***************************************************************** 10/12/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.241 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 GERMANY CONSIDERS SHUTTING NPPs RE TERRORISM THREAT 2 Groups target FFTF proposal 3 Sandoval declares for attorney generalSandoval declares for attorney general 4 US nuclear agency reviews Web site, eyeing security 5 Should N-Waste Taxes Fund Schools? Teachers Unions to Vote 6 NRC Web site remains shut for information review 7 New Worries About Nuclear Plants 8 NIRS ACTION ALERT Yucca Mt. 9 Connecticut Yankee gives up on plans for gas-fired electric plant 10 Sellafield is the biggest threat to Ireland's safety 11 State nuclear body reinforces Sellafield fears 12 Authorities probe security at German Isar 1 N-plant 13 Lithuania to extend no-fly zone near N-plant 14 Slovak Christian Democrats back decommissioning, oppose 15 Slovakia, EBRD endorse deal on decommissioning of Slovak nuclear 16 Slovak opposition party against deal on nuclear plant 17 Foratom: Europe Needs 'Realistic' Approach to Nuclear Energy 18 Nuclear Heat And Power Plants Projected For Russia's North 19 Berkley seeks probe of Yucca law firm 20 Governor Guinn's Nevada Protection Fund - Contributors 21 Safety pledge as BE faces nuclear strike 22 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-10-12 Number 196 23 Agencies Remove Info From Web Sites 24 'scaremongering' - BNFL 25 Demand for no-fly zone at Sellafield 26 Calif. San Onofre nuke unit to be taken down Sat 27 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 01.41 | 3 - 9 October 2001 28 Letter from Gov. Kenny C. Guinn to Pres. George W. Bush re: 29 Officials ask CP to beef up safety 30 NEWS FROM NIRS: NRC SHUTS WEBSITE FOR "SECURITY" REASONS; 31 Suit filed to block nuclear site regulations 32 New Worries About Nuclear Plants 33 Nuclear Waste in The City's Backyard 34 SELLAFIELD MOX PLANT - MANUFACTURE OF MOX FUEL IS JUSTIFIED 35 Terrorism top concern in town near proposed Nevada nuclear dump NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 [abolition-caucus] Appeal 2 [southnews] New Zealand wants total NPT disarmament 3 Agencies Remove Info From Web Sites 4 Radiation survey over area delayed 5 Report sheds light on waste woes at INEEL 6 Antinuclear resolution returning to U.N. table 7 North Korean TV says atomic energy agency a "kept mouthpiece" 8 Sick-worker claims said to be hampered by DOE rules 9 Egypt urges UN to place Israel's nuclear facilities under 10 Report: Radiation detected in Snake aquifer 11 Test Site proposed for new nuclear facility 12 UN Board Recommends Measures to Reduce Risk of Nuclear War 13 Energy secretary schedules Hanford visit ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 GERMANY CONSIDERS SHUTTING NPPs RE TERRORISM THREAT Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 07:46:59 -0400 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2001/2001L-10-10-02.htm l German Reaction to Terrorism: Shut Down Nuclear Plants BERLIN, Germany, October 10, 2001 (ENS) - German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin yesterday turned the screw on a nuclear power sector already due to be phased out by 2030 by threatening emergency plant closures in case of a credible threat of terrorist attack. Speaking at an industry symposium in Berlin, Trittin said nuclear security is at the top of his agenda following the September 11 assaults in New York and Washington. Their lethal impact underlined the importance of Germany's nuclear phase-out plan, Trittin stressed. Security would be guaranteed not by sealing aeroplane cockpits but by closing down nuclear power stations according to the government's plan, he said. German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin (Photo courtesy Leila Mead/IISD) Trittin stressed the importance of reassessing current safety precautions to consider what extra measures might be needed in times of heightened danger. The environment ministry is currently awaiting a report from Germany's commission on reactor safety, requested following the events of September 11. Environment ministry sources confirmed that Trittin's hard line on nuclear security is also a response to recent revelations of safety lapses at the Philippsburg nuclear power station, which was ordered to close temporarily over the weekend. Germany will phase out its 19 nuclear power plants gradually after each has had a lifespan of 32 years. Nuclear power currently accounts for about 30 percent of all Germany's energy consumption. Always unhappy with the government's extended phase-out time line for the nuclear industry, environmentalists used the conference to reiterate their view that all nuclear stations must now be shut immediately. "There can be no guarantee of absolute security against such terrorist attacks," Friends of the Earth Germany (Bund) said in a statement. {Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk} ***************************************************************** 2 Groups target FFTF proposal This story was published Thu, Oct 11, 2001 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Hanford watchdog groups are asking that the Justice Department review what they see as conflicts of interest related to a proposal to commercialize Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility. A company that was paid by the Department of Energy to work on a review that considered proposals for restarting the reactor also was included in one of the proposals. The company, Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, has since withdrawn from the proposal. Although watchdog groups criticizing the company say it did not reveal its dual roles, SAIC sent a letter to DOE on June 11 asking for guidance .The company pointed out it was a contractor for DOE on the study and a bidder under a proposal to commercialize the reactor. Advanced Nuclear and Medical Systems of Richland submitted a plan to restart the reactor to make medical isotopes. ANMS would not operate the reactor but had firms with nuclear experience as subcontractors. SAIC would "provide isotope marketing strategy" and other services, according to the letter. SAIC told DOE in the letter that the internal organization doing work for DOE was in a different sector than the one that might be involved in FFTF operations. DOE replied in a letter SAIC received July 26 that there was not a conflict of interest with the work SAIC was doing for the DOE report on restarting FFTF. However, DOE would need to make a separate decision on whether SAIC had a conflict of interest if ANMS were awarded the contract, the officer wrote. That decision is moot since SAIC withdrew this month. A company spokesman did not say SAIC had a conflict of interest, but that the company was concerned the perception of a conflict of interest was not helpful to DOE. Heart of America Northwest, the Government Accountability Project and Columbia Riverkeeper are asking that SAIC and ANMS be barred from contracts with DOE for a year. They also want them permanently barred from FFTF-related contracts and SAIC to return money it received from DOE. Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America, said the organization was asking for the Justice Department review in part because of concerns over what it sees as potentially widespread conflicts of interest by DOE contractors. Among the groups' other concerns was that a former FFTF manager, now an independent consultant, also worked on the DOE review of the decision to restart the reactor. The three Hanford watchdog groups asking for the investigation into conflicts of interest have seats on the Hanford Advisory Board, which advises the state and federal government on Hanford matters. However, that's not a conflict of interest, said Greg deBruler of Columbia Riverkeeper, because those are not paid positions, while SAIC and ANMS stood to profit. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or ***************************************************************** 3 Sandoval declares for attorney generalSandoval declares for attorney general By BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS October 12th, 2001 Former state lawmaker and casino regulator Brian Sandoval announced Thursday he’s running as a Republican candidate for Nevada attorney general. Sandoval, 37, a Reno lawyer and former assemblyman, said he’d fight efforts to store nuclear waste in Nevada and promote programs to stop violence in schools. Sandoval, whose private-practice clients include utility shareholders, also said he’d oppose unnecessary and excessive utility rate hikes that would boost consumers’ rates. He also said he’d try to stop consumer fraud that targets seniors and work to strengthen anti-child abuse programs. “I want to represent the people of Nevada by enforcing laws in the public interest and leading the effort of protection against criminals, ensuring healthy competition of business, safeguarding consumers and protecting citizens through effective law enforcement,” Sandoval said in a news release.” Sandoval was appointed to the Nevada Gaming Commission in April 1998 by then-Gov. Bob Miller, a Democrat, and appointed chairman by GOP Gov. Kenny Guinn in April 1999. He was in his second term in the state Assembly when he took the Gaming Commission assignment. The five-member commission oversees Nevada’s multibillion-dollar casino industry, handling casino licensing matters, adopting new regulations and ruling in work permit appeal cases. He also has been on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Sandoval graduated from Bishop Manogue High School and the University of Nevada, Reno, and has a law degree from Ohio State. © 2001 Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** 4 US nuclear agency reviews Web site, eyeing security Planet Ark Environmental News: USA: October 12, 2001 NEW YORK - The U.S. government's nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), said yesterday it was vetting its Web site with an eye to power plant security following the Sept. 11 attacks. "We're looking at the data that is up on the Web site with a very careful eye as to what information might potentially be of value to terrorists," NRC spokesman Victor Dricks told Reuters by telephone from the commission's headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. Information believed advantageous to anyone considering an attack on a U.S. nuclear power plant has already been pulled from the site, Dricks said. "We've removed for example the coordinates, the latitude and longitude of all the nuclear plants, feeling that that might be something that could be of interest to terrorists," Dricks said. He also said detailed and specific design information about the construction of each of the nuclear power plants has been taken off the Web site. The NRC oversees the operations of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants. Included in the Web site review, being done by an NRC panel, is the NRC's plant status report which gives a daily chronicle of the morning operating status of each of the nuclear plants in the U.S. The plant status report is used by electricity traders to gauge available power supplies in various regions of the country. "We are trying to balance the public's need to know and their right to know with these security concerns," Dricks said. "We are certainly aware (the daily plant status report) is the kind of information that people in the financial community want to have access to." The NRC's Web site, at (http://www.nrc.gov), was not available yesterday due to technical reasons. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 5 Should N-Waste Taxes Fund Schools? Teachers Unions to Vote The Salt Lake Tribune -- Friday, October 12, 2001 BY MARTA MURVOSH Members of the state's two teachers unions are weighing whether to come out against using radioactive waste taxes to fund education. The Utah Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are holding separate meetings tonight to debate that and other issues. Each union has drafted a proposal that opposes storing specific types of nuclear waste in Utah and using taxes on such waste to fund schools. If approved, the proposals would be a pre-emptive move against lobbyists who say schools would benefit from new radioactive waste brought to Utah for storage. "We don't want to be the reason they push it through, saying, 'Education needs this,' " said Tiffany Rousculp, an English teacher at Salt Lake Community College and an AFT member who proposed one of the resolutions. "We say, 'Education needs to be funded from other sources.' " Teachers became unwilling participants in the nuclear debate last November when a legislative task force suggested using low-level radioactive waste taxes for education. At the time, no such tax existed. But the 2001 Utah Legislature passed a nuclear waste levy, though it wasn't earmarked for any specific purpose. The tax could generate more than $3 million, which would be a small portion of the $1.7 billion public education budget. Envirocare, which stores such low-level radioactive waste in Tooele County, once considered bringing in additional radioactive waste but has since withdrawn that proposal -- though the teachers unions think it could resurface. Also, AFT is concerned about the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation's proposal to put a high-level radioactive waste repository on its land in Tooele County. Regardless of the outcome of tonight's meetings, the proposal to shift the waste tax to education may not even be raised in the upcoming session, which starts in January, said Rep. Kevin Garn, a Layton Republican who co-chaired the task force. "Nobody is even talking about it." Nonetheless, AFT's 40 delegates are expected to vote on the issue tonight at the organization's state convention, said Warren Brodhead, AFT vice president for legislation. The convention begins at 6 p.m. in the student center at SLCC's Redwood Campus. The union also will consider a resolution against selling junk food from school vending machines. At its meeting, UEA officials will hear from Envirocare spokeswoman Bette Arial, who is a former state school board member, and Jason Groenewold, spokesman for Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah), a coalition of residents and seven organizations that oppose bringing additional radioactive waste to the state. The UEA meeting is open only to members and begins at 5 p.m. in the group's Murray office. It is unlikely there will be a decision tonight, said Phyllis Sorensen, UEA president. The two groups combined have 20,000 members, with UEA claiming 19,000 of those. Utah has 22,000 teachers. Some UEA members say nuclear waste is an issue the unions should avoid. "I've always expected that as a member of UEA that this association would focus specifically on education issues and not all kinds of other political issues," said Larry Shumway, Tooele School District superintendent. "I would much rather see UEA studying ways to improve the funding stream for public education." Arial said the unions are debating a nonissue because Envirocare has withdrawn its push to bring additional waste to Utah. UEA's Nevada counterpart, the Nevada State Education Association, hasn't passed any policies on the issue in spite of more than a decade of debate over the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste storage facility. Still, some Utah teachers say now is the time to decide if educators want to take a stand on the issue before being dragged into the debate again. "The education association needs to form some kind of policy to help guide us and give us a sense of what is our philosophy," said Robyn Kirkpatrick, a Hillside Middle School teacher who proposed the UEA resolution. "What are productive ways to generate funding for education that aren't going to harm us?" Nuclear watchdog groups also urge teachers to discuss the issue. "The teachers are going to be brought into this discussion whether they like it or not," Groenewold said. "It is important that they establish from the outset what their position is." mmurvosh@strib.com ***************************************************************** 6 NRC Web site remains shut for information review Simple Solution Leads to Instant Success SV.comThe Web Posted at 5:13 a.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Web site remained shut Friday for a second day in a row for further review of the information it provides to the public on nuclear plant operations. The site, , said, ``In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken the action to shut down its web site.'' ``In support of our mission to protect public health and safety, we are performing a review of all material on our site. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times.'' Late Thursday, a spokesman for the NRC told Reuters the agency was looking at what information might potentially be of value to terrorists. The NRC publishes a nuclear plant status report on a daily basis that is used by electricity traders to gauge available power supplies in various regions. Early Friday, the NRC said it would not distribute the daily plant status report until further notice. The NRC is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. ***************************************************************** 7 New Worries About Nuclear Plants ctnow.com By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN The Hartford Courant October 12, 2001 WATERFORD - A little Piper Cub airplane flew in loops over the home of Gary and Debbie Pomerenke near the Millstone nuclear power station. Before Sept. 11, the Pomerenkes wouldn't have paid much attention to the plane's antics. But now that's all changed. "You're always wondering now," Gary Pomerenke, a home improvement contractor, said. "Part of your subconscious is always on alert." In this town of 19,152 on the state's southeast shore, residents have grown accustomed to the risk of nuclear accident in the 30 years since the first of the three reactors began operating. . Now, the stakes are even greater: nuclear power plants and other utilities are seen as vulnerable targets for terrorists. Emergency response and evacuation plans are in place. They are tested annually with drills involving hundreds of civil preparedness workers and are evaluated every two years by federal authorities. But would residents in evacuation zones know what to do in an actual emergency? Guide books are mailed out each year by the state and Millstone, and a shortened version is printed in local telephone books. However, in random interviews with roughly two dozen Waterford residents, about half weren't sure of what they were supposed to do in a major radiation release. One wasn't even sure what the alert siren -the sign of an emergency- meant. Local officials say some steps have been taken since Sept. 11 to boost awareness of disaster planning, including interviews with local public access television and newspapers. And in the aftermath of the air strikes in Afghanistan, Waterford's town web page will now include evacuation routes and a newsletter with similar information will be distributed through the schools. Millstone says it is now focusing on plant security, working closely with state and local officials. It has no plans to step up public education. Peter Hyde, a Millstone spokesman, said the guide books are comprehensive, right down to what to do withpets - leave them home. "People may get it in the mail, throw it in a drawer and forget about it," Hyde said. "When we send it out, it's important for them to read it." With the attacks, communication needs to go on the offensive, with more aggressive campaigns targeted at residents, said John T. Wiltse, the state's director of emergency management. The attacks also are reviving old debates on the use of potassium iodide, which some studies have found to block radioactive iodines that cause thyroid cancer. Earlier this year, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after years of debate, urged states to consider stockpiling or distributing potassium iodide for use within evacuation zones. So far, only three states - Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee - have done that. Connecticut is still studying the issue. There are questions about proper dosages for different ages, state officials say. A bill that would have required distribution in Connecticut died in a legislative committee last session. The bill is expected to return next year. Some potassium iodide advocates argue the pills should be distributed beyond 10-mile evacuation zones. Potassium iodide, a salt similar to table salt, is available on the Internet and at a few pharmacies in the state. The Arrow pharmacy in Canton said it has sold out of its supply of 60 packages since the Sept. 11 attacks, also taking orders by mail from as far away as Trumbull. The issue isn't clear cut. Some worry that residents might come to consider the pill a "silver bullet" that would discourage them from leaving their homes, actually hampering evacuation efforts. Even though some argue the benefits of potassium iodide are narrow, proponents say they shouldn't be ignored. "If there ever were to be a nuclear power plant problem, you want to stand before the people affected and say, 'We did everything to protect you,' " said David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. Growing Interest In Waterford, the nuclear complex is an imposing presence on Millstone Point. The plant, now owned by Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc., also plays a big role in town, as the town's largest taxpayer. Millstone's staunchest critics say the plant should be shut down, reducing radiation release risks and ending years of nuclear waste production. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Millstone has gone to its highest level of security, with added checkpoints and barricades clearly visible from the entrance on Rope Ferry Road. Experts say the sense of security enjoyed for so long by America and shattered on Sept. 11 is likely to ignite interest in emergency planning among the public. "There always seemed to be something more pressing for the public," said Robie Robinson, assistant professor of emergency administration and planning, at the University of North Texas. "Preparing for a nuclear accident was always way down on the list." The most recent disaster drill at Millstone evaluated by federal authorities was conducted last year. No major problems were found in the evaluation, according to the report. Wiltse said the state also has three, full-time emergency response planners devoted only to nuclear issues - the most assigned to any one area of emergency management. Waterford First Selectman Paul B. Eccard said the town has had some experience with evacuations in times of flood or hurricane. A truck with speakers has traced routes along the town's waterfront area, urging residents to leave their homes, he said. And, emergency workers, including police, firefighters and other personnel are trained to handle the unexpected, including people being where they aren't supposed to be, Eccard said. Any evacuation from the state's southeast corner would be massive, moving people from Waterford and nine surrounding communities to towns and cities many miles away, often along heavily congested roads. In addition to road capacity, there are other variables. Parents may want to pick up their children from school first, rather than allowing them to be taken separately out of the area, said state Rep. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford. "There are a lot of human nature issues," Stillman said, "that don't allow evacuation plans to run smoothly." ©2001 MyWay Corp. Portions ©2001 ctnow.com ***************************************************************** 8 NIRS ACTION ALERT October 11, 2001 Final Yucca Mountain Public Comment Period to Close on October 19th Just One More Week to Submit Comments to U.S. Department of Energy BACKGROUND The DOE is rushing to slam shut the final public comment period on its 20+ year old Yucca Mountain Project. This, despite never yet having responded to 11,000 public comments, delivered nearly two years ago, during its Draft Environmental Impact Statement hearings around the country. DOE has also failed to publish documents that the public must have in order to give meaningful "final" comments on the Yucca scheme: the Final Environmental Impact Statement, and new Repository Siting Guidelines (DOE's attempt to circumvent the fact that the unsuitable Yucca Mountain site is unable to live up to DOE's 17-year-old and still-on-the-books Siting Guidelines). Another essential document, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's final Yucca Mountain licensing rule, has not even been available to the public during this "final" comment period. In addition, U.S. federal courts have yet to rule on the legality (or lack thereof) of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency radiation release regulations for Yucca Mountain. The State of Nevada, as well as a coalition of environmental and public interest groups (including NIRS) has filed suit against EPA's woefully weak rule, which would allow for a nuclear sacrifice zone in the drinking water supply as far as 11 miles downstream from Yucca Mountain, and would not protect future generations from radioactive contamination after an arbitrarily short 10,000 year cut-off point (the wastes will remain deadly for hundreds of thousands of years). Despite this unresolved dispute and Yucca's ever more obvious scientific unsuitability, Energy Secretary Spence Abraham is moving full steam ahead with recommending to President Bush by the end of this year or early 2002 that Yucca Mountain become the country's high-level atomic waste dump. According to the pro-nuclear Bush/Cheney energy scheme to build new reactors, a "solution" to the high-level radioactive waste dilemma must be found pronto. Bush may move quickly to give his thumbs up to dumping on Nevada. The State of Nevada, exercising its rights under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, has already indicated that it would veto the President's decision to move forward with Yucca Mountain. That would kick the decision over to Congress, where a simple majority in both Houses could override Nevada's veto. Thus, HUGE decisions will be made in the months ahead on Yucca Mountain. It's scandalous just how badly DOE has conducted this final comment period. Public hearings have only been called in Nevada, not in the 42 other States that would see tens of thousands of "Mobile Chernobyl" shipments pass through on trains and trucks. The Nevada hearings have been held on extremely short notice (sometimes just a few days), with numerous confusing last minute changes of venue. Nevada citizens and elected officials are understandably outraged, and nearly unanimous in their opposition to the dump. TAKE ACTION Now is the time to flood DOE with comments opposing the outrageous Yucca Mountain plan. If you haven't already, get your comments in by the October 19th deadline. A sample letter can be found below. Or, feel free to use NIRS' full comments in formulating your own. NIRS comments are viewable online at http://www.nirs.org/dontwasteamerica/NIRSyuccasuitabilitycomments.htm If you have already submitted comments, thank you! Get your friends, family and neighbors to do the same. Rent a Simpson's episode, pop some popcorn, and host a letter writing party to DOE in your living room. Send this e-mail alert far and wide ASAP! Send comments to DOE via snail mail, e-mail, or fax at: Carol Hanlon U. S. Department of Energy Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (M/S #025) P.O. Box 30307 North Las Vegas, Nevada 89036-0307 E-mail: YMP_SR@ymp.gov Fax: 1-800-967-0739 But remember, there's just one week left… SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER Carol Hanlon U. S. Department of Energy Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (M/S #025) P.O. Box 30307 North Las Vegas, Nevada 89036-0307 Dear Ms. Hanlon, I urge DOE to disqualify Yucca Mountain from any further consideration as the country's high-level atomic waste dump for the following reasons. The rightful owners of Yucca Mountain are opposed to dumping atomic waste there: the Yucca Mountain Project is in violation of the Treaty of Ruby Valley that the United States government signed with the Western Shoshone Indian Nation in 1863. DOE's preliminary site recommendation is woefully premature, in that DOE's Final Environmental Impact Statement and changes to its Site Suitability Guidelines have not been published. Rather than disqualify Yucca Mountain as it should have done many years ago, the federal government has continually lowered regulatory standards and weakened environmental protections that the unsuitable site cannot measure up to. Like an elephant in the living room, DOE has never adequately addressed the huge environmental impacts associated with transporting tens of thousands of atomic waste trains and trucks through 43 States past the homes of 50 million Americans. The September 11th terrorist attacks on America highlight the utter lack of consideration that DOE has given to the fact that every single one of those tens of thousands of waste shipments is a potential terrorist target; Yucca Mountain itself would become a monumental terrorist target, endangering the entire western U.S. Earthquakes at Yucca's surface could destroy the huge waste storage pools DOE proposes there, resulting in a major radiological catastrophe. A volcanic eruption through Yucca could deliver 1,000 rem annual doses to Downwinders, killing everyone exposed. DOE has not resolved huge uncertainties in its scientific analyses, and cannot guarantee that radiation will not leak massively into the drinking water supply in the first 10,000 years, let alone the hundreds of thousands of years the waste would remain deadly. Due to his Senate voting record and evident predisposition toward Yucca Mountain, Secretary Abraham should recuse himself from any further decisions on this proposed project. DOE's "final" public comment period has been chaotic, capricious, and confusing, with absurdly short notice of hearings and an arbitrarily short deadline. The real solution to the nuclear waste dilemma is to stop making it in the first place, and to use energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable electricity sources such as solar, wind, microturbines and hydrogen fuel cells to make nuclear reactors unnecessary. Sincerely, YOUR NAME, ADDRESS [Be sure to send a copy of your comments to your U.S. Senators and Representative: The Honorable __________, US Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510; The Honorable ____________, US House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515.] ***************************************************************** 9 Connecticut Yankee gives up on plans for gas-fired electric plant TheDay.com: October 12 By Paul Choiniere - More Articles Published on 10/12/2001 Haddam –– The Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. announced Thursday that it has suspended its efforts to sell a portion of its land for development of a gas-fired electric power plant. The company cited the inability to reach an agreement with the town that would solve the issue of how the nuclear waste generated by the plant should be stored. In January the company had signed a tentative agreement to sell 30 acres of its property at the closed nuclear plant to AES Native Hollow, a limited partnership associated with the AES Corp. of Arlington, Va. The suspension of its dealings with AES will halt planning and regulatory activities associated with the release and sale of the land. Kelly Smith, a spokesman for Connecticut Yankee, said the company did not want to accrue any further expense while the issue of the dealing with the nuclear waste remains unresolved. Company officials want to locate the spent nuclear fuel, generated by 28 years of operations, at a special facility to be constructed three-quarters of a mile from the current plant. But the town's Planning and Zoning Commission denied a zoning change for such a project and that decision has been upheld by the federal courts. Town officials want the nuclear fuel stored near the existing plant, a spot that the company insists would prevent development of the gas-fired plant at the site. Russ Mellor, company president and chief executive officer, said the wooded site Connecticut Yankee has proposed would provide the greatest security, a factor “even more important to us since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack,” he said. The property Mellor wants to use for the gas plant is now the site of a parking lot. The nuclear plant closed in 1996 and is in the process of being dismantled and decommissioned. The agreement gave AES the right to purchase the property if various regulatory approvals and permits were granted. Prior to the disagreement over the handling of nuclear fuel, both the town and Connecticut Yankee had worked together to try and find a new use for the site, a move that would mean more tax revenue for the town and revenues from the sale for Connecticut Yankee. For development of the gas-fired power plant to proceed, Smith said the company must be able to move the spent fuel, currently stored in the closed nuclear facility, to a safe distance from the proposed gas plant. The company also does not want the nuclear waste too close to the Connecticut River or in an area that is highly visible. Finally, it wants a site that allows decommissioning to be completed. Tony Bondi, the town's first selectman, was unavailable for comment on the latest development. © 1998-2001 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 10 Sellafield is the biggest threat to Ireland's safety Bray People Newspaper - Bray, Wicklow, Ireland October 11th 01 SELLAFIELD represents the single greatest threat to Ireland's safety from nuclear pollution and has called on the Government to take the British Government and B.N.F.L to the European Courts, a local Dail deputy has claimed. Deputy Liz McManus made the call after being contacted by a number of concerned residents from the county following the British Government decision to commission the new Mox plant at Sellafield. 'We must see real and effective action if the East Coast and in particular, County Wicklow are to be made safe from the horrific possibilities that could so easily become a nightmare reality,' she said. Deputy McManus also condemned the inaction of the Government in tackling the British Government on this issue and the failure to even achieve an understanding of the technicalities and scale of threat posed to Ireland and its people. 'I believe the action taken by the British Government is in contravention of European Law and even at this late stage I urge the Government to take the issue to the European Courts,' concluded Deputy McManus. Unison ***************************************************************** 11 State nuclear body reinforces Sellafield fears Irish Newspapers - Date : Fri October 12th 01 THE State nuclear watchdog has reinforced fears that a terrorist attack or accident at Sellafield would cause significant contamination to the country. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) said the latest report, as revealed in yesterday's Irish Independent, backed-up their views. Dr Tom O'Flaherty, RPII Chief Executive said: "This reinforces the concern we would have that a major accident or terrorist attack on Sellafield could result in a situation where there could be significant contamination of this country." Gordon Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Massachusetts, had warned that a direct hit by a passenger jet on Sellafield would contaminate the country and Britain with two-and-a-half times more radioactivity than the amount that escaped during the Chernobyl disaster. Mr Thompson added to his earlier comments when he said yesterday that he felt British Nuclear Fuels was being "economical with the truth" by insisting that it had taken into account the risk of a passenger jet hitting its facilities. A study carried out by Mr Thompson revealed that there would be 44 times more caseium-137 than was released at Chernoblyl and up to 3m cancers as a result of a major disaster in Sellafield. The RPII has also revealed the consequences of an accident stemming from the storage of high-level radioactive waste have not been properly assessed. It also warned the risk associated with the storage of the liquid in special tanks represents a serious threat for the country. Contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is still effecting Irish sheeping grazing in upland parts of over 10 countries, it was also learned yesterday. Sheep containing Chernobyl radiation are brought from upland areas to graze on lower pastures before being allowed into the food chain. He said monitoring of the sheep was continuing and samples taken regularly from retail outlets showed levels were very low. Green Party president Trevor Sargent TD said the research by the Massachusetts institute showed there would be a major release of radiation if Sellafield was attacked and that the water-cooled radioactive waste would "go into meltdown". Mr Sargent also called on the Government to carry out a health study here showing the level of exposure to low level radiation arising from leakage from Sellafield. The Department of Public Enterprise said yesterday it would take into account and assess all research and reports in relation to nuclear safety and where relevant it would be fed into the Government's legal case over Sellafield. Treacy Hogan, Environment Correspondent © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 12 Authorities probe security at German Isar 1 N-plant Planet Ark Environmental News: GERMANY: October 12, 2001 FRANKFURT - The environment ministry of the German state of Bavaria said yesterday it was investigating security procedures at the Isar 1 nuclear reactor which is currently shut for maintenance. The move followed anonymous allegations that details on equipment installed in 1994 had been presented late and incomplete by two staff members at the 870 megawatt reactor operated by utility E.ON , the ministry said. The ministry, which monitors safety in the state where the plant is located, said it was also studying the quality of work of the public-sector technical safety authority TUEV in this context. The plant would only be allowed to rejoin the power grid after all questions had been fully answered, it added. Operator E.ON Kernkraft in a statement said the two staff members had been suspended until further clarification was obtained. "The sensitive area of nuclear power requires a culture of utmost safety," the statement said. "E.ON will pursue any hints pointing to possibly incorrect behaviour with strong determination." Isar 1 was switched off for its annual revision on September 22, which originally was meant to go on for around four weeks. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 13 Lithuania to extend no-fly zone near N-plant Planet Ark Environmental News: LATVIA: October 12, 2001 RIGA - Vilnius plans to ask neighbouring Belarus to set up a no-fly zone near Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear power plant as a protective measure, the Baltic News Service (BNS) quoted Lithuania's defence minister as saying yesterday. Lithuania considers Ignalina a strategic facility and stepped up security there after the September 11 attacks on the United States - although the likelihood of such incidents in the Baltic state appear remote. BNS said Lithuanian Defence Minister Linas Linkevicius announced the plan to ask Belarus for the no-fly zone while touring Ignalina. The Soviet-designed plant with two reactors, similar to the doomed Chernobyl facility in the Ukraine, supplies more than 70 percent of Lithuania's electricity, making the country one of the most nuclear-dependent in the world. Ignalina, built in the 1980s, lies in the northeast of the country, three km (two miles) from the border with Belarus and 20 km (12 miles) from the Latvian frontier. It was not known whether Lithuania was also approaching Latvia for a no-fly zone in the area. BNS said the current Lithuanian no-fly zone extended for five km (three miles) around Ignalina and to an altitude of 6,000 metres (20,000 feet). The agency quoted Linkevicius as saying there were plans to extended the Lithuanian no-fly zone to 10 km (six miles) around the plant and to an altitude of 30,000 metres (98,000 feet). REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 14 Slovak Christian Democrats back decommissioning, oppose liquidation of plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 [Announcer] Christian Democratic Movement Deputy Chairman Vladimir Palko has said that Robert Fico's criticism [over his party's position on the deal with EBRD on the decommissioning of the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear plant] is beyond understanding: [Palko] We stood up against the framework agreement between the EBRD and Slovakia. We agree that the first and second blocks of the Jaslovske Bohunice [nuclear power plant] should be decommissioned. However, we are against their liquidation since in our view that is at odds with Slovakia's national interests. The only thing we could do was to collect signatures to the petition calling for an extraordinary parliamentary session at which we intend to move that parliament should advice the government to redraft the framework agreement... Source: Radio Slovakia, Bratislava, in Slovak 1600 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 15 Slovakia, EBRD endorse deal on decommissioning of Slovak nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report in English by Slovak news agency TASR web site Bratislava, 11 October: Slovakia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Thursday [11 October] endorsed the framework agreement on EBRD's support for decommissioning the V-1 blocks of the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear plant. By endorsing the agreement, both parties approved its wording. According to the Economy Ministry spokesperson, the agreement was endorsed by representatives of the economy and foreign ministries and the agreement should be signed on 16 November in London. The Economy Ministry has estimated the cost of decommissioning at 15bn korunas. Under the agreement, Slovakia should present the EBRD with projects (already agreed upon) involved in the decommissioning, and the EBRD should contribute 150m euros (6.56bn korunas) to defray the cost. The rest of the money is expected to be paid by the State Fund for the Liquidation of Nuclear Facilities (SFLJEZ), which is partly funded by Slovak Electric (SE), the owner of the nuclear plant. In 1999, the Slovak government agreed to close the V-1 blocks in accordance with demands of the European Union accession process during 2006-2008. "In the case of cabinet's resolution being revised and blocks not being closed in these years, it does not mean that the framework agreement must be cancelled," Slovakia was told by a trustworthy source from the Economy Ministry. After V-1 is closed, further resources of some 14.8bn korunas will be necessary for liquidation. These resources will be spent for the creation of a permanent nuclear waste storage site. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Office (UJD SR), nuclear waste storage will be necessary from 2030-2040. Reactors of V-1 power plant were put into operation in 1978 (first block) and 1980 (second block). Their service life was originally set at 30 years. Source: TASR web site, Bratislava, in English 1739 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 16 Slovak opposition party against deal on nuclear plant decommissioning BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 [Announcer] Heads of local councils from communities around Jaslovske Bohunice [western Slovakia] and trade union leaders from the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear plant today delivered to the Speaker and the prime minister a petition in which they reject the signing of a framework agreement between Slovakia and the EBRD on the provision of 150m euros for the decommissioning of the plant. The petition is also supported Direction Chairman Robert Fico, who yesterday personally took part in a protest rally held in Jaslovske Bohunice. Jarmila Tosecka has more details: [Reporter] According to Robert Fico, it has become clear that the public's view on this power plant is completely different from that held by the government. Heads of local councils and mayors would like to see the plant in operation for as long as possible. Addressing his remarks to the chairmen of several political parties, the Direction chairman said: [Fico] They have completely forgotten about national interests and they are misleading the public with irrelevant statements. [Reporter] Robert Fico said that a related initiative by the Christian Democratic Movement was a storm in a teacup. He also said that the Party of the Democratic Left's position reflected fear of the loss of preferences and that the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia chairman's statement - backing the decommissioning of the two blocks of the V1 - was an expression of an interest in boosting [his or his party's] international credit. [Fico] I consider the position taken by these political parties as a total betrayal of national interests, since they failed to stand up against the halting of operation in Jaslovske Bohunice. [Reporter] The position of the Direction party, taking into account the clearly positive assessment by renowned international atomic energy institutions, remains unchanged: [Fico] We disagree with the conditions set for the closing down of Jaslovske Bohunice [plant] in 2006-2008. [Reporter] If the Direction is part of the future government, it will take steps to supplement the accord with the EBRD with an addendum guaranteeing that: [Fico] That the halting of the operation is moved from 2006-2008 and that a totally different set of conditions for the decommissioning of the Jaslovske Bohunice plant is agreed... Source: Radio Slovakia, Bratislava, in Slovak 1600 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 17 Foratom: Europe Needs 'Realistic' Approach to Nuclear Energy M2 Communications ( October 12, 2001 ) Brussels -- The European Union needs a "mature and realistic" approach to the future use of nuclear power if the region is to meet its future energy needs in a secure and sustainable manner. This was one of the key messages given in a speech this week by Eberhard Wild, President of FORATOM, the Brussels-based trade association for the nuclear industry in Europe. Mr. Wild, speaking at a major European energy conference* in Brussels, warned that Europe's energy situation was so precarious that the region could not afford to rule out one energy source in preference to others. "We will need to use all the available options in order to maintain energy supply stability and to keep energy prices at an affordable level," said Mr Wild. "To pick and choose, and to 'buy peace' on the political front, is a dangerous game that will put at risk Europe's economic and environmental well-being. Nuclear power has been a political football for too long. We now need a more mature and a more realistic approach to the nuclear energy debate." Nuclear power plants are in operation in eight out of the 15 nations of the European Union and generate about 35% of the EU's electricity. This nuclear share rises to at least 50% during off-peak periods, as nuclear plants are mainly used for generating baseload electricity, the power needed round-the-clock. A number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in line for EU membership, also rely heavily on nuclear-generated electricity. Almost one year ago, the European Commission published a Green Paper on security of energy supply in the EU, and called for a dispassionate debate on the future use of nuclear energy. The Green Paper highlighted the important contribution made by nuclear in terms of security of energy supply and the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions. By using nuclear in place of burning fossil fuels for electricity generation, each year the Community avoids the emission of about 550 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Another way to make such a reduction in CO2 emissions would be to take four out of every five cars off the road. * VGB Congress 'Power Plants 2001', 10-12 October, Brussels CONTACT: Jack Ashton, Media Relations Manager Tel: +32 2 505 32 26 e-mail: mailto:jack.ashton@foratom.orgDaifuku, Communications Director Tel: +32 2 505 32 20 e-mail: mailto:karen.daifuku@foratom.org (C)1994-2001 M2 Communications Ltd ***************************************************************** 18 Nuclear Heat And Power Plants Projected For Russia's North Pravda.RU Oct, 11 2001 It is planned to build nuclear heat and power facilities in 33 populated places in Russia's Northern regions. The project will materialise before 2010. This was said on Thursday by Bulat Nigmatulin, Russian first deputy minister for nuclear power. He spoke in Moscow at an international conference on problems of developing small nuclear power engineering. Nigmatulin stressed that the development of this kind of power is the only efficient and profitable decision for regions in the Extreme North. "We plan to build there small nuclear power plants of different types -- floating or in the form of small reactors carried aboard nuclear submarines or iceboats", said Nigmatulin. Such facilities are truly safe, he said. "The Kursk nuclear submarine provides a proof. Wrecked and greatly damaged in its forward compartment, the submarine preserved its nuclear reactor in serviceable condition and radioactivity around it did not exceed the norm", he said. The conference was attended by specialists from the Ministry for Nuclear Power, Rosenergoatom concern, Russian Nuclear Society, OAO Small Power Engineering company, industrial and research organisations of Russia, Japan, France and the United States. Pravda.RU:Economics ***************************************************************** 19 Berkley seeks probe of Yucca law firm Las Vegas SUN Today: October 12, 2001 at 10:23:01 PDT By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., today asked the Washington, D.C., bar association to investigate conflict-of-interest allegations against the Chicago law firm handling legal work on the Yucca Mountain project. The Washington office of the firm, Winston &Strawn, is already the subject of an ongoing conflict-of-interest investigation by the Department of Energy's Inspector General, at the request of Nevada lawmakers. Berkley in a letter dated today also requested that the District of Columbia Bar investigate "the legal and ethical implications" of the firm working for both the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Energy Institute, a leading advocate for the Yucca Mountain project. Yucca Mountain is the proposed site of a national nuclear waste repository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada officials adamantly oppose the Department of Energy project, which has not yet been formally approved by the president or Congress. Nuclear energy officials strongly support it. In 1999, the DOE hired Winston &Strawn to review a complex license application the DOE eventually would submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC would have to approve the application before the DOE could begin dumping the nation's high-level radioactive waste at Yucca. In July, the Sun reported that Winston &Strawn also had worked for six years as a lobby firm for the Nuclear Energy Institute, NEI. NEI paid Winston &Strawn to lobby in favor of Yucca Mountain, the Sun reported. A few days after the Sun sought response from Winston &Strawn in July, the firm severed its ties to NEI without explanation. Firm officials have repeatedly declined comment about the conflict-of-interest allegations. Nevada officials argue that the DOE is required by law to be an independent manager of the controversial Yucca project. They object to the department hiring a pro-Yucca law firm to complete Yucca legal work, arguing that the firm ultimately could influence whether the NRC approves the project. DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman vowed an unbiased probe in August. The District of Columbia Bar is "another avenue" to pursue, Berkley spokesman Michael O'Donovan said. "I respectfully request that the District of Columbia Bar investigate the improprieties of the Winston &Strawn law firm with regard to its work for the DOE and NEI, and, if appropriate, take immediate corrective action against the law firm," Berkley said in her letter. The DOE in 1999 by contract agreed to pay Winston &Strawn $16.5 million for 38,900-man-hours of legal work. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 20 Governor Guinn's Nevada Protection Fund - Contributors GOVERNOR KENNY GUINN'S NEVADA PROTECTION FUND: ASSURING NEVADA'S VICTORY OVER YUCCA MOUNTAIN Contributors In addition to the funds appropriated by the Nevada Legislature, the Nevada Protection Fund relies on contributions from local governments and the private sector. Contributions to the Fund have so far been made by the following: Clark County $1 million City of Mesquite $50,000 City of Wells $1,367 City of Lovelock $1,000 Mineral County $1,000 ***************************************************************** 21 Safety pledge as BE faces nuclear strike Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | David Gow Friday October 12, 2001 The Guardian British Energy, the country's biggest nuclear power producer, could face its first strike since privatisation five years ago in a dispute over pay. Five unions representing 4,000 employees at its eight generating plants are being balloted on industrial action after officials overwhelmingly rejected a 1.8% pay offer. The ballot result is due on November 5, but the company and unions insisted any action would not jeopardise safety at the eight nuclear reactors. Atomic power plants have been identified as terrorist targets in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The company said: "In the event of any form of action, safety at the stations remains paramount." The engineers' and managers' association, representing 2000 staff, said: "If industrial action does take place we will guarantee nuclear safety will not be compromised." BE, hit last year by a series of unplanned stoppages, saw its profits fall from £241m to £10m and Peter Hollins, sacked earlier this year as chief executive, warned it could go into the red this year. The company, which has raised output this year, has promised a bigger pay increase next year but said this must be tied to corporate performance. This year's increase was due on July 1. "More talks with the unions are planned; we are confident we can get an outcome which will avoid industrial action of any sort," a spokesman said. "Talks have not reached a complete breakdown." Separately, BE said it had withdrawn from talks to buy generating assets in the Czech Republic because of problems within the consortium, including International Power, vying with Electricité de France. BE, which is pinning its hopes of profits growth on Canada and the US, had its eyes on the Czechs' nuclear plant. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 22 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-10-12 Number 196 1. Non-proliferation UN General Assembly's Committee on Disarmament starts discussions: Egypt urges placing of Israel's nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards; Japan to reintroduce resolution on complete elimination of nuclear weapons. (FT; OSH - 11/10) Egypt; Israel; Japan; UN 2. IAEA DPRK persists in criticism of IAEA in wake of General Conference. (FT; R - 11/10) Dem. P.R. of Korea; IAEA; United States of America 3. Terrorism EU to set up expert body on potential nuclear, chemical, bio attacks. All countries are 'urgently reviewing their security precautions', says IAEA Director General as articles focus on Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant security. Ships carrying cargo to and from Sellafield to be more heavily armed, protected by specially trained police. FBI issues alert on signs of new terror. National guard needed to protect NPPs, US nuclear watchdog official says. Czech cabinet adopts biological warfare protection system. Antiterrorism Unit conducts drill in Tokyo. Lithuania to toughen security of Ignalina NPP, to ask Belarus for no-fly zone in the area. (FT; NYT; R - 10, 11, 12/10) Belarus; Czech Republic; EU; IAEA; Japan; Lithuania; United Kingdom; United States of America 4. Nuclear power Second-phase project at China's NPP Qinshan starts trial operation. KEDO mulls KEPCO schedule for completing first PWR in DPRK by 2008. Due to unresolved design issues decision on PMBR project delayed. Slovakia, EBRD endorse agreement on decommissioning of V-1 blocks of Slovak NPP Bohunice; Slovak opposition party rejects the deal. Bulgarian official says deals for NPP Maritsa East-1, 2 with US companies not yet completed. Russia sees big future for small NPPs. (FT; NW; R - 11, 12/10) Bulgaria; China; Dem. P.R. of Korea; EBRD; Russian Federation; Slovakia; South Africa; United States of America 5. Nuclear safety Full-scope Swiss-Russian PSA on first Soviet VVER-1000, reveals vulnerabilities. Ukraine, France plan joint exercises in monitoring radioactive contamination, cooperation in overcoming of nuclear and other emergencies. British Energy could face its first strike since privatization; safety of nuclear facilities will remain paramount, company promises. (FT; NW; R - 11/10) France; Russian Federation; Switzerland; Ukraine; United 6. Radwaste, fuel Russian minister denies reports on importing spent nuclear fuel. Russia acts to make Kyrgyzstan's uranium damps secure. (FT - 11/10) Kyrgyzstan; Russian Federation 7. Energy, environment Business leaders decline to put up funding for Rio + 10 Conference in Johannesburg next year; UNEP head Toepfer presents bleak assessment in Vienna of trends since Rio. (apa; UNW - 11/10) Brazil 8. UN Kofi Annan and UN awarded Nobel Peace Prize. (CNN - 12/10) UN 9. Miscellaneous 'Kursk' operation still in progress. (IHT - 12/10) Russian Federation ***************************************************************** 23 Agencies Remove Info From Web Sites The Depot 10/12/01 By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal agencies are scrutinizing their Web sites and striking any information they believe terrorists might use to plot attacks against the nation. The move is quickly reversing strides the government has made over the last decade toward providing public information online. The review of the government's Web sites is wide in scope. It is unclear whether a specific guideline has been passed down which types of information should be removed. There also is no uniform process for the review, according to some agency officials. Some federal agencies are not commenting on whether they are removing information from their Web sites, while others give vague descriptions of their deletions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shut down its web site Wednesday. NRC spokesman William Beecher said the agency plans to remove the coordinates of the nation's 103 commercial nuclear power reactors, among other information. When Internet surfers try to visit the NRC Web site, they find a note that says, "In support of our mission to protect public health and safety, we are performing a review of all material on our site. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times." Beecher said most of the information being taken down has been there for years. "In most cases it is common information, nothing top secret was on the Web site to begin with," Beecher said. "We just don't want to provide anything that a terrorist might find helpful." Federal agencies have been reviewing their sites in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Bush spokeswoman Anne Womack said the White House has not requested that they do so - the reviews are voluntary. The Environmental Protection Agency has taken down a Web site with information about emergency plans and chemicals at 15,000 sites nationwide. Also this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed a vague report about security at chemical plants from its Web site. The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety is also restricting to industry and government officials its mapping software and pipeline data. Bush administration officials speculate that all of the data could be useful to terrorists. There is some evidence that terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon used the Internet to accomplish their mission, Attorney General John Ashcroft has said. Ashcroft also told Congress that one person in federal custody had downloaded information about crop-dusting planes, which could be used for biological or chemical attacks. Some watchdog groups and first amendment attorneys worry the Web site restructuring will separate people needlessly from public information. "In many ways, it is ridiculous, because this information is public, and the Internet is a public domain," said Landry Bolville, a first amendment attorney in Washington. "Any piece of information could be used by a terrorist, and it seems like a lot of what is being altered is not directly dangerous. You haven't made life harder for the terrorist; you've just made it harder for taxpaying citizens." On The Net: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety: Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 'scaremongering' - BNFL ireland.com - The Irish Times - IRELAND Friday, October 12, 2001 Article on Sellafield By Rachel Donnelly, in London British Nuclear Fuels Limited and New Scientist magazine were embroiled in a bitter argument yesterday over a report suggesting a terrorist attack on Sellafield could result in a nuclear disaster worse than Chernobyl. An article entitled "The Nightmare Scenario" in this week's issue of the magazine posed several questions about BNFL's preparedness for terrorist attack and quoted independent nuclear engineers who suggested it would be "easy" for a terrorist group to obtain detailed plans and photographs of its nuclear installations. The article also suggested contamination arising from a terrorist attack could render some parts of Europe uninhabitable. In a strongly worded condemnation from BNFL, the company insisted the article was an example of "scaremongering at its worst based on such sensational scenarios that it borders on science fiction". BNFL said the views expressed in the article were those of well-known anti-nuclear organisations "and people who appear to be using the events of 11th September for their own ideological aims". BNFL insisted the tanks referred to in the article were some of "the most robust buildings" within the Sellafield complex and said a large biological shield surrounded the tanks. The company also confirmed that in the light of the terrorist attacks in the US, all safety and security contingency plans at the plant were being reviewed. New Scientist responded by saying many of the points raised by BNFL were "either grossly unfair or downright misleading". The magazine insisted it had not questioned whether BNFL protected its radioactive tanks but whether the concrete structures surrounding the tanks were constructed to withstand crashing aircraft. New Scientist said it would ask BNFL to withdraw its statement that the article was designed to undermine security arrangements at Sellafield, insisting the comments were "misleading and potentially damaging to our reputation". Meanwhile, a senator has said a no-fly zone must be put in place over Sellafield immediately to protect against the threat of a terrorist strike on the nuclear plant. Senator Fergus O'Dowd, Fine Gael, said yesterday: "Sellafield is already a threat to the health and safety of Irish people on this side of the water through its nuclear reprocessing operation. Now we have the added threat of terrorist attacks. "The Taoiseach must insist that the no-fly zone be imposed after the British government gave the go-ahead for a MOX fuel unit at Sellafield, even after the terrible events of September 11th." Mr O'Dowd is based in Co Louth where people believe nearby Sellafield has caused high levels of cancer and birth defects. ***************************************************************** 25 Demand for no-fly zone at Sellafield news.telegraph.co.uk - (Filed: 12/10/2001) A NO-FLY zone must be put in place over Sellafield to protect the nuclear plant against terrorism, an Irish senator said yesterday. "Sellafield is already a threat to the health and safety of Irish people on this side of the water. Now we have the added threat of terrorist attacks," said Senator Fergus O'Dowd. He called on Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, to insist that the area be prohibited to aircraft. Mr O'Dowd, of the main opposition party Fine Gael, is based in Co Louth where the incidence of cancer and birth defects is blamed on the Cumbrian installation. Mr O'Dowd called on the British Government to explain its new safety measures. British Nuclear Fuels has said safety and security procedures at the plant were under review. His comments followed an interview in New Scientist magazine in which Gordon Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, discusses what could happen if an airliner were flown into the site. "As much as half of the 2,400 kilograms of caesium-137 in the tanks . . . could escape into the air. That would be 44 times more caesium-137 than was released by the Chernobyl disaster," the article said. "Four million terabecquerels of radioactivity would contaminate large parts of Britain and, depending on which way the wind was blowing, Ireland, continental Europe and beyond." "It is almost too frightening to contemplate." BNFL described the article as "grossly irresponsible" scaremongering which "borders on science fiction". The company said the tanks referred to were among "the most robust buildings" on the Sellafield site and surrounded by a "huge biological shield" made of solid concrete a metre and a half thick. A spokesman said the company could not discuss matters relating to security at the site. 11 October 2001: Passenger jet hit on Sellafield 'would dwarf Chernobyl fall-out' 4 October 2001: Nuclear fuel plant approved despite fears over terrorism © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited2001. ***************************************************************** 26 Calif. San Onofre nuke unit to be taken down Sat Wednesday October 10, 10:53 am Eastern Time LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The 1,070-megawatt Unit 2 at the San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California is scheduled to be taken down on Saturday for about 20 days, market sources said on Wednesday. Further details were not immediately available. The unit is operated and partly owned by Southern California Edison, a unit of Edison International (NYSE:EIX - news). Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 27 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 01.41 | 3 - 9 October 2001 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.41-1] UK: Full scale commercial production of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel at British Nuclear Fuels plc's (BNFL's) Sellafield plant has been given governmental approval. After five years and five public consultations, the departments of environment and health jointly announced that the manufacture of MOX fuel at the 460 million UK pound Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) is 'justified' in accordance with EU law. BNFL must now get consent for plutonium commissioning from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as required under the Sellafield nuclear site licence. That consent is expected in the next few weeks, with full operation by the end of 2001. (SpentFUEL, 8 October, p1; NucNet Business News, 86/01, 3 October; Daily Telegraph, 4 October, p2; see also News Briefing 01.31-1) [NB01.41-2] US: The proposed reauthorisation of the Price-Anderson Act, which limits the financial liability of nuclear plant operators in the event of an accident, has been approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives. The Act, currently due to expire in August 2002, provides US$9.4 billion in government guaranteed insurance in case of a nuclear power plant accident. The full energy committee will consider the bill before it goes before the entire House of Representatives. Industry experts believe renewal of the act is vital for new nuclear plants to be built in the USA. (NucNet News, 295/01, 5 October; Nuclear Market Review, 5 October, p2; Ux Weekly, 8 October, p2; see also News Briefing 01.27-3) [NB01.41-3] The time is right for Italy to review its nuclear energy options - and to consider the potential national benefits of new generation technologies, according to Professor Renato Angelo Ricci, the new interim head of Italy's environment protection agency (Anpa). He said he believes there is now 'wide support' within Italy's scientific community for a review of the possible re-emergence of nuclear power in the country. (NucNet News, 294/01, 4 October; see also News Briefing 01.24-5) [NB01.41-4] Niger: Production at the country's uranium mines is likely to be disrupted by power supply problems following ten days of strong winds. The two uranium producers - Ciminak and Somair - have been relying on emergency generators, but these are reported to be insufficient to maintain uranium output. (Mining Journal, 5 October, p263; Ux Weekly, 8 October, p4) [NB01.41-5] US: USEC Inc has been taking steps to move forward with an advanced uranium enrichment technology. Addressing the NEI International Uranium Fuel Seminar, Dennis Spurgeon - USEC's executive vice president and CEO - said the company had evaluated US centrifuge technology over the past two years and was now ready to 'go forward' with a demonstration of this 'already proven' second-generation technology. For the past year, USEC and the University of Tennessee-Batelle have conducted extensive research into centrifuge development under a Department of Energy (DOE) approved Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), that was funded exclusively by USEC. The company is now working with DOE in the hope of extending the CRADA. Spurgeon said the company would continue to develop third-generation SILEX laser enrichment technology. (NucNet Business News, 85/01, 3 October; FreshFUEL, 8 October, p3; USEC, 2 October; see also News Briefings 01.27-5 and 00.44-4) [NB01.41-6] Japan: Research and development of laser uranium enrichment technology has been cancelled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry because of doubts of the technology's feasibility on both economic and practical grounds. (Ux Weekly, 8 October, p4) [NB01.41-7] Russia has completed the assembly of the first VVER-1000 reactor for the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. The reactor vessel will be delivered to Iran in November 2001, as previously announced. Most of the material to be used in the first phase of the Bushehr project will be delivered at the start of 2002. (NucNet Business News, 87/01, 4 October; SpentFUEL, 8 October, p4; see also News Briefing 01.37-9) [NB01.41-8] Japan: The town of Miyama, Mie Prefecture, will hold a referendum on 18 November 2001 on whether to ask a power company to construct a nuclear power plant in the vicinity. (Japan Times Online, 3 October; see also News Briefing 01.39-15) [NB01.41-9] Operation of Armenia's sole nuclear power plant is to be put under Russian management, Armenia's energy minister Karen Galustyan announced. The conditions of the external management contract are reportedly still being developed. (NucNet Business News, 87/01, 4 October; see also News Briefing 01.05-9) [NB01.41-10] Canada: Bruce Power has been granted permission by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to begin an environmental assessment that is crucial for the utility to obtain a licence to restart Bruce A units 3 and 4. (Canada NewsWire, 2 October; Ux Weekly, 8 October, p3; see also News Briefing 01.15-3) [NB01.41-11] Ukraine: The Khmelnitski-2 and Rovno-4 nuclear power plants may be completed using Ukrainian and Russian funds. The two countries have reportedly agreed that Russia would supply equipment, materials and a loan, under a deal whose scope and conditions are stilling being negotiated. The work would be completed within two to three years at a total estimated cost of just US$600 million. The announcement comes just weeks after Ukrainian officials said they believed approval for a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was imminent. The EBRD said that talks with Ukraine about the loan were continuing. (NucNet Business News, 88/01, 8 October; see also News Briefing 01.40-7) [NB01.41-12] South Korea: Korean Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd (KHNP) is working towards opening a fresh site for at least two 1400 MWe PWRs at Dukchun, government and industry sources reported. The reactors would be the last two of eight units called for in the government's current long-term nuclear energy development plan. They would be built sometime between 2010 and 2015.KHNP management and government officials are now discussing the prospect of building reactors at Dukchun with local and regional politicians. (Nucleonics Week, 27 September, p1; see also News Briefing 00.19-5) [NB01.41-13] Germany: EnBW has voluntarily shut down the 1400 MWe Philippsburg-2 nuclear power reactor to investigate a coolant system fault which occurred in August. The unit had apparently operated for two weeks, despite plant officials knowing that three of the four borated water storage tank pairs did not hold the specified concentration of boric acid. The incident had been provisionally rated as 'below scale' (of no safety significance) on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). The minister for environment and transport in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg says it is in 'the common interest' that the unit be restarted 'as quickly as possible'. (NucNet News, 299/01, 8 October) [NB01.41-14] US: A proposed subsequent arrangement for the return of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel from Japan to the UK has been approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Under the proposal, some 3439 kg of US-origin uranium and around 255 kg of plutonium from Japan would be retransferred to the UK. The material is contained in 8 MOX fuel assemblies originally intended for use at Kansai Electric Power Co's Takahama-4 reactor. The assemblies will be returned to BNFL, who produced the fuel. (SpentFUEL, 8 October, p3; see also News Briefing 01.33-16) [NB01.41-15] Russia: Approval for the proposed construction of a modern spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia has been given by Minatom, the country's atomic energy ministry. However, 'actual implementation' of the project is not expected until the first contracts for reprocessing of foreign spent fuel have been signed, probably in two to three years, officials said. Meanwhile, Minatom has revived plans to develop the VVER-1500 reactor design, saying that development of a basic design for the reactor by 2003 is a 'priority'. Provisional sites for the new VVER-1500s are Smolensk and Leningrad nuclear power plants. Russian officials also announced that 5 billion roubles (about US$17 million) will be allocated for the construction of Volgodonsk-2, while some 1 billion roubles (US$3.4 million) has so far been allocated for the completion of Kalinin-3. (NucNet News, 289/01, 3 October; see also News Briefing 01.29-3) [NB01.41-16] France: The separation of minor actinides and fission products contained in long-lived radioactive waste and their subsequent transformation into shorter-lived isotopes is scientifically feasible, the French atomic energy commission, CEA, has concluded. However, much work is still needed to be done before this initial breakthrough could be developed commercially. The CEA's next stage of its research programme - focusing on technical and economic feasibility - is due to be concluded by 2005. (NucNet News, 291/01, 4 October; see also News Briefing 98.23-10) [NB01.41-17] Switzerland: An application to build an underground test gallery at the proposed Wellenberg low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LLW and ILW) repository site has been approved by the canton of Nidwalden. This approval must be ratified by a public referendum, which will not take place before 2002. If the licence is granted, the test gallery will be used to determine the suitability of the site for an eventual repository. If results are positive, a further referendum would be needed to determine whether or not a licence should be granted for the repository itself. (NucNet News, 293/01, 4 October; see also News Briefing 97.28-12) [NB01.41-18] Finland: An additional year of bedrock testing at Olkiluoto, in the Eurajoki municipality - the proposed site for a final spent fuel repository - will be conducted by STUK, the Finnish radiation and nuclear safety authority. STUK has proposed that granting of a construction permit for the planned repository, which is currently scheduled for 2010, should be delayed by one year. (NucNet News, 297/01, 5 October; see also News Briefing 01.21-2) Previous News Briefing NB01.40 ***************************************************************** 28 Letter from Gov. Kenny C. Guinn to Pres. George W. Bush re: Continuation of terms of several members of the NWTRB OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR One Hundred One North Carson Street Carson City, Nevada 89701 KENNY C. GUINN Governor August 1, 2001 The Honorable George W. Bush President, United States of America The White House Washington, D.C 20515 Dear Mr. President: I am writing in support of continuing the terms of several members of the United States Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, a board that has been conducting scientific and technical oversight of the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain project. As you may know, the Board has been instrumental in ensuring that the science conducted is supportable and technically sound, and several members; including the Chairman, have terms that are expiring in April, 2002. Given that the Yucca Mountain project may be achieving certain technical and scientific milestones in the very near future, it is critical these members be retained so their knowledge and experience can be relied upon for independent and unbiased review of the project. Drs. Jared Cohen, John Arendt, Jeff Wong, Alberto Sagüés, and Don Runnell have been with the board for a number of years and their experience will be very valuable as decisions regarding the Yucca Mountain project grow near. I appreciate your consideration in re-appointing these scientists to this most important effort. Sincerely, --/s/-- KENNY C. GUINN Governor ***************************************************************** 29 Officials ask CP to beef up safety charlotte.com - Published Friday, October 12, 2001 12 elected leaders sign letter Officials ask CP to beef up safety Want anti-radiation pills dispensed, changes at nuclear plant Associated Press RALEIGH -- A group of elected officials is asking the owner of Shearon Harris nuclear plant to reconsider its expansion of waste storage in light of last month's terrorist attacks. A letter signed by 12 officials in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties also calls upon plant owner Carolina Power &Light Co. to distribute anti-radiation pills to nearby residents, change the way it handles radioactive waste and update evacuation plans. "It's time for meaningful dialogue about safety," Gary Phillips, chairman of the Chatham County commissioners, said Wednesday. "There are many of us who feel like we're on the 99th floor of the twin trade towers." A spokesman for CP, Keith Poston, denounced the letter as a publicity stunt. "We find that it's inappropriate that they're using such scare tactics at a time when the public is so concerned about the national crisis," Poston said. The company recently opened a third storage pool for used uranium fuel rods, despite the claims of Orange County commissioners and an environmental group, N.C. WARN, that it heightens risk for a catastrophic nuclear accident. Poston said the company would not stop shipping nuclear waste by rail to the Harris plant or abandon its use of waste pools, despite requests by the elected officials. At a news conference Wednesday, Orange County commissioner Margaret Brown pointed out that opponents of CP's nuclear-waste expansion raised the possibility of terrorism long before Sept. 11. "We have always felt it needed to be very much considered as a possibility," she said. ***************************************************************** 30 NEWS FROM NIRS: NRC SHUTS WEBSITE FOR "SECURITY" REASONS; Nuclear Information and Resource Service 1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington DC 20036 202.328.0002; f: 202.462.2183; FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael Mariotte or Paul Gunter October 12, 2001 202-328-0002 AGENCY IS PROTECTING THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY, NOT THE PUBLIC The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) October 11 shut down its website in order to remove potentially tens of thousands of pages of information about the nation’s commercial nuclear power industry. The NRC left the following message on its site: "Our site is not operational at this time. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken the action to shut down its web site. In support of our mission to protect public health and safety, we are performing a review of all material on our site. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times." "Why," asked Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), "if the information on the NRC’s website is so potentially valuable to terrorists, did the NRC wait a full month to review its material?" "The simple reason," said Mariotte, "is that the information is not particularly useful to terrorists, rather, it’s useful to the U.S. public, which monitors the safety of nuclear power reactors." Mariotte pointed out that plant-specific security-related information never has been posted on the NRC’s website, nor made available in the agency’s Public Document Rooms. "We have no quarrel with the NRC removing any legitimate security-related information from public access," said Paul Gunter, Director of NIRS’ Reactor Watchdog Project, "but we take issue with any NRC effort to remove documents regarding basic plant information, safety requirements, emerging radiation hazards and licensee compliance issues." "In light of the agency’s information blackout, NRC is obligated to also suspend a business-as-usual approach with the nuclear utilities," said Mariotte. "We are asking that the NRC adhere to its statutory requirements and regulatory commitment to include public participation by suspending all licensing proceedings, its meetings with the industry and extending all public comment deadlines until public access to all non-security related documents is resumed." Gunter noted that there is no statutory basis for the NRC to withhold most of its information. "Statutes requiring the protection from unauthorized disclosure of very specific types of security information, documents and reports are already in place," said Gunter. "If NRC wants to go beyond these statutory bounds then they need to prepare an order stating their legal basis before proceeding further," he added. "What is this? An undeclared state of Martial Law?" said Gunter. "The public information blackout only underscores the growing danger and vulnerability that has existed at every nuclear power station," said Gunter. "Since the initial licensing of nuclear power plants in the 1960’s, our concern is that this technology is ultimately incompatible with real national security and a democratic society." The security-based information blackout comes while the NRC has been seeking to close down its Operational Safeguard Response Evaluations (OSRE) program, which has documented a nearly 50% failure rate by utilities in protecting their reactors from mock terrorist attacks. Instead, the NRC has pushed for less costly industry-led security assessments. NIRS is sending a letter to NRC Chairman Richard Meserve demanding reinstatement of non-security- related materials. ## 30 ## ***************************************************************** 31 Suit filed to block nuclear site regulations ContraCostaTimes.com Published Friday, October 12, 2001 By Don Thompson ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO -- Three nuclear watchdog organizations are suing the California Department of Health Services to block new regulations governing acceptable amounts of radioactivity at contaminated sites. The groups sued to stop regulations that could win final approval Monday and take effect in 30 days. The regulations track guidelines from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission that have been in place since 1998, when the permissible amount of annual exposure was lowered from 100 millirems to 25 millirems, said Ed Bailey, the department's chief of radiological health. "What we adopted, essentially, is the current national standard for cleanup of a nuclear-contaminated site," Bailey said. The state has been following that standard for three years but only now is putting it into formal regulation, he said. The suit by the Committee to Bridge the Gap, Southern California Federation of Scientists and the Los Angeles chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility alleges the California version of the regulations could still permit exposures of 100 millirems or even 500 millirems. Twenty-five millirems are the equivalent of 170 chest X-rays over a lifetime, while the opponents say the pending regulations would permit radioactivity at nuclear sites the equivalent of 3,500 lifetime X-rays. That's enough to cause cancer in one of every 60 people exposed, far higher than the one in a million cancer risk usually required by the Environmental Protection Agency, the opponents allege in the suit filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court. Bailey said it would be rare to allow the higher level, which would be strictly regulated. Just five sites across the nation are seeking to use the higher standard, he said. The groups also cite letters from the department to state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., they say show the department intends to allow shipments of nuclear waste to landfills and other facilities that are not licensed to handle radioactive materials. "Disposing of low-level radioactive waste in a facility that's not licensed to handle radioactive waste is very dangerous," said Kuehl, who said the proposed regulations "are going in the entirely wrong direction." Low-level waste can have a cumulative effect as it builds up in landfills, said Kuehl. She has a bill awaiting legislative action next year that would set a much stricter standard, one the department's Bailey said would be "prohibitively expensive." Bailey countered that the radioactivity levels of the material that could be shipped to landfills and other sites would be so low as to have a negligible effect. The suit also alleges the department is violating environmental laws by not requiring an environmental review of the regulations. Bailey said there was an environmental review when the regulations were adopted at the national level. ContraCostaTimes.com ***************************************************************** 32 New Worries About Nuclear Plants ctnow.com By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN The Hartford Courant October 12, 2001 WATERFORD - A little Piper Cub airplane flew in loops over the home of Gary and Debbie Pomerenke near the Millstone nuclear power station. Before Sept. 11, the Pomerenkes wouldn't have paid much attention to the plane's antics. But now that's all changed. "You're always wondering now," Gary Pomerenke, a home improvement contractor, said. "Part of your subconscious is always on alert." In this town of 19,152 on the state's southeast shore, residents have grown accustomed to the risk of nuclear accident in the 30 years since the first of the three reactors began operating. . Now, the stakes are even greater: nuclear power plants and other utilities are seen as vulnerable targets for terrorists. Emergency response and evacuation plans are in place. They are tested annually with drills involving hundreds of civil preparedness workers and are evaluated every two years by federal authorities. But would residents in evacuation zones know what to do in an actual emergency? Guide books are mailed out each year by the state and Millstone, and a shortened version is printed in local telephone books. However, in random interviews with roughly two dozen Waterford residents, about half weren't sure of what they were supposed to do in a major radiation release. One wasn't even sure what the alert siren -the sign of an emergency- meant. Local officials say some steps have been taken since Sept. 11 to boost awareness of disaster planning, including interviews with local public access television and newspapers. And in the aftermath of the air strikes in Afghanistan, Waterford's town web page will now include evacuation routes and a newsletter with similar information will be distributed through the schools. Millstone says it is now focusing on plant security, working closely with state and local officials. It has no plans to step up public education. Peter Hyde, a Millstone spokesman, said the guide books are comprehensive, right down to what to do withpets - leave them home. "People may get it in the mail, throw it in a drawer and forget about it," Hyde said. "When we send it out, it's important for them to read it." With the attacks, communication needs to go on the offensive, with more aggressive campaigns targeted at residents, said John T. Wiltse, the state's director of emergency management. The attacks also are reviving old debates on the use of potassium iodide, which some studies have found to block radioactive iodines that cause thyroid cancer. Earlier this year, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after years of debate, urged states to consider stockpiling or distributing potassium iodide for use within evacuation zones. So far, only three states - Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee - have done that. Connecticut is still studying the issue. There are questions about proper dosages for different ages, state officials say. A bill that would have required distribution in Connecticut died in a legislative committee last session. The bill is expected to return next year. Some potassium iodide advocates argue the pills should be distributed beyond 10-mile evacuation zones. Potassium iodide, a salt similar to table salt, is available on the Internet and at a few pharmacies in the state. The Arrow pharmacy in Canton said it has sold out of its supply of 60 packages since the Sept. 11 attacks, also taking orders by mail from as far away as Trumbull. The issue isn't clear cut. Some worry that residents might come to consider the pill a "silver bullet" that would discourage them from leaving their homes, actually hampering evacuation efforts. Even though some argue the benefits of potassium iodide are narrow, proponents say they shouldn't be ignored. "If there ever were to be a nuclear power plant problem, you want to stand before the people affected and say, 'We did everything to protect you,' " said David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. Growing Interest In Waterford, the nuclear complex is an imposing presence on Millstone Point. The plant, now owned by Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc., also plays a big role in town, as the town's largest taxpayer. Millstone's staunchest critics say the plant should be shut down, reducing radiation release risks and ending years of nuclear waste production. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Millstone has gone to its highest level of security, with added checkpoints and barricades clearly visible from the entrance on Rope Ferry Road. Experts say the sense of security enjoyed for so long by America and shattered on Sept. 11 is likely to ignite interest in emergency planning among the public. "There always seemed to be something more pressing for the public," said Robie Robinson, assistant professor of emergency administration and planning, at the University of North Texas. "Preparing for a nuclear accident was always way down on the list." The most recent disaster drill at Millstone evaluated by federal authorities was conducted last year. No major problems were found in the evaluation, according to the report. Wiltse said the state also has three, full-time emergency response planners devoted only to nuclear issues - the most assigned to any one area of emergency management. Waterford First Selectman Paul B. Eccard said the town has had some experience with evacuations in times of flood or hurricane. A truck with speakers has traced routes along the town's waterfront area, urging residents to leave their homes, he said. And, emergency workers, including police, firefighters and other personnel are trained to handle the unexpected, including people being where they aren't supposed to be, Eccard said. Any evacuation from the state's southeast corner would be massive, moving people from Waterford and nine surrounding communities to towns and cities many miles away, often along heavily congested roads. In addition to road capacity, there are other variables. Parents may want to pick up their children from school first, rather than allowing them to be taken separately out of the area, said state Rep. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford. "There are a lot of human nature issues," Stillman said, "that don't allow evacuation plans to run smoothly." ©2001 MyWay Corp. Copyright © 2001 Myway Corp. ***************************************************************** 33 Nuclear Waste in The City's Backyard Friday, Oct. 12, 2001. Page 1 By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer Asked at a news conference last week about Moscow's most dangerous environmental hot spots, City Hall's ecological department head didn't hesitate. "Kurchatov Institute," Leonid Bochin replied. Founded in 1943, the research institute has long been a cradle of learning for military and civil nuclear engineers, and played a crucial role in the development of the first Soviet nuclear bombs. Over the decades, however, the institute has accumulated an alarming quantity of radioactive waste on its territory -- located in a leafy residential district just 15 kilometers northwest of the Kremlin, between the Shchukinskaya and Oktyabrskoye Pole metro stations. Environmentalists say a leak from the waste depositories would turn the city into a lifeless desert. Institute officials admit Stalin-era nuclear waste remains buried in an unsatisfactory way. "The institute started building up nuclear waste in temporary depositories in the early 1950s," said Maxim Shingarkin, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace in Moscow. "During the arms race it amassed thousands of tons of radioactive materials." The waste depositories at the institute -- which still runs six of its nine nuclear reactors -- contain spent nuclear fuel, water used as a cooling agent and worn reactor parts. Shingarkin cited a letter the institute's head Yevgeny Velikhov sent to President Vladimir Putin last summer, requesting funds to help the institute remove its radioactive waste. According to the letter, a copy of which Greenpeace obtained through informal channels, the institute keeps 2,000 tons of solid and liquid waste with a radioactivity potential of 100,000 curies. Moreover, 900 nuclear reactor fuel assemblies carrying more than 3 million curies are buried on the territory. "Imagine this pollution oozes into the nearby Moscow River, which spreads it over the whole city," said Shingarkin. "Or a terrorist attack or an ordinary fire that could lift millions of curies into Moscow's atmosphere." Shingarkin said that according to state medical standards, inhabitants must be evacuated if radioactive pollution reaches 10 curies a square kilometer. Kurchatov Institute spokesman Andrei Gagarinsky confirmed that the letter was sent and also confirmed Greenpeace's description of its content, but downplayed the pollution dangers. "Our depositories are safe and we regularly take waste to the Mayak nuclear processing plant in Chelyabinsk," he said in a recent telephone interview. The waste depositories' safety is a point of contention between the nuclear scientists and environmentalists, said Vladimir Slivyak, head of the Ecodefense environmentalist group. "There are no 100 percent-safe depositories," Slivyak said. "And this specifically concerns the ones of the Kurchatov Institute, in which the Stalin-era technical design is obsolete and doesn't meet modern requirements." Gagarinsky said the radioactive legacy of Soviet nuclear science was a cause of anxiety for institute officials. He said new waste is stored in specialized depositories that are safe, but assembly parts of the first Stalin-era nuclear reactors were simply placed in iron barrels that were then filled with concrete and buried near the institute. In a soil layer rich with underground water, these untreated deposits contain more than 100,000 curies, Gagarinsky said. "In the post-war period, the main priority was to make the most rapid advances in the military program," he said. "Ecological issues meant much less." A glance at Kurchatov's exterior is enough to see the institute's glory days are past. A brick wall encircling the perimeter has collapsed and has been replaced by a wooden fence. Buildings and steel constructions behind the fence look time-worn and weather-beaten. No police guards were seen Thursday. Inhabitants of surrounding buildings expressed a strange mix of pride and impending doom. "We've been living here since 1945 and my husband worked in the institute for 40 years," said an elderly lady who gave only her first name, Asya. "Today, nothing can scare us off the institute." Natasha, 20, the mother of a toddler playing in a sandbox by the institute fence, sounded fatalistic when asked what it was like living near active nuclear reactors and radioactive waste depositories. "Do we have any alternative?" she sighed. "What reassures us is the radiation meters on the institute's gates." The gates to the institute carry an indicator panel showing the radiation level in the surrounding atmosphere. On Thursday at noon it showed 10 micro-roentgens per hour -- half the background radiation level accepted by Russian medical standards. Gagarinsky said there are two other depositories of industrial nuclear waste in the city: the Polymetal Plant and the Institute of Industrial Technologies, both on Kashirskoye Shosse in the south. In November 2000, City Hall approved a program for public radioactive safety over 2001-03 with a budget of almost 7.5 billion rubles ($250 million), to be spent mainly on the removal of radioactive waste from the city's territory. However, Gagarinsky said funding was insufficient to remove the reactors' remnants, which are gradually decaying. "All we can do now is monitor the situation and draw plans for the future," he said, adding that radiation levels in soil samples taken from near the buried reactor parts was "close to normal" and within accepted limits. The city's nuclear safety watchdog, Radon, which is responsible for the program's implementation, blames the institute administration's passivity for delays in waste removal. "The intensity of removal work depends totally on the institute's will," said Oleg Polsky, deputy head of Radon, in a telephone interview Monday. "The city has enough money for them." He added that the pace of waste removal at the Kurchatov Institute must be stepped up to prevent further accumulation of radioactive waste. In April 1998, The Moscow Times reported the institute had stopped sending waste to Mayak for lack of funds, and more waste was accumulating at the institute. City Hall had ordered officials to investigate relocating the institute out of city limits. The plans seem to have been shelved: the city's plan for 2001-03 says nothing about moving the institute. According to the city's radiation public safety program, there are 20 enterprises in Moscow that can be considered extremely dangerous in terms of radiation. Eleven nuclear reactors were in use in Moscow late last year. At more than 1,000 Moscow-based enterprises, there is a total of 150,000 devices emitting ionizing radiation, of which 124,000 are beyond their recommended life span. Each year Moscow authorities register 50 to 80 new instances of radiation pollution in the city. Having revealed these facts, the program deems the city's radiation situation "satisfactory." Environmentalists, however, cast doubts on this evaluation and on the program's effectiveness. "Evaluating radiation safety in the city, Moscow authorities consider only already existing sources of pollution and refuse to acknowledge potential ones that can go off any time," said Shingarkin of Greenpeace. "If one takes them into consideration, Moscow will find itself among the most dangerous cities in the world." www.moscowtimes.ru ***************************************************************** 34 SELLAFIELD MOX PLANT - MANUFACTURE OF MOX FUEL IS JUSTIFIED DEFRA, UK: 2001 news release: NEWS RELEASE Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR Tel: 020 7238 1133/1128/1134 Out of hours: 020 7270 8960 Fax: 020 7238 5529 3 October 2001 The Government announced today that the manufacture of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is justified in accordance with the requirements of European Community law. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, and the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, made this decision after considering all the relevant information, including the comments received in response to the five public consultations which have been carried out since 1997. The latest round of consultations, which was carried out at the end of July this year, invited comments from the public on a report prepared by Arthur D Little Ltd, which concluded that the British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) MOX Plant, if allowed to operate, would result in a financial benefit with a "net present value" of over £150 million to the UK over its lifetime. Of the 9,000 or so responses received in total to the five consultations which have been carried out since 1997, around 7,000 were in favour and around 2,000 were against BNFL's proposals. Margaret Beckett commented: " The Secretary of State for Health and I have considered all the information relevant to the justification for the manufacture of MOX fuel, including the responses to the various consultation exercises, the report prepared by Arthur D.Little Ltd and other comments received in respect of the SMP. In addition to evaluating the economic case for MOX fuel and the operation of the SMP, we have also considered the wider risks and benefits involved. " We have concluded that the manufacture of MOX fuel is justified in accordance with the requirements of Article 6 (1) of the Basic Safety Standards Directive 96/29/Euratom." Before the MOX Plant can start full operation, BNFL is required under one of the conditions in its Sellafield nuclear site licence to obtain consent for plutonium commissioning from the Health and Safety Executive. Notes for editors 1. The MOX Plant at BNFL's site in Sellafield, Cumbria, is valued by BNFL at around £460 million. Its purpose is to manufacture a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for use in certain types of nuclear power stations. The fuel would be made from uranium and plutonium material separated from spent fuel which is reprocessed mainly in BNFL's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP), also located at the Sellafield site. 2. Before the MOX Plant can start operations, the manufacture of MOX fuel in the UK needs to be justified in accordance with the requirements in Article 6(1) of Directive 96/29/Euratom which sets out the revised Basic Safety Standards for practices involving ionising radiation. In order for a particular class or type of practice involving ionising radiation to be justified, the benefits of that class or type of practice need to outweigh any environmental or other detriments which it might cause. 3. In November 1996, BNFL applied to the Environment Agency for approval to operate the MOX plant. After two rounds of public consultations, the Environment Agency concluded its considerations in October 1998 and published draft decisions on the justification for uranium commissioning and the justification for plutonium commissioning and full operation of the MOX Plant. The Agency concluded in their proposed decisions that these practices were justified in accordance with the then applicable European Community law. 4. In November 1998, the Agency referred their proposed decisions to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food so that Ministers could decide whether they wished to exercise their powers of direction under section 23 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. 5. In June 1999, Ministers issued a decision in which they agreed with the Agency that uranium commissioning of the MOX Plant was justified and that therefore they did not intend to exercise their powers of direction under the 1993 Act. 6. With regard to the justification for plutonium commissioning and full operation of the Plant, Ministers indicated that although their provisional view was that this was justified, they considered that further consultation should be carried out to test the robustness of the economic case which had been put forward by BNFL. Ministers also took the view that some of the information which had been withheld from the version of the PA Consulting Group report which had been published in December 1998 could be disclosed, without this resulting in unreasonable damage to BNFL's commercial operations or to the economic case for the MOX plant. Consequently, in June 1999, a first round of Governmental consultation was launched on the basis of a Governmental consultation document and a fuller version of the PA Consulting Group report. 7. The data falsification incident which occurred in September 1999 at BNFL's MOX Demonstration Facility at its site in Sellafield led to an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and a loss of customer confidence in BNFL. As a result, BNFL submitted a revised economic case for the operation of the MOX Plant in early 2001. 8. In March, the Government invited views on this revised case in its consultation paper entitled "British Nuclear Fuels PLC - Sellafield MOX Plant" (DETR press notice 193 March 28) and, in April, Ministers appointed independent financial consultants, Arthur D Little Ltd, to assist them in their evaluation of BNFL's revised economic case (DETR press notice ENV-009 April 23). 9. A "public domain" version of the report prepared by Arthur D Little was published on 27 July and interested organisations and individuals were given until 24 August to submit any comments. Copies of the responses to both these consultation exercises can be viewed at DEFRA's Library in Ashdown House. 10. Ministerial responsibilities changed during this period. By virtue of the Food Standards Act 1999, the responsibilities of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of radioactive substances were transferred to the Secretary of State for Health in April 2000. And in June 2001, the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) was reorganised, with responsibility for environmental protection passing to the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As a result, justification decisions which would have been taken jointly by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are now taken jointly by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Health. 10. Ministerial responsibilities changed during this period. By virtue of the Food Standards Act 1999, the responsibilities of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of radioactive substances were transferred to the Secretary of State for Health in April 2000. And in June 2001, the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) was reorganised, with responsibility for environmental protection passing to the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As a result, justification decisions which would have been taken jointly by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are now taken jointly by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Health. 11. In addition, the legal requirements in respect of justification also changed during this period. Up until 13 May 2000, the justification test which was required to be applied was that set out in Directive 80/836/Euratom, as amended by Directive 84/467/Euratom. Both these Directives have since been replaced by Directive 96/29/Euratom ("the Basic Safety Standards Directive") - which came into effect on 13 May 2000. Therefore, the requirements in respect of justification which apply to BNFL's application for the manufacture of MOX fuel are those set out in Article 6(1) of the 1996 Directive. 12. The revised business case for the MOX Plant which BNFL submitted in January of this year identified plutonium from the reprocessing of Magnox spent fuel as an additional source of material for the manufacture of MOX fuel - albeit only a small fraction of the total source of material. The proposals for the manufacture of MOX fuel which BNFL submitted to the Environment Agency in 1997 and the Agency's proposed decision in 1998 related solely to the manufacturing of MOX fuel from plutonium separated in THORP and belonging to foreign customers. Therefore, the Agency and other relevant regulatory and advisory bodies when assessing potential detriments did not consider what the potential impacts of using plutonium derived from Magnox spent fuel might be. 13. Accordingly, in order to ensure that the use of the MOX Plant could not be extended for the purpose of the manufacture of MOX fuel from sources of plutonium other than those reviewed by the relevant regulators, without consideration being given beforehand to the question of whether there should be a review under Article 6(2) of the 1996 Directive of the justification for the manufacture of MOX fuel, the Secretaries of State have sought and obtained from BNFL an undertaking that the company will not use the SMP for the purpose of the manufacture of MOX fuel from plutonium other than plutonium separated in THORP and belonging to foreign customers without first notifying the Secretaries of State and obtaining their clearance to proceed. 14. Media copies of the decision of the Secretaries of State on the justification for the manufacture of MOX fuel are available from the DEFRA press office. Copies for members of the public are available from Radioactive Substances Division, DEFRA, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE, telephone 020 7944 6257. 15. The decision letter is posted on DEFRA's website and can be found via http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/radioactivity/index.htm . Among other things it explains that the radiation dose from the SMP to the most exposed group among the general public is estimated at 0.002 microsieverts per year for discharges to air and at 0.00003 microsieverts per year for liquid discharges. This is around one-millionth of the dose from natural background radiation ( e.g. radon, cosmic rays). Press Enquiries: 020 7 238 6043 Public Enquiries: 020 7 944 6257 END ***************************************************************** 35 Terrorism top concern in town near proposed Nevada nuclear dump Las Vegas SUN October 11, 2001 AMARGOSA VALLEY, Nev. (AP) - Talk of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks dominated a hearing in the town closest to a mountain ridge where the U.S. government is proposing to bury the nation's nuclear waste. One speaker said the plan to truck nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas was "on a moral par with Osama bin Laden." Another said leaving radioactive waste at sites around the nation posed a greater risk than storing it in Nevada. And one Las Vegas resident noted that the Nellis Air Force Range, where pilots from Middle Eastern nations have trained, is only a two-minute flight from Yucca Mountain. The Department of Energy hearing in this rural Nye County community initially was scheduled for the day after the terrorist attacks. It was postponed until Wednesday, when it drew about 55 people to the Longstreet Inn. All but a few of Wednesday's 32 speakers opposed putting nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain on the edge of the Nevada Test Site. Most who spoke at a marathon hearing last month in North Las Vegas also opposed the project. The series of Energy Department hearings are scheduled to conclude Friday with hearings in Pahrump, Fallon, Hawthorne and Virginia City. On Wednesday, Jennifer Viereck, of Tecopa, Calif., said she was concerned that radioactivity from the proposed repository could affect groundwater supplies and the Amargosa River. She also said she feared the government's plan for bringing the waste to Nevada could result in disaster. Viereck said 100,000 trucks carrying nuclear waste would have to travel through the nation's cities. She compared the U.S. government saying it isn't responsible for transportation because it will be handled by private contractors to Osama bin Laden turning loose terrorists and saying that he isn't responsible for their decisions to hijack planes and kill innocent people. Bin Laden is suspected of being responsible for airline hijackings and crashes in New York, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania. Ed Munton of Amargosa Valley said Wednesday that it makes sense to put the nation's 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste in tunnels deep inside Yucca Mountain rather than leave it at reactor sites around the country. "What would be a better target, the Test Site or those 100 reactor storage areas?" Munton asked. Homer Johnson, a Las Vegas resident, said he is a former Navy enlisted man who was trained to clean up contamination from nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. He said nuclear waste casks on trucks and railroad cars make big targets. Kalynda Tilges, nuclear issues coordinator for Citizen Alert, a statewide environmental group, said people who live near reactor sites see the potential dangers of stockpiling spent nuclear fuel. "There's a reason they don't want it there," she said. "It's not safe." During the hearing, Abe Van Luik, a Yucca Mountain Project employee who said he was speaking as a private citizen, said Yucca Mountain would be a safe site to store nuclear waste. "It is not risk-free, but meets the ethical standard," said Van Luik, an Energy Department employee who is technical adviser to the project manager. "This is a safe activity if it is done right." Steve Frishman, a consultant and technical policy adviser to Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency, said Van Luik's statements represented a conflict of interest because they indicate he is prejudiced toward finding the site suitable. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to make a recommendation to President Bush this year about whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable site to entomb the nation's nuclear waste beginning in 2010. It is the only site being considered. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 [abolition-caucus] Appeal Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 06:46:29 -0400 > > Posted below is a letter from Samir Nazareth. He is one of the > activists who was arrested with 29 or 30 other people who have > protested against the National missile defence [NMD] programme (star > wars) in the US. He is appealing to friends who are committed to > peace and who are against war to write to the U.S. government (via > the U.S. Embassy in your country) for dropping all the cases and > release all these people unconditionally. Please respond to this > appeal. Addresses of the U.S. Embassy's in India, Pakistan, > Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka given below + a URL to help you track > US missions elsewhere: > > Embassy of the United States of America in India > Shanti Path > Chanakyapuri > New Delhi 110 021 > India > Fax 4190017 > > Embassy of the United States of America in Pakistan > Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, Islamabad, Pakistan > Fax: (92) 51-2276427 > > Embassy of the United States of America in Bangladeh > Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh > Fax: (880) (2) 8823744 > > Embassy of the United States of America in Nepal > Panipokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal > Fax: +977 1 419963 > > Embassy of the United States of America in Sri Lanka > 210 Galle Road , Colombo 3, Sri Lanka > Fax: (94-1)437-345 > > The following URL provides addresses of all US missions outside of South asia : > http://usembassy.state.gov/ > > Yours sincerely, > > Harsh Kapoor > South Asians Against Nukes > > ------------------------------- > > Hello, > > My name is Samir Nazareth and I know you either as a family member, a > friend, a colleague or through the NGO circle. > > I work for Greenpeace International as a crewmember on their ships. I > have been volunteering for Greenpeace India for a few years now. > Before joining Greenpeace I worked with an NGO called Srishti which > is based in Delhi. > > I am currently living in Los Angeles, as I along with other > international activists have been arrested for a non-violent peaceful > protest against the Ballistic Missile Program also known as the Star > Wars. Two independent journalists who were recording the event were > arrested too. > > American activists participating in this protest were arrested too. > > The United States government through the District Attorneys office > has charged us with two counts of felony and one charge of > misdemeanor. The maximum sentence for these charges is 6 years in > prison and USD 250,000 in fines. > > After arrest we spent almost a week in a maximum-security prison. I > had to spend a few days more in jail as the prosecution stated that I > had a forged passport. > > The Indian government was of immense assistance in removing any > doubts on the veracity of my passport. > > We are out on bail and our trial begins on the 20th of November. > > As you may have realized the US government has taken a very strong > stand against peaceful protest. The US government would like to > steamroller any public opposition to the Star Wars program and are > using us an example of what can happen to future protestors. > > To this end there is a chance that the prosecution will file a > 'motion in limine'. The prosecution files this motion so that the > defendants cannot go into the reasons for their actions. If the judge > passes this motion then we will not be able to discuss the reasons of > why we did what we did. The reasons for our actions form the basis of > our defense. This will eliminate the chance of a fair trial and our > slim chances of winning the case. > > The case is therefore not only about the Star Wars program but now > also the American governments attempts to gag free- speech. The case > has grave implications for us and future peaceful non-violent > protests in America. > > The reason why I, Greenpeace, other NGO's, countries and people are > against the Star Wars programme is because it will ignite a new > nuclear arms race. Star Wars breaks the ABM Treaty, and if allowed to > proceed Russia has promised to retaliate by breaking all existing and > future arms control and disarmament treaties. China has stated that > it would also find appropriate ways of retaliating. Thus not only > would any hope of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons be > destroyed but the military status quo between nations that was > achieved would be destroyed. > > India and the region would be affected too. India would have to > increase its defense budget and could further expand its nuclear > arsenal in response to Chinas new nuclear weapons programme. > Following India down this road would be Pakistan. This will only > increase the level of tension between countries in this region. > > Besides, the issues of peace is the issue of civil rights. The > charges we face are some of the harshest for non violent peaceful > protest against the American missile defense system. The government > is trying to create a judicial precedent of harsh sentencing to deter > future protestors. Already, a priest has been jailed for praying on a > missile silo. > > There is a studied attempt being made to throttle the voice of people > concerned about issues of peace. > > We are trying to get support for this case from people everywhere and > would be grateful if you could help us by doing the following please. > > Write a letter to the US government via the American > embassy/consulate stating - > > 1. That the Star Wars program is not in the interest of world peace. > > 2. That the charges the defendants are facing are extremely harsh for > a non-violent peaceful protest. This goes against their civil rights > > Please address you letter to the Ambassador of the United States in > your country. > > For more information on the case and the Star Wars Programme please > look at the stopstarwars.org website or the greenpeace.org website. > > There is a letter on this issue on this website too. But a personal > letter from you will have more weight than one sent via the email. > > Please forward this email to other like-minded people. > > Thanks for you help. > > Samir Nazareth > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> > FREE COLLEGE MONEY > CLICK HERE to search > 600,000 scholarships! > http://us.click.yahoo.com/Pv4pGD/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/7XS olB/TM > ------------------------------------------------ ---------------------~-> > > To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the account you wish to be subscribed to: "abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com" > > > Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the message. > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ***************************************************************** 2 [southnews] New Zealand wants total NPT disarmament Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 11:40:57 -0500 (CDT) FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/Pv4pGD/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/7gSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New Zealand statement to UN on disarmament Friday, 12 October 2001, 12:09 pm Press Release: New Zealand Government Clive Pearson NZ Ambassador for Disarmament New Zealand statement to the United Nations General Assembly New York FIRST COMMITTEE (DISARMAMENT) Mr Chairman, Let me convey my congratulations on your assuming the Chair of this important Committee. You have the full support of New Zealand in the pursuit of what we hope will be a productive session. Mr Chairman, the appalling atrocities in this city and in this country only a few weeks ago, have been roundly condemned. The New Zealand Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Helen Clark, described them as a "a war against civilisation". Terrorism in any shape or form, will never succeed. We condemn it unequivocally. New Zealand is resolved to work with others in preventing such unspeakable acts and to punish those who are responsible. Mr Chairman, in a world which increasingly faces unpredictable and asymmetric threats to international security - whether terrorism, computer hacking or germ warfare - multilateral machinery to confront them is more vital than ever. And, it makes the work of this Committee even more relevant. New Zealand has consistently sought to push the disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation agenda forward. We remain determined in this endeavour. But, as we review progress this year, we find ourselves once again with too little to be optimistic about. The inventory of unfinished business in many areas, remains far too large. We have to address this credibility gap if our multilateral structures are to remain relevant in delivering security benefits. No disarmament instrument is yet universal. There is under performance in compliance and implementation. And, once more this year, the successes we have secured are offset by some significant set backs. - the entry into force of the CTBT is not in sight; - the negotiations to conclude a compliance Protocol on biological weapons were inconclusive; - we are no further ahead in negotiating a ban on fissile production; - the Conference on Disarmament has again failed to deal with nuclear disarmament; - the Chemical Weapons Convention is not universal in all regions; and, - the START process seems to have come to a halt; Mr Chairman, the security landscape is changing before our eyes. Unilateral tendances are evident. New strategic bargains are being canvassed. There are calls for a new security framework. A shake up of institutionalised disarmament diplomacy may be occurring. There may be a risk of power politics pushing others to the margins. And, that could prompt exactly the wrong response. Those of us who are determined to advance the multilateral agenda find our objectives constantly frustrated. We have no difficulty in addressing changing realities : on the contrary New Zealand welcomes the move away from a cold-war mindset. But, in the push for change, we must not endanger the gains we have made so far. And, we must ensure that what we have got is in working order. Change and consolidation need not be mutually exclusive options. Mr Chairman, New Zealand regrets that the negotiations to develop a compliance mechanism for the Biological Weapons Convention, failed this year to agree on a draft Protocol. Evidence of non-compliance with the ConventionFs prohibitions in the past, or difficulties with the parameters of the subject, should not lead ipso facto to the conclusion that a compliance Protocol is of limited value. We should instead focus our attention clearly on the real need: effective compliance machinery that will make it harder for proliferators to cheat, or terrorists to go undetected and unchecked. Unilateral and plurilateral measures to deal with these types of threats, such as biodefence programmes, are essential and consistent with the implementation of the Convention. But, the biowarfare threat also requires broad collective responses from all who subscribe to the norm. It is important that we demonstrate leadership to strengthen the ConventionFs prohibitions. Squabbling fruitlessly over the past at the next Review Conference of the BWC in November will not take us forward. It should be the time for fresh thinking "outside the box" to address non-compliance concerns in an effective manner. New Zealand continues to believe that measures to strengthen the Convention are possible. And, we consider the Ad Hoc GroupFs mandate remains valid as a basis for doing this. Mr Chairman, we had another conspicuous failure this year in the Conference on Disarmament. It seems to have lost its way and its purpose. The Conference has not adapted to todayFs world. As well as perpetuating the rigidities of another time, the group structures that operate within it enable some to take cover from accountability. The ConferenceFs mandate as the sole forum for negotiations on disarmament has been challenged. Its claim to be multilateral is fundamentally flawed. The assumption that only a limited number of countries is capable of determining global negotiating priorities and outcomes is a nonsense. The CD should be open to all countries who are seeking to engage in disarmament and non-proliferation. We cannot realistically hold the institution itself as being responsible for its failure, however. Accountability rests with its member governments. And, political realities outside the Conference determine what it can substantively achieve, of course. Yet, it is regrettable that its prolonged failure to engage does not seem to cause any real concern in some capitals. The negotiating options before the CD have become inter-linked, whether we like it or not. Assertions of symmetry in its Programme of Work have served to cement the deadlock. A new approach to its Programme of Work, that does not seek to be so prescriptive in the mandates, should be tested. The priority should be to establish the subsidiary bodies, but to leave it to them to determine what they will address and the modalities of their mandates, whether it be through deliberations or negotiations. There are no risks in this option since the Conference is already so scrupulous in the exercise of consensus. Mr Chairman, we were pleased that the UN Conference to tackle illicit trade in small arms and light weapons was successful earlier this year. The Programme of Action is no modest achievement. Unfortunately, there was no agreement to include measures dealing with some aspects of the legal trade of these ubiquitous killers where they impinge on illicit transfers. Prohibiting or restricting supply to non-state actors was also excluded. But, it was an important outcome, nevertheless. Perhaps most important, it has delivered a framework within which the international community can orient itself, and work toward its non-proliferation goals - from the global level right down to the local. We must be careful that this process does not become an end in itself, however. Closer partnership between governments and civil society would be a useful corrective to process-driven tendencies. And, it would keep us focused on the task at hand. Reducing the appalling body-count inflicted on civilians by military-style weapons must remain uppermost. Mr Chairman, the Ottawa Mine Ban Convention stands out as a uniquely successful humanitarian and disarmament endeavour so far. The process began with more than its fair share of doubters and detractors. But, central to its success has been an organic sense of common purpose around which most operational and organisational questions revolve, and are resolved, with a minimum of fuss, by multilateral standards. A tangible sense of purpose has been forged between north and south, developing and developed, between Governments and NGOs. It has become a true coalition of the willing. This is not to say it lacks significant problems to overcome to be effective over the long term in achieving a mine-free world. At least fifty countries have not yet joined the Mine Ban Convention. The Treaty still has to test its procedures for fact finding and clarification in cases of possible non-compliance. And, it will need to remain resolute in addressing longer term issues of victim assistance and the reintegration into society of mine victims. The "can-do" dynamic among the ConventionFs partners, however, is a pertinent reminder to the international community and to pessimists everywhere that leadership in disarmament can be a potent and positive force. And, it is also a reminder of the power of collective will. Mr Chairman, the first year of this century has continue to witness appalling violations of the laws of war. Many of these have been inflicted in internal conflicts, often by non-state actors, rather than in conventional state-to-state conflict. The Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva this December will be the opportunity to tackle this. Before it are proposals to expand the scope of the treaty and its protocols to internal conflicts. New Zealand is strongly behind them. The international community must also address the problem of explosive remnants of war. They kill or maim many thousands of people each year. There is scope here for tightening up the restrictions on the use of certain weapons, especially cluster sub-munitions. We need to ensure that they are stringently consistent with the principles of the 1949 Geneva Convention Protocol on protection of civilians as well as the CCW itself. And, attention needs to be focused on realistic methods of exchange of technical information, warnings to civilians and post-conflict clearance activities on a broad range of unexploded munitions. Industry-driven improvements to munition or fusing design, while attractive, will never be enough. Our strong preference is for a legally-binding instrument on explosive remnants of war, if necessary after an expert process to explore appropriate modalities. And, we would want this to be ready for signature before the next CCW Review Conference in 2006. Time is of the essence here. Mr Chairman, it has been a challenging year for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Financial and housekeeping problems have, unfortunately, diverted attention from implementation. Despite this, implementation is, on the whole, proceeding well with the treatyFs highly professional inspectorate. Verification activities are continuing as best they can under the circumstances. The deadly legacy of chemical facilities needs to dismantled and destroyed as soon as possible to enhance international confidence in the global ban. As we confront new asymmetrical global threats, Mr Chairman, the work of the IAEA becomes even more pivotal to underpinning and enhancing international security. The AgencyFs safeguards are an indispensable component of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, and its verification role can only become more central to our efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The safe keeping of radioactive materials, especially with the potential to be used for nuclear weapons, has never been more important. The possible impact of terrorism on the security of nuclear material is too shocking to contemplate. The work of the IAEA has thus never been of greater importance, and New ZealandFs support for it is unwavering. Mr Chairman, last year we had a sense of optimism about the prospects for forward momentum on nuclear disarmament. The new undertakings agreed at the 2000 NPT Review Conference provide the contemporary blueprint for action in a way that ensures international security. Of singular significance was the unequivocal undertaking to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Last year, our Heads of Government, in endorsing that outcome, were resolved to keep all options open on eliminating weapons of mass destruction. A year later, it is difficult to identify progress with the implementation of these agreed undertakings on nuclear disarmament. Implementation will take time. New Zealand is realistic about that. We welcome the indications of further cuts that have been given by the United States and the Russian Federation. But, when we look for evidence of a wider determination to move forward, it is difficult to find. The test, as we approach the NPT review cycle next year, will be in delivery and accountability. Moving to the total elimination of nuclear weapons must become operative policy. Presumptions that these weapons can be retained indefinitely are not sustainable. Nor are they compatible with the unequivocal undertaking to achieve total elimination. New Zealand and its New Agenda partners are determined to ensure that the NPT undertakings are taken forward. Our Foreign Ministers made this clear earlier this week. A crucial step along the way is the CTBT. A conference to promote the entry into force of the CTBT, is to be held ....... It is a Conference we wish had not been necessary. We have all invested so much effort over the years in this Treaty. It is deeply disappointing that it has not entered into force five years after it was opened for signature. The CTBT will contribute to international peace and security in unmistakable ways. By creating an international norm prohibiting all nuclear test explosions in all environments, the Treaty will make a significant contribution towards the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and provide impetus to the process of the total elimination of these weapons of mass destruction. Mr Chairman, ratifying the CTBT is one critically important step that all states could take to underline their commitment to promoting our common security. Mr Chairman, interpretations of strategic stability have come into even sharper focus. Those suggesting that Tuesday 11 September was the day the world changed, are correct. At a time when threats to our security are becoming asymmetrical, disarmament and non-proliferation are more not less relevant. And, action against non-State entities must be strengthened in States-based frameworks. Our multilateral machinery has to be in full working order if we are going to deal successfully with these uncertainties. And, we must not loose sight of our real objective : to deliver on disarmament. Recent events have demonstrated that international security is a collective concern and a collective responsibility. Collective engagement remains absolutely fundamental. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems impacts on all of us ultimately. And, we all have a stake in international security. In determining strategic stability, we must be careful not to misappropriate it to conceal procrastination on disarmament and non-proliferation. Implementation of the agreed NPT "steps" on nuclear disarmament should be a major determinant in achieving international security. We believe it is essential at this time to exercise great caution in decisions that could impact negatively on disarmament and non-proliferation endeavours. Change must go hand in hand with consolidation, Mr Chairman. ---------- DISARMAMENT: U.S. Tells Others To Stay Out Of ABM Debate The United States yesterday called on other nations to stay out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty debate and allow Washington and Moscow to pursue a new strategic framework without interference. Speaking to the U.N. First Committee on Disarmament, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis Bohlen told the assembly the United States would oppose any resolution on the ABM Treaty that came before the First Committee this year. "The United States is firmly opposed to the U.N. inserting itself into issues regarding the ABM Treaty, which remains a matter for the parties," Bohlen said. The two former Cold War adversaries have been discussing a new framework, Bohlen said, that would "include substantial reductions in offensive nuclear forces, cooperation on missile defense, enhanced non- and counter-proliferation efforts, and measures to promote confidence and transparency" Bohlen also held out little hope the United States would support a verification protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention, which the Bush administration rejected in July because the measures were "neither effective or equitable," Bohlen said. "Given the inherent properties of biological products it seems unlikely" that any verification measures would be found acceptable to the United States, she said. Rather than focus on verification of the treaty, Bohlen urged the international community to focus on preventing and punishing the use of biological weapons. "We must all strengthen our national laws criminalizing use and transfer" of biological weapons, she said (U.S. Mission to the United Nations release, Oct.10). Other Nations Address the Committee Sun Joun-Yung of South Korea said terrorism was no longer limited to a local or regional threat and therefore the committee "first responsibility was to counter the proliferation of nuclear and biochemical weapons and missiles. Progress on nuclear weapon reductions and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was criticized by Nugroho Wisnumurti of Indonesia, who said nuclear weapon states had fallen far short of their commitments made at the 1995 NPT conference. Seiichiro Noboru of Japan praised the U.S.-Russian efforts to seek deeper nuclear reductions and said he would introduce a resolution on the total elimination of nuclear weapons. The current strategic situation is only a pretext for the nuclear weapon states to retain their arsenals and perpetuate the arms race, said Ismail Khairat of Egypt, who added that while Egypt continues to promote a Middle Eastern nuclear weapon-free zone, Israel stands in the way by continuing to cling to the nuclear option on the basis of outdated deterrence doctrines. Leif Ulland of Norway said the new climate of terrorist fear made the work of the First Committee highly relevant today. International cooperation and a multilateral approach to nonproliferation were essential to reduce the threats posed by terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, he said. Bernd Niehaus of Costa Rica called for strengthened international curbs on small arms traffic and landmines. Costa Rica has no army or weapons, Niehaus said, and its security is therefore dependent on the United Nations to restrict weapon transfers and to create norms against the use of force (U.N. release, Oct. 10). [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: southnews-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 3 Agencies Remove Info From Web Sites The Depot 10/12/01 By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal agencies are scrutinizing their Web sites and striking any information they believe terrorists might use to plot attacks against the nation. The move is quickly reversing strides the government has made over the last decade toward providing public information online. The review of the government's Web sites is wide in scope. It is unclear whether a specific guideline has been passed down which types of information should be removed. There also is no uniform process for the review, according to some agency officials. Some federal agencies are not commenting on whether they are removing information from their Web sites, while others give vague descriptions of their deletions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shut down its web site Wednesday. NRC spokesman William Beecher said the agency plans to remove the coordinates of the nation's 103 commercial nuclear power reactors, among other information. When Internet surfers try to visit the NRC Web site, they find a note that says, "In support of our mission to protect public health and safety, we are performing a review of all material on our site. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times." Beecher said most of the information being taken down has been there for years. "In most cases it is common information, nothing top secret was on the Web site to begin with," Beecher said. "We just don't want to provide anything that a terrorist might find helpful." Federal agencies have been reviewing their sites in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Bush spokeswoman Anne Womack said the White House has not requested that they do so - the reviews are voluntary. The Environmental Protection Agency has taken down a Web site with information about emergency plans and chemicals at 15,000 sites nationwide. Also this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed a vague report about security at chemical plants from its Web site. The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety is also restricting to industry and government officials its mapping software and pipeline data. Bush administration officials speculate that all of the data could be useful to terrorists. There is some evidence that terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon used the Internet to accomplish their mission, Attorney General John Ashcroft has said. Ashcroft also told Congress that one person in federal custody had downloaded information about crop-dusting planes, which could be used for biological or chemical attacks. Some watchdog groups and first amendment attorneys worry the Web site restructuring will separate people needlessly from public information. "In many ways, it is ridiculous, because this information is public, and the Internet is a public domain," said Landry Bolville, a first amendment attorney in Washington. "Any piece of information could be used by a terrorist, and it seems like a lot of what is being altered is not directly dangerous. You haven't made life harder for the terrorist; you've just made it harder for taxpaying citizens." -__ On The Net: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety: Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2001 MyWay. Portions ©2001 News & Record. All rights ***************************************************************** 4 Radiation survey over area delayed Deseret News Archives October 11, 2001 By Derek Jensen Deseret News staff writer Mechanical problems have delayed an aerial radiation survey designed to help detect leaks and rogue nuclear weapons during the 2002 Winter Games. The mechanical problems prevented the blue and gray Bell 412 helicopter from taking off Tuesday morning from the National Nuclear Security Administration's Remote Sensing Laboratory at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. "When they did their safety check they had some mechanical issues," National Nuclear Security Administration spokeswoman Nancy Harkess said. "It's not critical to do it this week, and they're not gong to fly until they've fixed the mechanical problems." Harkess said that could take up to two weeks. The aerial surveys -- which will determine the levels of natural and man-made radiation in the areas of Salt Lake, West Valley, Ogden, Provo, Park City and Heber -- were supposed to run through Oct. 20. "It'll pick up everything from background radiation to radiation from medical facilities in the area," said Kevin Rohrer, National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman. If a threat arose during the Games, another survey could be performed. The results from both surveys would then be compared to determine any changes in radiation levels. "The entire purpose is just to get some background data of the area in case there were to be some sort of threat or terrorism threat during the Olympics," Rohrer said. "If somebody claimed they had a bomb during the Olympics, we could very quickly ascertain whether that was true or not." The National Nuclear Security Administration performed similar surveys prior to the 1984 and 1996 Summer Games. In the past 32 years, the administration has conducted more than 500 surveys. The survey was requested by Olympic public safety planners before the Sept. 11 attacks. E-mail: djensen@desnews.com © 2001 Deseret News Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 5 Report sheds light on waste woes at INEEL The Independent Online - News Vol. 12 No. 41 Issue Date 10/11/01 by Dan Laidman Environmental activists who want the federal government to take over the regulation of an Idaho laboratory are saying that a new report on water pollution bolsters their cause. ?A coalition of groups petitioned the U.S. government last month to remove Idaho's authority to enforce hazardous waste laws. The petitioners alleged that the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inadequately regulated the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) over the last decade. INEEL, a huge and multifaceted research facility, began as a Cold War nuclear research site and has grappled with hazardous waste disposal issues for years. Chuck Broscious, director of one of the petitioning groups, the Troy, Idaho-based Environmental Defense Institute, says that a new study about water pollution in the area shows the full impact of inadequate regulation of INEEL. The Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research issued a report Wednesday about pollution in the Snake River Plain aquifer. The aquifer provides all the drinking water for 200,000 people in southern Idaho, and is a major source of irrigation water for Idaho's crops. A large portion of the aquifer runs underneath INEEL. In the 1950s and 1960s, plutonium from INEEL was dumped into shallow trenches packaged in cardboard and wooden boxes and 55-gallon drums, according to the report. Some radioactive and hazardous materials have migrated toward the aquifer due to rain, snow, and flooding. "Evidence has existed for more than 25 years that these long-lived radionuclides are migrating to the aquifer much faster than anticipated," the report reads. While Broscious sees the report as proof that INEEL's problems are not being dealt with properly, state regulators say that the report merely synthesizes government research over a long period of time and that the problems are being handled. "At least some of their conclusions were a little more alarmist than what we have drawn," says Kathleen Trevor, Idaho's coordinator for INEEL issues. "There is actually a process in place for cleaning up contamination from INEEL." There is no set timetable for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate and act on the petition. The groups called for the EPA inspector general to investigate the situation, and according to EPA official Jeff Hunt, that could take at least a year. Raising awareness and debate in the public and among politicians is just as important as the EPA's final ruling, Broscious says. "By articulating the problems at the site, it puts the issue in the face of the policymakers so that they know unequivocally that we know what's going on," Broscious says. "And hopefully the public is going to find out so it's not something that's been buried, as it has been in the past." ***************************************************************** 6 Antinuclear resolution returning to U.N. table Friday, October 12, 2001 NEW YORK (Kyodo) Japan will reintroduce during the current session of the United Nations General Assembly a resolution calling for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, Japan's ambassador on disarmament issues said Wednesday. Seiichiro Noboru told a U.N. committee meeting: "Japan is considering introducing again this year its resolution titled 'A path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.' We look forward to its adoption with the support of an overwhelming majority." Japan last year proposed the resolution with the hope of promoting an "unequivocal undertaking" by the nuclear powers to eliminate their arsenals as agreed at a May 2000 review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The legally nonbinding resolution, which received a majority endorsement last year, was the first commitment by U.N. member states to get rid of the world's nuclear arsenals, surpassing earlier rhetoric stating that the elimination of nuclear weapons was humankind's "ultimate goal." Specifically, Noboru emphasized the need to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force promptly and urged an immediate start of negotiations for a "cutoff treaty" to ban production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. He also called for stepped-up negotiations between the United States and Russia to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear warheads to between 2,000 and 2,500 each. The Japanese ambassador also urged the strengthening of nuclear nonproliferation regimes "to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." The committee on disarmament began a five-week session Monday. Resolutions on disarmament, including the one to be proposed by Japan, are expected to be adopted Oct. 31. The Japan Times: Oct. 12, 2001 ***************************************************************** 7 North Korean TV says atomic energy agency a "kept mouthpiece" BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 North Korean TV has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of hypocrisy with its recent call for inspection of nuclear facilities in North Korea while turning a blind eye to a US underground test in Nevada on 26 September. This demand, supposedly in light of the attacks in New York, was no more than a "futile" attempt to weaken North Korea's self-defensive national defence. The agency had violated principles of neutrality and impartiality and was a puppet of "international reactionaries" led by the USA, the broadcast said. Following is text of report by North Korean TV on 11 October Hello. During this hour, we will talk about the International Atomic Energy Agency's [IAEA] impure forces that are taking advantage of the United States' manoeuvre to crush the DPRK and are acting badly while starting a quarrel with our republic. At the recent so-called IAEA annual meeting, the so-called director-general of this agency raised the matter of inspecting our nuclear facilities. He made a foolish remark that the IAEA cannot verify whether Pyongyang's nuclear plans are accurate despite continuously having observed the freezing of North Korea's nuclear facilities in accordance with the DPRK-US Agreed Framework signed in 1994. A game to adopt a resolution to demand that we accept this inspection was even conducted at the recent so-called annual meeting. This is obviously another provocative act that starts from an impure motive to pull a hat of unjust nuclear suspicion over us by any means while under somebody's control. [Korean: igosun myongbaekhi ku nuguui ch'imul matko kiok'o uriege pudanghan haekuihok kamt'urul ssiuryonun pulsunhan kidorobut'o ch'ulpalhan ttohanui tobalhaengwiga anilsu upsumnida]. As was revealed, the act of guaranteeing impartiality, objectivity, and neutrality when dealing with matters is a principle that cannot be violated in the activities of international organizations. This is even more so in the case of the IAEA, which should regard the above principle like its life regarding the important role that it plays. However, the agency's so-called director-general and other impure forces are acting like a kept mouthpiece [oyong nap'alsugyokuro noradaego issuni] while disregarding this principle. Therefore, it is clear that the IAEA, which is an international organization in name, cannot properly carry out is fundamental mission and duties. This is clear by just looking into the case of the nuclear inspection commotion in the early 1990s. The whole world knows that the IAEA's impure forces under the instigation of the international reactionaries headed by the United States, which intends to isolate and crush our republic, had lost its impartiality and neutrality early on and had acted badly while showing enmity towards us. Back then, they, without any proof, blindly mistrusted us and acted like spies. They even demanded that we accept a special inspection. We warned them many times on this matter and opposed the abuse of the treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the use of this organization for impure political goals. To defend the greatest interest of our republic, we were compelled to take a firm measure as to even think about withdrawing from the treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The IAEA should clearly learn a lesson from this and not try to harm us. However, the agency's impure forces are continuing to encourage the United States' manoeuvre to crush our republic. Since the DPRK-US Agreed Framework was signed, the agency has not said one word of truth to the United States, which is extremely insincere in the implementation of the agreed framework, although it consecutively conducts a game to adopt a resolution urging the implementation of the agreement while openly making false accusations against us at the agency's annual meeting almost every year. This can be regarded as one example of the above. The fellow who was the director-general of the agency took the initiative to babble about supporting the United States' brigandish demands whenever he found the chance when the United States' raised the suspicion of our underground nuclear facilities in 1998. However, the falsehood of the US-fabricated suspicion of our underground nuclear facilities was fully revealed through the inspection of the Kumchang-ri underground facility. Through this incident, the IAEA won criticism and scorn from the international community by willingly revealing its dirty identity of being the United States' stooge and puppet. The agency's impure forces started a quarrel with us while babbling about our not approving the agency's inspection last year. What is more grave is the fact that the agency demanded that we accept verification and inspections while babbling about our nuclear transparency and shutting its eyes to the 14th subcritical nuclear test conducted at an underground nuclear testing ground in Nevada, United States on 26 September. There is no doubt that the IAEA, which specialized in nuclear weapons, clearly knows that the US continuous manoeuvre to conduct subcritical nuclear tests is aimed at expanding and reinforcing its nuclear weapons as well as maintaining them. However, the IAEA is persistently starting a quarrel with us, who do not have any problems, while disregarding and even covering up this kind of criminal manoeuvre committed by the United States, which is violently violating the spirit and demand of the treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In nature, the IAEA's impure forces' so-called verification and inspection under the pretext of dealing with the US situation can be regarded as one that follows the United State's scenario and control to infallibly search our house and make our self-defensive national defence powerless and eventually totally disarm us. Our republic values sovereignty as life. Therefore, an attempt to make us do this or that as one pleases does not make sense. The IAEA's impure forces are attempting to apply verification, inspection, and double standards on us as if saying this and that about other people's food table. However, such an attempt is truly foolish and futile. The IAEA's impure forces will only receive greater disgrace and shame from the international community if they continue to cling to an attempt to start a quarrel with us while dancing to another's tune. The agency's impure forces will be better off to act with discretion while clearly knowing this fact. That is all for today. Source: Korean Central Television Pyongyang in Korean 1133 gmt 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material ***************************************************************** 8 Sick-worker claims said to be hampered by DOE rules By Nancy Zuckerbrod, Associated Press WASHINGTON - Nuclear weapons workers are complaining that rules proposed by the Bush administration to facilitate payment of workers' compensation for on-the-job illnesses would do more harm than good. "Instead of setting up procedures that will actually make it easier for these workers to file their workman's comp claims, the DOE has proposed rules that just set up another layer of bureaucracy," Gaylon Hanson, an employee at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab, said at a Department of Energy hearing. The administration said the rules were designed to help compensate thousands of workers, or their survivors, for exposure to toxic substances at Energy Department facilities run by contractors, including those in Oak Ridge. The workers were not compensated under legislation passed last year that provides medical care and $150,000 to sick Cold War-era nuclear weapons workers exposed to cancer-causing radiation or to silica and beryllium, two metals that cause lung diseases. Congress told the Energy Department to help workers file claims under state workers' compensation systems, which would reverse a decades-old policy in which the agency aggressively fought such claims. The Energy Department is supposed to use independent medical panels to help determine whether workers' sicknesses resulted from their jobs. The proposal says claims will be forwarded to the panels only if they meet criteria established by state workers' compensation laws, which vary and often have high burdens of proof and strict statutes of limitations. Critics said the move apparently was aimed at limiting costs for the Energy Department, since it must reimburse contractors for compensation payments. "I thought the purpose of the physician panel was to overcome some of the obstacles of the state compensation system and set up uniform standards by which the physicians will determine whether the illness is job-related," Hanson said. Bruce Wood, assistant general counsel of the American Insurance Association, praised the proposed regulations for protecting states' rights by not allowing the Energy Department to "federalize state worker compensation determinations." The association represents workers' compensation insurers and has opposed efforts by the federal government to supersede state workers' compensation laws in other instances. Still, sick workers had other concerns. They said they were angry that the proposed rules would order the medical panels to determine whether it is "more likely than not" that people's jobs sickened them. The agency had considered using "as likely as not." That "moves the goal post beyond where Congress intended by creating a more stringent barrier for victims to overcome," said George Jones, a former worker at the government's Oak Ridge nuclear reservation, and a government relations representative for the AFL-CIO. Witnesses also said they were upset that the proposed rules give the Energy Department broad authority to review the medical panels' decisions, and the rules don't require the agency to pay for workers' medical tests. October 12, 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Egypt urges UN to place Israel's nuclear facilities under supervision BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 11, 2001 Text of report in English by Egyptian news agency MENA web site New York, 11 October: The UN General Assembly's Committee on Disarmament (COD) started its annual one-month discussions, which will review the issues of disarmament, including dismantling of nuclear weapons and the rest of biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction and the non-proliferation of ballistic missiles, said Egypt's ambassador to the UN, Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt. Egypt's delegation delivered a statement before COD, in which it referred to the instability witnessed in the Middle East region in light of Israel's insistence on the nuclear option out of outdated theories of deterrence now that all countries of the region have joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he said. Despite all the international resolutions calling for Israel's accession to NPT and putting all its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the international community is still silent over implementation of these resolutions, he added. Abu-al-Ghayt reiterated Egypt's unshakable commitment to materialize the principles of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation within President Husni Mubarak's calls to render the Middle East a region free from all weapons of mass destruction. Source: MENA news agency web site, Cairo, in English 11 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 10 Report: Radiation detected in Snake aquifer IdahoStatesman.com October 11, 2001 Watchdog group says INEEL waste could be source The Associated Press IDAHO FALLS -- A report released by two watchdog groups renews the warning that the aquifer beneath the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory could be contaminated by nuclear waste seeping into the ground. The report is based on federal documents and sporadic "hits" of plutonium and americium isotopes showing up in the aquifer. It urges immediate action to remove buried radioactive waste and to clean the earth down to the water table. "Urgent action is needed in order to protect the Snake River Plain aquifer from long-term irreversible action," the report says. Kathleen Hain, director of the Department of Energy-Idaho's Environmental Restoration Program, said it is not clear that the sporadic hits of plutonium and americium are indeed coming from the buried waste. Other possibilities include contaminated dust blowing into the water samples, laboratory errors or pollution from other parts of the site. The aquifer supplies drinking and irrigation water for much of eastern and southern-central Idaho. It covers 9,600 square miles and flows southwest from eastern Idaho to Hagerman, where it drains into the Snake River at Thousand Springs. Arjun Makhijani, author of a report released by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Snake River Alliance, said the contamination is spreading fast. "The current estimate is that it would take a few decades to migrate to the water table," Makhijani said. "We're telling you that the government isn't telling you. For a quarter of a century, the government has allowed this problem to fester, and it should not delay anymore." However, there is scientific disagreement about whether or how fast various contaminants will spread. Hain said government models show that there will be no spread at all. Joe Rousseau, chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's INEEL project office, said Makhijani drew from information that has been in the public domain for many years. "My only concern is that the numbers may be misinterpreted to elevate their significance," Rousseau said. The state is continuously monitoring groundwater through wells on and around the INEEL, where radioactive and other hazardous waste was dumped during the 1950s and 1960s. Hain said there are dozens of different cleanup programs already under way to address the concerns outlined in the report. ***************************************************************** 11 Test Site proposed for new nuclear facility Las Vegas SUN Today: October 12, 2001 at 10:23:01 PDT By Mary Manning The Nevada Test Site is one of five places the Department of Energy is considering for a facility to train people on the handling and detection of nuclear weapons and other radioactive material. DOE officials during a hearing in North Las Vegas on Thursday night said studies indicate the environment would not be impacted should four nuclear assemblies -- training devices for the handling of nuclear materials -- be moved from New Mexico to the Test Site's $100 million Device Assembly Facility. Noise, air or water pollution would not be factors in the move, the report says. Completed in 1998, DAF was designed for the assembly and dismantling of nuclear weapons, but all nuclear testing was halted in 1992. The DOE has used the DAF to prepare subcritical experiments using small amounts of plutonium. The training project is currently located at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, known as Technical Area 18, or the Parjarito site. The DOE prefers to keep the project at Los Alamos, though officials want to replace older buildings and equipment, Cormier said. Los Alamos trains about 300 people in counter-terrorism each year. The training includes instruction on the handling and detection of nuclear materials. In addition to the the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and the current facility in New Mexico, other locations being considered for the training site are Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico, Argonne National Laboratory West in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and a new site at Los Alamos. When operating, an assembly produces about as much energy as a Christmas tree light bulb and almost no low-level radioactive waste. Cost estimates range from $50 million to $200 million to build and operate the facility, but a final figure cannot be estimated until the new facility is designed, Chuck Cormier, who works for the DOE in Albuquerque, N.M., said. The facility cost estimates don't reflect how much money it would take to transport to the Test Site equipment and minute amounts of radioactive materials used in the assemblies. About 200 employees would be needed to to build the facility, sometime after 2005. About 20 permanent staff members would be employed to operate the facility, Jay Rose, the DOE's environmental impacts manager for the project, said. "This is a good alternative," Rose, referring to the Test Site, said at the hearing. The cost of packaging the nuclear materials and shipping them to the Test Site, however, could dampen DOE's enthusiasm for moving the facility, he said. A decision by the DOE on the project is expected in February 2002. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 12 UN Board Recommends Measures to Reduce Risk of Nuclear War Friday, October 12, 2001, updated at 09:37(GMT+8) UN Board Recommends Measures to Reduce Risk of Nuclear War A UN advisory board on Thursday forwarded seven recommendations to the General Assembly on ways of reducing the risk of nuclear war. At its 36th and 37th sessions held this year in New York and Geneva, the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters agreed that a wide-ranging global dialogue on cooperative security was necessary to address the problem, and that preliminary political and technical measures were needed to prepare for the convening of such a conference. The board also recommended de-alerting nuclear weapons, reviewing nuclear doctrines, further reducing tactical nuclear weapons as an integral part of the nuclear arms reduction and disarmament process, enhancing security at a global and a regional level by promoting increased transparency of all nuclear weapons programs, and creating a climate for implementing nuclear disarmament measures. Programs of education and training on the dangers of nuclear weapons were also seen as important in fostering an informed world public opinion that would be able to exercise a positive influence on the political will to eliminate nuclear weapons. Other measures, which received varying degrees of support from the board, included preventing the further proliferation of nuclear weapons, banning the use of nuclear weapons, changing military doctrines to "no first use" of nuclear weapons, withdrawing all nuclear weapons deployed abroad back to their owner's territory, and eliminating all but a very small stock of reserve warheads. Measures such as keeping nuclear submarines deployed in a mode that would make the firing of nuclear ballistic missiles from close range on depressed trajectories more difficult, shaping communication practices so as to make immediate strikes difficult or impossible, and removing essential parts from launchers or nuclear warheads also received some support from the Advisory Board. A UN advisory board on Thursday forwarded seven recommendations to the General Assembly on ways of reducing the risk of nuclear war. Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved | ***************************************************************** 13 Energy secretary schedules Hanford visit This story was published Thu, Oct 11, 2001 By Annette Cary and John Stang Herald staff writers Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is tentatively scheduled to make his first visit on Oct. 18 to Hanford since taking office this year. "This will be an opportunity for me to get an overview of Department of Energy activities taking place on the Hanford reservation and to talk with the workers who carry out our various missions," Abraham said in a prepared statement. The secretary's calendar has been cleared for the tour, although there still is a chance he could cancel if national events should require him to be in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere. His agenda for the day has not been set, but it's expected to include a driving tour of the site, briefings on cleanup progress and the glassification project and a tour of the Fast Flux Test Facility. Energy secretaries traditionally tour Hanford and other DOE complexes after taking office. He'll have plenty of issues to consider in the Tri-Cities, starting with FFTF. DOE is expected to announce this month whether to permanently shut down the reactor or proceed with a plan to allow the reactor to be operated for commercial use. Several companies are proposing restarting the reactor to make isotopes for medicine. Abraham also will be looking at Hanford's immediate and long-range futures in light of a hazy budget picture. Hanford needs slightly more than $1.8 billion, including $690 million for the site's top-priority waste glassification project, in fiscal 2002 to meet all its legal cleanup obligations for that year. But the Bush administration, including Abraham, wants to spend $1.4 billion on Hanford, including $500 million for glassification, in 2002. Despite the legal obligations, Abraham has contended a review of all nuclear cleanup programs should be done first to figure out how to make them more efficient. That review is supposed to be completed in stages this fall. In the meantime, Washington state is fining DOE $10,000 a week for not starting to build the glassification complex. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************