help nuclear weapons workers file claims under the new program. Although workers are encouraged to fill out forms now, processing is not expected to start until July 31. The first checks should be in the mail in late summer, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said earlier. Eligible survivors include a spouse or children who were child dependents at the time of the worker’s death. That generally excludes surviving children who were older than 18 when a worker died. ***************************************************************** 10 Notice of Intent Issued for an EIS on Scrap Metals Disposition energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2001 [Print Friendly Version] WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy (DOE) today published in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the disposition of scrap metals across its complex. The PEIS will address policy options for managing those metals located in radiological areas on DOE sites, and any other scrap metals at DOE sites that might have some potential for residual surface radioactivity. The Notice of Intent proposes four disposition alternatives to be evaluated: (1) continuation of an existing suspension on the release of scrap metals from DOE radiological areas for unrestricted use in recycling (No Action Alternative); (2) release of scrap metals for recycling under existing DOE requirements; (3) release of scrap metals for recycling under alternative requirements; and (4) no release for recycling of scrap metals with any potential for residual surface radioactivity. The department will conduct public scoping meetings to assist in defining the appropriate scope of the PEIS during July and August 2001. The meetings are expected to be held in North Augusta, S.C.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Oakland, Calif.; Richland, Wash.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Arlington, Va. Details of the public scoping meetings, to include dates and locations, are published in the Federal Register. Media Contact: Dolline Hatchett 202/ 586-5806 Release No. R-01-113 ***************************************************************** 11 IEER: Workers Subjected to Dangers Should Be Compensated and Treated Now, press release For Immediate Release, 25 June 2001 For further information contact: Arjun Makhijani, (301) 270-5500 Uranium Workers Subjected to Dangers from Plutonium and Other Contaminants in U.S. Nuclear Bomb Program Should Be Compensated and Treated Now Individual Radiation Doses Will Be Nearly Impossible to Calculate Accurately, Leading to Costly and Unfair Process, Independent Institute Says Takoma Park, Maryland: Many thousands of workers were unknowingly exposed to plutonium, neptunium, and other radioactive materials when they thought they were processing uranium, which is far less radioactive. The contaminants in the uranium were the result of its recovery from highly radioactive waste or other processing streams in the course of producing plutonium for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. The new problems, present at dozens of plants, were revealed in a June, 2001 story in USA Today.Most of the plants where the new problems were revealed were privately owned and did contract work for the government's nuclear bomb program. "Many of these workers were already exposed to very dangerous levels of uranium, far above then-prevailing standards," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), in Takoma Park, Maryland, a non-profit organization which has published many studies on the health and environmental effects of nuclear weapons production. IEER produced a special study last year for USA Today on three privately-owned plants that showed appalling conditions working relating to uranium and thorium contamination in the 1940s and 1950s. "The plutonium contamination makes an already difficult and complex problem much worse," said Dr. Makhijani. IEER's study for USA Today is on the Internet at http://www.usatoday.com/news/poison/docdex.htm. In October 2000, the U.S. government became the first nuclear weapons state to take the historic step of acknowledging that 600,000 workers were put in harm's way and may contract illnesses as a result of their radiation exposure in the nuclear weapons program. But the compensation legislation passed by Congress last year requires workers at all but four nuclear weapons related locations to prove their radiation doses before can be compensated. "These new revelations show that many workers face a daunting and essentially impossible task," said Dr. Makhijani. "Some of the plutonium exposures could well have been low, but others may have been substantial. There are essentially no data on plutonium and neptunium exposure of individual workers at uranium plants. The government and its contractors just weren't looking, even though the government was aware that recycled uranium was tainted and that certain forms, like furnace ash, contained levels of plutonium well above allowed contaminant limits. It is unfair and unjust to impose the burden of proof on workers now when the government did not do its job well then." IEER's studies based on government records show that worker dose records at uranium and many other plants are incomplete and, in many cases, shockingly deficient. Some are tainted by data fabrication and scientifically indefensible dose estimation procedures. "Until 1989, the government did not calculate radiation doses resulting from inhalation of radioactive materials for any of the workers in the nuclear weapons program. These workers should be given the benefit of the doubt and compensated," said Dr. Makhijani. "Many are sick now. They don't have the time to wait for bureaucratic procedures to see if their radiation doses can be reconstructed. The poor state of the records makes it unlikely that even a long, expensive process would result in accurate dose estimates for large numbers of workers." "The government should follow up on the courageous and historic step it took by passing compensation legislation and move rapidly to treat and compensate affected workers and their families. Anything less would compound the injustice of their exposures, which were in many cases well above then-prevailing standards," Dr. Makhijani said. --30-- IEER HomepageInstitute for Energy and Environmental Research Comments to Outreach Coordinator: ieer@ieer.org Takoma Park, Maryland, USA Posted July 9, 2001 ***************************************************************** 12 Security chief: Flats violations hushed up Denver Post.com By Steven K. Paulson The Associated Press --> Thursday, July 12, 2001 - The former chief security officer at the closed Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant told a federal judge Wednesday the plant had serious security problems five years ago and that people who complained faced retaliation from the federal government. Edward McCallum said the government barred investigators from looking into security complaints for a month. He also said he was the target of retaliation for exposing security risks at the plant. A spokeswoman for Kaiser-Hill Co., which is cleaning up the plant under a contract with the federal government, acknowledged the plant had security problems in 1996. But the spokeswoman, Jennifer Thompson, said the problems have been fixed and the company is getting satisfactory ratings from the Department of Energy, which operates Rocky Flats. Three former security workers sued Kaiser-Hill, security contractor Wackenhut Services and EG Rocky Flats, a former operator of the plant, seeking about $400 million under the False Claims Act. The lawsuit seeks to recover money paid to contractors for security and cleanup of the plant, saying they ignored security in a rush to clean up the plant. The plant, which closed at the end of the Cold War, still holds 14 tons of weapons-grade plutonium and 6 tons of enriched uranium. U.S. Magistrate Patricia Coan is hearing testimony this week on a motion by the federal government to dismiss the lawsuit. McCallum, who testified for the plaintiffs, was allowed to speak only after the government put a specialist in the courtroom to advise both sides on what matters were official secrets that could not be discussed. Government attorneys objected to much of the testimony, saying they were unable to effectively cross-examine McCallum on many points without revealing classified information. McCallum acknowledged that deficiencies at one plant may have been fixed but said testimony in the case could reveal problems at others around the country, including susceptibility to attack in low light, heavy rains, high winds and rugged terrain like the land surrounding Rocky Flats. McCallum said Rocky Flats officials made misleading statements when they said the plant had no serious security deficiencies. "I don't know if I would use the term "coverup.' I was aware of deficiencies that existed over numerous years that were not corrected," McCallum said. McCallum said he was prevented from testifying about some of the problems before Congress, and said the government tried to prevent other whistle-blowers from going public. Thompson rejected suggestions that security was bypassed to speed closure of the plant, saying security was an important factor in the company's performance and bonuses. "We could not do that and still get those ratings," she said. All contents Copyright 2001 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 13 Senate approves funding to aid radiation victims Rocky Mountain News: Politics By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government is moving closer to meeting its promise to ailing uranium miners and others waiting with unpaid IOUs. The Senate approved $84 million in emergency funding for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act trust fund as part of a $6.5 billion supplemental appropriations bill late Tuesday. The bill still has to be reconciled in negotiations with the House of Representatives, which did not include the $84 million for the program in a version of the bill approved earlier this summer. But supporters said they were hopeful it would be included in a final bill, expected to be sent to President Bush before Congress' summer recess in August. The trust fund was created in 1990 to provide up to $100,000 in "compassionate compensation" to former uranium miners, nuclear test participants, downwind residents and others with cancer or other illnesses traced back to their Cold War activities. But since last year, the fund has been virtually out of money, leaving hundreds of people in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona with Justice Department IOUs, or with claims waiting to be approved. Many of the victims have died waiting for money to back up their approval letters. "As a nation we can and must do more than issue IOUs," said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., one of several senators who lobbied for the emergency funds. "Hundreds of these beneficiaries live in Colorado and they are in desperate need of that money that was promised to them last year," Campbell said. "Dying has a way of making people desperate, especially when the money promised them in useless IOUs could be used for their care." Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., have pushed for legislation to make the fund an entitlement program, not subject to year-to-year budget wrangling. Reps. Scott McInnis, R-Grand Junction, and Mark Udall, D-Colo., have proposed similar bills in the House. The emergency funds for this year still need to clear a hurdle in the House, where some members are wary of adding too much spending to a bill that is mostly for military needs. "I'm optimistic," Udall said. "The fact that the Senate saw fit to include it puts down an important marker." 2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 14 Bush set to open nuclear test floodgates Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search If, as expected, Washington scraps the comprehensive test ban treaty, other countries will follow, warns Mark Tran George Bush's America Mark Tran Guardian Unlimited Wednesday July 11, 2001 For nine years, the US has stuck to a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons. But there are ominous signs that the Bush administration is setting the stage for a resumption of nuclear tests. In the clearest sign yet that the US is lurching further towards international irresponsibility, the administration has commissioned a study on how quickly nuclear test sites in the Nevada desert could be returned to action. American officials insist that for the time being, the US has "no plans" to break the moratorium on nuclear tests. But the readiness review of the Nevada test site and the administration's disdain for the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) all point unmistakably to a renewal of testing. Expect the floodgates to open once the US starts testing. While America showed restraint, there was huge moral pressure on other states to hold back. When India and Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998, their decision earned international opprobrium. The US was among those who condemned the two regional rivals. But once Washington starts testing, it will no longer be able to claim the moral high ground and others will invariably follow its lead, including Russia and China. No wonder the US is perfectly happy to see the CTBT languish in the Senate. Mr Bush and his hardline advisers have long opposed the treaty that the senate narrowly rejected during the Clinton administration. Before taking office, Donald Rumsfeld, who now occupies the post of defence secretary, argued against ratification of the CTBT because the US might need to develop new nuclear weapons. The Bush administration initially wanted to kill the CTBT. But it was informed by state department lawyers that a president cannot withdraw a treaty from the Senate once it was presented for ratification. That was lucky for Mr Bush. Dumping the CTBT and Kyoto in the first few weeks of the administration would have been a double PR disaster. As it is, the administration is going to let the treaty die a slow death in the Senate. One hundred and sixty-one countries have signed the treaty, and 77 of them have ratified it. Among the 77 are 31 of the 44 required for the treaty to take effect. Among the remaining 13 are the US, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. With the Bush administration bent on wrecking the treaty and its supporters in the Senate lacking the two-thirds majority to ratify it, the CTBT has as much chance of surviving as a man without water in the Nevada desert. Letting the CTBT petrify is one thing, but breaking a moratorium on testing that began under Mr Bush's father will push the world into even more perilous territory. The danger is not so much between the US and Russia, but in the delicate triangular relationship between India, Pakistan and China. If India and Pakistan step up their arms race, China will feel under pressure to speed up the development of its own nuclear arms to stay with India. That does not make for a safer world. Yet that will be the situation once America detonates a nuclear device under the Nevada desert. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************