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03/13/01 ****     RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL)       **** VOL 9.65
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                    NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS
 
 1  Coalition pushes for strict radiation standards
 2  Nuclear plant to store waste in outside containers
 3  Local group hired to examine barrels
 4  Dick Smyser: Nuke power back in California's polite conversation 
 5  Questions raised over MU reactor 
 6  MU research reactor workers scared to report safety issues
 7  Energy sites illuminating
 8  Northeast Utilities Sues Con Edison 
 9  NRC needs a quantitative risk assessment course                                                                                          
10  NRC to Meet with Public to Discuss Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel 
11  NWTRB to Discuss Using Multiple Lines of Evidence To Evaluate the 
12  New nuclear power plants to be built 
13  This Is The Republicans' Big Chance 
14  Nuclear Power Corp to issue Rs 200-cr bonds 
15  Shell 'Challenge'
16  Armenia's Nuclear Dilemma 
17  Russia Plans Floating Nuclear Plant
18  Radiation fears at new hospital
19  ANALYSIS - German Greens see vote boost from show of unity
20  Minatom pretends to increase export
21  Russian MPs fight nuclear fuel import bills
22  RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT ACCEPTS GREENPEACE PETITION TO INVESTIGATE 
23  Russia plans floating nuclear power plant in White Sea
24  N-reactors to Iran: Russia to ignore U.S. displeasure 
25  Feds Delay Decision on Goshute N-Waste Facility
26  Group calls for more sensitive radiation monitoring

                    NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS
 
 1  Investigation of K-25 water continues, but not without problems 
 2  Project planned for NTS shelved
 3  Pakistan's nuclear programme irreversible: Musharraf 
 4  N-scientists appointed Musharraf advisors 
 5  Dr Qadeer declines new assignment 
 6  Kosovo uranium 'poses little risk'
 7  Qualified OK for uranium weapons
 8  U.N.: Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
 9  UNEP recommends precautionary action regarding depleted uranium in Kosovo 
10  Depleted Uranium in Kosovo - Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment 
11  Russia suspends dismantling weapons 
12  Activists, legislators urge DOE not to cut cleanup 
13  Kursk may remain in underwater grave                   
14  Nuclear author arrives in Israel risking arrest 
15  Putin to Sell Arms and Nuclear Help to Iran
16  Peres blasts call for UN force
17  Idaho rejects INEEL cleanup delay
18  Local group hired to examine barrels

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                     NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES
*****************************************************************
 1 Coalition pushes for strict radiation standards

Tuesday, March 13, 2001
 Copyright Š Las Vegas Review-Journal 
 
By KEITH ROGERS 
REVIEW-JOURNAL 

Public interest groups from Nevada and California urged the Bush 
administration on Monday to adopt strict radiation standards for 
the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. 

Led by Citizen Alert, a Nevada environmental organization and a 
Tecopa, Calif. group -- Healing Ourselves and Mother Earth -- the 
coalition claims the proposed Environmental Protection Agency 
standards for Yucca Mountain are too weak to protect groundwater 
and the public. 

The proposed standards were submitted on the last day of the 
Clinton Administration. They call for an annual, 15 millirem 
exposure standard, plus a 4 millirem guideline for groundwater up 
to 12 miles from the repository site. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles 
northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied to entomb 
the nation's highly radioactive waste. 

"Strong EPA standards are vital for a credible assessment of 
whether the Yucca Mountain project is in the best interest of the 
public, present and future," said the letter sent Monday to the 
Bush administration from eight public interest groups. 

The groups challenged the groundwater standard, saying it would 
allow contamination to reach about a mile from residential homes. 
Similarly, they said, the individual protection standard is too 
vague to be enforceable and does not offer equal protection to 
American Indians in the region.
  
This story is located at: 
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Mar-13-Tue-2001/news/15628313.html
*****************************************************************
 2  Nuclear plant to store waste in outside containers

c 2001 Alabama Live, LLC

03/13/01
KENT FAULK
News staff writer 

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens will begin storing 
highly radioactive spent uranium fuel rods outside in large 
above-ground concrete containers in 2005. 

While the Tennessee Valley Authority says the storage process 
will be safe, it's still a concern for one nuclear power critic. 

"It's just one of the consequences of choosing nuclear power as 
an op tion - that you will have nuclear waste piling up on the 
banks of the Tennessee River," said Stephen Smith, executive 
director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a watchdog 
group in Knoxville. 

Used uranium fuel rods from Browns Ferry's two operating reactors 
are now stored underwater in specially-designed racks at the 
bottom of steel-lined 40-foot-deep concrete pools inside the 
plant. 

Space, however, will be running out in several years in the pools 
that were meant for temporary storage. 

Shrinking pool storage has forced the Tennessee Valley Authority 
and utilities around the country to look at other ways to store 
their nuclear waste while they wait for the U.S. Department of 
Energy to build a permanent national nuclear waste storage 
facility. The proposed site for the facility - deep inside 
Nevada's Yucca Mountain - has been proved controversial, and the 
project has been slowed by delays and debate. 

"Until such time DOE accepts the spent fuel, evaluations of 
available storage expansion technologies have demonstrated that 
the safest and most cost-effective option for Browns Ferry is dry 
storage - the use of above-ground, concrete containers with steel 
inner canisters," according to a TVA statement issued to The 
Birmingham News. 

The dry storage facility operation at Browns Ferry is projected 
to begin in 2005. "Dry storage of spent fuel is a proven 
technology that already is used at 14 U.S. nuclear power plants," 
the statement said. 

Phillip Harris, a TVA spokesman at Browns Ferry, said the casks 
will sit outside, which is what a few other nuclear plants are 
already doing while waiting for a national storage site. 

The issue of how Browns Ferry will store its spent radioactive 
fuel was raised at a recent public hearing on an environmental 
report TVA is preparing for the plant. The report may be used as 
part of a possible TVA request to extend the licenses for Browns 
Ferry's three reactors another 20 years. TVA has not yet made a 
final decision to seek extension of the licenses for the three 
reactors which expire in 2013, 2014 and 2016. 

Most other nuclear plants around the country are also seeking 
20-year extensions. 

The Unit 1 reactor has been mothballed since 1985 but TVA says it 
may spend up to $1.5 billion to restart it. 

If TVA is granted extended licenses by the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission and is allowed to restart Unit 1 the amount of nuclear 
waste piling up at the plant will only multiply, Smith said. 

For North Alabama residents it's a lose-lose situation, Smith 
said. First, there's the inherent danger of having the 
radioactive material stored at the plant. Second, if a national 
storage facility opens, the casks will have to be hauled there 
over public roads. 

Smith said TVA needs to go slow. "It's not that nuclear power is 
necessarily evil in itself," he said. "But it's incredibly 
unforgiving." 


c The Birmingham News. Used with permission.
*****************************************************************
 3  Local group hired to examine barrels

Oak Ridger Online --> 

Story last updated at 1:09 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, 2001

from staff reports 

Bechtel Jacobs Co. has awarded a subcontract to sample, excavate 
and dispose of the contents of approximately 10 barrels that are 
located alongside state Highway 58 about half a mile west of the 
main entrance to the Oak Ridge K-25 site.

 The area is marked by colored flagging and is easily visible to 
passing motorists. Workers from the Tennessee Department of 
Transportation recently discovered the barrels while removing an 
abandoned natural gas pipeline in preparation for widening the 
highway.

 TN &Associates was awarded the $284,000 fixed-price contract to 
excavate the drums, analyze their contents, ship the waste to a 
regulated disposal facility and restore the area.

 The barrels are located in what is referred to as the Old 
Firehouse Burn Area, where firefighters in the 1940s and 1950s 
were trained. Though the contents of the barrels are unknown, 
limited historical information suggests they could contain motor 
oil and lubricating oil, according to a Bechtel Jacobs press 
release.

 TN &Associates, an Oak Ridge firm, will begin the work in May 
and is expected to be finished by August.

 Bechtel Jacobs Co. is the Department of Energy's management and 
integration contractor for cleanup work at the Oak Ridge 
Reservation and at DOE sites in Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, 
Ohio.

All Contents ŠCopyright* The Oak Ridger *
*****************************************************************
 4  Dick Smyser: Nuke power back in California's polite conversation 

Oak Ridger Online --> 

Story last updated at 1:17 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, 2001

Editor's License

Dick Smyser: Nuke power back in California's polite conversation 

In January I commented to Alvin M. Weinberg that, in all the 
reporting and discussion about California's power problems, I had 
not once heard or seen written the word "nuclear."

 Not so, said the former director of Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory and the Institute for Energy Analysis and Oak Ridge's 
best-known advocate for fission-generated electricity. He'd heard 
"nuclear" spoken at least once -- some network commentator 
declaring that "nuclear power is a flop."

 Weinberg went on to say wryly that California is, in effect, 
stewing in its own juices -- paying the price for its own bad 
decisions. The state had scrapped plans for two big nuclear power 
plants, one in the north near Sacramento, another in the south 
near San Diego. If these reactors were operating now there would 
have been no need for those "rolling blackouts" the state 
imposed.
 
 Things have changed since our conversation. Nuclear has now been 
mentioned numerous times in California context in both newspapers 
and some of the leading periodicals, like The Economist. A 
14-page article in the Feb. 10-16 issue titled "Energy: A 
brighter future" states, "Governments should also ... keep open a 
range of options for producing energy, including running existing 
nuclear plants to the end of their useful life."

 And later in the same piece: "While nobody is rushing to build 
new nuclear plants, old ones may have quite a lot of life left in 
them if they are properly run, as the success of the Three Mile 
Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania attests. After the 
near-catastrophic accident in 1979 destroyed one of the plant's 
two reactors, the remaining one now boasts an impressive safety 
and financial record."

 A comment suggesting something less than "a flop," 
notwithstanding that the article goes on to quote Corbin McNeill, 
chairman of Exelon and the current owner of the revived plant, as 
saying that he "accepts that nuclear power is unlikely to be the 
energy choice in the longer term." But some other recent articles 
suggest the prospect that nuclear just might be a long-term 
choice:
 
* "Crisis fuels nuclear talk: Power woes, updated design create 
new buzz," headline on a story by Edie Lau in The Sacramento Bee 
of Feb. 19.
 
* "Nuclear power makes a comeback," front page headline of the 
same day's issue of The San Jose Mercury News, story by Frank 
Sweeney.
 
* "With California engulfed in an energy crisis, people once 
again are debating the merits of nuclear power," the opening 
words of a long article by William Brand in the Feb. 11 issue of 
The Oakland Tribune, the piece beginning on page one and 
continuing on pages 12 and 13.
 
* "The Next Nuclear Wave: Energy crunch adds momentum to push for 
pebble-bed modular reactor," by Ross Kerber of The Boston Globe 
and appearing in The San Francisco Chronicle also in the Feb. 11 
issue.
 
* "Nuclear Power May Rise Again," by Terry McDermott and 
beginning on the front page of the Feb. 9 issue of The Los 
Angeles Times. All of these articles, while raising the prospect 
of a nuclear power revival, also emphasize that, in California 
especially, where nuclear plants supply about 16 percent of the 
power (20 percent nationally), critics of nuclear power -- those 
who declare that it is not only unsafe but also uneconomical -- 
are no less vocal, no less passionate in their opposition. Still, 
the revival talk grows.
 
 And not only in California newspapers. Consider this from 
Environment and Energy Daily of March 8:

 "Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) 
Wednesday introduced the 'Nuclear Energy Electricity Assurance 
Act of 2001,' which aims to increase nuclear power production. 
'The time has come for the United States of America to reconsider 
its position on nuclear power and become a world leader again,' 
Domenici said."

 Signing on as co-sponsors of the bill are Sen. Frank Murkowski, 
R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee, and committee members Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Bob 
Graham (D-Fla.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Mary 
Landrieu (D.-La.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). Also, from the 
Senate at large, Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Fred Thompson 
(R.-Tenn.) and George Voinovich (R.-Ohio).

 "Nuclear energy has to play a larger role in our world. We can't 
let any technology pass us by," said Sen. Murkowski of the bill 
that Environment and Energy Daily says "provides $406 million for 
five main provisions: gaining support for nuclear energy; 
encouraging new plant construction; assuring a level playing 
field for nuclear power; creating waste solutions; and improving 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations."
 
 There have likely been other recent nuclear power mentions in 
similar vein. But even in consideration of only the above, 
something other than "a flop" indeed.

 And all of this adding credence to the premise of the title of 
Alvin Weinberg's book of just a few years back, that what has 
occurred up to now is, then, just "The First Nuclear Era." -- RDS
 
*Richard D. Smyser is founding editor of The Oak Ridger. You can 
reach him by e-mail at rdsandmps@aol.com*
 
All Contents ŠCopyright* The Oak Ridger *
*****************************************************************
 5  Questions raised over MU reactor 

Hannibal Courier-Post Community Story

031201 community 1 1 Hannibal Courier-Post 

> Web posted Monday, March 12, 2001

COLUMBIA (AP) -- An external review team will evaluate procedures 
at the University of Missouri Research Reactor after an 
investigation revealed employees were afraid they would face 
retaliation if they reported safety issues.

 The determination from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
substantiated an anonymous charge. The notice of the 
substantiation carries no sanction, but the NRC has cited the 
university in the past for that violation.

 The commission in 1994 issued a notice of two violations for 
discriminating against two employees. The latest NRC directive, 
dated March 5, said the investigation calls into question whether 
past efforts to alleviate the ''chilling effect'' at the reactor 
have worked.

 In a letter to University of Missouri-Columbia chancellor 
Richard Wallace, the NRC gave the university 60 days to explain 
in writing why employees appear to be reluctanct to report safety 
problems

 The NRC says the response must include an evaluation of past 
efforts to alleviate workers' apprehensions and any needed 
improvements. NRC spokesman Jan Strasma said the agency will 
consider the outside assessment and then decide whether further 
inspections or intervention is necessary.

 The university will arrange for an external review team to 
evaluate procedures intended to make sure employees feel free 
raising safety concerns, university spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken 
said.

 Late last year, the university was cited for two low-level 
federal safety violations, but no fines were issued. Those 
violations spurred the most recent investigation in which 
employees and administrators were interviewed.
   
All Contents ŠCopyright 2000*Hannibal Courier-Post* 
*****************************************************************
 6  MU research reactor workers scared to report safety issues

[News Tribune State News] 
 
 Monday, March 12, 2001
 
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- An external review team will evaluate 
procedures at the University of Missouri Research Reactor after 
an investigation revealed employees were afraid they would face 
retaliation if they reported safety issues.

 The determination from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
substantiated an anonymous charge. The notice of the 
substantiation carries no sanction, but the NRC has cited the 
university in the past for that violation.

 The commission in 1994 issued a notice of two violations for 
discriminating against two employees. The latest NRC directive, 
dated March 5, said the investigation calls into question whether 
past efforts to alleviate the "chilling effect" at the reactor 
have worked.

 In a letter to University of Missouri-Columbia chancellor 
Richard Wallace, the NRC gave the university 60 days to explain 
in writing why employees appear to be reluctanct to report safety 
problems

 The NRC says the response must include an evaluation of past 
efforts to alleviate workers' apprehensions and any needed 
improvements. NRC spokesman Jan Strasma said the agency will 
consider the outside assessment and then decide whether further 
inspections or intervention is necessary.

 The university will arrange for an external review team to 
evaluate procedures intended to make sure employees feel free 
raising safety concerns, university spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken 
said in a statement.

 Late last year, the university was cited for two low-level 
federal safety violations, but no fines were issued. Those 
violations spurred the most recent investigation in which 
employees and administrators were interviewed.

     All Contents ŠCopyright 2001 *News Tribune Co.* All rights 
*****************************************************************
 7  Energy sites illuminating

modbee.com | 

 
  [modbee.com] 

Mar. 16, 2001 

Energy sites illuminating 
By REID KANALEY 
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS 

*(Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2001)* 

In what began as a search for Web sites to help explain nuclear 
fission and fusion for homework, we got sidetracked in the hoopla 
about California's energy crisis. 

ABCS OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE (www.lbl.gov/abc/) -- This site, designed 
for classroom use, describes the basics of nuclear science. It 
also provides a list of simple experiments to explain, among 
other scary things, that many household items, such as pottery 
glaze, glass crystal and smoke detectors, are radioactive. 

CALIFORNIA TIPS (www.consumerenergycenter.org/flex/index.html) -- 
On to California, where keeping the bulbs glowing was the problem 
of the day. The tips offered here for home energy conservation 
are brought by the embattled California Energy Commission, which 
is not above recommending that you keep a flashlight handy. The 
commission is also taking suggestions, via the Web site, on 
energy-saving tips that the bureaucrats may have missed. 

COLD FUSION (www.scientificamerican.com/ask 
expert/physics/physics6.html) -- Twelve years ago this month, a 
couple of scientists in Utah claimed they had evidence of a 
fusion reaction taking place in water at room temperature -- 
so-called cold fusion. The implications for energy production 
were immense, but alas, nobody could duplicate the experiment, 
and most scientists remain skeptical. Still, die-hards keep at 
it. 

END OF THE WORLD (www.alice.pangea.ca/~het/catastro phes.html) -- 
Here is a site that lumps an energy crisis with end-of-the-world 
scenarios including asteroid impacts and global disease. Take 
your pick and hunker down. 

 Copyright Š The Modesto Bee.  
*****************************************************************
 8  Northeast Utilities Sues Con Edison 
                                       
Monday March 12 5:41 PM ET
 

By Jim Brumm

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU - news) on 
Monday sued Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE:ED - news) for more 
than $1 billion for pulling out of a merger that would have 
created the largest natural gas and power distribution utility in 
the United States.

Last week Con Edison went to court seeking to void the merger 
pact the companies signed in October 1999, citing the risk in 
fixed price power sales contracts taken on by Northeast 
Utilities' unregulated power marketing and trading subsidiary, 
Select Energy.

Each company has called the other's suit ``without merit.''

On the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), Northeast 
Utilities shares closed unchanged at $18.30, while Con Edison 
shares closed down 5 cents to $36.39.

A week ago, Hartford, Conn.-based Northeast Utilities said Con 
Edison was unwilling to go through with the deal under the terms 
in the original agreement. Northeast Utilities called this a 
breech of the merger agreement and said it would file suit to 
obtain the benefits of the merger pact for its shareholders, with 
or without a merger.

Since then, Northeast Utilities' shares have traded as low as 
$18.21, their lowest price since February 2000, about four months 
after the merger agreement was reached.

Under the merger pact, Northeast's shares would be valued at 
$26.84 each if the transaction closed on or after April 10. The 
increase from the $25 price agreed to in October 1999 is due to 
an agreement to sell the utility's nuclear assets and agreed-to 
payments for delays in the transaction.

The Northeast Utilities lawsuit, filed in federal court in 
Manhattan, states that the cash and stock price of its 
outstanding common has risen to more than $3.7 billion from less 
than $3.3 billion when the original agreement was reached.

Northeast Utilities spokesman Jeff Kotkin said the increase is 
due to the increase in shares outstanding, following the 
company's acquisition of Yankee Energy, as well as the higher 
value per share.

He said the total value of the transaction, including Northeast 
Utilities' debt and preferred stock, has increased to $7.75 
billion from the $7.5 billion.

MERGER PREMIUM OF THAN $1 BILLION

Northeast Utilities' suit says this results in a merger premium 
of more than $1 billion over the price at which the company's 
shares traded prior to the announcement of the merger.

The suit seeks to recover this premium as well as the company's 
costs seeking approval of the merger and the value of business 
opportunities lost due to restrictions imposed by the merger 
agreement. It asks that the full amount be determined by a jury 
trial. Last Tuesday, the day after Northeast Utilities alleged 
breech of contract, New York-based Con Edison countered with a 
suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District 
of New York seeking a declaratory judgement that Northeast 
Utilities had failed to meet the conditions of the merger 
agreements, along with a ruling Con Edison has no further 
obligations under the 16-month-old agreement.

If the judgements Con Edison sought were granted, lawyers said, 
this would effectively end the agreement to merge the two 
companies to form natural gas and power distribution utility 
serving 6.4 million customers from New York City to Canada.

Northeast Utilities has described that suit as without merit and 
it is not mentioned in the suit the Hartford, Conn.-based utility 
filed with the same court Monday.

In Monday's response to Northeast Utilities suit, Con Edison 
reiterates earlier statements, saying it ``has at all times been 
and remains in compliance with the terms of its merger agreement 
with Northeast Utilities.'' Spokesman Michael Clendenin said the 
company would not elaborate on the brief statement, even to 
comment on its litany of agreement violations stretching back to 
last October.

Analyst Questions Coned's Perception Of Risk

In that suit, Con Edison cited Northeast Utilities' proxy last 
month for a $263 million senior note issue that said Select 
Energy has power under contract only through this year to meet 
contracts extending through 2003. But Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown 
utility analyst James Dobson called this a ``strange'' argument, 
adding he's ``try to figure out ConEd's legal strategy.'' Select 
is ``not being hurt by being short'' of power supplies for 2002 
and 2003, Dobson continued, saying that his report on U.S. 
Electricity Supply &Demand Outlook being distributed this week 
projects New England will have adequate to excess power supplies 
both years.

ISO New England, the agency that operates the region's power 
transmission lines, has said it could be making power sales into 
New York as early as this summer.

Northeast Utilities' suit said Con Edison also cited the decline 
in the stock price of NEON Communications (NasdaqNM:NOPT - news), 
a telecommunications company both utilities have invested in.

NEON's stock, which traded at an all-time high of $159 a share in 
February 2000, dropped as low as $3-1/2 on Dec. 21, 2000. Monday 
afternoon it was trading at 5-3/8, off 9/16.

The suit said $100 million in potential earnings have been 
identified in addition to the undisclosed gains seen at the time 
of the original announcement when Con Edison said the merger 
would add to its earnings per share in the first full year after 
closing. 

  Copyright Š 2001 ., and Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 9  NRC needs a quantitative risk assessment course                                                                                          

News for government contracting professionals

Govcon .com 

-->3/12/2001            

*Contractor to prepare and present a five-day course.*

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) licenses and inspects fuel 
cycle licensees to assure that operations are conducted in 
compliance with federal regulations and license conditions and to 
identify conditions which might adversely affect the health and 
safety of the public or the environment. In support of this 
mission, the NRC Associate Director for Training and Development 
(ADTD) conducts, sponsors, and provides assistance in obtaining 
specialized technical training programs to maintain and increase 
the technical competence of its inspectors and licensing 
personnel.

 The objective of this procurement is to develop a course on 
quantitative frequency analysis methods for risk assessment and 
layer of protection analysis for NRC fuel cycle inspectors and 
licensing personnel. The course shall provide NRC inspectors and 
license reviewers with an understanding of facility and process 
risk assessments, particularly with regard to the commercial fuel 
cycle facilities regulated by NRC under 10 CFR Part 70. The 
course shall present the hazard identification and risk 
assessment methods used for quantitative analysis of chemical 
process systems, structures, and components and consequences and 
likelihood of potential accidents. Input to Department of Energy 
(DOE) safety analysis reports (SARs) and quantitative risk 
assessments (QRAs) should also be discussed.

 The contractor shall provide the necessary qualified personnel, 
materials, and services to develop and present a training course 
of approximately five days duration focusing on quantitative 
frequency analysis methods of layer of protection analysis for 
hazard evaluation and risk assessment. The course will be 
presented at least twice during the period of performance of the 
purchase order, with the option to present a third course. A 
firm-fixed price purchase order will be negotiated. The period of 
performance is two years from the effective date of the purchase 
order. The actual dates of the courses will be mutually agreed 
upon between the contractor and the NRC Project Officer.

 This is not a Request for Quotation (RFQ). Quotations for this 
requirement may be submitted by all concerns, i.e., large 
businesses, small businesses, and small businesses owned and 
controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged 
individuals. The NAICS code for this procurement is 611430. The 
size standard for this requirement is an average annual receipts 
of $5 million over the past three years. Interested parties shall 
submit written requests for this solicitation to Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of 
Contracts and Property Management, 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD, 20852-2738. Telephone requests will not be 
honored. The NRC anticipates that the RFQ will be issued on or 
about March 23, with a closing date of 10 days after the issue 
date. The solicitation number is RS-DR-01-0205.
 
<b>www.govcon.com</b>                                                   
*****************************************************************
 10  NRC to Meet with Public to Discuss Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel 
at Diablo Canyon

 Region IV -- 2001- 10 -- 

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC 
AFFAIRS, REGION IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 
76011  
 
  No. IV-01-010     March 13, 2001  

  CONTACT:       Breck Henderson
 Phone: 817-860-8128
 Cellular: 817-917-1227

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public 
on Tuesday, March 20, to discuss the licensing and regulatory 
program that will govern plans to construct and operate a dry 
cask storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Diablo Canyon 
nuclear power plant near Avila Beach, Calif.
 
The meeting will be at the San Luis Obispo Public Library, 995 
Palm Street, from 6 - 10 p.m. The evening will begin with an 
"open house" at 6 p.m. at which the public can meet with NRC 
officials informally. At 7 p.m. the NRC will make a brief 
presentation. The agency also has invited representatives from 
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to provide an overview of the planned 
facility, and the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning 
and Building to discuss its environmental review process. These 
presentations will be followed by a public question and comment 
period.
 
NRC officials will be available for press interviews from 6 - 7 
p.m., or after the meeting, which is expected to conclude no 
later than 10 p.m.
 
Spent nuclear fuel is the waste left when the fissionable uranium 
atoms in nuclear fuel have split to generate the intense heat 
that makes nuclear reactors possible. The waste is in the form of 
small ceramic pellets stacked inside long, cylindrical metal 
tubes called fuel rods. The rods are assembled in bundles 
containing as many as 256 rods each. 

Spent fuel at Diablo Canyon is currently stored under water in 
spent fuel pools. However, spent fuel pool storage capacity is 
limited, and plant managers are seeking permission to move some 
of the spent fuel into an independent, dry storage facility 
consisting of large steel and concrete containers. Dry cask 
storage is intended to be a temporary storage solution pending 
construction of a permanent repository, which is the 
responsibility of the Department of Energy. DOE is investigating 
the suitability of a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for 
construction of the permanent repository. 

###
*****************************************************************
 11  NWTRB to Discuss Using Multiple Lines of Evidence To Evaluate the 
Safety of the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository
    
*March 9, 2001
 For Immediate Release*
 
An ad hoc panel of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board 
(Board) will meet on Friday, April 13, 2001 in Arlington, 
Virginia, to discuss the ways in which multiple lines of evidence 
might be used to increase confidence in the performance 
assessments of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository for 
high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.  The meeting 
is open to the public.  An opportunity for public comment will be 
provided.  The Board is charged by Congress with reviewing the 
technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the 
Department of Energy (DOE) related to civilian radioactive waste 
management. 

The meeting will be held at the Arlington Hilton Hotel; 950 North 
Stafford Street; Arlington, Virginia, 22203.  The telephone 
number for the hotel is 703-528-6000; the fax number is 
703-812-5127.  The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m.; it is 
scheduled to end at 3:30 p.m.
 
The meeting will begin with a presentation by a representative of 
the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management in DOE on 
work already completed or under way to develop multiple lines of 
evidence.  Members of the Boards ad hoc panel, several experts 
from DOE, and three outside consultants retained by the Board 
will then make short presentations of their views on how multiple 
line of evidence might be developed and used to increase 
confidence in the performance assessments of the proposed Yucca 
Mountain repository.   The rest of the meeting will be devoted to 
informal discussion of various issues associated with developing 
multiple lines of evidence.
 
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Arlington Hilton Hotel.  
When making a reservation, please state that you are attending 
the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board meeting.  For more 
information, contact the NWTRB, Dr. Daniel Metlay, Senior 
Professional Staff; 2300 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 1300; 
Arlington, VA 22201-3367; (tel) 703-235-4473; (fax) 703-235-4495; 
(e-mail) metlay@nwtrb.gov.
 
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, created by Congress in 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, evaluates the 
technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the 
Secretary of Energy related to managing the disposal of the 
nation's spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.  In 
the same legislation, Congress directed the DOE to characterize a 
site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to determine its suitability as 
the location of a potential repository for the permanent disposal 
of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
 
 
Comments to webmaster@nwtrb.gov 
*****************************************************************
 12  New nuclear power plants to be built 

China plans to build new nuclear power plants in its coastal 
provinces over the coming five years, said officials attending 
the ongoing Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's 
Congress (NPC). 

"The 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) lists the construction of 
nuclear plants within the period, though the exact number has not 
yet been decided," said Jiang Xinxiong, deputy director of the 
Finance Commission of the NPC Standing Committee. 

Jiang said Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces are 
currently applying for permission to build nuclear plants. 

Zan Yunlong, an NPC deputy and chairman of the China Guangdong 
Nuclear Power Group, said the province has put forward two 
proposals for nuclear plants - the construction of two new 
generating units with a combined installed capacity of 2 million 
kilowatts in the Daya Bay nuclear plant and the construction of a 
nuclear plant with an installed capacity of 6 million kilowatts 
in Yangjiang. 

The Daya Bay proposal is expected to require an investment of 
more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) and the Yangjiang 
plant is expected to cost up to 70 billion yuan (US$8.5 billion). 

Shandong Province also wants to build a US$3 billion nuclear 
power plant with a total installed capacity of 2 million 
kilowatts in Haiyang. 

The province obtained letters of intent for the financing of the 
plant in 1999, "but the scheme is still waiting for State 
approval," said Lin Shuxiang, director of the Development 
Planning Commission of Shandong Province. 

Lu Wenzhou, vice-director of the Development Planning Commission 
of Zhejiang Province, said his province is planning to build a 
nuclear plant with an installed capacity of more than 2 million 
kilowatts in Sanmen. 

The location of new nuclear power plants will be governed by the 
location of existing plants. The idea is to place the new ones 
near the existing ones to achieve an "effect of scale," Jiang 
said. 

Zan said odds favour Guangdong, adding that a nuclear plant with 
a total installed capacity of 900,000 kilowatts is already in 
operation in Daya Bay and another 2-million-kilowatt plant is 
under construction in Ling'ao, Guangdong Province. 

The 300,000-kilowatt Qinshan Nuclear Plant, another nuclear plant 
presently in operation, is located in Zhejiang Province. 

With a total installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts, the 
Qinshan and the operating Daya Bay plants produce around 14 
billion kilowatt-hours annually, or 1 per cent of the country's 
total power output, much lower than the world's average of 17 per 
cent. 

Currently, four nuclear power projects, which will have a total 
installed capacity of 6,600 megawatts, are under construction in 
China. 

Analysts say the nuclear plants are expected to optimize the 
power mix and improve environmental conditions in the 
power-hungry coastal regions.

 *Date: 03/13/2001* *Author: XIE YE, China Daily staff* 
*CopyrightŠ by China Daily* 
*****************************************************************
 13  This Is The Republicans' Big Chance 
                                       
Monday March 12 06:52 PM EST 
 
 *By Richard Reeves*

 WASHINGTON -- It looked as if someone took the "bi" out of 
bipartisanship last Thursday as every single one of the 220 
Republicans in the House of Representatives marched in lockstep 
to vote for President Bush's tax-cut plan. If the 10 Democrats 
who joined them are what amounts to bipartisanship these days, by 
my count the House is less than 2 percent "bi."

So much for the new respectful bipartisanship promised by the new 
president, who was out campaigning against Democrats when the 
vote was taken, which is EXACTLY what Bill Clinton did when he 
was hustling up a little "bi."

Meanwhile, back in the White House, the boys were trying to 
dismantle Clinton's new workplace safety regulations concerned 
with such things as crippling repetitive motion, which we now 
know can destroy humans as surely as asbestos or toxic waste.

Most important perhaps was the president's dismissal of the idea 
that it might be in the national interest of the United States -- 
and of South Korea, too -- to stop the North Koreans from trying 
to make nuclear missiles. Possibly the most important decision 
Bush has made so far is to tell both his secretary of state, 
Colin Powell, and the president of South Korea, Kim Dae Jung, 
that he is not interested in continuing the talks President 
Clinton began with the North Koreans about paying them off in 
some way to stop trying to build (and sell) long-range nuclear 
missiles.

 A believer in vast right-wing conspiracy theories might jump to 
the conclusion that our new leader prefers the threat of North 
Korean missiles to having no plausible reason to continue touting 
a national missile defense for the 21st century. After all, the 
missile shield Bush has been pushing is designed to protect us 
all from North Korean rogue-state tin-can missiles. No missiles, 
no shields.

You can feel a hardening of lines in Washington. Deadlock ahead 
-- again. The new president is looking more and more like a very 
ordinary conservative Republican. He is not unlikable, but he is 
not imaginative either -- and, unfortunately, not the flexible, 
listening man he has claimed to be.

But, bad grammar aside, he is not stupid, and neither are the 
Republican lock-steppers on the Hill. They are seizing the 
moment, recognizing that they were extremely lucky to maintain 
control of both houses of Congress and of the White House in one 
of the wackiest elections in history. This could be a short-lived 
peak of Republican power. If not now, when? If not us, who?

It may not get better than this for the Republicans. The people 
beyond the Beltway are still inclined to give the new president a 
chance, no matter how he got there. But tides, fast and slow, are 
running against the party in power. Without being too morbid 
about it, The New York Times this week became the first of the 
journalistic biggies to write at length about what Washington is 
actually talking about: Strom Thurmond's health. The South 
Carolina Republican, 46 years in the Senate, is 98 years old and 
obviously failing. The governor of his state, Jim Hodges, who 
will appoint a new senator if Thurmond quits (unlikely) or dies, 
is a Democrat. If he appoints a fellow Democrat to the equally 
divided Senate, that could be the end of the Republican moment.

The slower tide that worries Republicans is reflected in the new 
census figures indicating rapid growth of the American Hispanic 
population, which has just become the nation's largest minority, 
greater in number than black America. Most Hispanics vote 
Democratic, though not as solidly as blacks do, and they are 
going to be a much larger part of the population in years to 
come. The political complexion of the United States is changing.

So the Republicans are moving fast, trying to put as much of 
their agenda into law as fast as they can. They are beginning 
with a tax cut that will outlive their current majority. Their 
real goal is not to stimulate the economy, which would be nice, 
but to cut back the size and power of government by cutting off 
the oxygen of tax revenues. What they hope for is to lock in 10 
years of tax-cutting with only a couple of weeks of fast work -- 
work they'll call bipartisan.

  Copyright Š 2001 and Universal Press Syndicate. Distributed by 
*****************************************************************
 14  Nuclear Power Corp to issue Rs 200-cr bonds 

13 March 2001 : 

The Times of India 

200-cr bonds 				

 MUMBAI: The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation will make two 
separate private placements of secured non-convertible bonds this 
week to raise at least Rs 200 crore ($42.96 million), according 
to merchant bankers to the issues. 

Both issues will be priced through book-building, they said. 

The first issue, which was launched on Monday, is a seven-year 
infrastructure bond with tax benefits under Section 10 (23) G of 
the Income-Tax Act and a five-year put and call option offered at 
a book-building range of 9.75-10.0 per cent. 

It has an issue size of Rs 50 crore with an unspecified greenshoe 
option, arrangers to the issue said. 

The second issue, which will open on Tuesday, is a five-year 
taxable bond with staggered redemption at the end of the third, 
fourth and fifth years in the ratio 30, 35 and 35 per cent. It 
has a yield band of 10.25-10.75 per cent. It has an issue size of 
Rs 150 crore with an unspecified greenshoe option. Coupons on 
both bonds are payable annually. 

The corporation can raise a maximum of Rs 430 crore through the 
two issues, merchant bankers said. 

Both issues have a AAA rating by Crisil. The lead and 
coordinating book-runners to the issue are Darashaw and Company 
and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company. 

Lead arrangers to the issue are JMMorgan Stanley, ICICI 
Securities and Finance Company and R R Financial Consultants. 

Nuclear Power Corporation manages the country's nuclear power 
plants.

(Reuters) 

*****************************************************************
 15  Shell 'Challenge'
 
 Background.
 
Following the collapse of Shell's Narrative, Shell and its 
lawyers have consistently refused (despite repeated requests) to 
stand by/restate the Group's previous official position (lies) - 
that it did not have/house a nuclear reactor/testing cell on/at 
its Thornton/Stanlow site.   

Shell's lawyers -D J Freeman opening letter of the 11 August 
2000, demanded that I include Freedmans (opening) letter, with 
my court files.  However, as Freeman/Shells said letter 
contained a number of further lies, I requested that either 
Shell's legal head, its chairman Mark Moody Stuart, or Freemans 
senior media partner-Marcus Rutherford, forward a statement of 
truth (as per court requirement) in support of the said letter 
all refused!   This proved to be somewhat embarrassing. 

Now, the same 'ethical' people, having got their fingers burnt, 
have instructed a junior member of Freeman's staff, Sajjad Nabi, 
to write letter(s) threatening my WEB providers, in furtherance 
of Shells efforts to get this site closed.  'Nabi's' said letter 
included the following:
 
*The website *(nuclearcrimes)* contains a number of false and 
defamatory allegations against our clients including an assertion 
that they operated a nuclear reactor in the 1960s at their 
Thornton research centre and that the demolition of this 
fictitious reactor represented a serious hazard to public 
safety.   *

The above is an absolute lie, made in the expectation that I 
(John Dyer) would not see the letter, which, incidentally is 
meaningless, as Freeman's letter begins by stating that it was 
written on behalf of Shell International and associate 
companies.  Consequently, the above is worthless as Shell 
International Limited (the 'associate companies' are not defined) 
has no standing in this matter, hence, Freeman's can 'correctly' 
state the above with impunity. However, the quote affords the 
illusion of a denial, as per intent.
 
With this in mind I have now written (20/12/00) to Shell's legal 
head, and its Chairman requesting that they restate (as per 
Shells 7 February 1994, Narrative): -  

*(a) Shell Thornton was not involved in atomic research (page 
1). *

*(b) Thornton did not house a nuclear facility. * *Thornton 
did not and never has housed a pile or reactor.* * (page 2).   *

(c) We do not understand what you mean by atomic research for 
military purposes.     

(d) We have already explained that Thornton was not involved in 
any atomic research (page 2).   

My challenge to Shell is that on receipt of either Shell's Legal 
Head or its Chairman's  denial, asserting that no Shell, or 
associated company, housed/utilised a nuclear reactor/testing 
cell at/on Thornton Research Centre/Stanlow site in the 1960s.  
I shall publish via this WEB site a secret Shell patent of the 
Thornton reactor!   I await Shell's 'official' denial (don't 
hold your breath). 

--
 
Shell's legal head, Richard Max Wiseman,  and its Chairman, Mark 
Moody-Stuart have (in response to the challenge) refused to 
forward a Statement of Truth. Instead Shell's solicitors-D J 
Freeman, were instructed.   However, Freeman's not only refused 
to (re)state that no Shell company housed/utilised a nuclear 
reactor/testing cell, as per request/challenge, they further 
declined to repeat the previous Sajjad Nabi/Freeman *'fictitious 
reactor'*  line/lie (as contained in the said threats to my WEB 
providers).  Instead the Group's lawyers have returned to its 
minimalist  our clients continue to deny the truth of the 
allegations line.  However, without defining who Freeman's 
clients are, its absolutely meaningless.  Consequently, I have 
requested that Freeman's state precisely who their clients are, 
together with detailed statement of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's 
official position regarding to this matter.   

Moreover, Freeman's letter is instructive in that it amply 
demonstrates Shell's 'Brazen it out admit nothing' policy.  
Having refused to forward a Statement of Truth/official denial, 
Shell, without sight, or knowledge of the said patent. duly 
instruct their solicitors to rubbish the unseen, therefore 
unknown evidence!  

This is unsurprising, for alongside its policy of personal abuse 
and vilification, runs the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's rubbishing 
of the evidence agenda.  The glaring exception being its said 
Narrative.  Which was constructed in 1994, utilizing my 
(forwarded/received) evidence. The multinational aware of the 
actual truth, with a television programme imminent, knowingly, 
deliberately fabricated at highest director level its fraudulent 
sham Narrative, of the 7 February 1994, in order stop (kill) the 
television programme.  Nothing changes.  As I informed Shell's 
legal head (who (now) maintains that Shells said Narrative 
was/is a 'honest mistake' i.e. parts of it are 'true') however: 

For if (parts) the Narrative was true then my evidence must be 
counterfeit, the witnesss liars, and numerous official and other 
documents forgeries!  The decommission personnel must have 
conspired with dozens of others, including former Shell 
employees, forged and planted documents on several continents in 
order to fabricate one of the most complex and sophisticated 
conspiracies in history.  Why, they even managed to get inside 
the German, French and Belgium, to name three, patent offices and 
place highly technical counterfeit copies of their work.  They 
not only fooled the patent examiners and myself, moreover they 
must have had secretly planted moles inside the Shell 
organisation to intercept, and reply, to the patent examiners 
mail!  In addition, if this was not enough, on top of all of 
this, the lads paid Shells and others application fees and 
in the case of those patents which proceeded, the annual patent 
fees, which as you know, are exponential.  In addition, there 
you are, innocent owners of patents that you had no idea  or 
knowledge of.  

Not content with stopping there, these Master Forgers, agree to 
publicly go on national television, I actually interviewed them 
with a full crew, camera, sound, lights complete with a producer 
in attendance, in presumably furtherance of there conspiracy 
against Shell, they repeat the most outrageous claims direct to 
camera, ready for national, and international, transmission. 
Deliberate, for make no mistake these people are knowingly lying 
if your Narrative is true.  

No question of them misunderstanding, misremembering, or 
otherwise being mistaken arises.  These people have made the most 
shocking allegations, involving very substantial cash payments, 
by Shell, to known criminals in order for them to carry out 
wholesale dumping of nuclear waste (for the record the criminal 
himself  has in some detail authenticated to me the events 
leading up to, how they were contacted, cash payments. etc, and 
the actual events at Shell Thornton site/job).  These 
allegations could leave the people making the allegations, 
themselves open to prosecution.  Yet six years on, you have not 
called in the police.  In my last, and previous, letter I 
offered to jointly interview these people- you refuse(d).'
 
Shell's lawyers have (4 January 2001) responded.  Again refusing, 
in the face of the supplied evidence, to reaffirm the Shell 
operated/housed a nuclear reactor denial, and/or repeat the 
previous denials that the Royal Dutch Group carried out the 
nuclear research programmes -as set out.  Freeman's (Shell) now,  
contests that (Shell(?) were/are legally required to supply a 
Statement of Truth.   Freeman's, in responding, have again 
refused to confirm/state who they represent in this matter- 
consequently, as  informed Shell's(?) solicitors refusal to state 
who it's clients are, renders Freeman's  current and previous 
letters- worthless.    
  
Following my reply (correcting Freeman's apparent ignorance 
regarding the Statement of Truth court procedure), the challenge 
to the Royal Dutch/Shell Group Shell remains.  That on receipt of 
either Shell's Legal Head or its Chairmans denial, asserting 
that no Shell, or associated company, housed/utilised a nuclear 
reactor/testing cell at/on Thornton Research Centre/Stanlow site 
in the 1960s.  I shall publish via this WEB site a secret 
Shell patent of the actual Thornton nuclear reactor!   I again 
await Shell's 'official' denial. 

A 'reply' has (9 January 2001)  been received, by which,, well 
see for yourselves.

In view of Freemans continuing assistance in Royal Dutch/Shells 
in covering up the Group's nuclear dumpings and other criminal 
acts, I have now 'advised' Freeman's of - The Law Societys Guide 
to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors-   16.02 Circumstances 
which override confidentiality. 
 
Drawing Freeman's attention to its reasonability's and 
professional 'behavior' has resulted a response.  
 
Replying, I note that Royal Dutch/Shell again refuses to 
restate/stand by its (Thornton had) 'no nuclear reactor' 
Narrative proclamations.   I further note that despite the issued 
threats that Shell (would have) *no hesitation in protecting 
their reputation from defamatory attacks- *Shell has refused to 
issue any of its threatened 'writs'.  For instance, the March 
edition of .net magazine not only publishes details of this 
Site,  it graphically shows a nuclear radiation worker (twice) - 
full protective outfit, including breathing apparatus, armed with 
a Geiger counter (as per Shells actual Thornton decommissioning) 
-it could hardly be more defamatory to the Royal Dutch Group.  
Yet despite Shell's issued threats, Shell and its representatives 
are now reduced, to quote the said article, to the indignity of 
refusing to comment.    
    
Shell's lawyers 'respond' with a 'we have nothing to add' 
letter-the Royal Dutch/Shell Group again refusing (having now 
seen the outline of my evidence) to restate/stand by its 'no 
nuclear reactor' Narrative proclamations (lies)!
   
*****************************************************************
 16  Armenia's Nuclear Dilemma 

Institute for War &Peace Reporting
 
Yerevan is resisting calls to decommission its only nuclear power 
plant - an obsolete legacy of the Soviet era

By Susanna Petrosian in Yerevan (CRS No. 73, 9-Mar-01)

European leaders are urging Armenia to shut down its aging 
nuclear power station - named by Newsweek as one of the six most 
dangerous reactors in the world.

However, Yerevan is loathe to sacrifice the only nuclear plant in 
the South Caucasus which currently produces around 40 per cent of 
the nation's electricity.

And government ministers - still haunted by the energy crisis of 
1992-1995 - are refusing to decommission the station until 
alternative energy sources have been established.

The Armenian Nuclear Power Station (ANPS) was temporarily closed 
in March 1989, four months after the former Soviet republic was 
devastated by an earthquake. Three years later, the European 
Union called on governments across the CIS to dismantle any 
"unreliable" Soviet installations - including the VVER-40 near 
Yerevan.

However, the Armenian government was very aware that nuclear 
energy would guarantee the nation a large degree of 
self-sufficiency and the ANPS was reopened in November 1995.

The then prime minister, Grant Bagratian, commented, "The nuclear 
power station puts Armenia ahead of all the other countries in 
the region." 

Today the station produces two billion kilowatt hours of 
electricity annually, enabling Armenia to export the excess to 
neighbouring Georgia. There are even plans afoot to supply 
electricity to Turkey in the event of a political rapprochement.

However, the Europeans have continued to keep up pressure on 
Yerevan. In September 1999, representatives from Armenia and the 
European Union signed a preliminary agreement to close the ANPS 
over the next five years. And the issue was raised by Sweden's 
foreign minister, Anna Lindh, during a recent European Union 
visit to Yerevan.

The Armenian Green party has joined the calls for the ANPS to be 
closed. Party leader Akop Sanasarian claims that the reactor is 
located on a seismic fault and, given its proximity to Yerevan, a 
possible earthquake could have tragic consequences.

But the authorities are quick to play down the risks. When in 
1999 the ANPS featured on Newsweek's list of the world's six most 
dangerous reactors, Ashot Avsepian, secretary of the president's 
council on safety at the plant, said that safety standards had 
been approved by specialists from Russia, England, France, 
Germany and Finland.

And ANPS director Suren Azatian says, "The life expectancy of a 
nuclear reactor is defined by the condition of its metal casing 
which was built to last 30 years. The ANPS has only been in 
operation for 14 years, which leaves another 16."

He believes that nuclear energy alone can ensure Armenia a degree 
of self-sufficiency in the region. "It is unthinkable that the 
nation's main energy source should depend on deliveries of oil or 
gas," said Azatian. Energy minister Karen Galustian supports this 
opinion. He said that, if the ANPS were shut down, around 80 per 
cent of the nation's electricity would have to come from 
fuel-burning power stations with the rest produced by 
hydroelectric plants.

"Self-sufficiency is a very serious question for Armenia," said 
Galustian.

"Decommissioning the ANPS would be equivalent to abandoning this 
advantage." He stressed that the proposed closure of the ANPS in 
2004 would be possible only if alternative energy sources were 
already in place. This would call for substantial investment and 
he doubted that the necessary funds could be raised in the time 
available.

Other alternatives include a gas pipeline from Iran and a fifth 
unit at the Razdanskaya power station. But work on the former has 
yet to begin whilst financing for the latter has run out.

The European Union is devoting considerable efforts to solving 
Armenia's energy problems. This month, a conference in Yerevan 
will focus on plans for building new power stations with an 
equivalent output to the ANPS.

But Russia dismisses the EU's fears. The Russian nuclear power 
minister, Yevgeny Adamov, denies there is any pressing need to 
close the ANPS, claiming that all the Soviet nuclear reactors 
passed safety checks in 1992, six years after the accident at 
Chernobyl.

 "What's more important here," he asked, "politics or economics? 
Nothing has gone wrong in all these years. Then the Soviet Union 
collapsed and someone thought it was a suitable moment to put 
political pressure on the former Soviet republics. There are 
similar reactors in operation in Hungary and Finland but no one 
calls them dangerous or demands that they be closed down." Some 
observers believe Russia is ready to help reopen the second unit 
at the ANPS which would enable the reactor to produce up to 40 
per cent of the nation's electricity. 

Meanwhile, plans for developing the nuclear energy sector in 
Armenia enjoy a growing following. According to an agreement 
between the Armenian government and MAGATE, development 
programmes for the next 30 years include blueprints for two 
nuclear-powered units with an average output of 500-700 
Megawatts. Experts from the State Atomic Inspectorate, which 
controls the ANPS, say that a new nuclear power station would 
require capital investment equivalent to $1,200 per kilowatt hour 
but the facility would pay for itself in just 10 years.

Sources within the Armenian energy ministry claim that firms from 
Germany and America are prepared to finance the construction of a 
new power plant regardless of their governments' position.

It is also interesting to note that the Armenian population, 
which supported moves to close the ANPS in 1989, now believes 
nuclear power to be the lesser evil. Not least because nuclear 
electricity is substantially cheaper than any known alternative 
and family budgets have never been so tight.

Susanna Petrosian is a journalist for the Armenian new agency 
Noyan Tapan 

    IWPR gratefully acknowledges the support of the UK National 
Lotteries Charities Board
 
Š Institute for War &Peace Reporting Lancaster House, 33 
Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, UK Tel: +44 (207) 713 7130     
Fax: +44 (207) 713 7140
*****************************************************************
 17  Russia Plans Floating Nuclear Plant
 
March 13, 2001 
 
MOSCOW (AP) - An Atomic Energy Ministry spokesman said Tuesday 
that Russia will build a floating nuclear power plant, the latest 
indication the country intends to go ahead with plans for a 
project it has mentioned repeatedly in the past. 

The $109 million plant is to be built in Severodvinsk, a military 
port on Russia's northern coast 30 miles west of Archangelsk, and 
will float in the White Sea, said ministry spokesman Yuri 
Bespalko. 

He said the plant would have a generating capacity of 60 
megawatts, but did not provide further details. 

Russia has long expressed interest in using floating plants to 
supply electricity to remote northern and eastern regions, where 
severe weather make construction on land difficult and expensive. 

Bespalko said Tuesday's announcement was a firm commitment and 
that "this may become a prototype for a series of this type of 
station." 

But Bellona, a Norway-based environmental group that closely 
monitors Russia's nuclear programs, was skeptical. Igor Kudrik, a 
researcher in Moscow for Bellona, said he doubted Russia would 
find the money to build the plant - and that if the plan went 
ahead it would be risky. 

Nuclear experts in the United States said the plan to build 
floating nuclear plants was feasible, but expressed concern about 
Russia's ability to build and operate them safely. 

"Russia has a problem with construction quality," said Daniel 
Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer for the Union of Concerned 
Scientists in Washington, D.C. 

He said the first nuclear reactors were designed in the 1950s for 
Navy ships and submarines, and that the United States and Russia 
now have extensive nuclear-powered fleets. He said a floating 
nuclear plant would differ little from a land-based plant, except 
that all the systems woudl have to be smaller. 

Of special concern is the containment shell that would hold 
contaminated water and steam if there was a leak. Other concerns 
include protecting the floating reactor from violent weather, 
high seas and collisions, Lochbaum said. 

Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists 
in Washington, also pointed to the containment structure as a 
cause for concern, saying it would be "very tough" to build one 
sufficiently large and stable on a barge. 

"The temptation to cut corners to make the economics work would 
be huge," he added. 

Lochbaum said the concept of a floating nuclear power plant 
originated in the United States. Westinghouse and other companies 
designed a prototype in the 1970s that was to be located off Cape 
May, N.J., but the project was canceled. Bespalko dismissed 
safety concerns. 

"There are nuclear submarines and icebreakers. The Americans have 
nuclear aircraft carriers," he said. 

Russia now has 10 nuclear plants that produce about 12 percent of 
the nation's electricity. 

All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 18  Radiation fears at new hospital

The Scotsman Online - Scotland's best selling quality national newspaper
 	 	 	 	
Tom Gordon 						 						 						 					 				 						

RADIATION levels around the site of a proposed Glasgow 
super-hospital are up to 50 times higher than at other hospitals 
in the city, The Scotsman can reveal.

 Unusually high levels of caesium 137, which has a half-life of 
30 years and is normally associated with nuclear reactors, were 
found in dust outside the Southern General in Govan, according to 
research carried out at Glasgow University.

 Health campaigners and politicians last night called for the NHS 
Trust which runs the hospital to carry out an immediate 
investigation in an effort to allay patient fears.

 The Southern is expected to undergo a major expansion in the 
next ten years as part of a reorganisation of Glasgow's hospital 
services.

 It is already assimilating services from other sites, and is 
expected to take over the work of the Queen Mother's Maternity 
Hospital at Yorkhill.

 On average, the level of caesium-137 in dust collected from the 
Southern's car park was nine times higher than samples taken 
outside Glasgow's seven other main hospitals.

 It was also 50 times higher than the city's lowest reading, 
taken at Stobhill Hospital in Springburn, and triple the 
second-highest reading, taken at the Victoria Infirmary in 
Langside.

 The source of the radiation is so far unidentified, although the 
car park is understood to have been built on the site of a former 
X-ray unit.

 Ironically, the site is also close to the Scottish headquarters 
of the Government's radiation watchdog, the National Radiological 
Protection Board.

 Margaret Hinds, chair of the Health Service Forum South East, 
said there had to be an immediate and thorough investigation.

 She said: "The hospital's trust need to put people's fears at 
rest. "This is something which will concern patients, especially 
those whose health is not at full strength.

 "However it is also important that people don't panic through a 
lack of knowledge.

 "That is why the trust need to investigate this now."

 Caesium 137 emits the most penetrating form of radiation, known 
as gamma radiation. It was also linked to a variety of cancers 
suffered in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
 
Mohammad Sarwar, Labour MP for Glasgow Govan, said he would write 
to the health minister, Susan Deacon, today asking for an public 
investigation                                 
						 						
*****************************************************************
 19  ANALYSIS - German Greens see vote boost from show of unity
 					   				 				
GERMANY: March 13, 2001
 					   				 				 				
STUTTGART - Germany's Greens have just ended a party congress 
with an unusual display of unity that they hope will translate 
into a resurgent vote at state elections and in next year's 
national polls.                                           
 					   				 				 				 				
Two weeks before the votes in two southern states the ecologist 
party, a partner in Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's coalition 
government, persuaded its grass roots supporters at the tightly 
stage-managed congreess to adopt a pragmatic new stance on 
anti-nuclear policy, a major Green concern.

In a further sign that a decades-long struggle between Greens 
radicals and moderates is coming to an end, a candidate widely 
associated with the left-wing of the party was elected to the 
party's leadership duo with a 91 percent backing.

"This could give us the turnaround in Baden-Wuerttemberg and 
Rhineland-Palatinate we desperately need," said Greens MP Oswald 
Metzger of the March 25 polls, pleased that the congress had been 
held in Stuttgart, regional capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg where 
the party has traditionally done well.

"People watching this congress will have seen a united party. 
Even the couple of upsets we saw will not be registered by the 
public," added Metzger, a party moderate and a leading Green 
finance policy expert.

Delegates voted on Saturday that Greens MPs named as cabinet 
ministers could not remain in parliament in the future. The 
decision, implementing long-cherished notions on the separation 
of powers, has no impact on current Greens ministers like Foreign 
Minister Joschka Fischer.

More dangerous had been moves by some Greens to organise 
blockades against nuclear waste shipments from France, despite 
the fact such transports are permitted by last year's nuclear 
phase-out deal negotiated by Greens Environment Minister Juergen 
Trittin.

 With their credibility at stake, Greens leaders hammered out a 
compromise motion under which party members would merely take 
part in peaceful anti-nuclear protests near the shipments to the 
north German Gorleben storage facility, due to begin days after 
the two state votes.

After a subdued debate - from which anti-nuclear lobbyists who 
had turned up outside the congress were banned - the motion was 
finally accepted by an overwhelming majority.

KEPT IN CHECK BY SCHROEDER

The Greens have unsuccessfully sought since entering government 
in 1998 to broaden their appeal past the six to seven percent of 
the national vote they score in surveys.

Kept in check by Schroeder's Social Democrats, and with much of 
their ecologist ideology now part of the political mainstream, 
the Greens are struggling to hold onto their traditional 
supporters while reaching out to new voter groups.

There has been persistent talk that Schroeder might look to ditch 
the Greens for the small liberal Free Democrats after the 
late-2002 election - speculation that the chancellor has not 
convincingly dismissed.

Hoping to do well in the Baden-Wuerttemberg election where 
incumbent conservatives are struggling to shore up support for a 
colourless state premier, party executives wanted above all to 
avoid the rows that have marked past congresses.

Claudia Roth, an outspoken human rights activist and opponent of 
the 1999 Kosovo war, elected to join moderate Fritz Kuhn as party 
co-leader, pledged not to upset the peace in Schroeder's 
centre-left coalition by pushing her more left-wing agenda to the 
fore.

"The fight between Green 'Fundis' (fundamentalists) and 'Realos' 
(more moderate realists) is no longer such a factor," said Uwe 
Josuttis, a party founding member who now ranks himself as a 
Realo after his days in Germany's 1970s house-squatting scene.

"The debate over Fischer's militant past has if anything brought 
the party together," he added of recent isolated calls for the 
minister's resignation after republished pictures showing him 
hitting a policeman during a 1973 street demo.

Fischer himself, who has never hidden his militant past, received 
long applause after a speech on Europe. "He's strong as never 
before," remarked parliamentary floor leader Rezzo Schlauch of 
the party's de facto front man. But despite the mood of 
self-congratulation at the end of the congress, some delegates 
were left yearning for the excitement of previous, chaotic meets. 
"A fierce debate does no harm," said Gabi Kurenberg, a Green from 
nearby Esslingen. "This congress was a touch on the boring side".                                              
 					   				 				 				 				
Story by Mark John REUTERS NEWS SERVICE                                                    
*****************************************************************
 20  Minatom pretends to increase export
 
 The export value of the Russian Ministry for Nuclear Energy has 
reached the amount of $2.3 billion. The major share came from the 
highly enriched uranium deal between Russia and the USA.
 
Rashid Alimov, Igor Kudrik, 2001-03-12 18:45

The last meeting of the Russian Ministry for Nuclear Energy, 
Minatom, board declared the perspective plans on activities in 
the new market of the Southeast Asia, ministrys press centre 
reported. One of first steps in the region is planned to be 
Russian construction of a research reactor in Myanmar. The 
Myanmar junta is accused by the United States and other Western 
opponents of carrying out a string of human rights abuses, and 
crushing all political oppositions. 

Minatom also continues to fulfil the contracts on construction of 
four reactor units in Iran, China and India. Now the ministry 
prepares the feasibility study on the second unit of the Iranian 
Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr. Both the USA and Israel voiced 
their concern over the Russian project in Iran, suspecting that 
Iran may use the NPP to develop nuclear weapons. 

Minatom is also involved in foreign trade activities with other 
foreign countries. The contracts with the German Siemens on the 
deliveries of nuclear fuel to five reactor units in Germany, two 
units in Switzerland and one in Sweden will be extended. A new 
Russian-Ukrainian-Kazakh enterprise established to manufacture 
fuel for 11 units of the Ukrainian nuclear plants equipped with 
VVER-1000 reactors. 

In the beginning of February, the deliveries of nuclear fuel for 
Indian Tarapur NPP have been resumed. The USA State Department 
has called on Russia to stop this deal, accusing official Moscow 
of the lack of adherence to the nuclear materials 
non-proliferation. The representative of the Indian Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs said in response that India consistently and 
strictly follows the requirements of the International Atomic 
Energy Agency. The total export value of Minatom amounted to $2.3 
billion, which is almost $400 million more than in 1999. 

The major part of the export, however, came from the US-Russian 
deal, under which the USA agreed to buy 500 tonnes of highly 
enriched uranium blended down for burning in American nuclear 
power plants. From June 1995 and through October 2000, the United 
States paid Russia $1.6bn for slightly more that one-fifth of the 
500 tonnes of uranium. The deal is valid from 1993 and until 
2013. 

The other Minatoms contracts abroad are covered through either 
loans or barter agreements, without bringing in the much-desired 
cash.
   
      Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge 
Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: 
webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 
38 38 62  * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway Reuse and 
*****************************************************************
 21  Russian MPs fight nuclear fuel import bills
 
 A group of State Duma members is to resist spent nuclear fuel 
import bills. Nuclear minister, Yevgeny Adamov, tours nuclear 
reprocessing plant verifying readiness to accept foreign spent 
fuel.

  Report of the State Duma   
  
  The Russian State Dumas anti-corruption commission report 
about Adamov's activities is available on Bellona WEB. 

Rashid Alimov, 2001-03-12 17:06

The resistance to the bills favouring spent nuclear fuel imports, 
passed in the first reading in December 2000, is growing in the 
State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament. 

Under the initiative of MP Sergey Apatenko, a group of Duma 
members from various factions was established to fight the 
nuclear bills. Today the group includes 12 MPs, among them member 
of the Duma Legislation Committee, Yuly Rybakov, deputy chairman 
of the Property Committee, Michael Yemelyanov, member of the 
Committee for Energy, Transport and Communication, Vladimir 
Semyonov, and MP Viktor Pokhmelkin from Righteous Forces faction. 

The antinuclear opposition, growing in the Duma, claims, that the 
amendments proposed by the Ministry for Nuclear Energy, or 
Minatom, had not passed the required state environmental 
evaluations before the first reading. It impeded the MPs to 
estimate the real danger of the Minatoms projects. 

Now, after a long delay, new bills, which differ strongly from 
the documents, passed in the first reading, have been put forward 
for an expert commission. New variant of the bill should also 
pass the state environmental evaluations, the MPs say. 

The Energy Committee versus the Anti-corruption Commission 

According to Russian daily Vremya MN, Minatom tries to facilitate 
passing the nuclear import bills in the second reading, allying 
with Dumas Committee for Energy, Transport and Communication. At 
the same time, a scandal is taking off around the private 
commercial activity of the nuclear minister, Yevgeny Adamov. 

Dumas anti-corruption commission, after having verified 
ministers activities, ascertained, that the facts of his 
involvement in commercial activity, while working as the head of 
secret NIKIET Institute and in the capacity of the minister for 
nuclear energy, have found confirmation. 

Anti-corruption commission stated, that Adamovs manpower policy, 
while being in the rank of the minister for the nuclear energy, 
is characterised by the replacement of highly skilled 
professionals with exterior persons connected with him by their 
common enterprise activity. The idea of spent nuclear fuel 
import to Russia, which is actively promoted by Adamov, may also 
be a part of his private commercial interest. 

Duma's anti-corruption commission recommended that all 
information related to Adamovs activities be submitted to the 
President, the Security Council, Russian Federation Government, 
the Federal Security Service, and Prosecutor Generals office. 
The second reading of the spent fuel import bills scheduled for 
February 22nd was postponed until March 22nd. The reason for 
postponement may well be the anti-corruption commission report. 

Adamov inspects Mayak reprocessing plant 

In the meantime, nuclear minister Adamov is arriving to 
Chelyabinsk region on March 16th -17th. The primary purpose of 
this trip will be a visit to the Mayak reprocessing plant, 
located in the closed city of Ozersk, RBC reported. The plant 
specialises on reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear 
power plants and nuclear submarines. Adamov is particularly 
interested in construction of a vitrification plant for highly 
active liquid waste generated during reprocessing. The plant is 
to be launched during the year 2001. Without the vitrification 
plant the reprocessing may halt as the storage tanks for high 
active liquid waste are filling up. 

In case the nuclear fuel import bills are passed, the Mayak plant 
counts on managing the major share of the imported spent fuel.
   
      Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge 
Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: 
webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 
38 38 62  * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
 22  RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT ACCEPTS GREENPEACE PETITION TO INVESTIGATE 
ILLEGAL REJECTION OF SIGNATURES OPPOSING RADIOACTIVE WASTE 
IMPORTS
 
12 March 2001

 Moscow - Greenpeace today welcomed the Russian Supreme Courts 
acceptance of a legal petition challenging the rejection, last 
year, by the Central and Regional Election Committees of some 
600,000 signatures out of 2.5 million calling for a nationwide 
referendum on plans to turn Russia into the worlds nuclear dump. 

Under the Russian constitution the President must call a 
referendum on an issue if more than 2 million signatures are 
collected throughout the country. Last year, representatives of 
Greenpeace, in co-operation with representatives of seven other 
Russian environmental organisations (1), formed an 'initiative 
group' which collected 2,490,042 signatures demanding a 
referendum on proposed changes to Russias Environmental Law 
which prohibits the importation of spent nuclear fuel and 
radioactive waste. 

The Law change, being promoted by Russia's cash-strapped Atomic 
Ministry (MINATOM), is designed to allow Russia to become the 
world's nuclear waste dump. MINATOM believes that over the next 
decade it could import up to 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel 
from countries including Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, 
Taiwan, Korea, China - in contracts worth up to $21 billion. 

The Supreme Court will now investigate evidence submitted by 
Greenpeace that at least 300,000 of the 600,000 discounted 
signatures were rejected illegally. Evidence submitted to the 
Supreme Court by Greenpeace shows that 300,806 of the rejected 
signatures should be reinstated taking the total to 2,174,022. 
For example, 73,662 signatures were rejected because they were 
"corrected without additional authorisation", yet Russian 
legislation forbids only the correction of the date of signature. 

"It is clear that the Election Committees intentionally reduced 
the signatures to below the 2 million threshold for a referendum 
but such crude tactics will not work, the dossier presented to 
the court by Greenpeace unequivocally demonstrates the will of 
the people for a national referendum. A referendum which Minatom 
and its powerful supporters know will destroy their dangerous 
plans to turn Russia into the worlds nuclear dump," said Ivan 
Blokov of Greenpeace Russia. Mayak, the most likely site for 
storage of imported Spent Nuclear Fuel is the world's largest 
nuclear complex and one of the most radioactively contaminated 
sites in the world. According to a statement in 1998 by G.J. 
Dicus, a commissioner for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission: 
"As a result of early operational practices and some accidents at 
Mayak, workers at the plant and populations around the site were 
exposed to unusually large amounts of radiation and radioactive 
materials. In many cases, the doses were comparable to those 
received by survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic 
bombings." 


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
 
- Tobias Muenchmeyer +1 202 329 25 08 or - Jon Walter on +31 
653504731 or - Ivan Blokov on +7095 257 4118 
www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/waste/russianwaste.html

Pictures and video of radioactive contamination around the Mayak 
nuclear plant are available through Greenpeace Communications 
John Novis, photo editor, Mim Lowe, video editor +31 20 5236222 

NOTES TO EDITORS: 

(1) World Wide Fund for Nature; Social-Ecological Union; Centre 
for Wildlife Protection; Ecological Guard of Sakhalin; Baikal 
Wave; Committee for the Rescue of the river Pechora; Ecological 
Centre 'Dront'. 
*****************************************************************
 23  Russia plans floating nuclear power plant in White Sea
 
[ITAR/TASS News Agency]   
  
Story Filed: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 7:33 AM EST 

MOSCOW, Mar 13, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Russia is planning 
to build the first ever floating nuclear power plant in the area 
of the northern city of Severodvinsk in the White Sea, Russian 
Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov declared on Tuesday at a 
meeting with representatives from regions where the Atomic Energy 
Ministry has its facilities, Itar-Tass was told by the ministry's 
press service. 

The floating nuclear power plant is expected to be built at the 
Northern Machine Building enterprise, which builds nuclear 
submarines, located in the Arkhangelsk region. 

The proposed nuclear power plant is expected to provide power 
foremost to the Northern Machine-building enterprise itself. By 
Veronika Voskoboinikova (c) 1996-2001 ITAR-TASS. All rights 
reserved. 

*****************************************************************
 24  N-reactors to Iran: Russia to ignore U.S. displeasure 

The Hindu on indiaserver.com : 

 Tuesday, March 13, 2001
 
By Vladimir Radyuhin 

MOSCOW, MARCH 12.The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, vowed 
to sell arms and nuclear reactors to Iran notwithstanding 
American displeasure. The Russian leader was quoted as telling 
the visiting Iranian President, Mr. Mohammad Khatami, that 
Teheran had the right to defend itself from external attack and 
Russia would continue to sell arms to Iran. Mr. Putin also said 
Russia was ready to expand nuclear cooperation with Iran. 

Russia has come under heavy criticism by the U.S. for its 
decision to walk out of a 1995 secret pledge to Washington on 
defence supplies to Teheran. The U.S. has also demanded that 
Russia cancel an $800-million contract to build a nuclear reactor 
in Iran. 

However, on Monday Mr. Putin made it clear Russia would not bow 
to U.S. pressure. Iran was asking for defensive weapons only and 
Russia could supply them without breaking its international 
obligations. Mr. Putin also said Russia would bid for new 
contracts to supply more nuclear reactors to Iran. During the 
first visit by an Iranian President to Russia in nearly 30 years, 
the sides signed a treaty on the principles of bilateral 
relations, a declaration on combating terrorism and a a number of 
other documents. 

In a joint statement on the Caspian Sea, the sides came out 
against the military presence of non-littoral states in the 
region and against their interference in the sharing of the 
Caspian riches. The statement is seen as directed against NATO 
plans to use naval bases in Azerbaijan. 

Copyrights Š 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 25  Feds Delay Decision on Goshute N-Waste Facility

   The Salt Lake Tribune -- 

 **    *Tuesday, March 13, 2001*   

BY JUDY FAHYS

     Federal regulators are taking a few more months to study 
plans for a high-level nuclear waste storage site in Utah. And, 
in doing so, they have given new hope to opponents of those 
plans. 

    "It does delay the final decision, and that's good," said 
Dianne Nielson, director of the Utah Department of Environmental 
Quality. 

    From the start, the state has disputed the human and 
environmental safety of plans to store nuclear waste at the Skull 
Valley Goshute Indian Reservation, about 45 miles southwest of 
Salt Lake City. Opponents have aired their complaints before the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing 
Board, which planned to make a final decision in November. 

    The delay to April of next year, quietly approved two weeks 
ago, opens the door for more discussion -- especially about the 
idea of leaving the waste where it is, at the 20 Eastern, 
Midwestern and California power plants where the fuel was used. 
Hearings planned for late summer now are expected at the end of 
the year. 

    But more review doesn't bother the project's proponents, the 
job-starved Indian tribe and Private Fuel Storage (PFS), LLC, a 
consortium of eight utilities looking for a place to put spent 
nuclear-power fuel. In fact, PFS asked for more time so it could 
flesh out its analyses of seismic and aircraft-crash safety. 

    "It's all just part of the process," said PFS spokeswoman Sue 
Martin. 

    She noted the purpose of the federal licensing process is to 
ensure such facilities are safe for people and the environment. 
The added review will not change the NRC's conclusion, but rather 
helps the public feel more confident about the storage site, she 
said. 

    The consortium has an agreement with the tribe to build a 
$3.1 billion pad to keep steel-and-concrete casks of highly 
radioactive waste until the federal government can open a 
permanent disposal facility, now set for Yucca Mountain, Nev. 

    PFS, the tribe, the Tooele County commission and other 
supporters insist the storage would pose no threat to Utahns or 
the environment, while helping solve national energy problems and 
providing local economic development. 

    PFS said it wanted to update its application with new 
information about how safe the site would be in an earthquake or 
if an aircraft crashes into the storage casks, which would be 
above ground, like cola cans on a picnic table. 

    Frank Suitter, a leader in the PFS-Goshute opposition, was 
pleased to hear about the added review. 

    "I'm hopeful the NRC is slowing down the process, recognizing 
the resistance of the Legislature and the governor and the people 
of the state," he said. 

    Today, Gov. Mike Leavitt is expected to sign two bills aimed 
at blocking the wastes from coming to Utah. 

    Opponent Jason Groenewold agreed it was appropriate for the 
licensing agency to look harder at the issues and public 
concerns. "It must be something significant if they [at PFS] are 
taking time to delay their project," he said. "And it does 
underscore the importance of citizen involvement in the 
decision-making process." 
    
  Š Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on 
*****************************************************************
 26  Group calls for more sensitive radiation monitoring
 
Casper Star-Tribune
 Casper, Wyoming 

12-Mar-2001 09:40
 
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - The group Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free says 
state and federal officials should install a more sensitive air 
monitor than the ones planned for the roof of the Teton County 
Commission building.

 After a public hearing Monday, the commission voted unanimously 
Tuesday to let the U.S. Department of Energy and the state 
install three monitors.

 Some Jackson Hole residents are worried that radiation could 
blow in from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
Laboratory, a vast facility about 90 miles west of Jackson.

 The monitors will sample between one and two cubic feet of air 
per minute. Department of Energy officials will collect the 
filter and analyze it weekly, said Betsy Jonker, with the agency.

 Doug Halford, program director for the independent 
air-monitoring company S.M. Stoller Corp., said the system is 
adequate.

 "This system is quite able to detect radionuclides in an area," 
he said. "This is the tool for the job."

 But Eric Ringelberg, executive director for Keep Yellowstone 
Nuclear Free, urged the commissioners to instead go for a 
high-volume sampler, one that can measure 35 cubic feet of air 
per minute.

 "That is how much air you need to sample in order to find 
something," he said. A low-volume sampler would only reveal sharp 
increases in radiation, he said.

 "We don't feel there is an acute hazard to the people of 
Jackson," he said. "This is a chronic issue. This is the first 
shake the community has had for monitoring and we should use the 
right equipment."

 An independent scientist, Lori Fussell, said Monday she believes 
the low-level sampler is the correct equipment, in part because 
INEEL has installed the same monitors around Idaho.

 "It is best for INEEL to have a sampler that matches other ones 
in the network," she said.

 Lori's husband, Jerry, also spoke in support of the low-level 
sampler during the hearing.

 "The low-level sampler will be able to detect any levels of 
radiation," he said. "It answers all the questions and will be 
fine."

 Ringelberg believes the monitoring station is a waste of public 
money.

 "Why not put the right piece of equipment, or at least justify 
this is the right piece and the right location?" he asked. "Had 
they developed a thorough proposal, I wouldn't have even said 
anything.

 INEEL spokeswoman Lorie Cahn said officials presented "good 
science" at the hearing.
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
                     NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES
*****************************************************************
 1 Investigation of K-25 water continues, but not without problems 

Oak Ridger Online --> 

Story last updated at 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, 2001

By Paul Parson 
Oak Ridger staff 

Several objectives, including trust and access to potentially 
classified material, still need to be achieved as the second 
phase of investigations of the water at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site 
proceeds.

 Those issues were discussed Monday afternoon as the Phase 2 
oversight team met with representatives from two engineering 
firms -- Malcolm Pirnie Inc. and TerraGraphics Environmental 
Engineering -- that are involved in the investigation of historic 
K-25 water contaminations. The meeting was held in a conference 
room at the Bank of America building.

 Much of the meeting focused on access to a computer at K-25 that 
allegedly was used by oversight team member William Noe and 
contains maps and information that could indicate possible 
cross-connected water lines. Noe, who represents sick workers on 
the oversight team, said he wanted to be present when officials 
attempt to start the "old" computer and retrieve information.

 However, that could pose a problem since Noe doesn't have 
security clearance allowing him to view any "classified" material 
that may be on the computer, according to Richard Frounfelker, 
the Department of Energy's representative on the oversight team.

 The reason for having Noe and other oversight team members 
present when the computer started is "trust," according to 
Sherrie Farver, who represents Coalition for a Healthy 
Environment on the oversight team.

 Noe, Frounfelker and Parallax Inc. officials finally agreed to 
discuss in the next couple of days ways of remedying the security 
clearance problem. Parallax, a technical support services 
contractor, was retained by DOE in October to coordinate the 
water investigation.

 In addition, Frounfelker raised the question of how beneficial 
to the investigation the information on the computer would be.

 "I think you should identify every [cross contamination]," 
Farver said. "If I handed you a gun and forced you to do Russian 
roulette, would you rather there be one bullet in the chamber or 
four?"

 Another concern voiced during Monday's meeting was that DOE was 
not willing to fund any Phase 2 work that related to Phase 1 or 
any current contaminations. That led to some oversight team 
members mentioning three trailers -- allegedly housing 
engineering personnel and a cafeteria several years ago -- that 
were connected to firefighting-water lines for their source of 
drinking water.

 However, the trailers fall under the scope of Phase 2, according 
to Mal Knapp, facilitator for the investigation.

 Phase 2 is a continuation of tests conducted in August after 
employees voiced concern about contaminated water at K-25.

 The initial tests indicated that K-25's current drinking water 
is safe to consume. Findings stated that there were no 
contaminants in the drinking water at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site 
whose levels exceeded Environmental Protection Agency- and 
state-regulated standards.

 A public meeting to address Phase 2 is scheduled for 6 p.m. 
Monday, April 9, at the Garden Plaza Hotel.

All Contents ŠCopyright* The Oak Ridger *
*****************************************************************
 2  Project planned for NTS shelved
 
March 13, 2001 
 
By Mary Manning 
<manning@lasvegassun.com>
 LAS VEGAS SUN

 The Energy Department may have to mothball a high-tech 
experimental facility scheduled to be moved to the Nevada Test 
Site, a project that was seen as a key link between the 
prestigious national DOE laboratories and University of Nevada 
system.

 The DOE did not request funding to operate the $49 million Atlas 
pulse-powered generator, a major nuclear physics project being 
built at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, an 
inspector general investigation has concluded.

 The lack of funding would not stop the move, which is scheduled 
for sometime in the next two years. It would only mean that the 
project would stand idle once it arrives at the Test Site.

 Congress last year approved $12 million to assemble the unit in 
Los Alamos, then move it to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of 
Las Vegas.

 "We were informed that the department plans to seek a (fiscal 
year) 2002 appropriation for the Atlas operating funds, however, 
at the time this report was issued there had been no resolution 
of the operating fund situation,"

Inspector General George H. Friedman said. Fiscal year 2002 
begins in October, and the DOE has already submitted its budget 
request the White House.

 DOE managers said they still plan to request funds from Congress 
this year. The project is expected to require $35 million a year 
to run.

 Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada's senior senator, wasn't 
surprised when informed of the funding shortage.

 Reid, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, secured 
the funds to move Atlas and is prepared to request operating 
funds.

 "There's never been enough money for the Atlas," said David 
Cherry, Reid's press secretary for the Senate Energy and Public 
Works Committee.

 The DOE's Office of Defense Programs, when it was selling the 
program to Congress in 1998 and 1999, insisted the Atlas, a 
powerful machine that allows scientists to validate certain 
elements of nuclear weapons' computer codes, was vital to protect 
the U.S. nuclear arsenal short of full-scale nuclear testing.

 It was to be moved to the Test Site because of subcritical 
experiments on nuclear weapons that occur there. The experiments 
do not create a nuclear chain reaction but allow scientists to 
see how the metals in a nuclear weapon react to an explosion.

 A smaller part of the project, Pegasus, is scheduled to come to 
UNLV. It was seen as strengthening the link between the national 
labs and Nevada's universities.

 The inspector general found that the Atlas did not appear that 
important within the division when it came to funding.

 "Defense Programs has not effectively managed the Atlas project, 
because program officials did not assign the facility a priority 
high enough to fund its operations," Friedman wrote in the 
report.

 The inspector general advised the DOE to rank the Atlas as a 
funding priority in relation to its weapons program, ensure 
future projects have operating funds and to notify Congress if 
there is any change in plans to operate the project when it comes 
to the Test Site.

 The department did not agree with the inspector general's 
conclusions.

 The DOE Nevada Operations Office is aware of the funding 
shortage, but the project is important to the Test Site's future, 
spokeswoman Nancy Harkess said.

 The DOE's Defense Programs division is now under the guise of 
the National Nuclear Security Administration. 
 
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 3  Pakistan's nuclear programme irreversible: Musharraf 

rediff.com: 

*K J M Varma *in Islamabad 

Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has said the 
country's nuclear programme is irreversible and will not be 
rolled back "under any pressure". 

"I am not a traitor and so there will not be any compromise on 
the nuclear programme," Musharraf told a meeting of newspaper 
editors in Lahore Sunday night. 

Refuting criticism that top nuclear scientists -- Abdul Qadeer 
Khan and Ashfaq Ahmed -- were retired under pressure from 
international financial institutions, Musharraf blamed the media 
for "overplaying" the issue. 

"The contribution of these eminent scientists has duly been 
recognised and they have been given full honours and also the 
status of ministers. The country will continue to benefit from 
their expertise," he said. 

Khan is currently chairman of Khan Research Laboratories, which 
spearheaded Pakistan's ambitious nuclear weaponisation programme. 
Ahmed headed the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. 

The two scientists were Sunday appointed as special advisors to 
Musharraf and given cabinet minister ranks. 

Their retirement has been condemned by Pakistan Muslim League, 
the Pakistan People's Party and the fundamentalist 
Lashkar-e-Tayiba. 

Khan has not yet decided to accept his new job, the *News *daily 
reported quoting his family sources. 

The daily said Khan's retirement would mean his complete 
detachment with Pakistan's nuclear programme. 

"The removal of Qadeer and Ahmad, especially at a time when India 
is going ahead with its missile programme, creates suspicions in 
the minds of people," chief of the Alliance for Restoration of 
Democracy, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan said. 

"Qadeer's removal is an indication of winding up the nuclear 
programme," acting PML president Javed Hashmi said adding, "He is 
a national asset." 

He said the decision was an indication of government's intention 
to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 

His view was echoed by deputy chief of the hard-line 
Jamaat-e-Islami, Liaqat Baloch. 

Lashkar-e-Tayiba leader Hafiz Saeed warned that the removal of 
the two scientists would create unrest not only in Pakistan but 
in the entire Islamic world. 

"The removal of these two scientists at a time when UN Secretary 
General Kofi Annan was visiting the country, has created doubts 
in the minds of people and the government should clarify its 
position in this regard." 

Tehreek-e-Islami chief Maulana Mukhtar Gul said the government 
decision was contrary to the national interest. 

  (c) Copyright 2001 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or 
*****************************************************************
 4  N-scientists appointed Musharraf advisors 

The Hindu on indiaserver.com : 

 Tuesday, March 13, 2001
 
By B. Muralidhar Reddy 

ISLAMABAD, MARCH.12. The two top nuclear scientists of Pakistan, 
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed, have been appointed 
Special Advisors on science and technology to the Chief 
Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Dr. Khan and Dr. Ahmed are 
considered architects of Pakistan's nuclear programme, and they 
head the Khan Research Laboratories and the Pakistan Atomic 
Energy Commission. 

The decision has prompted speculation that it could be a response 
to the world community's concern over the nuclear programme, but 
an official spokesman has said there would be no compromise on 
the nuclear programme. 

An announcement said that on completion of their tenure in April, 
both the scientists would relinquish their charge as heads of the 
two institutions. Dr. Khan has said he would consult his family 
whether or not to accept the offer. 

``I have learnt about my new assignment through an announcement 
on the Pakistan Television, though I have not received any formal 
offer as yet'', he has been quoted as saying in the local media. 

Copyrights Š 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 5  Dr Qadeer declines new assignment 

-DAWN - Top Stories; 13 March, 2001
 
By Syed Irfan Raza 

ISLAMABAD, March 12: The nuclear scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, 
has refused to become an adviser to the Chief Executive Gen 
Pervez Musharraf on science and technology, a source told Dawn 
here on Monday. 

Dr Khan was removed from the chairmanship of the Khan Research 
Laboratories (KRL) on Sunday and Dr Javed A. Mirza was appointed 
as new chief of the laboratories. 

The source said that Dr Khan refused to sign a letter from the 
chief executive's office to accept the new assignment. 

However, when this correspondent made contacts with the Public 
Relations Department and other officials of the KRL to confirm Dr 
Khan's refusal, they declined to comment on it. 

It has been learnt that Dr Khan has decided to work on different 
social welfare programmes launched by him. There are already 
standing offers to Dr Khan from various Muslim countries to work 
for them in the field of nuclear technology. 

The source said the move to remove Dr Khan from the KRL top slot 
was initiated sometime ago when the military government offered 
him to become minister for science and technology. But Dr Khan 
did not accept the offer and recommended Dr Attaur Rehman for the 
post. 

Dr Khan was brought to Pakistan by the late prime minister 
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1974 when India conducted its first 
nuclear test. 

The enrichment of uranium and nuclear detonations in 1998 are Dr 
Khan's two major achievements in the field of nuclear technology. 

Š The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2001
*****************************************************************
 6  Kosovo uranium 'poses little risk'

BBC News | SCI/TECH | 

Tuesday, 13 March, 2001, 11:44 GMT      

A-10 tankbusters like this fired DU rounds over Kosovo By 
environment correspondent Alex Kirby The United Nations 
Environment Programme says depleted uranium (DU) weapons used in 
Kosovo should cause no alarm. 

Publishing its findings on the environmental impact of the use of 
DU, Unep says the radiological risks in target areas are 
insignificant. 

But it says there are still many uncertainties, especially about 
the safety of groundwater. 

And it wants an examination of Bosnia-Herzegovina, where DU was 
used more than five years ago. 

DU, a waste product left after uranium is enriched for civil or 
military use, is a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than 
lead, and it is highly valued by armies for its ability to punch 
through armoured vehicles. 

Tested samples 

When a weapon with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like 
the side of a tank, it goes straight through and then erupts in a 
burning cloud of vapour. 
	 		 			
[UK troops on parade PA] Kosovo veterans may have been exposed to 
DU
 		 		 		  
This settles as dust, which is chemically poisonous and also 
radioactive. 

The report presents the findings of a multinational Unep team of 
14 scientists which last November visited 11 of the 112 sites 
identified by Nato as having been targeted by DU weapons in the 
1999 conflict. 

The team collected soil, water and vegetation samples, and 
carried out smear tests on buildings, destroyed army vehicles and 
DU penetrators (a component of the weapons). 

It found DU remnants at eight of the 11 sites, and 355 samples 
were analysed by laboratories in Sweden, the UK, Austria and 
Italy. Switzerland paid for the assessment. 

Nuclear reactors 

The scientists found seven and a half penetrators, with low 
levels of radiation close to the point of impact. They measured 
mild contamination from

DU dust near the targets. 

They also found evidence showing that the penetrators had 
contained traces of enriched (not depleted) uranium, and of 
plutonium. 

Unep says these showed "that at least some of the material has 
been in nuclear reactors". 

But it says the amount of these transuranic isotopes "is very low 
and does not have any significant impact on their overall 
radioactivity". 

The team found no widespread ground contamination in the areas it 
investigated, and concludes that "the corresponding radiological 
and chemical risks are insignificant". 

Recommended precautions 

Unep's executive director, Dr Klaus Toepfer, said: "These 
findings should alleviate any immediate anxiety that people 
living or working in Kosovo may have been experiencing." 

But he said DU could still pose risks in certain circumstances, 
and therefore Unep recommended some precautions. 
	 		 			
Troops search for DU remains
 		 		 		  
These include the removal of all radioactive shrapnel on the 
surface at all DU sites in Kosovo, decontaminating areas where 
possible, and telling local people what to do if they find DU. 

The head of the Unep Kosovo team, Mr Pekka Haavisto, said: "There 
are still considerable scientific uncertainties, especially 
related to the safety of groundwater. 

"Additional work has to be done to reduce these uncertainties and 
to monitor the quality of water." 

Unep says remaining fragments of DU rounds which may be buried 
several metres beneath the surface risk future contamination of 
groundwater and drinking water. 

Other missions 

And heavy firing of DU in one area could increase the potential 
source of uranium contamination of groundwater by from 10 to a 
100 times. 

Unep concludes that the team's findings should not cause alarm, 
but acknowledges the scientific uncertainties over the 
longer-term behaviour of DU in the environment. 

It wants a similar assessment of Bosnia-Herzegovina, "where DU 
ordnance has persisted in the environment for over five years". 

And with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World 
Health Organisation, Unep will consider whether there is a need 
for missions to other areas where DU has been used in wars. 
	         
      Search BBC News Online
*****************************************************************
 7  Qualified OK for uranium weapons

BBC News | EUROPE | 

Tuesday, 13 March, 2001, 11:39 GMT      

A United Nations report into NATO's use of depleted uranium 
weapons during the Kosovo conflict has found they caused little 
immediate harm. 

The report by the UN Environment Programme said inspectors had 
examined eleven sites in Kosovo where armour-piercing shells 
containing depleted uranium were used. 

It found levels of radiation too low to contaminate air quality 
or plant life. But the report expresses concern about the 
possible longer-term contamination of water supplies. 

It's recommending a scientific mission is sent to 
Bosnia-Hercegovina, where the earlier use of depleted uraniuim is 
being linked by some countries to cancer among former 
peacekeeping troops there. Iraq has also complained of ill 
effects from the use of depleted uranium shells during the Gulf 
conflict. 

*From the newsroom of the BBC World Service*             
*****************************************************************
 8  U.N.: Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
 
[Return to Star Tribune Online front page] 
    [ ]     Published Tuesday, March 13, 2001 

 By NAOMI KOPPEL / Associated Press Writer
 
GENEVA (AP) -- Contamination from depleted uranium ammunition 
used in Kosovo is low, but the threat of radiation in the water 
supply remains, the United Nations Environment Program said 
Tuesday. 

In its final report on samples taken from 11 sites across the 
province last November, the agency said it found low levels of 
radiation in the immediate vicinity of targets and mild 
contamination from depleted uranium dust. 

UNEP reported in February that it had found small quantities of 
plutonium in penetrators fired by NATO during the 1999 bombing 
campaign, but Tuesday' s report said " the amount of transuranic 
isotopes found ... is very low and does not have any significant 
impact on their overall radioactivity." 

However, remaining radioactive debris could cause contamination 
above normal health standards, UNEP said. Ammunition buried in 
the soil could contaminate ground water, leading to anything up 
to a 100-fold increase in uranium levels in drinking water. 

" While the radiation doses will be very low, the resulting 
uranium concentration might exceed World Health Organization 
health standards for drinking water, " the report said. 

Touching a piece of ammunition would not be dangerous, but if it 
were kept in a pocket for several weeks the carrier could suffer 
" quite high local radiation doses, " the report said. 

People were seen collecting ammunition, in some cases wearing 
bullets around their neck, said Pekka Haavisto, who led the 
agency' s mission to Kosovo. Investigators did not, however, see 
anyone wearing depleted uranium ammunition, he said. 

A child swallowing a small amount of contaminated soil also could 
obtain a dose above normally approved biochemical standards, the 
agency said. 

U.S. aircraft used munitions containing depleted uranium, a 
slightly radioactive heavy metal, during the 78-day air campaign 
against Yugoslavia in 1999, as well as in Bosnia in 1994 and 
1995. 

A number of European nations also use munitions containing 
depleted uranium, which has about 40 percent less radiation that 
natural uranium, which itself is not considered a health hazard. 

Concerns arose in several European countries earlier this year 
when Italy started studying the illnesses of 30 veterans of 
Balkans peacekeeping missions. Seven of the veterans died of 
cancer, including five from leukemia. 

Haavisto said the investigations did not cover the effect on 
soldiers who were on the ground when depleted uranium ammunition 
struck because the survey was not carried out until 18 months 
after the end of bombing. 

UNEP recommended removing ammunition, decontaminating the 112 
Kosovo sites where NATO has admitting using depleted uranium 
munitions and informing residents about the ordnance. 

UNEP also recommended similar work in other places where the 
ammunition has been used, including Bosnia and Iraq. 

On the Net: 

http://balkans.unep.ch 

Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This 
*****************************************************************
 9  UNEP recommends precautionary action regarding depleted uranium in Kosovo 

   UNEP Balkans > Press Release > 13 March 2001: United Nations Environment
Programme 

Not an official document. 

Geneva, 13 March 2001 - The final report of the United Nations 
Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental impact of 
depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used during the 1999 Kosovo 
conflict has been released here today. 

In November 2000, a UNEP field mission visited 11 of the 112 
sites that were identified as being targeted by ordnance 
containing DU, including five in the Italian sector (MNB (W)) and 
six in the German sector (MNB (S)). 

The UNEP team, consisting of 14 scientists from several 
countries, collected soil, water, and vegetation samples and 
conducted smear tests on buildings, destroyed army vehicles, and 
DU penetrators. Remnants of DU ammunition were found at eight 
sites. Altogether, 355 samples were analyzed, including 249 soil 
samples, 46 water samples, 37 vegetation samples, 13 smear tests, 
three milk samples, four jackets (specialized parts of ordnance), 
two penetrators, and one penetrator fragment. 

Transuranic isotopes found 

Seven-and-a-half DU penetrators were found during the field 
mission. Low levels of radiation were detected in the immediate 
vicinity of the points of impact, and mild contamination from DU 
dust was measured near the targets. There was also some evidence 
from bio-indicators of airborne DU contamination near targeted 
sites. 

In addition to U-238, which makes up the bulk of depleted 
uranium, the penetrators contained uranium isotope U-236 and 
plutonium isotope Pu-239/240 (see UNEP press releases of 16 
January and 16 February 2001). The presence of these transuranic 
elements in the DU indicates that at least some of the material 
has been in nuclear reactors. However, the amount of transuranic 
isotopes found in the DU penetrators is very low and does not 
have any significant impact on their overall radioactivity. 

No widespread contamination 

No widespread ground contamination was found in the investigated 
areas. Therefore, the corresponding radiological and chemical 
risks are insignificant. There were a great number of 
contamination points in the investigated areas, but there is no 
significant risk related to these points in terms of possible 
contamination of air or plants. 

"These scientific findings should alleviate any immediate anxiety 
that people living or working in Kosovo may have been 
experiencing," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer. "Under 
certain circumstances, however, DU can still pose risks. Our 
report highlights a series of precautionary measures that should 
be taken to guarantee that the areas struck by DU ammunition 
remain risk-free."
 
Precaution recommended 

It is highly likely that penetrators are still lying on the 
ground surface. Although the radiological and chemical risks of 
touching a penetrator are insignificant, if one was put into a 
pocket or somewhere else close to the human body, there would be 
external beta radiation of the skin, leading to quite high local 
radiation doses after some weeks of continuous exposure. Skin 
burns from radiation are unlikely.
 
Regarding contamination points, if a child were to ingest small 
amounts of soil, the corresponding radiological risk would be 
insignificant, but from a biochemical point of view, the possible 
intake might be somewhat higher than the applicable health 
standard.
 
"There are still considerable scientific uncertainties, 
especially related to the safety of groundwater," said Pekka 
Haavisto, Chairman of UNEP's Depleted Uranium Assessment Team. 
"Additional work has to be done to reduce these uncertainties and 
to monitor the quality of water."
 
Remaining penetrators and jackets that may be hidden at several 
metres depth in the ground, as well as any on the ground surface, 
constitute a risk of future DU contamination of groundwater and 
drinking water. Heavy firing of DU in one area could increase the 
potential source of uranium contamination of groundwater by a 
factor of 10 to 100. While the radiation doses will be very low, 
the resulting uranium concentration might exceed WHO health 
standards for drinking water.
 
Although the mission findings show no cause for alarm, the report 
describes specific situations where risks could be significant. 
There are also scientific uncertainties relating to the 
longer-term behavior of DU in the environment. For these reasons, 
UNEP calls for certain precautionary actions. 

According to UNEP, this precautionary action should include 
visiting all DU sites in Kosovo, removing slightly radioactive 
penetrators and jackets on the surface, decontaminating areas 
where feasible, and providing information to local populations on 
precautions to be taken if DU is found.
 
UNEP recommends mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina
 
In order to reduce scientific uncertainty on the impact of DU on 
the environment, particularly over time, UNEP recommends that 
scientific work be undertaken in Bosnia-Herzegovina where DU 
ordnance has persisted in the environment for over five years. 
This could be done as part of an overall environmental assessment 
of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
 
UNEP's work in Kosovo was carried out in close cooperation with 
the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO Kosovo 
Force (KFOR), which assisted with logistics, accommodation, 
transport and security. 

The samples were analyzed by the Swedish Radiation Protection 
Institute (SSI) in Stockholm; AC Laboratorium-Spiez in 
Switzerland; Bristol University's Department of Earth Sciences in 
the UK; the International Atomic Energy Agency Laboratories 
(IAEA) in Seibersdorf, Austria; and the Italian National 
Environmental Protection Agency (ANPA) in Rome, Italy. The 
assessment work on depleted uranium has been financed by the 
Government of Switzerland.
 
IAEA, UNEP, and WHO on future cooperation 

In view of the remaining scientific uncertainties surrounding the 
long-term effects of the possible health and environmental 
impacts from the use of depleted uranium (DU), the International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Environment 
Programme (UNEP), and the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 
accordance with their respective mandates, will consider together 
whether it is necessary to prepare future missions to areas where 
depleted uranium has been used during military conflicts. 



Note to journalists: The report is available at 
http://www.unep.ch/balkans. For more information, please contact 
UNEP Depleted Uranium Assessment Team Chairman Mr. Pekka Haavisto 
at +41-79-477-0877 or pekka.haavisto@upi-fiia.fi; or UNEP 
Spokesperson Mr. Tore Brevik at +254-2-623292 or 
tore.brevik@unep.org; or UNEP Press Officer Mr. Michael Williams 
at +41-22-9178242, +41-79-409-1528 (cell) or 
michael.williams@unep.ch. 

Copyright 2000-2001 - UNEP Balkans United Nations Environment 
Programme - UNEP tél: +4122 917 86 16 fax: +4122 917 80 64 email 
& contact Hosted by: UNEP Geneva Last update: 13 March, 2001 
*****************************************************************
 10  Depleted Uranium in Kosovo - Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment 

UNEP Balkans > DU > DU Reports
 
First Published in Switzerland in 2001 by the United Nations Environment
Programme.
 
Copyright Š 2001, United Nations Envrionment Programme.
 
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report do not necessarily 
reflect views of UNEP, or contributory organizations. The 
designations employed and the presentations do not imply the 
expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or 
contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any 
country, territory, city or area or its authority, or concerning 
the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 

The provisory report is available in PDF format, by choosing the 
chapters below. 

The report is also available from our ftp server: 
ftp://194.54.80.239 Login: unep Password: unep
   


Table of Contents
 
Foreword
 
1. Introduction 

2. Background 2.1 UNEP's role in post-conflict environmental 
assessment 2.2 Depleted uranium 2.3 Assessing the risks 

3. UNEP mission to Kosovo 3.1 Mission objectives 3.2 Composition 
of the team 3.3 Selection of sites 3.4 Fieldwork, sampling and 
laboratory analysis 

4. Findings 

5. Conclusions 

6. Recommendations 

7. Site-by-site findings 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Gjakove/Djakovica 
garrison 7.3 Vranoc/Vranovac 7.4 Radoniq/Radonjic 7.5 
Irzniq/Rznic barracks 7.6 Bandera and Pozhare/Pozar 7.7 Rikavac 
7.8 Ceja mountain 7.9 Planeje/Planeja village 7.10 
Bellobrade/Belobrod 7.11 Kuke/Kukovce 7.12 Buzesh/Buzec 

!!! Foreword to Chapter 7 (PDF-277Kb)
 



Appendices
 
Appendix I Risk Assessment (PDF-53Kb) Appendix II Prerequisites 
and limitations (PDF-15Kb) Appendix III Methodology and quality 
control (PDF-87Kb) Appendix IV Military use of DU (PDF-11Kb) 
Appendix V Possible effects of DU on groundwater (PDF-24KB) 
Appendix VI Lichen as a bio-indicator of DU (PDF-10Kb) Appendix 
VII Analysis of DU penetrators found (PDF-340Kb) Appendix VIII 
List of NATO coordinates (PDF-19Kb) Appendix IX Formulas and data 
(PDF-55Kb) Appendix X Table of results (PDF-111Kb) Appendix XI 
References (PDF-18Kb) Appendix XII Contributors (PDF-8Kb)
 
Copyright 2000-2001 - UNEP Balkans United Nations Environment 
Programme - UNEP tél: +4122 917 86 16 fax: +4122 917 80 64 email 
& contact Hosted by: UNEP Geneva Last update: 15 March, 2001 
*****************************************************************
 11  Russia suspends dismantling weapons 

    A response to Bushs campaign for missile defense system The 
Cold War long over, the United States and Russia are playing a 
game of brinkmanship centered on missile defense plans. NBC's 
Dana Lewis reports.  
     
  By Dana Lewis NBC NEWS  
  
  MOSCOW, March 11   Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended 
the dismantling of nuclear warheads called for under the START II 
treaty with the United States on President Bushs inauguration 
day, NBC News has learned. And Russian officials insist that 
Moscow will end cooperation on nuclear disarmament if Washington 
presses forward with plans to build a national missile defense 
system.  

           IF THE NMD (national missile defense) is deployed in 
the United States, we will have to forget about reductions of 
strategic offensive weapons, said Yuri Kapralov, director of 
Russian Security and Disarmament.

        Russia also has rolled out its counter-threat, the 
Topol-M missile. Although it is ostensibly a single-warhead 
intercontinental ballistic missile, experts believe it could be 
converted to carry several warheads, which would violate the 
Start II agreement.

        Under the arms-reduction pact, which the United States 
and Russia signed in 1993, both countries committed to 
eliminating missiles with more than one warhead.

        The Topol-M already has the capability to overcome any 
anti-missile defense, said Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander of 
Russias rocket forces. He added that the next move was up to the 
United States.
        
 HIGH-STAKES BATTLE

        In the high-stakes game of sword vs. missile shield, 
Putin has mounted a diplomatic offensive, arguing that North 
Korea and Iran are not as great a threat as argued by the United 
States. Hes even proposed a limited missile defense plan for 
Europe.       
      
               The 1972 ABM treaty is like an axis to which a 
whole series of international security agreements is attached, 
Putin said last week. As soon as we pull out this axis, all of 
them will automatically fall apart. The whole of todays 
international security system will collapse.

        Former President Mikhail Gorbachev  who confronted the 
Reagan administrations campaign on behalf of the Star Wars 
defense shield  has warned that the U.S. system would spark a 
new arms race  a new spiral of militarization with 
unpredictable consequences.      
  
            Critics say the Kremlin is reverting to Soviet-era 
tactics, using the missile shield to try to drive a wedge between 
Washington and its European allies. But the Russians counter that 
the real risk is to advances made through arms control over the 
past three decades.
        
        *NBC correspondent Dana Lewis is based in Moscow. *
*****************************************************************
 12        Activists, legislators urge DOE not to cut cleanup 
*March 12, 2001*
 By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER 

LIVERMORE -- Anti-nuclear and environmental groups, following the 
lead of a group of 10 congressmen, are urging Energy Department 
officials not to cut cleanup spending at nuclear labs and 
production sites. 

Members of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a national 
network of about 30 nuclear watchdog groups, on Wednesday sent a 
letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham expressing "grave 
concern" about possible reductions to the Energy Department's 
cleanup budget. 

On Feb. 14, a group of congressmen had sent a similar letter to 
Abraham. Marylia Kelley of Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities 
Against a Radioactive Environment said that budget cuts for 
cleanup could be bad for contaminated sites at Lawrence Livermore 
Laboratory and its high-explosives test site near Tracy. 

Both are on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's 
Superfund list, which includes some of the nation's most heavily 
contaminated sites. Joseph Davis, a DOE spokesman, said the 
proposed budget will be released April 3. 

"The secretary appreciates the interest shown by stakeholders 
concerned about funding for ongoing cleanup at (Livermore Lab) 
sites." 

Abraham "is committed to protecting the environment where our 
sites are located, as well as the health and safety of residents 
and employees," Davis said. 

On Feb. 14, a group of congressmen led by Rep. Doc Hastings, 
R-Wash., sent a letter to Abraham urging adequate funding for 
nuclear waste cleanup programs. The letter cited a concern based 
upon "recent press reports that (cleanup programs) may receive a 
funding cut or level funding." 

In the 2002 budget year, the Energy Department's environmental 
cleanup program "must realize a significant increase to continue 
to meet its legally binding cleanup commitments with our states 
in order to reduce long-term costs," the congressional coalition 
stated in a letter to Abraham. 

The letter also states that cleanup activities are "at a critical 
point next year" and a lack of spending could lead to 
environmental health risks and lawsuits from states that are home 
to Energy Department waste sites. 

Other members of the congressional coalition, called the House 
Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, include Reps. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., 
Tony Hall, D-Ohio, Arno Houghton, R-N.Y., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, 
Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Ted Strickland, D-Ohio., Mark Udall, 
D-Colo., Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.    

NewsChoice.com

*****************************************************************
 13  Kursk may remain in underwater grave                   

Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search
 
The operation to raise the Kursk nuclear submarine has been 
postponed, raising fears that it may never happen, writes Amelia 
Gentleman

Special report: Kursk submarine
Amelia Gentleman
Guardian Unlimited
Tuesday March 13, 2001

The operation to raise the ravaged hull of the Kursk nuclear 
submarine from the bottom of the Barents Sea has been postponed, 
prompting fears that the salvage plan may be abandoned 
altogether.

The deputy prime minister of Russia, Ilya Klebanov, announced on 
Sunday that the project had been put back from a provisional 
start date in July until a later point, some time towards the end 
of summer or autumn. 

Various reasons have been given for the delay, with Mr Klebanov 
stating that it was "technologically impossible" to begin the 
operation any sooner. He also conceded that there was a delay in 
the signing of a contract commissioning the work, linked to 
problems "with raising the necessary funds". 

Rio Praaning, the secretary of the International Kursk Foundation 
- the Brussels-based body set up to orchestrate the salvage 
operation - said yesterday that, unless a solution to the current 
obstacles was found very soon, the submarine would remain at the 
bottom of the Barents Sea. 

He added that preparation for the operation needed to begin in 
the next few weeks if it was to go ahead at all this year. Once 
the weather in the Barents Sea begins to deteriorate with the 
onset of winter, it will be unsafe for divers to begin their 
work. Experts are uncertain whether it will be possible to pursue 
the mission to recover the remains of the wreck if it has been 
underwater for much longer than a year.

In the emotional aftermath of the tragedy last August, Russian 
President Vladimir Putin made a firm commitment to the families 
of the 118 submariners who died that the hull would be raised 
this year. For relatives the recovery of the wreck is seen as 
crucial - not least because the investigation committee looking 
at the causes of the tragedy has postponed making any conclusions 
until the submarine has been examined.

The main purpose of raising the vessel is to stave off the risk 
of potential contamination. Russian officials initially said that 
the Kursk's nuclear reactors were automatically shut down when it 
sank, making the hull safe for at least 10 years. However, 
environmentalists fear that radioactive material could leak from 
the vessel once seawater and strong currents begin to corrode the 
hull. 

Mr Klebanov warned last November that, as a result of the 
explosions that shattered the submarine, cracks might have 
appeared in the encasement, through which radioactive materials 
could seep. Seeking to dispel fears that the latest problems 
would lead to the project being abandoned, Mr Klebanov stressed 
yesterday: "Neither the president nor the government has 
cancelled the operation to lift the Kursk." 

Wrangling over financial commitments lies behind the delay. 
Russia is obliged to pay around a third of the total estimated 
$70m cost of the operation, between $20 and $25m. Dismissing 
speculation that Russia was unable to provide its share of the 
money, Mr Klebanov stated that the sum had already been allocated 
in the 2002 budget. 

The rest of the money will be supplied by the Kursk Foundation, 
with EU countries, as well as Japan, America and Canada, being 
asked to contribute millions of dollars to the operation.

The signing of the contract appears to have been put back because 
of fraught negotiations over Russia's commitment to clearing the 
Barents Sea of other rusting submarines. The business daily 
newspaper, Kommersant, stated that Russia had been given an 
ultimatum by EU officials that, unless the Kremlin agreed to full 
involvement in an EU plan to clear the area known by some as "the 
world's biggest nuclear graveyard", no money would be granted for 
the Kursk raising project. 

Concerned about issues of military secrecy, and reluctant to let 
Western officials inspect top security weapons, Russia has 
introduced various obstacles to the Multilateral Nuclear 
Environment Programme for Russia (MNEPR), launched in 1999. 

EU officials estimate that there are about 100 Russian submarines 
rusting in waters to the north-west of Russia; the project aims 
to remove the nuclear fuel and reactors from the abandoned 
vessels to prevent the risk of radioactive materials leaking into 
the ocean. 

Russian officials are said to be prepared to agree to make the 
raising of the Kursk conditional on long-term involvement in the 
MNEPR project, but have stressed that the West must provide the 
salvage money first. The issue is set to be discussed on March 
21, at a summit between Russia and the European Union in 
Stockholm.

Email observe@online.ru
                                       
             Guardian Unlimited Š Guardian Newspapers Limited 
*****************************************************************
 14  Nuclear author arrives in Israel risking arrest 

CNN.com - 

- March 12, 2001
 	 	
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Avner Cohen, who documented Israel's nuclear 
weapons development program in defiance of Israeli military 
censorship, arrived in Israel Monday for the first time since his 
book was published, facing possible arrest. 
		 
Cohen, an Israeli who lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, plans to 
give a lecture this week. He was not detained at the airport, but 
his lawyer and the Justice Ministry said he would be interrogated 
Tuesday. 
		 
Cohen published his book, "Israel and the Bomb," in the United 
States in 1998. The book chronicles decades of Israeli efforts to 
build its own nuclear weapons. Cohen said he based his research 
on interviews and on documents in the public domain, and 
therefore, his work was not subject to Israeli military 
censorship. The book is banned in Israel. 
		 
Israel has never admitted possessing nuclear weapons, saying only 
that it would not be the first to use them. Cohen documents the 
development of this policy of "ambiguity," designed, he said, to 
give Israel the deterrence of a nuclear weapons capability 
without exposing the nation to sanctions from other nuclear 
powers. 
		 
At the time of the 1967 Mideast war, Cohen found, Israel 
hurriedly put together two crude nuclear bombs. 
		 
The quest for nuclear weapons begin in the 1950s. At the urging 
of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres, then a Defense 
Ministry official, negotiated a nuclear cooperation deal with 
France, leading to construction of a reactor in Dimona in 
Israel's southern desert. Ben-Gurion intended to produce nuclear 
weapons there from the beginning, Cohen wrote. Peres is now 
Israel's foreign minister. 
		 
Though Cohen, a senior research fellow at George Washington 
University, was not arrested when he arrived, he may be detained 
after questioning. "There are grounds for interrogating him, and 
therefore it is not possible to accede to his request for an 
undertaking that he will not be arrested," Justice Ministry 
spokesman Ido Baum said in a statement. 
		 
Cohen's lawyer, Nahum Oren, said he advised Cohen to keep a low 
profile. At the airport, Cohen told reporters he thought the 
issue of his book had been "blown up out of all proportion." 
		 
Cohen reviewed more than a million documents at presidential 
libraries, the U.S. National Archives and the Israel State 
Archives and conducted more than 100 interviews. He also obtained 
documents through the Freedom of Information Act, including 
President John F. Kennedy's letters to Ben-Gurion. 
		 
In 1970 President Richard Nixon agreed, in negotiations with 
Prime Minister Golda Meir, to look the other way, provided Israel 
kept a low profile and stuck to the policy of not being the first 
to use the bomb. Cohen wrote that this understanding is still 
operative. 
		 
In 1999 the Israeli censor lifted a ban on publication of 
segments of a case against Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician 
at the Dimona reactor, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence 
for selling photographs of the facility to The Sunday Times of 
London, leading the paper to conclude that Israel had the world's 
sixth largest nuclear arsenal. 

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.    All rights reserved. This 
*****************************************************************
 15  Putin to Sell Arms and Nuclear Help to Iran
 
March 13, 2001 

By MICHAEL WINES 

  (AP)   

  President Vladimir Putin of Russia, right, met with President 
Muhammad Khatami of Iran in Moscow on Monday and formally agreed 
to resume sales of conventional arms to the country.   

[M] OSCOW, March 12  Breaking openly with both the United States 
and his predecessor Boris N. Yeltsin, President Vladimir V. Putin 
formally agreed today to resume sales of conventional arms to 
Iran after a hiatus of more than five years.
 
At a meeting in the Kremlin with President Muhammad Khatami of 
Iran, Mr. Putin also reiterated Russia's intention to help Iran 
complete a long-stalled nuclear power plant that some American 
experts contend could advance Iran's nuclear weapons program.
 
The two announcements, neither unexpected, came during the first 
meeting in four decades between Iranian and Russian heads of 
state, a warm session billed in advance as a diplomatic turning 
point.
 
Just as clearly, it was a pointed signal to the Bush 
administration that the Iranians and the Russians intend to limit 
American influence in the Middle East by both diplomatic and 
military means.
 
"Economically, Russia is interested in cooperation," Mr. Putin 
said. "And politically, Iran should be a self-sufficient, 
independent state that is ready to protect its national 
interests." 

The chief foreign affairs official at the Russian defense 
ministry, Gen. Leonid Ivashov, said the scope of the arms accord 
was a private matter between two sovereign states. "Some may like 
this cooperation, some not," he said. "Our countries will 
continue working together to our advantage."
 
The advantages for Russia are considerable: hard currency from 
the sales, work for idle weapons factories and more influence 
from military training and repair work in a crucial Persian Gulf 
nation. Mr. Putin has employed much the same formula of arms 
sales and diplomacy to revive faded alliances with India, China 
and other nations that drifted from the Russian orbit after the 
end of the cold war.
 
For its part, Iran finds an ally who shares many of its 
predilections, among them opposition to Turkey and expansion of 
NATO, and a desire to limit American influence in central Asia, 
where American- and Russian-backed oil pipelines are fiercely 
competing to control the flow of new finds in the Caspian Sea.
 
Washington has quietly sought to improve relations with Iran but 
to little avail. Officially, Iran remains on a list of rogue 
nations that American experts believe could threaten the Middle 
East with nuclear or chemical weapons and ballistic missiles 
within a few years.
 
The United States said today that it was disappointed at Mr. 
Putin's announcement. But its immediate effect on American 
relations with Moscow is unclear, in part because the scope of 
cooperation with Iran remains unclear. No deals were actually 
signed today, and it was not clear when arms deliveries would 
begin.
 
"We are particularly concerned about sales of advanced 
conventional weapons or sensitive technologies, things like 
nuclear technology," said the State Department spokesman, Richard 
A. Boucher. "It's up to the Russians and the Iranians to specify 
in more detail what they may or may not be doing."
 
Last month, in an annual report on weapons proliferation, the 
Central Intelligence Agency identified Russia as a supplier of 
ballistic missile technology to Iran. Russia strongly denies the 
accusation, although officials at some Russian research 
institutes have acknowledged training Iranians in areas the 
United States considers sensitive.
 
Mr. Putin said today that Iran seeks only defensive arms and that 
Russia would adhere strictly to international 
weapons-proliferation restrictions.
 
Russia sold some $5 billion in weapons to Iran from 1989 to 1995, 
in no small part for defense against President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq and his army, which waged war against Iran for much of the 
1980's. The sales stopped after 1995, when Mr. Yeltsin, then the 
president, signed a secret accord with the United States 
foreswearing further sales or technical aid to Iran's military 
programs. 


2001 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
 16  Peres blasts call for UN force

Haaretz Daily Newspaper - English Internet Edition
 
*By Nitzan Horowitz*
*Ha'aretz Correspondent*

WASHINGTON - Foreign Minister Shimon Peres yesterday angrily 
opposed a Palestinian request that the United Nations send an 
international force to the territories to the protect them from 
Israel.

 Peres told a closed session of the UN Security Council in New 
York that, if the Palestinians would only stop shooting, they 
would not need protection.

 "[The Palestinians] do not need a defense force," Peres said. 
"Israel has never initiated any act of violence; it has only 
responded to violence."

 The Security Council discussed the issue yesterday at the 
Palestinians' request, but no vote was held. The measure has no 
real chance of passing, since the United States has announced 
that, in light of Israel's opposition to it, Washington would 
also oppose any international involvement in the territories. 
European representatives are searching for a compromise that 
would let the United Nations play a role in the conflict without 
drawing a U.S. veto in the Security Council.

 But Peres said the one-sided idea would merely "create anger on 
top of anger in the Middle East." What is needed, he said, is for 
Israel and the Palestinians to hold direct talks to resolve their 
differences.

 Peres also rejected a Palestinian proposal to send UN observers 
with cameras to the territories - an idea that most Security 
Council members said they support in principle, though there are 
differences of opinion regarding the specific proposal.

 "There is no lack of cameras in the West Bank and Gaza, and they 
contribute to the violence," Peres retorted. To prove his point, 
he related the story of a Palestinian activist video-taped by 
Israel while ordering his people to hold off on a demonstration 
because the CNN crew was stuck in traffic.

 But Peres noted that Israel has decided to resume cooperation 
with the Mitchell Committee - the existing international 
fact-finding committee on events in the territories. (See story, 
Page 2.)

 "Unlike cameras, which can only see the situation from one 
standpoint, the [Mitchell] Committee will examine the entire 
situation, and will therefore describe the situation more 
accurately," he said.

 Peres stressed that Israel wants to resume negotiations. "We are 
very interested in restarting the peace process," he said. "No 
one wants to see our country, or the Palestinians, drowning in a 
sea of blood and violence and misunderstanding."

 In response, Nasser al-Qidwa, PLO envoy to the UN, said Peres's 
views did not seem in accord with those of the government in 
which he serves. 
     
[ vspace=5] Š copyright 2001 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved Sharon 
to press for U.S. sanctions on Damascus
 		
*****************************************************************
 17  Idaho rejects INEEL cleanup delay

IdahoStatesman.com
 
    Tuesday, March 13, 2001   
  
 DOE says it wants more time to finish project
 
By Bob Fick
 The Associated Press 

State environmental regulators have rejected the federal 
government's petition for a lengthy extension of the deadlines to 
clean up buried radioactive waste at the Idaho National 
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. 

In addition to contradicting Department of Energy statements on 
cleanup of the INEEL's Pit 9 over the past seven years, the 
Department of Environmental Quality said the delays of up to 13 
years jeopardize removal of the buried waste by 2018 as required 
under the state's 1995 waste cleanup agreement with the federal 
government. 

"DOE's proposed schedule extension of seven years for the 
completion of the retrieval of the 20-foot by 20-foot area and 
corresponding extension of more than 13 years for retrieval of 
the acre comprising Pit 9 are not reasonable," Dean Nygard, state 
site remediation manager, wrote in the letter to the Energy 
Department. 

The DOE can contest the decision through a dispute resolution 
process that ends with the governor; it than can take the dispute 
to federal court. The DOE's Idaho spokesman, Brad Bugger, said 
officials were assessing their options and would issue a formal 
response later. 

In connection with prospects that another deadline set in the 
1995 state-federal cleanup agreement will be missed, Gov. Dirk 
Kempthorne has said he will use every sanction available under 
the court-enforced agreement to see that all waste removal 
deadlines are met. 

One state officials suggested the rationale used by the Energy 
Department to justify its petition for delays was similar to the 
reasoning federal officials rejected in the mid-1990s when a 
former INEEL contractor used it to seek its own deadline 
extension for the same work. 

The federal petition said the conceptual design of the cleanup 
plan for Pit 9 underestimated safety issues and the complexity of 
the work. 

It asked for the April 2003 deadline for developing a cleanup 
strategy for the 20-foot-square site of Pit 9 to be extended to 
August 2010, the cleanup work on that spot extended from April 
2003 to August 2013, and cleanup of the entire acre from 
September 2003 to February 2016. 

The current deadlines were set in 1997 when the federal 
government paid nearly $1 million in fines for failing to meet 
deadlines outlined in the 1993 decision to embark on cleanup of 
buried waste at INEEL. 

Kathleen Hain, director of the Department of Energy's Idaho 
Environmental Restoration Division, argued that it would be 
irresponsible for the government to expedite construction and 
operation of a cleanup strategy that now appears to be as complex 
as the Pit 9 strategy will be. 

The Energy Department was to use Pit 9 as the prototype for 
cleaning up the other 87 acres of radioactive waste buried in 
eastern Idaho. Nygard pointed out in his letter, last Friday, 
that the Energy Department deadline extension request did not 
indicate how the other 87 acres were going to be cleaned up 
without the information the government said it would obtain at 
Pit 9. 

Earlier this year, federal officials refused to guarantee that 
they would remove the buried waste as state officials 
contemplated. 

A congressional report last summer said the department will not 
meet a 2003 deadline for operating a plutonium-contaminated waste 
treatment plant at INEEL, and is running well behind schedule for 
removing 15,000 barrels of that waste from Idaho by the end of 
next year.
 	 
*****************************************************************
 18  Local group hired to examine barrels

Oak Ridger Online --> 

Story last updated at 1:09 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, 2001

from staff reports 

Bechtel Jacobs Co. has awarded a subcontract to sample, excavate 
and dispose of the contents of approximately 10 barrels that are 
located alongside state Highway 58 about half a mile west of the 
main entrance to the Oak Ridge K-25 site.

 The area is marked by colored flagging and is easily visible to 
passing motorists. Workers from the Tennessee Department of 
Transportation recently discovered the barrels while removing an 
abandoned natural gas pipeline in preparation for widening the 
highway.

 TN &Associates was awarded the $284,000 fixed-price contract to 
excavate the drums, analyze their contents, ship the waste to a 
regulated disposal facility and restore the area.

 The barrels are located in what is referred to as the Old 
Firehouse Burn Area, where firefighters in the 1940s and 1950s 
were trained. Though the contents of the barrels are unknown, 
limited historical information suggests they could contain motor 
oil and lubricating oil, according to a Bechtel Jacobs press 
release.

 TN &Associates, an Oak Ridge firm, will begin the work in May 
and is expected to be finished by August.

 Bechtel Jacobs Co. is the Department of Energy's management and 
integration contractor for cleanup work at the Oak Ridge 
Reservation and at DOE sites in Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, 
Ohio.
 
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