***************************************************************** 09/13/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.218 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 BE wants £3bn write-off to build new reactors 2 EU sees study of Czech nuke plant ending soon 3 Brittish Energy says UK needs new nuclear power plants 4 EU pledges help for Ukraine's nuclear sector 5 UK: 10 bilion pound nuclear power programme 6 Nevada approves big legal contract in nuke dump fight 7 State hires law firm to contest Yucca plan 8 Yucca Mountain hearings delayed 9 Panel told risk of eruption at Yucca site is underestimated 10 REID URGES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO START YUCCA MOUNTAIN LETTER 11 Letter: Government bound to put nuke waste here 12 Nuclear waste decision 'may be at election time' 13 Daily Events Report 14 IAEA Daily Press Review 9/13 15 IAEA Daily Press Review 9/12 16 The Feds Are Considering Shipping Spent Nuclear Fuel Through the 17 Price-Anderson 18 Nuclear waste plan is still five years off 19 Fast-breeder reactor research the way forward 20 U.S. urges nuclear plant precautions after attack 21 Letter to Gregory Friedman, Inspector General, DOE from Bob 22 NCI CALLS ON NRC TO ACTIVATE EMERGENCY PLAN FOR PROTECTING 23 Nuclear waste consultation announced 24 Yggdrasil Institute - Uranium Enrichment Newsletter - August 2001 25 EC Gives Green Light to Environmental Cleanup 26 Hungarian nuclear station can't withstand attack by Boeing 27 Norwegians unable to proceed with radiation monitoring in NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Flats work goes ahead despite S.C. dispute 2 Israel Eyes Air Strikes at Iran's Nuclear Arsenal 3 Terrorists vow to hit Indian nuclear sites 4 Letter: DOE doesn't keep promises 5 DOE: (Oakridge) SELLS Meeting Announcement 6 SRS, Fort Gordon tighten security 7 Security still increased at DOE 8 SRS officials use trees to suck up nuclear contamination 9 DOE: Reindustrialization works 10 No end in sight to increased DOE security 11 Beazley warns of nuclear terror threat 12 Plutonium will be ready to ship if S.C. accepts it 13 Workers prepare plutonium to ship 14 Pasko case enters decisive stage **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 BE wants £3bn write-off to build new reactors © 2001 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd 14 September 2001 07:37 GMT+1 Independent By Michael Harrison, Business Editor 12 September 2001 British Energy warned yesterday that it could not build a new generation of nuclear power stations unless it was allowed to offload £3bn of its current nuclear liabilities onto the taxpayer. The nuclear electricity generator also called on the Government to impose a new "carbon-free" obligation on electricity suppliers, requiring them to take 25 per cent of their requirements from nuclear stations. It estimated that this would make nuclear-generated power around 50 per cent more expensive than current wholesale prices – a cost increase that ultimately must be borne by the consumer, as the price for security and diversity of supply. In its submission to Downing Street's energy policy review, the company said the Government needed to give the green light now to a £10bn programme to construct 10 new nuclear stations or face the prospect of having to rely on foreign gas for more than half of Britain's electricity needs by 2025. British Energy is proposing that £2bn worth of liabilities on its balance sheet, which pre-date its privatisation in 1996, should be transferred to the Government's proposed UK Liabilities Management Agency. It also wants to renegotiate its fuel reprocessing contracts with the state-owned British Nuclear Fuels so that British Energy's annual bill comes down from £300m a year to £50m. This would make the group's UK nuclear stations profitable once again. "Restoring UK profitability will be a prerequisite to British Energy playing a major role in any future new build programme," the submission added. Robin Jeffrey, British Energy's executive chairman, said that to make a new generation of nuclear stations financially viable would mean bridging the "economic gap" between current wholesale prices of £18-£20 a megawatt hour and the £25-£30 that the new generation of nuclear reactors would have to charge. Constructing 10 new 1,000-1,200 megawatt stations would increase the UK's stockpile of nuclear waste by 10 per cent, which could be addressed either through surface storage or burial in deep underground repositories, he said. British Energy also said the new generation of reactors would help the country meet its Kyoto targets. If no new nuclear stations were built it would result in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to half the total emissions currently produced by motor vehicles. Greenpeace urged the Government to resist the nuclear industry's lobbying and opt for a "50:50" strategy – a 50 per cent reduction in energy usage and 50 per cent of Britain's energy needs met from renewable sources. ***************************************************************** 2 EU sees study of Czech nuke plant ending soon Planet Ark Environmental News: BELGIUM: September 12, 2001 BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Monday it hoped an assessment of the environmental impact of the Czech Republic's controversial Temelin nuclear power plant would be completed in "a matter of weeks". The Czech Republic, an EU candidate country, agreed to carry out the assessment last December under pressure from fiercely anti-nuclear Austria, which says the Soviet-designed station just 50 km (30 miles) from their shared border is unsafe. "We will try to find a date as soon as possible for a summit meeting (between Austria, the Czech Republic and the Commission) aimed at closing this process," European Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen told reporters. "It should be a matter of weeks, not months," he said after talks with the Czech chief negotiator in EU accession talks, Pavel Telicka. Verheugen said he hoped the assessment would help to allay Austrian fears. Vienna has in the past threatened to block Prague's bid to join the EU if it does not meet its environmental concerns. "In my view, this has been a successful process... It is important that standards at Temelin should be safer after the process than before it started," Verheugen said. The Czech Republic insists that the plant is safe. But last week the European Parliament called for a new analysis of risks posed by Temelin and an international forum to evaluate the price-tag for closing it. This week, Telicka repeated his government's refusal to consider such a conference. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 3 Brittish Energy says UK needs new nuclear power plants UK: September 12, 2001 LONDON - British Energy , the country's largest nuclear generator, called on the government to replace old nuclear power stations with new ones to ensure Britain can meet its commitments on combating global warming. Nuclear power stations, unlike coal and gas-fired plants, do not produce greenhouse gas emissions which many scientists say contribute to climate change. British Energy's remarks were a response to the review the government is carrying out of the energy sector which will look at tackling global warming while securing reliable energy supplies. "We are proposing to government a cost effective, balanced approach which can achieve the government's environmental and security of supply priorities at sensible and stable prices," said British Energy's Executive Chairman Robin Jeffrey in a statement. All except one of Britain's nuclear power stations are due to close within the next 25 years and Jeffrey's comments echo views expressed last week by the UK's other nuclear generator, state-run British Nuclear Fuels. British Energy's proposal to replace old nuclear plants with new ones would require building 10 power stations each between 1,000 and 1,200 megawatts between 2010 and 2025. British Energy said the government's energy policy should target a mix of 15 percent coal, 40 percent gas, 20 percent renewables and 25 percent of power from nuclear by 2025. Nuclear power currently accounts for around one third of Britain's electricity output. While environmentalists object to nuclear power on safety grounds, some analyst doubt the economics of nuclear power could be made to work in a liberalised energy market characterised by tumbling energy prices. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 4 EU pledges help for Ukraine's nuclear sector UKRAINE: September 12, 2001 YALTA - The European Union pledged yesterday to help Ukraine with the cost of making its nuclear power plants safe and solving social problems related to the closure of the Chernobyl plant. In a communique issued after a one-day summit between top European and Ukrainian officials, the EU said also it expected Ukraine to meet conditions for securing European Bank for Reconstruction and Development funds. Both sides agreed the importance of bringing safety levels in Ukraine's nuclear industry to Western standards. The former Soviet republic is building two new nuclear reactors to replace the Chernobyl complex, which was shut down last December but the government is short of funds. "The EU expresses its commitment to support Ukraine in resolving issues of nuclear safety and the social problems arising from the closure of Chernobyl," the communique said. Reactor number four exploded at Chernobyl in 1986 in the world's worst civil nuclear accident, spewing a toxic cloud across northern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, contaminating thousands of people and huge tracts of land. At the summit, held in the Crimean resort of Yalta, Ukrainian officials said they also discussed possible EU support to help develop the key Odessa-Brody oil pipeline project, which feeds into a line supplying Europe from Russia. The summit, attended by foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, also addressed the EU's concerns about corruption and press freedom in Ukraine. The summit took place in the palace that hosted the historic 1945 Yalta Conference where Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and U.S. and British leaders redrew the post-war map of Europe. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 5 UK: 10 bilion pound nuclear power programme scotsman.com - BRITISH Energy yesterday launched a plea to the government to allow it to start a £10 billion programme to build at least 10 new nuclear power stations to replace existing ones from 2011 onwards. The East Kilbride-based nuclear electricity generator is also pushing for the government to take on £3 billion worth of costs relating to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels to enable the group to fund its share of construction costs. The plea came in British Energy’s submission to the government’s comprehensive energy review, launched just after the general election and aimed at determining UK energy strategy until 2050. However, it will have to overcome tough opposition to new nuclear power plant construction from environmental and other groups. British Energy pointed out that all but one of the UK’s existing nuclear power stations were due to shut within the next 25 years, starting from 2011 with Hunterston B and Hinkley Point. The group, which currently has eight stations delivering output of 9,600 megawatts, or around 25 per cent of the UK total requirement, wants to replace them with 10 new stations of 1000mW output, each costing around £1 billion. British Energy said its submission "details how a future nuclear programme can deliver all the environmental benefits of the UK’s renewables programme, but at third of the cost to consumers". All the new plants would be on existing sites, where British Energy owns surplus land and would be able to utilise existing high voltage transmission line connections as well as the skilled staff available. The stations employ roughly 500 people each, or 5,000 across the UK. Given that it will take a total of 10 years to design, obtain planning consents, commission and open new stations, the group sees the issue as an urgent one for government . The Department of Trade and Industry has estimated that, if current trends continue, by 2025 around 75 per cent of the UK’s generation will be from gas -fired plant and 90 per cent of that gas will have to be imported from countries beyond Europe, including Russia. This has drawn criticism from various quarters over the inherent risks in this due to a lack of security of supply. British Energy said yesterday the cost of new nuclear plant would amount to an extra 0.25p per unit on electricity bills, roughly a 4 per cent rise. If the government took on the £3 billion historic and current liabilities it faces for nuclear waste disposal, including taking on £250 million of its £300 million annual bill, British Energy would be able to fund about 40 per cent of the cost of new plants with banks and other debt providers supplying the rest. Andrew Turpin Wednesday, 12th September 2001 The Scotsman ***************************************************************** 6 Nevada approves big legal contract in nuke dump fight Las Vegas SUN September 11, 2001 CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Officials have approved a $2.5 million contract with a Washington, D.C., law firm that will help the state in its battle against a proposed nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The state Board of Examiners, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn, voted Tuesday to grant the three-year contract to Egan &Associates, known for its handling of big nuclear litigation cases. Guinn described the contract as "probably the most important step we've been able to take" in the long-running effort to keep the high-level nuclear waste dump out of Nevada. Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, also on the Board of Examiners, said her office will work closely with Egan &Associates, predicting success in the effort to force the nuclear power industry "to rethink its options." The law firm, headed by attorney Joe Egan, has represented numerous foreign research reactor operators and their governments; has been involved in large nuclear power cases in Texas, Connecticut and Kentucky; and brought a billion-dollar action against the nation's leading radioactive waste disposal operator. Egan said his goal will be to win the battle against the Yucca Mountain dump on the legal merits of the case. That includes the argument that a proper scientific analysis will show Yucca Mountain isn't suitable. "We are not anti-nuclear activists. We are pro-science activists," he added. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 7 State hires law firm to contest Yucca plan [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Wednesday, September 12, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Legal team to fight project on scientific grounds By SEAN WHALEY DONREY CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- State officials on Tuesday hired a Washington, D.C., law firm at a cost of $2.5 million to fight federal efforts to build a high-level nuclear waste repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas at Yucca Mountain. The firm of Egan &Associates will assemble and manage a team of nuclear industry lawyers and former government litigators to assist the state with any licensing proceedings for Yucca Mountain by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the three-year term of the contract. "It's a big day for Nevada," said Gov. Kenny Guinn. "This is a giant step forward for us." The contract was approved by the Board of Examiners, made up of Guinn, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller. Joseph Egan, chairman of the firm, is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained nuclear engineer who once worked at a nuclear power plant. Funding for the contract came from a $4 million appropriation, approved by the 2001 Legislature, intended to fund the legal fight against Yucca Mountain and mount a public relations campaign against the transportation of nuclear waste to Nevada from across the nation. "We're going to fight the very best fight, through litigation, that can be fought," Guinn said. William Briggs, a former solicitor with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is an attorney with the Washington, D.C., firm of Ross, Dixon &Bell who has been retained as part of Nevada's legal team. He attended the meeting with Egan. Egan said his team will fight Yucca Mountain on legitimate scientific issues and concerns. "The NRC is a very scientific agency," Egan said. "It's not too easy to go into NRC and fool people. You have to be real sound on the merits to get NRC to take you seriously. "The fact that Nevada selected our team is a strong sign that they are very interested in the merits," he said. "We're very serious about evaluating the merits of this project." Del Papa said Nevada has been outspent by supporters of the dump since the Nuclear Waste Policy Act was amended by Congress in 1987 to single out Yucca Mountain for the high-level nuclear waste repository. But the state can still defeat the project, she said. "I think we can win this contest," Del Papa said. Robert Loux, executive director of the state Agency for Nuclear Projects, said: "We aim to fight the project on the merits with the assistance of a world-class legal team." This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-12-Wed-2001/news/16978386.html ***************************************************************** 8 Yucca Mountain hearings delayed [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Wednesday, September 12, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal REVIEW-JOURNAL Public hearings scheduled for tonight and Thursday night on the government's plans for burying nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain have been postponed, a Department of Energy spokesman said. The hearings in Amargosa Valley and Pahrump were the last scheduled for the Yucca Mountain Project. New hearing dates are expected to be announced later this week. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-12-Wed-2001/news/16979017.html ***************************************************************** 9 Panel told risk of eruption at Yucca site is underestimated LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: The Lathrop Wells cinder cone, center left, protrudes from the valley floor south of Yucca Mountain in this Aug. 30 photo. Photo by Gary Thompson. Thursday, September 13, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Geologist says DOE should assess results of a molten release By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL A state geologist challenged the Department of Energy on Wednesday to better assess the risk of a volcanic eruption at Yucca Mountain, where the government has proposed storing the nation's high-level nuclear waste. "If you stand atop Yucca Mountain and look at relatively young volcanoes, it's obvious something is going on here," said geologist Steve Frishman, technical policy coordinator for the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency. Frishman was referring to several cinder cones that protrude from the landscape within view of the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "It's pretty clear to me that the project is not ready for site recommendation," he told a presidential panel reviewing technical information on the Yucca Mountain Project. Instead of downplaying the chances that radiation could be unleashed by a dike of molten rock, Frishman said, the Energy Department should examine the actual releases that could result. Calculations based on that scenario would show much higher public exposure, especially if molten rock laden with nuclear contamination breaches the mountain's surface and leaves radioactive ash that could be inhaled, Frishman said. "This is the information decision-makers should have ... and they're just not getting it," Frishman told Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, a panel that reports to Congress and the energy secretary. Yucca Mountain Project scientists have said the last time molten rock penetrated the surface in the vicinity of the ridge was roughly 80,000 years ago, at the Lathrop Wells cinder cone, 12 miles south of the mountain. Yucca Mountain was formed some 13 million years ago from alternating periods of volcanic ash falling from the sky and lava oozing out of a caldera near Timber Mountain, 12 miles north. The volcanoes and cinder cones near Yucca Mountain are extinct, according to Eric Smistad, an Energy Department geologist. Smistad's team has calculated a 1-in-70 million chance per year that magma could rise through the floor of a repository, if one is built, wipe out nuclear waste canisters and continue upward to the mountain's surface, releasing radioactive materials into the air. His team estimates that such a release might result in a dose of one-tenth of a millirem to a person downwind. That would be a fraction of the Environmental Protection Agency's standard of 15 millirems per year of allowable radiation exposure from all pathways: air, soil, water and the food chain. Frishman said the dose from radioactive ash escaping from Yucca Mountain could be about 1,000 rem, considerably higher than the allowable standard of 15 millirems. A millirem is one-thousandth of a rem, the measurement of radiation dosage. During Wednesday's panel discussion, Smistad referred to Frishman's worst-case analogy as a "semantics issue." But, he said the team intends to work on reporting their calculations on volcanic risk so they are more easily understood by people who aren't as familiar with the scientific aspects of the project. A decision on site recommendation by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected within a few months. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2001 ***************************************************************** 10 REID URGES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO START YUCCA MOUNTAIN LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN Issues challenge during "Capitol to Classroom" Internet chat with Nevada students September 10, 2001 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Harry Reid today challenged Nevada's students to begin a letter writing campaign opposing Yucca Mountain. During his monthly "Capitol to Classroom" Internet chat, Reid urged the young people to take part in the grass roots movement to stop nuclear waste from coming to Nevada. "This is the biggest issue facing our state, and it is vital that President Bush and members of his Administration know of Nevadans outrage and opposition to burying nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain," Reid said. "Residents across the state should make sure their voices are heard, and I would especially encourage our high school students to get involved." Each month, Senator Reid selects different Nevada schools to participate in a "Capitol to Classroom" chat about important issues affecting Nevada and the nation. Today's chat, the first one of this school year, included students from Centennial, Laughlin and Western High Schools. The chats feature an interactive question and answer session with students typing their questions and Reid responding via live video conferencing. ***************************************************************** 11 Letter: Government bound to put nuke waste here Las Vegas SUN September 12, 2001 The nuclear waste issue remains very big to Nevadans. I didn't make the meeting last Wednesday, but the 5 1/2 hours probably all came down to, "Not in my back yard." What hurts us is that Nevada has more Bureau of Land Management land than any state in the United States. Since most of us would like to see it moved elsewhere, did any protesters give their opinion as to whose back yard it should be in? You cannot keep saying, "anywhere but here." Washington won't buy that. We have to make this a multiple choice issue for them. If not, since it's the government's one and only choice, and since we all agree the waste must go somewhere, what does that tell you? It will be placed on government land many miles from Las Vegas. The Nevada Test Site, which is on government land, has been protested against for many years, with many going to jail. As you can see, it's still there. If you feel that you can damn well do what you please on the property that you own, what are the thoughts of the U.S. government on the property it owns? CHARLES A. HAGEN All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 12 Nuclear waste decision 'may be at election time' Financial Times; Sep 13, 2001 By ANDREW TAYLOR The government could be faced with the sensitive issue of deciding where to store Britain's medium term and long term nuclear waste at about the time of the next election, Michael Meacher, the environment minister, conceded yesterday. Ministers have launched a public consultation over how to deal with the country's radioactive heritage - four years after the Conservative government dropped plans for a controversial nuclear repository deep underground at Sellafield, Cumbria. The outcome will be crucial to any decision to replace Britain's ageing nuclear power stations, which is being considered as part of the government's energy review. More than 10,000 tonnes of radioactive waste have been stored in Britain pending a decision on its future. This would rise to 500,000 tonnes even if no new nuclear power stations were built and reprocessing ended when existing plants closed, said Mr Meacher. Public consultation was expected to last several years and would consider all methods of dealing with long-term radioactive waste including above ground storage, he said. The outcome of the consultation could also have important implications for plans to privatise up to 49 per cent of British Nuclear Fuels which faces mounting costs in dealing with its own medium-level and high-level waste. Potential BNFL shareholders may be reluctant to invest in the company if there is no clear strategy for dealing with these liabilities, say environmentalists. The military also faces problems over dealing with its nuclear waste, particularly from submarines. British Energy, the privatised nuclear generator also warned this week that it would be unable to finance a Pounds 10bn rebuilding programme unless it was allowed to offload Pounds 3bn of former spent fuel liabilities on to the taxpayer. Greenpeace, the environmental campaigner, des-cribed the decision as "an important breakthrough". Greenpeace opposes the option of a deep repository. Copyright: The Financial Times Limited ***************************************************************** 13 Daily Events Report U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center Event Reports For 09/12/2001 09/13/2001 ** EVENT NUMBERS ** 38265 38271 38275 38279 38280 38281 38282 Fuel Cycle Facility Event Number: 38265 FACILITY: PADUCAH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/04/2001 RXTYPE: URANIUM ENRICHMENT FACILITY NOTIFICATION TIME: 18:09[EDT] COMMENTS: 2 DEMOCRACY CENTER EVENT DATE: 09/04/2001 6903 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE EVENT TIME: 14:00[CDT] BETHESDA, MD 20817 (301)564 3200 LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 CITY: PADUCAH REGION: 3 COUNTY: McCRACKEN STATE: KY PERSON ORGANIZATION LICENSE#: GDP 1 AGREEMENT: Y MARK RING R3 DOCKET: 0707001 M. WAYNE HODGES NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: UNDERWOOD HQ OPS OFFICER: CHAUNCEY GOULD EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NBNL RESPONSE BULLETIN EVENT TEXT 24 HOUR 91 01 BULLETIN RESPONSE At 1400, on 9/4/01, the Plant Shift Superintendent (PSS) was notified of an NCSA violation that had occurred at the C 355 air plant. Immediately after switching drying units at the air plant, a high high moisture alarm was received. The alarm indicated air moisture content greater than 1300 ppm water, violating NCSA GEN 10 01. NCSA GEN 010 credits the dry air system for producing dry air with moisture content of less than 1300 ppm. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent exposure of fissile uranium deposits to a moderating environment. No equipment containing fissile material was exposed to high moisture content plant air at the time of the alarm or following receipt of the alarm. Since one leg of double contingency was lost, this is being reported to the NRC as a 24 hr. event report. SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS: There was no purging of equipment containing fissile material in progress at the time of the moisture excursion. Although a parameter was exceeded, the proper response to the alarm was taken prior to resuming buffering of purging equipment containing fissile material. POTENTIAL CRITICALITY PATHWAYS INVOLVED(BRIEF SCENARIO(S) OF HOW CRITICALITY COULD OCCUR: In order for a criticality to be possible. Operations personnel would have had to fail to respond to the alarm. In addition, a fissile deposit containing greater than a critical mass and absorbing greater than 10 kg of water would have had to be present. CONTROLLED PARAMETERS (MASS, MODERATION. GEOMETRY, CONCENTRATION. ETC: Double contingency for this scenario is established by implementing two controls on moderation. ESTIMATED AMOUNT, ENRICHMENT, FORM OF LICENSED MATERIAL (INCLUDE PROCESS LIMIT AND % WORST CASE CRITICAL MASS): n/a NUCLEAR CRITICALITY SAFETY CONTROL(S) OR CONTROL SYSTEM(S) AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FAILURES OR DEFICIENCIES: Double contingency for this scenario is established by implementing two controls on moderation. The first leg of double contingency Is based on receiving a high high moisture alarm indicating a moisture content greater than 1300 ppm water and ceasing buffering and purging operations in response to the alarm. This control was not violated. The second leg of double contingency is based on the dry air system producing plant air with a moisture content less than 1300 ppm water. Since the moisture content was confirmed to be greater than 1300 ppm, this process condition was exceeded and double contingency was not maintained. Since double contingency is based on two controls on moderation, double contingency was not maintained. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS TO RESTORE SAFETY SYSTEMS AND WHEN EACH WAS IMPLEMENTED: No corrective actions implemented. Proper procedure response was performed. The NRC Resident Inspector was notified. * * * UPDATE ON 09/12/01 AT 1455 ET BY PITTMAN TAKEN BY MACKINNON * * * Criticality Safety Incident Report NCS INC 01 022 has been revised to include information from EN C 826 01 039 that documented that the moisture content did not exceed the NCS limit of 1300 ppm. Since the moisture limit for the plant air system was not exceeded, no violation occurred. R3DO (Sonia Burgess) notified. The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this update by the certificate holder. General Information or Other Event Number: 38271 REP ORG: NEW MEXICO RAD CONTROL PROGRAM NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/07/2001 LICENSEE: WESTERN TECHNOLOGIES NOTIFICATION TIME: 18:31[EDT] CITY: CUBA REGION: 4 EVENT DATE: 09/06/2001 COUNTY: STATE: NM EVENT TIME: 11:00[MDT] LICENSE#: DM 244 29 AGREEMENT: Y LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 DOCKET: PERSON ORGANIZATION LINDA SMITH R4 M. WAYNE HODGES NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: SHERRY MILLER HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NAGR AGREEMENT STATE EVENT TEXT MISSING TROXLER DENSITY GAUGE. Western Technologies, out of Albuquerque, accidentally left a 3430 Troxler moisture density gauge at mile marker 49 on US highway 550. The moisture density gauge was out of its transport case laying on the side of the highway when the it was left behind. The driver immediately, within an hour, returned to the location and discovered that the gauge was missing. State of New Mexico has recommended to the licensee that they offer a reward for the missing gauge. * * * UPDATE 1851 9/12/2001 FROM MILLER TAKEN BY STRANSKY * * * The state reported that the missing gauge has been recovered. Notified R4DO (Shaffer). !!!!!!!!! THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED !!!!!!! Hospital Event Number: 38275 REP ORG: CLARK MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/11/2001 LICENSEE: CLARK MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NOTIFICATION TIME: 15:17[EDT] CITY: JEFFERSIONVILLE REGION: 3 EVENT DATE: 09/11/2001 COUNTY: STATE: IN EVENT TIME: 07:00[CST] LICENSE#: 1312367 01 AGREEMENT: N LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 DOCKET: PERSON ORGANIZATION SONIA BURGESS R3 MELVYN LEACH NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: TRINNA WALKER HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: BAB1 20.2201(a)(1)(i) LOST/STOLEN LNM>1000X EVENT TEXT MISSING 94 PALLADIUM SEEDS. Licensee received, in the mail, a box containing 94 palladium seeds with a total activity of 119.14 millicuries on Friday, 09/0701 at approximately 1200 ET. The box containing the seeds was locked in the Hot Lab at approximately 1700 hours on 09/07/01. Saturday morning it was noticed that the box containing the palladium seeds was missing. It was assumed that the box of seeds had been picked up. Today, 09/11/01, at 0700 hours a Radiation Physicist came to pick up the box of palladium seeds. At this time it was realized that the seeds were missing. A search of the hospital areas, trash, etc., was performed and the seeds were not found. The hospital security and the Jeffersonville Police department were notified of the missing palladium seeds. * * RETRACTION ON 09/12/01 AT 0943ET BY TRINNA WALKER TAKEN BY MACKINNON * * * This event is being retracted since a cyclotron was used to irradiate the palladium seeds. R3DO (Sonia Burgess) notified. Power Reactor Event Number: 38279 FACILITY: BRAIDWOOD REGION: 3 NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/12/2001 UNIT: [1] [2] [] STATE: IL NOTIFICATION TIME: 16:36[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] W 4 LP,[2] W 4 LP EVENT DATE: 09/12/2001 EVENT TIME: 08:00[CDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: BRIAN SCHIPIOUR LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY SONIA BURGESS R3 10 CFR SECTION: HFIT 26.73 FITNESS FOR DUTY UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 N Y 90 Power Operation 90 Power Operation 2 N Y 96 Power Operation 96 Power Operation EVENT TEXT ACCESS DENIED A contract employee was determined to be under the influence of alcohol during a for cause test. The employee's access to the plant has been denied. The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee. Contact the Headquarters Operation Center for further details. Power Reactor Event Number: 38280 FACILITY: COLUMBIA GENERATING STATIREGION: 4 NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/12/2001 UNIT: [2] [] [] STATE: WA NOTIFICATION TIME: 19:57[EDT] RXTYPE: [2] GE 5 EVENT DATE: 09/12/2001 EVENT TIME: 08:17[PDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: ROBERT SHERMAN LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: BOB STRANSKY PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY MARK SHAFFER R4 10 CFR SECTION: HFIT 26.73 FITNESS FOR DUTY UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 2 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation EVENT TEXT FITNESS FOR DUTY REPORT A licensed employee was determined to be under the influence of alcohol during a for cause test. The employee's access to the plant has been terminated. The NRC resident inspector has been informed of this event by the licensee. Contact the NRC Operations Center for additional details. Power Reactor Event Number: 38281 FACILITY: OCONEE REGION: 2 NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/12/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: SC NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:53[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] B L LP,[2] B L LP,[3] B L LEVENT DATE: 09/12/2001 EVENT TIME: 18:13[EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: PHILLIP NORTH LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/12/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY JOHN MONNINGER R2 10 CFR SECTION: ARPS 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) RPS ACTUATION CRITICA AESF 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUAT UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 A/R Y 100 Power Operation 0 Hot Standby EVENT TEXT AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP DUE TO TURBINE/GENERATOR TRIP The plant sustained a turbine/generator trip resulting in a reactor trip, all rods inserted fully, all systems functioned as required unless otherwise noted, and the plant is stable in MODE 3 (Hot Standby). Main feedwater was lost due to a loss of power to the secondary pumps. Power is being supplied from the startup transformer, reactor coolant system is in forced circulation, emergency feedwater is supplying the steam generators, and turbine bypass valves to the condensers are providing a heat sink. The licensee is investigating the cause of the turbine/generator trip and the loss of power to the secondary pumps. The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Power Reactor Event Number: 38282 FACILITY: VERMONT YANKEE REGION: 1 NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/13/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: VT NOTIFICATION TIME: 02:00[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] GE 4 EVENT DATE: 09/13/2001 EVENT TIME: [EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: BRIAN COPPERTHITE LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/13/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY STEVE BARR R1 10 CFR SECTION: GLENN TRACEY IAT NINF INFORMATION ONLY UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation EVENT TEXT INFORMATION REPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 98 35 A suspicious vehicle was noted in area around the plant site. Immediate compensatory actions were taken upon discovery. Contact HOO for further details. ***************************************************************** 14 IAEA Daily Press Review IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-09-13 Number 175 1. Non-proliferation US vulnerability to terrorist attack may galvanize support for MD plan. President Bush will attend October-Summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Shanghai as planned, Chinese official says. (NYT; R - 13/9) China; United States of America 2. Terrorism Nations around world condemn terror attacks on US. President Bush discusses with his Russian counterpart response to terrorism; Moscow offers support. Antiterrorist exercises codenamed Atom 2001 aimed at strengthening antiterrorist defences of large cities and nuclear facilities have been held in Russian town of Volgodonsk. (R; WP - 12/9) Russian Federation; United States of America; WORLDWIDE 3. Nuclear power British Energy urges UK government to 'decide now' on its call for new NPPs so that advanced reactor designs 'could be developed in time'. Hearing on NPP Temelin reportedly to be organized by European Parliament next year. Second unit of Russian NPP Volgodonsk to be launched in 2004. (NUC; R - 12/9) Austria; Czech Republic; Russian Federation; United Kingdom 4. Nuclear safety US NPPs and energy companies on heightened security alert, operate normally. Rosenergoatom views safety of Russian NPPs as reliable: no extra protection from terrorists needed. (R - 12/9) Russian Federation; United States of America 5. Radiation, health New mobile telephone earpiece called 'Safe Talk' will be launched this week with promise to strongly reduce risk of exposure to radiation: more than 99,7% of radiation emitted by telephone can be eliminated. (TEL - 13/9) United Kingdom 6. Radwaste, fuel UK government's decision on 10.000 tonnes of radioactive waste currently stored in the country unlikely to be taken before next election; British Energy wants to block expensive nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts. (FT; R - 12,13 /9) United Kingdom 7. UN UN Security Council calls on all states for joint action against terrorism. UN General Assembly postpones Children's Summit. (DAW; NYT - 13/9) United States of America; WORLDWIDE 8. Miscellaneous 'Kursk' recovery effort advances. Three-minute silence is being held across Europe on Friday in tribute to victims of terrorist attacks on US. (BBC; NYT - 13/9) EUROPE; Russian Federation ***************************************************************** 15 IAEA Daily Press Review IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-09-12 Number 174 1. Non-proliferation DPRK says it may reconsider its moratorium on missile tests in response to Japan's launch of rocket last month. (AFP - 11/9) Dem. P.R. of Korea; Japan 2. Terrorism Several reports on terrorist attack in US: NRC recommends that all US and nuclear fuel facilities go to highest level of security as precautionary measure in response to attacks on WTC and Pentagon; Europeans pledge to mount joint battle against terrorism. (NYT - 11/9) EUROPE; United States of America 3. Nuclear power British Energy says Government should provide financial assistance for new NPP construction if it wants to maintain atomic energy industry. According to Slovene state board for nuclear safety, Krsko NPP operates safely; International conference on Information on Nuclear Energy starts in Portoroz. KEDO has reportedly paid $ 638m to KEPCO as prime contractor to build two light-water NPPs in DPRK since February last year when contract was signed. Romanian reactor at Magurele, outside Bucharest, to be decommissioned soon. Temelin NPP unit 1shutsdown for five days and launches preparation for completion of tests of power start-up with output of reactor upto 55 per cent. Westinghouse plans to develop AP1000 for introduction on US market and is aiming to receive design certification from US NRC by end of 2004. (BBC; FT; JAP; R - 10, 12/9) Czech Republic; Dem. P.R. of Korea; Japan; Romania; Slovenia; United Kingdom; United States of America 4. Nuclear safety Security measures increased at Ignalina NPP and two NPPs in Czech Republic after string of terrorist attacks in US, but reactor is operating at normal capacity. Report: "A Nuclear Nightmare" deals with security measures against possible terrorism attacks at US NPPs . (USN - 10/9) United States of America ***************************************************************** 16 The Feds Are Considering Shipping Spent Nuclear Fuel Through the Howard Street Tunnel. Are They Playing With Fire? Baltimore City Paper: Hot Line (September 12 - September 18, 2001) Photo By Christopher Myers By Van Smith For a few days in mid-July, a few dozen train cars carrying hazardous chemicals and other materials burned out of control beneath the city. After a century of barely being known even to Baltimoreans, the Howard Street tunnel was suddenly in the national spotlight. As an event, the tunnel fire was both scary and enthralling. Local residents and commuters were inundated with news of gridlock, a water-main break, and possibly toxic smoke. TV sets all over the country glimmered with images of menacing plumes and flooded streets, coupled with reports that the too-hot-to-fight inferno was disrupting not only rail traffic, but Internet services via cables that also run through the tunnel. But as normalcy was restored in the ensuing days and weeks, coverage tailed off. Today, for most folks, the fire is just a memory. Lost in the immediacy of the moment and the disinterest of its aftermath are two questions that may ensure the Howard Street tunnel fire's lasting legacy: What if nuclear waste had been among the freight in the hottest part of the fire? Could radioactivity have been released, contaminating people and property in the heart of a major East Coast city? The question isn't merely theoretical. A long-studied proposal for handling the nation's growing inventory of nuclear waste by carting it from points around the country to a permanent repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain is expected to reach President Bush's desk later this year. If the project gets a presidential thumbs-up and survives the resulting legal challenges, spent nuclear fuel will be a frequent passenger on the nation's highways and railroads for the next three or four decades, en route to the Nevada desert. Plans drawn up by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) call for carrying used-up fuel assemblies from Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Southern Maryland by train through the Howard Street tunnel. When it comes to managing the potential of large-scale risks such as nuclear accidents, examining extreme hypothetical situations--the possibility, for instance, of nuclear waste in the Howard Street tunnel fire--is crucial to finding ways to avoid disasters. Thus, nuclear-transportation experts have started to examine and debate what they have dubbed "the Baltimore fire." Until the actual conditions of the fire--the top temperature reached, how long it stayed that hot--are established, much of the talk is necessarily speculative. But the central questions posed by the fire are already known: How sturdy are the containers used to transport nuclear waste? How foolproof are the methods of moving them safely by train? Critics contend that the containers, called "transportation casks," haven't been tested enough to know their true strength; cost, rather than safety, is the chief priority in designing nuclear-transportation plans, they say. The nuclear-energy industry points out the exemplary safety record of waste shipments and outlines the stringent measures taken to guard against reasonably foreseeable dangers. However the argument turns out, it's a good bet that as the Yucca Mountain Project heats up, the Howard Street tunnel fire will be national news once again. Sitting in her Mount Washington home July 18, Gwen Dubois listened anxiously to reports of a tunnel fire downtown. Her teenage son had already left on the light rail for a double-header at Oriole Park. "On any given day, he's as likely to be at Camden Yards as he is to be home, despite what's happened to the Orioles this season," she says, recalling her worries in an interview later that month. Knowing that freight trains often carry chemicals that can produce toxic smoke when burned, Dubois was "concerned about whether his health was at risk." When "later on I found out that he was stopped on North Avenue and came home, I was greatly relieved," she says. Dubois' relief about the fire was short-lived. An internist, she sits on the board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit group based in Washington that works to raise public awareness of nuclear issues. On her house hangs a large banner reading nuclear-free zone. Attuned as she is to nuclear risks, her thoughts quickly broadened from the chemical fire to larger issues. "Within hours," she says, "I was thinking, If this were a train carrying radioactive waste, what kind of exposures would there be? Who would be monitoring? Would we even know? What about the psychological impact on people who are afraid that they've been exposed? So, as bad as this fire was, I thought it would have been just truly a catastrophe if the train had carried nuclear waste. . . . "As time goes by, the other issue is, it's going to become more and more likely that trains will contain nuclear waste, and nuclear waste carried in containers that haven't been adequately tested. And also, this train wreck--the temperatures were extremely high, high enough to cause burning of nuclear waste and make some of the radioactivity airborne and carried over a wider area," she continues. "So all of the specifics about this train fire--the temperature, the difficulty getting to it, the fact that it was in an urban area where a lot of people were potentially exposed--all of these factors are so relevant. If the cargo was radioactive, the implications would have really been just mammoth." Dubois' mind was not the only one turning to the potential nuclear risks posed by the Howard Street tunnel fire. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)--the Senate majority whip and, like every other elected official in Nevada, a strident opponent of the Yucca Mountain plan--took to the Senate floor the day after the fire began to offer his take on the dangers. "People think hydrochloric acid is bad, which it is," Reid said, referring to one of the hazardous materials carried by the burning train in Baltimore, "but not as bad as nuclear waste. A speck the size of a pinpoint would kill a person. And we're talking about transporting some 70,000 tons of it all across America." Reid enlisted the aid of Maryland Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes in promptly convincing his colleagues to do what politicians often do when drastic accidents occur: order a study. On July 23, as charred rail cars were being removed from the Howard Street tunnel, the Senate voted 96-0 to attach an amendment to the U.S. Department of Transportation appropriations bill requiring DOT to conduct a top-down assessment of the nation's system for transporting hazardous and radioactive waste. Reid's actions in the wake of the Baltimore fire caused a flurry of interest--back in Nevada. "Baltimore's experience should be reason enough to comprehend that Yucca Mountain isn't just Nevada's problem, it would be a land mine for any city or town that had the misfortune of being located near the path that would take nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain," the daily Las Vegas Sun editorialized on July 25 under the headline "Baltimore derailment a bad omen." Also quick to pick up on the nuke-train angle was the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a Washington-based activist group. The organization's nuclear-waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, shot off a press release on July 21, revealing that a U.S. Department of Energy assessment of the Yucca Mountain Project included route maps that showed nuclear-waste shipments going by rail from Calvert Cliffs through the Howard Street tunnel. Kamps spent the next two weeks touring the country, garnering news coverage of this new twist to the Yucca Mountain debate. Pro-Yucca forces dismiss attempts to play up the Baltimore fire as a nuclear-waste-transportation issue. The day after Reid made his speech on the Senate floor, the industry issued its response. "It is really unfair for Sen. Reid to use this as an opportunity to make a case against Yucca Mountain by scaring the public," said Mitch Singer, a spokesperson for the D.C.-based Nuclear Industry Institute (NEI). Sarah Berk, spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), told reporters that Reid's response to the tunnel fire is "a misguided and misinformed effort to connect something that should not be connected. The fact of the matter is, if that train had been carrying nuclear components, it would have been protected in containers that would have prevented this sort of a spill." Berk stressed the nuclear-power industry's "phenomenal safety record" and its ongoing efforts "to develop safe and responsible methods to handle nuclear waste." The NEI's Web site (www.nei.org) points out that nuclear-waste shipments are small, carefully managed, and do have a remarkable safety record: In nearly 40 years of transporting spent nuclear fuel, there have been 2,900 shipments and only eight accidents. Only one was serious, and none resulted in a radioactive release. In Maryland, shipments of high-level radioactive materials have occurred without incident. Twenty-eight thousand pounds of radioactive material passed through Maryland in four shipments during July and August 2000, according to the Maryland State Police, which is notified of such hauls, and since 1996 approximately 15 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel were trucked through the state in five separate shipments. In addition, an NRC report shows that between 1993 and 1997 154.8 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel were shipped out of state from the Dundalk Marine Terminal, Calvert Cliffs, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg. Another 17.1 kilograms were sent to Dundalk for export. The key to safely transporting spent nuclear rods is the survivability of the casks. The NRC, according to NEI's Web site, requires that transportation casks "pass a series of hypothetical accident conditions that create forces greater than the containers would experience in actual accidents. The same container must, in sequence, undergo 1) a 30-foot free fall onto an unyielding surface, 2) a 40-inch fall onto a steel rod six inches in diameter, 3) a 30-minute exposure to fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit that engulfs the entire container, and 4) submergence under three feet of water for eight hours." What the NEI site doesn't point out is that never has an actual, full-size cask been subjected to this battery of assaults. Quarter-scale models have been used as the basis for computer models that predict how an actual cask would perform in extreme circumstances. But no actual full-scale testing has been conducted, because subjecting a 130-ton cask to those conditions is logistically challenging and very expensive--probably near $20 million per test. Thus--as Yucca Mountain Project critics like to point out--there is no real-life basis for concluding the casks can survive such extreme circumstances. The third element in the NRC's list of standards--the 30-minute, all-engulfing fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit--is the one that turned attention to the Baltimore blaze. Firefighters here reported whole train cars aglow from the heat of the tunnel fire. On the second day of the fire, Baltimore City Fire Department officials told the press that the temperature in the tunnel was as high as 1,500 degrees. If the hottest part of the fire rose above 1,475 degrees for more than 30 minutes--as appears likely, though technical analysis has yet to prove it--then the Howard Street tunnel fire achieved a rare intensity that gives pause to nuclear-waste- transportation experts. Questions to NEI's press office about whether casks are designed to survive a fire as intense as Baltimore's was reported to be were referred to Robert Jones, a Los Gatos, Calif., nuclear engineer who designed casks for General Electric for 13 years and now works as a nuclear-industry consultant. Jones was skeptical about whether the Baltimore fire actually exceeded the design standard for casks. If it did, he says, it would be a singular event. Jones cites a government study showing that the probability of an actual railroad fire exceeding the regulatory conditions is less than 1/10 of 1 percent. "I'll wager that 1,500 degrees did not exist totally for a day and a half" in the Howard Street tunnel, Jones says. He acknowledges, though, that if it did, "there's a potential for some release. But we're not talking about this thing blowing up." Rather, he explains, "the leakage, if it was to occur, is likely to be a radioactive gas that would be dispersed." Daniel Bullen, who sits on the federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board , concurs with Jones. "Would there potentially be a release? Yes," says Bullen, an Iowa State University engineering professor who used to run that school's now-closed nuclear-reactor laboratory. Foreseeing the questions his answer raises, he fires off a quick interview with himself: "Would it be a significant release? Probably not. Would it be hard to find? No, because radiation is pretty easy to find. Would it be difficult to remediate? Maybe. You might have to move a lot of dirt and clean up a lot of surface and stuff. But would it be significantly life-threatening? Probably not." "Oh, this guy's just shooting from the hip," Marvin Resnikoff says upon hearing Bullen's characterization of the effects of a long-burning 1,500-degree fire. Resnikoff, a physicist, heads Radioactive Waste Management Associates, a New York-based consulting firm that specializes in analyzing nuclear-waste safety. The state of Nevada recently hired him to look at the Howard Street tunnel fire and report on its implications for safe transport of spent nuclear fuel. The report is due to be completed this month; when it's released, Resnikoff asserts, "we'll have much more definitive answers." In the meantime, Resnikoff offers a glimpse of what he's learning. If the fire turns out to be as hot as reported--and his analysis will establish whether or not it was--then a potential release would include other materials besides radioactive gas. "There are particulates," he says. "We are concerned about cesium 137 because it is semivolatile. And we are concerned about cobalt 60, to a lesser extent, because that material is on the outside" of spent-fuel assemblies and could be released more quickly in the event of a leak. Cesium 137 and cobalt 60 are radioactive carcinogens that have half-lives of 30 and five years, respectively, so they represent a long-term cancer risk. They emit gamma rays, which, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fact sheet, "can easily pass completely through the human body or be absorbed by tissue, thus constituting a radiation hazard for the entire body." Based on the weather conditions that existed during the Baltimore fire, Resnikoff estimates that a radioactive smoke plume exiting the southern terminus of the tunnel would have spread perilously close to Camden Yards. Until the report is concluded and released, Resnikoff declines to give any more details of his concerns about what could have happened if nuclear waste had been in the Howard Street tunnel fire. Robert Halstead, transportation adviser for the Nevada Office of Nuclear Projects, which hired Resnikoff to study the Baltimore fire, is much more candid. If the fire was hot enough for a long enough time to compromise the casks and cause a leak, Halstead says, "you are going to be concerned with this plume of smoke carrying cesium and some other fission products. Obviously it's bad if you breathe it, but also, because it is a big-time emitter of gamma radiation, there is direct radiation from the plume. If anything's been deposited on the ground, it's irradiating the area also. It would cause a very big cleanup problem. "So you basically would face this terrible choice," Halstead says. "You could easily spend in excess of $5 [billion] to $10 billion to clean the area. Or you could simply quarantine the area. The real answer on this is that you are probably going to have a situation where you've spent money rather than lives. There probably aren't going to be thousands of latent cancer fatalities, but you are going to have to spend hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to prevent that. That's a pretty fair ballpark [figure]." If Resnikoff concludes that the Baltimore fire actually could damage a nuclear-waste-transportation cask enough to cause a radiation leak, the question becomes how to ensure that nuclear waste bound for Yucca Mountain (or anywhere else, for that matter) is never subjected to such an accident. This opens up a whole other area of debate--some experts contend the shipping risks are minimal, while others assert transportation is the weakest link in the nuclear-waste-management chain. Jones, the cask designer, points out that rail shipments of spent nuclear fuel are made on dedicated trains, hauling only nuclear-waste casks. That reduces the probability of waste being in a contained, inaccessible environment, such as a train tunnel, along with volatile chemicals and other materials that, when burning, can create extremely high temperatures for a long period of time. (The train that caught fire under Howard Street, for example, was loaded with wood and paper products.) Furthermore, shipping schedules can be coordinated to eliminate the possibility that a dedicated nuclear-waste train and a mixed-freight train with hazardous materials are in the same tunnel at the same time. "You know, railroads don't just cut things loose and say we'll see you at the other end," Jones says. "They're very good at tracking these things. So the circumstances that would have to exist in order to have an environment where a spent-fuel train would be in that Baltimore tunnel fire or its equivalent is just extraordinary. A billion to one. It virtually isn't going to happen, just because that's the way the business is structured." Resnikoff counters that "there is no regulation that says that nuclear-waste shipments will be by dedicated train. It would all be voluntary on the industry's part. If they'd like to sign a requirement that it will be by dedicated train, that would make a big difference. It costs more money to have a dedicated train. Do they want to put up the money? [That] is the question." "It's perfectly credible that you could have one or two casks of spent fuel in a mixed-freight train going through that Baltimore tunnel," Halstead maintains. His reasoning is based on cost. In all likelihood, dedicated trains will be used to make large hauls of nuclear waste. But the small amount of waste at Calvert Cliffs--930 metric tons, about 1/10 of 1 percent of the nation's growing inventory of spent nuclear fuel--may well end up on trains carrying a variety of other materials. "A contractor working for the Department of Energy who got [its] contract on a low-bid basis would be tempted to shave nickels and dimes by transporting a small number of casks a short distance on a mixed-freight train--say, from Calvert Cliffs maybe up to Harrisburg [Pa.]," Halstead says. There, he speculates, the Calvert Cliffs casks would be transferred to a dedicated train carrying other waste from other reactors in the region. Calvert Cliffs spokesperson Karl Neddenien cautions that "at this point there is no plan whatsoever as to where and how the shipments will go. It's wide open." He notes that Calvert Cliffs is right next to the Chesapeake Bay, so "it may turn out to be safer to put it on a barge to go down to Norfolk, Va., to a railhead. We don't know." He acknowledges that Yucca Mountain planning documents do show a proposed route through the Howard Street tunnel but says nothing is set in stone. And Bullen, of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, suggests the proposed route may be changed in light of this summer's events. "I'd be surprised if they let them use that tunnel after the fire," he says. Another problem with shipping waste by train is that "there are no federal regulations that govern the selection of shipping routes for rail," Halstead says. "There are for trucks, and the highway routes are generally selected to minimize shipments through highly populated areas, but there aren't any equivalent regulations for rail." He suggests laws that prevent the use of two-way tunnels and require circuitous routing and dedicated trains. "Why in the world would we allow spent fuel to be shipped in mixed-freight trains in the first place?" Halstead says. "And, secondly, if they were in mixed-freight trains, who would be stupid enough to run them through dangerous areas? Congress should just say, 'Bang, you will not ship any spent fuel in mixed-freight trains.' My god, what could be more common sense than that?" His harsh critique of the existing waste-transport system notwithstanding, Halstead says he is not against nuclear power. "I personally think that there is a very good green case to be made for nuclear power," he says. But after years of studying the industry and how it's regulated, he says, he finds it "just pathetic that the people running this business are incapable of doing it technically and in a way that would have public confidence." The public is going to have plenty of opportunity to express its confidence, or lack thereof, in the Yucca Mountain Project as it winds through the approval process. Based on NRC's assessment of the site's scientific and technical feasibility, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and President Bush are expected to give the plan the green light later this year. Then Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn and that state's legislature will have an opportunity to veto that decision--something they're assured to do. Once Nevada rejects it, Congress gets the final say by a simple majority vote of both houses. Along the way, lawsuits brought by the state of Nevada and coalitions of environmental groups will throw up roadblocks. All together, this level of contention is bound to attract big media attention and raise Yucca Mountain's profile as a national issue. In the meantime, a major snafu has cast a shadow over Yucca. In late July, the Las Vegas Sun reported that for the last six years, the same Chicago law firm that the Department of Energy has been paying to provide legal services in support of Yucca Mountain has been lobbying on behalf of the NEI to get the project built. The firm, Winston &Strawn, and the NEI severed their relationship shortly after reporters called for comment on the apparent conflict of interest. "This situation," Guinn wrote to Abraham in an Aug. 1 letter, "presents serious issues concerning conflict of interest and possible bias in the site evaluation process" for Yucca Mountain. Around the same time, in an incident seized upon by anti-Yucca forces to bolster their case, a leaking cask was discovered on a truck carrying low-level nuclear waste through Nevada. No radioactive material escaped, but the July 30 incident served as a reminder of a leaky container found on a truck in Arizona in 1997--and that one did release radioactivity, leading to a suspension of additional shipments until corrective measures were put in place. Guinn promptly fired off another letter to Abraham: "It appears DOE's protocol for the transportation of nuclear waste is seriously ineffective in protecting public health and the environment." Critics' concerns about the Yucca Mountain Project aside, most everyone agrees that the technology doesn't exist today to allow the waste to be stored on-site at the nation's 72 nuclear-reactor sites for 10,000 years, until it has cooled off enough to be relatively safe. "It's gotta go someplace, it can't just stay around forever where it is," says Robert Jones, the former GE nuclear engineer. As the nation has already invested $6 billion to $8 billion in the Yucca site, Jones contends, we should move forward with it. But it will cost another $50 billion to bring the Yucca site online; rather than continue throwing good money after bad, Nevada's Sen. Reid contends, the Bush administration should scrap Yucca and start anew, finding another site or developing strategies to safely keep the waste where it is. It remains to be seen how exercised the public will get over the potential hazards of transporting nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. But as bad press, including the doubts about safety posed by the Baltimore fire, feeds into the collective realization that shipments are going to pass within a mile of an estimated 60 million U.S. residents over the course of 30 or 40 years, grass-roots opposition is bound to coalesce. If Resnikoff demonstrates that the Howard Street tunnel fire actually did burn at or about 1,500 degrees for more than a few hours--potentially enough to break a cask and cause a radioactive release--Yucca's opponents' arsenal will be stocked with a credible, real-life incident that raises serious doubts about the current framework for shipping the waste. "The issue of waste transportation to Yucca Mountain is lurking on the national horizon," Nevada Agency for Nuclear Waste Projects executive director Robert Loux wrote in an Aug. 16 guest column in the Las Vegas Sun, "like a thousand-pound gorilla waiting to pounce." © 2001 Baltimore City Paper ***************************************************************** 17 Price-Anderson Coordinators Training AmeriSuites 4520 Paradise Road Las Vegas, NV 89109 November 27-29, 2001 Welcome to the website for registration for the two Price-Anderson Amendments Act (PAAA) trainings that will be held at the AmeriSuites Hotel, 4520 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV. The first session will be a half-day training and will be held from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on November 27, 2001, in the AmeriSuites Paradise conference room. This meeting is designed for new coordinators, either federal or contractor. You must register with this office by choosing the "Registration" button to the left. Be sure to indicate that you wish to attend the new coordinator's training. If you are a DOE employee and you wish to get credit for taking the training, register through the DOE Catalog, Course Number POL 115, CHRIS Number 000197, Session 0003. The second session is the two-day training for federal DOE PAAA Coordinators only. This session will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on November 28-29, 2001, in the AmeriSuites Paradise conference room. New DOE coordinators will want to attend this session after they have attended the half-day session. You must register with this office by choosing the Registration button to the left. Be sure to indicate that you wish to attend the two-day training. To get credit for taking the training, register through the DOE Catalog, Course Number POL 103, CHRIS Number 000198, Session 0003. We have reserved a block of rooms for you at AmeriSuites under "DOE Price-Anderson Group." The price of the rooms is $78.48 taxes included for single or double occupancy. Phone for reservations at 702-369-3366. The last possible date for reservations at the group rate is October 25, 2001. If you would like to submit suggested agenda topics, please call Sue Petersen at (301)903-0112 or send by e-mail to Sue.Petersen@eh.doe.gov. The buttons on the left give you additional information about the hotel and the meetings. Remember, to participate in these trainings, you need to do three things: 1. Make your reservations at the hotel before October 25, 2001, at 702-369-3366; 2. Register with this office at this website; and 3. Register for the training through CHRIS if you are a DOE employee. ***************************************************************** 18 Nuclear waste plan is still five years off news.telegraph.co.uk - By Charles Clover, Environment Editor (Filed: 13/09/2001) AFTER four years without any plans for dealing with the nuclear industry's 50-year legacy of radioactive waste, the Government yesterday unveiled a strategy unlikely to produce a result before the next election. Michael Meacher, Environment Minister, said the programme of public consultation and research into burial - with or without the possibility of retrieval - or above-ground dry storage would culminate in 2005 with a series of options for public consultation and an announcement of the result in 2006. He said that the Government was "starting from scratch" following the cancellation by the last government of plans to build an experimental disposal shaft near Sellafield, which was hotly opposed by Cumbria county council. Mr Meacher said a decision about the disposal of 500,000 tons of nuclear waste that the industry will produce over this century, even if there are no nuclear power stations, "must not be rushed and may take decades to implement". Among the options that have been rejected at the outset as too dangerous are firing waste into space aboard missiles. Mr Meacher issued assurances that the Government had at present no preferred option or preferred site for a nuclear waste dump. "There is no site on the radar screen at the moment. I want a national debate. I don't want people ever to wake up and find out there is to be a nuclear storage facility near them. "Today the news is full of horrendous events that people will be discussing for a very long time. I want to say that this too is an issue which affects the public, their children and their children's children." © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited2001. Terms &Conditions of ***************************************************************** 19 Fast-breeder reactor research the way forward Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com JAPANESE The Asahi Shimbun Japan should continue research work on the fast-breeder reactor to establish an efficient nuclear fuel-recycling system, says Kenji Yamaji, a professor at the University of Tokyo. The effort suffered a setback after an accident at the Monju prototype reactor in December 1995. Excerpts of an interview follow: Q: Should Japan develop a nuclear fuel cycle? A: Using uranium fuel without reprocessing spent fuel is a waste of uranium resources, which are far less available than petroleum. Nuclear-energy technology is also indispensable as a means of curbing global warming, unless another revolutionary technology is developed that does not generate carbon dioxide. Q: What should be done to develop the fuel cycle? A: We should do more in terms of basic research, such as designing a revolutionary fast-breeder reactor. It is important to aim for a less expensive and more efficient reprocessing technology. The current plan is to build one large reprocessing plant. But if fast-breeder reactors go into commercial operation, it will be possible to build a small reprocessing facility at each nuclear plant. Each plant will be able to have a self-containing fuel cycle that makes it unnecessary to transport plutonium elsewhere. Q: The pluthermal program (which uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide in light-water reactors) became the mainstay of the fuel cycle following setbacks to the fast-breeder reactor project. But the program has been put on hold (because of resident objections). How do you see the situation? A: The fast-breeder reactor is the heart of the fuel cycle. The pluthermal program does not make for efficient use of fuel resources, so it is only a temporary system. But in the referendum in Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, proponents insisted that the program was the heart of the cycle. (The authorities) should tell residents candidly that for the time being pluthermal is the only way to consume plutonium and seek their cooperation. Q: Moves are under way to resume operation of the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju. What do you think about this? A: Basically, I agree with resuming operations there. We should keep the door open for the development of more effective energy technologies. But it is not necessary yet to complete a follow-up demonstration reactor (a step before the operation of commercial reactors). Judging from projected increases in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a full-scale introduction of the fuel cycle will become necessary to curb global warming probably 50 years from now. For the time being, we should concentrate on assimilating past technologies and promoting research and development. Q: There is already a glut of plutonium, but a reprocessing plant is under construction at Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, with commercial operation expected to begin in 2005. What do you think of this? A: From an economic viewpoint, there is little urgent need for reprocessing. We should weigh the cost of operating the plant and the cost of canceling its operation. I favor the second option, if it is possible. It is currently more important to build interim storage facilities for the large amounts of spent fuel that are produced by existing nuclear plants. Along with reprocessing, we also should consider the option of direct disposal of spent fuel. We will have to change the current fuel recycling program sooner or later. Kenji Yamaji, formerly a researcher at the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, also is head of the Society on the Future of Nuclear Energy, a group of university and corporate researchers. (09/12) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 20 U.S. urges nuclear plant precautions after attack [Reuters] Tuesday September 11, 5:29 pm Eastern Time WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday recommended that all U.S. nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel facilities go to the highest level of security as a precautionary measure in response to devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. ``While there has been no credible general or specific threats to any of these (power plant) facilities, the recommendation was considered prudent, given the acts of terrorism in New York City and in Washington, D.C.,'' the NRC said. Hijacked planes crashed into the major U.S. landmarks, destroying New York's twin towers and plunging the Pentagon into flames in what President George W. Bush called an ``apparent terrorist attack.'' The agency said it would not provide details of the heightened security measures being taken at the nation's 103 nuclear reactors located in 31 states because such steps are classified. Nuclear power provides about 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supplies. Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN - news) President Bill Cavanaugh said his company was coordinating with federal authorities and ``is taking every step necessary to ensure safety and security'' at all its facilities. ``As always, safety is our top priority,'' he said. Cavanaugh added that he was ``shocked and saddened'' by the attacks. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based company owns two major utilities, CP&L and Florida Power, that operate nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, the Energy Department has ordered the highest state of security readiness at its nuclear weapon laboratories. ``We've had a lockdown of our nuclear material, and we are in close contact with our labs and field offices,'' department spokeswoman Jeanne Lopatto said. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has been in close contact with White House officials about the situation. For security reasons, Lopatto refused to say where Abraham was. ``He's in a safe location,'' she said. ***************************************************************** 21 Letter to Gregory Friedman, Inspector General, DOE from Bob Loux re: Inquiry into bias in DOE's Yucca Mountain Program KENNY C. GUINN Governor STATE OF NEVADA [State Seal] OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR AGENCY FOR NUCLEAR PROJECTS 1802 N. Carson Street, Suite 252 Carson City, Nevada 89701 Telephone: (775) 687-3744 • Fax: (775) 687-5277 E-mail: nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us ROBERT R. LOUX Executive Director September 7, 2001 Mr. Gregory Friedman, Inspector General Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General 1000 Independence Ave. S.W. Washington, DC 20585 Dear Mr. Friedman: You have initiated an inquiry into whether a conflict or bias exists within the Department's Yucca Mountain program when the Department's law firm, Winston & Strawn, concurrently represents the Nuclear Energy Institute, in a lobbying capacity, before the Congress on issues concerning the Yucca Mountain program. I'm enclosing portions a transcript from a hearing that took place on July 5, 2001, before Magistrate Judge Kay in the matter of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P. versus the Department of Energy and Winston &Strawn. In this hearing, attorneys representing Winston & Strawn made the statement, under questioning by Judge Kay, that Winston has represented the Department of Energy in the Yucca Mountain program, since 1992. The significance of this statement is that in previous statements to the court, Winston stated that they were exclusively representing TRW, the Department's prime contractor on the Yucca Mountain. Not only are these conflicting statements cause for concern regarding Winston's ethics, but demonstrate that the Department's legal relationship with Winston go back to 1992, prior to the Nuclear Energy Institute's engagement, which appears to been initiated in 1996. I hope that you find this information useful to your inquiry. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, --/s/-- Robert R. Loux Executive Director State of Nevada Office of the Governor Agency for Nuclear Projects 1802 North Carson Suite 252 Carson City, NV 89701 (775) 687-3744 voice (775) 687-5277 fax nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us- e-mail * ***************************************************************** 22 NCI CALLS ON NRC TO ACTIVATE EMERGENCY PLAN FOR PROTECTING REACTORS AGAINST TERRORIST ATTACK NCI document FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, September 11, 2001 CONTACT: Tom Clements, 202-822-8444, clements@nci.org
Paul Leventhal, 301-657-8171, Leventhal@aol.com The Nuclear Control Institute today called upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to immediately activate an emergency plan that was developed several years ago for protecting nuclear power plants against terrorist attack when a potential threat has been identified. NCI President Paul Leventhal today spoke with NRC Chairman Richard Meserve on the telephone at 9:45 AM to convey the urgent request. Meserve responded that he and NRC officials were closely monitoring the crashes of planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as a fire on the Mall in Washington. Meserve acknowledged the NRC's emergency authority to order the placement of heavy trucks across access roads to the nation's 104 commerical nuclear reactors and to upgrade guard forces at the plants. Leventhal asked Meserve if he was implementing the plan. Meserve responded that he could not discuss on an open telephone line what the NRC is doing in response to the emergency. At that point, Leventhal urged that the plan be implemented immediately. NCI has long advocated that the NRC upgrade protections at nuclear power plants against truck bomb attacks and other armed assaults. Half the nation's nuclear power plants have failed to repel NRC-supervised mock terrorist attacks involving only three lightly armed "attackers." These "force-on-force" exercises have resulted in the "destruction" of redundant safety systems that would result in severe core damage leading to a meltdown. In 1994, NRC adopted a truck-bomb rule following the bombing of the World Trade Center. NRC has resisted demands by NCI and the Los Angeles-based Committee to Bridge the Gap to upgrade the truck-bomb rule to establish barriers and set-back distances sufficient to resist the larger bombs subsequently used against the federal building in Oklahoma City and the U.S. Marine barracks in Saudi Arabia. The NRC also has acquiesced in nuclear industry demands to shift responsibility for supervising the mock-terrorist attack exercises from the NRC to the plant operators in response to industry complaints that the exercises are too severe and the costs of upgrading security too costly, given the low probability of an attack. More information on the terrorist threat against nuclear power plants, including a report in the current issue of U.S. News and World Report on the vulnerability of plants to these attacks, is available at http://www.nci.org/nci-nt.htm. NCI ***************************************************************** 23 Nuclear waste consultation announced Ananova - The long-term future of radioactive waste is to be the subject of a widespread public consultation. Environment Minister Michael Meacher says the aim is for transparency, with as many people involved in the debate as possible. The problem is that now more than 10,000 tonnes of radioactive waste are being stored in the UK, pending a decision on their management. Mr Meacher said: "Even if no nuclear plants are built and reprocessing of spent fuel ends when existing plants reach the end of their working lives, another 500,000 tonnes of waste will arise during their clean-up over the coming century. "Some of the substances produced will be radioactive and potentially harmful for hundreds of thousands of years. "Protecting the public, workers and the environment now and in the future is a top priority for the Government in conjunction with the devolved administrations. "How should we manage the waste? Should we bury it deep underground or store it until future generations know more about its risks and perhaps better ways of dealing with them? Or is there another better option?" Story filed: 12:02 Wednesday 12th September 2001 RELATED STORIES: ***************************************************************** 24 Yggdrasil Institute - Uranium Enrichment Newsletter - August 2001 Uranium Enrichment Newsletter August 2001 The Uranium Enrichment Project publishes a monthly online newsletter summarizing events within the US uranium enrichment establishment. The newsletter is edited by Mary Byrd Davis, who can be contacted at . A grant from The John Merck Fund makes the newsletter possible. 1. Oak Ridge 2. Paducah 3. Portsmouth 4. US Department of Energy 5. United States Enrichment Corporation 6. Russia 7. Depleted uranium 8. Scrap metal I. OAK RIDGE Damages for whistleblowers July 31, Daniel F. Sutton, an administrative law judge with the federal Department of Labor, awarded financial damages to three whistleblowers: Ken Warden ($50,353 in compensation plus reinstatement in his former position), Commie Byrum ($25,000 in compensation and withdrawal of a reprimand), and Virginia Johnson ($2,500 in compensation). All three are present or former security analysts at Oak Ridge. The complainants "expressed concerns that questionable individuals, including convicted felons, drug dealers and abusers, and persons with psychological problems, had their national security clearances granted or renewed." According to Sutton, DOE "deliberately altered evidence" in the case. DOE filed an appeal of the ruling with the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board August 9. (Frank Munger, Knoxville News-Sentinel, 8/7/01; Paul Parson, Oak Ridger Online, 8/16/01) Options for K-25 and K-27 The Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis for the Decontamination and Decommissioning of the K-25 and K-27 Buildings was released in July, and an information session was held on it August 16. The release had originally been planned for June but was halted at the last minute due to the need to discuss the analysis with regulators (see July UEN). Of the four alternatives analyzed in the final version of the study, the preferred approach would dispose of some of the radioactive waste that is generated by demolition, at the Nevada Test Site and the remainder of this waste at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility under construction at Oak Ridge. This approach would leave in place the basement slabs and retaining walls. The estimated cost for the preferred alternative is $294 million. Work would be completed by the end of FY 2008. The fate of the concrete slab, underground soil, and utilities will be addressed later. Copies of the analysis are available from the DOE Information Resource Center (865-241-4582). (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 7/31/01; DOE Press Release 8/15/01) Health problems in communities near K-25 Because of complaints from the Coalition for a Healthy Environment (CHE), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has asked DOE to draw up a plan to investigate possible contamination in communities along the Clinch River, near the East Tennessee Technology Park (previously known as K-25). Harry Williams of the CHE reports that residents of Dyllis, Sugar Grove Valley, and Dickey Valley are experiencing serious health problems. CHE would prefer that EPA look into the possible contamination directly rather than work though DOE. (Oak Ridger Online 8/14/01; Frank Munger, News-Sentinel, 8/17/01) Historic water contamination The team conducting an investigation into possible water contamination in the past at K-25 released a draft report in mid-August. The draft states that the project team has made "substantial progress reviewing documents and developing an understanding of the water systems" at K-25. It has identified a preliminary list of contaminants of concern and potential exposure routes. The draft also indicates that the investigation may have to stop because of "budget constraints." Bob Garber of Parallax, which is coordinating the investigation, explains that Parallax did not believe that the project would last as long as it has. He says, however, that the remaining money should cover a final version of the draft report. Steven Wyatt, DOE spokesperson, indicates that additional funding may be available. Parallax currently has a $1.5 million contract. Because of problems that have arisen in regard to the investigation, the Community Input Team for the project has asked that Roane County District Attorney Scott McCluen conduct an investigation. The problems include missing computer hard drives and failure to save information after the demolition of the K-1001 Building, in which several sick workers had worked. McCluen points out that an investigation at a DOE facility is "technically a ‘matter of federal jurisdiction.’" (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 8/22, 8/23, and 8/28/01) Land use planning August 29, US Rep. Zach Wamp announced that DOE has established a focus group to draft a "roadmap for development" on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). The focus group will include representatives from the city of Oak Ridge, The Nature Conservancy, Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation, Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee. Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation has posted on its Web site a summary of the organization’s concepts for an ORR planning process. (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 8/29/01; ) Waste storage August 28 DOE held a public meeting to discuss a proposal to store waste in existing "tent-like structures" next to the Oak Ridge incinerator. The waste would consist of hazardous and radioactive materials packaged in ready-to-burn boxes. DOE says that storing the waste next to the incinerator would enable the department to save at least $180,000 annually by canceling a contract for storage space in a Weskem facility a few miles from the incinerator. The incinerator is at the west end of the K-25 plant. (Knoxville News-Sentinel, 8/16/01) Compacter British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) has installed at Oak Ridge what the company describes as the "largest compactor ever used in the nuclear industry." The supercompacter is designed to crush metal that is to be disposed of rather than recycled. BNFL hopes that the machinery will process two million pounds of metal a week. (Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 8/17/01) Erratum—fire The fire at K-25 the morning of July 25 actually occurred in the K-31 building of the K-25 plant, rather than in the K-25 building itself as we mistakenly reported last month. Workers were in the process of using a plasma torch to cut a converter when the fire occurred. BNFL has completed its investigation of the fire by mid-August, but we have been unable to ascertain whether DOE has given permission for work in K-31 to restart. (Knoxville New-Sentinel, 8/17/01) II. PADUCAH PACE contract August 29, USEC and members of PACE, the Paper Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE), reached an agreement that will keep hourly workers at Paducah on the job until at least November 15. They have worked without a contract since July 31. The agreement, which expires November 15, provides for a four percent hourly wage increase retroactive to July 31 when the old five-year contract expired. It forbids a strike and also layoffs of hourly workers. USEC has agreed to draw up a new contract proposal. If USEC and PACE cannot agree on a new contract by November 15, the four percent pay raise will be discontinued. August 2 workers had soundly rejected a contract that would end after one year if USEC does not remain the sole US executive agent for the US-Russian High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) agreement, does not obtain market-based pricing in a new contract with Russia’s Techsnabexport, and is not allowed to import "commercial" enrichment from Russia. The Union has now pledged to help USEC obtain favorable terms in regard to the HEU agreement. (Joe Walker, Paducah Sun, 8/30/01; WPSD TV ( ), 8/29/01) Rejection of request for a site-wide EIS US District Court Judge McKinnley has denied a motion by the Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists (RACE) to require a site-wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on cleanup activities at the Paducah site. RACE had challenged the lack of a site-wide EIS at Paducah under the Administrative Procedure Act’s "failure to act" provisions. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), responsible for federal agency compliance with NEPA, encouraged agencies to adopt their own regulations implementing NEPA. DOE did so. Among DOE’s NEPA regulations is the statement that "DOE shall prepare site-wide EISs for certain large, multiple-facility DOE sites." The judge ruled that neither NEPA itself, nor NEPA regulations promulgated by the CEQ, nor the NEPA regulations drawn up by DEA mandate a site-wide EIS at Paducah. DOE regulations give DOE "a discretionary choice to perform site-wide EISs at certain of its facilities." Mark Donham of RACE says that RACE is considering a sixth circuit challenge to the ruling but that other means of approaching the issue remain open. DOE is doing several Environmental Assessments (EAs) at the present time. In the EAs, the agency is obligated to analyze cumulative impacts. RACE intends to sue DOE, if DOE does conduct complete analyses. (Mark Donham, e-mails, 8/7/01 and 8/31/01; Memorandum Opinion and Orders on Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment, Civil Action No. 5:00CV-116-M, US District Court, Paducah Division.) Comments on ATSDR assessment The Kentucky Division of Waste Management has submitted comments to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Control Registry (ATSDR) on the draft of its public health assessment for the Paducah plant, released May 1 (see May and June UEN). The Kentucky agency "suggested that the public health assessment underestimated the affected population, the public’s ability to access contaminated areas outside the plant, and past pollution from the plant." In doing so, it noted that ATSDR does not appear to have taken into consideration certain information in DOE’s Phase II Independent Investigation of the plant. In its final version of the report ATSDR will respond to all comments that it has received. (LeRoy Chittenden and Lauren McDonald, Kentucky Environmental Oversight News, 7/01) Modification of hazardous waste permit The Kentucky Division of Waste Management has drafted Modification #16 to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant’s Hazardous Waste Permit. The modification will incorporate the PGDP Site-Wide Operable Unit Strategy into the Corrective Action portion of the permit. The strategy, agreed upon by the US EPA Region 4, DOE, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, divides the plant into several media- or function-specific Operable Units: Surface Water, Groundwater, Surface Soils, Burial Grounds, and Decontamination and Decommissioning. A Comprehensive Site Operable Unit will address any problems that remain after completion of the media-specific units. The Operable Unit Strategy is already being implemented. Nevertheless, Modification #16 has been presented for public comment, because it contains a revised corrective action compliance schedule. Comments will be received until September 2l. They should be sent to Michael V. Welch, Hazardous Waste Branch, Department of Waste Management, 14 Reilly Road, Frankfort, KY 40601. Copies of the Modification can be consulted at the Information Center for the Paducah plant and at the public library in Paducah or requested from the Division of Waste Management (502-564-6716). (Mike Guffey, Kentucky Environmental Oversight News, 7/01) Visit by Exelon Exelon officials visited the Paducah plant twice in August as part of an informal exchange program under which a team from one nuclear plant visits another to review operations and suggest ways of improving efficiency. August 3 Exelon president and chief nuclear officer Oliver Kingsley Jr., toured the Paducah plant with William Timbers, USEC president and CEO. Later in the month a group of technical experts from Exelon visited Paducah. USEC spokesperson Elizabeth Stuckle denied rumors that Exelon is interested in buying the plant. (Bill Bartleman, Paducah Sun, 8/30/01) Exelon owns ten power plants, with a total capacity of 16,810 MW, in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Thus it purchases much enriched uranium. The company was formed by the merger of PECO Energy (formerly Philadelphia Electric) with Unicom, Inc. of Illinois. New environmental information center August 1, DOE opened a new environmental information center on the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, just off Interstate 24 and across from Paducah Community College. The environmental information center for the Paducah plant had previously been located at Kevil, Kentucky, twelve miles from Paducah. The center was shifted in response to pressure from the public to move it to a more accessible location. The Coalition for Nuclear Justice issued a press release August 16 stating that the move is a positive step, but that DOE is also taking steps to avoid involving the public in decision making. It has not, for instance, held a meeting on the scrap metal preliminary environmental impact statement at Paducah despite a consensus recommendation by the Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB); and it has not informed the public (apart from the SSAB) about its plans for a new radioactive waste disposal center at Paducah. The new information center is in the same building as the new workman’s compensation center (July UEN) and an office for the Site Specific Advisory Board. (DOE Press Release, 8/8/01; Coalition for Nuclear Justice Press Release, 8/16/01) III. PORTSMOUTH Community programs Governor Bob Taft announced the week of August 6 that a new center for technology training and job development will open in the fall of 2003 in Piketon. The center is intended to help displaced enrichment workers in particular, but will be open to other members of the public. It will be financed by a $1.92 million federal grant, $900,000 from Ohio State University, and $270,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission. (Jonathan Riskind, Columbus Dispatch, 8/12/01) At a meeting of local community leaders near Piketon, Dennis Spurgeon of USEC presented a check for $2 million from USEC to the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI) for local community and economic development. The money was part of the approximately $44 million that the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC) paid USEC for reducing its electricity consumption in the summer of 2000. USEC is devoting $18 million of the money from OVEC to benefits for workers who are losing their jobs because of the cessation of enrichment operations at Portsmouth--$10 million for enhanced benefits, $8 million for USEC’s standard package. (See UEN Dec.00/Jan.01.) (USEC Press Release, 8/28/01) IV. US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) Compensation for workers In a ceremony held August 9 at the new Energy Compensation Resource Center office in Paducah, US Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and her husband Senator Mitch McConnell handed a check for $150,000 to Clara Harding, widow of Joe Harding. Clara Harding did not speak at the ceremony but reportedly said afterwards that Joe Harding would "be grateful that we got this, but he’d also tell ‘em it wasn’t enough." The Hardings’ daughter Martha Alls told an interviewer that the payment would not even cover Joe Harding’s medical bills. The check was the first payment under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Tim Gannon, a process operator at the Portsmouth plant who is suffering from cancer, was to receive the first check to be delivered to a living worker. Under the act, people who worked at certain locations, including the enrichment plants, and who suffer from certain types of cancer are automatically considered to have been made ill by their work. DOE has not yet written regulations that will determine which workers at other DOE sites will be compensated. (Sara Shipley, The Courier-Journal, 8/10/01) Environmental Management Budget As Congress goes back into session in September, the total funding for DOE’s Environmental Management programs is as follows: FY 01 appropriation $6.265 billion; FY 02 request from the Bush administration $5.913 billion; House appropriation for FY 02 $6.612 billion; Senate appropriation for FY 02 $6.845 billion. The difference between the House and Senate appropriations will be ironed out in committee. Review of Environmental Management programs The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) filed a Freedom of Information Act request with DOE August 16 seeking "all documents produced as part of the ‘top-to-bottom assessment of the Environmental Management program’ initiated by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Previously ANA had asked Abraham "to conduct the review in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires a balanced review panel and open meetings." Abraham did not respond to that request. (see June UEN) Jessie Roberson, DOE’s new assistant secretary for environmental management, said August 15 that concluding the review will probably be a gradual process. As new ways of speeding cleanup are identified, they will be implemented without waiting for the study to be completed. Abraham ordered the review in the spring and has opposed efforts in Congress to increase DOE’s FY 2002 budget for cleanup on the grounds that the study has not been completed. (John Stang, Tri-City (WA) Herald, 8/16/01) Double billing The US Court of Federal Claims ruled August 23 that the federal government owes nine utilities $25.69 million, because, between September 1992 and June 1993, DOE double charged them for the future decontamination and decommissioning of its enrichment plants (see UEN August 01). Other utility companies may now try to bring similar cases against the government. (, 8/23/01) V. USEC Annual financial report USEC has reported that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2001, revenue totaled $1,143.9 million, a drop of 23% from the FY 2000 total of $1,489.4 million. Gross profit in FY 2001 was $152.2 million, 34.8% below the gross profit of $233.6 in FY 2000. Sales of separative work units (SWU) represented $1,057.3 million, a reduction of $330.5 million from the previous year. Sales of natural uranium represented $86.6 million in FY 2001, another decrease, since natural uranium sales in FY 2000 were $101.6 million. The company anticipates that earnings in FY 2002 will be between $35 million and $40 million in spite of an anticipated small loss in the first quarter. (USEC Press Release, 8/1/01) VI. RUSSIA Deliveries in 2002 In a letter of July 27, Techsnabexport (Tenex) the Russian executive agent for the US-Russian High Enriched Uranium (HEU) Agreement, asked USEC to start discussing with it a schedule for delivery of downblended Russian HEU in 2002. The Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy and the Russian enrichment enterprises that downblend the HEU have requested that Tenex and USEC come to an agreement on a tentative delivery schedule "promptly," because preparing the uranium for delivery and obtaining government approvals is time consuming. The Bush administration, which is considering whether to continue the current HEU program with USEC as the sole US executive agent, has not approved an agreement based on market-based pricing that USEC and Tenex negotiated last year. (See UEN, 8/00.) The current contract expires at the end of 2001. (Carter Dougherty, Washington Times, 8/22/01; , 24/8/01) HEU as collateral July 31 Senator Pete Domenici (R. NM) reintroduced the Russian Fissile Material Disposition Loan Guarantee Act (S.1277). The act would provide US loan guarantees of up to $1 billion for loans by private investors to Russia. The private loans would have to be for the purposes of retirement of Russia’s debt, support of Russian nonproliferation programs, or development of Russia’s energy infrastructure, including "peaceful uses of nuclear energy." For each $20 million in loans Russia would have to place one metric ton of HEU and one metric ton of plutonium as collateral in a Russian facility under IAEA safeguards. (). VII. DEPLETED URANIUM DOE announced August 6 that the following three firms had been selected to compete for the contract to build and operate conversion facilities for depleted uranium hexafluoride at Paducah and Portsmouth: --American Conversion Services, LLC, composed of USEC and the environmental engineering firm CH2M Hill; --Jacobs COGEMA, LLC, composed of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and COGEMA LLC, the French fuel-chain giant; --Uranium Disposition Services LLC, composed of the French firm Framatome ANP Richland Inc., the cleanup company Duratek Federal Services Inc., and the engineering firm Burns and Roe Enterprises Inc. Not making the short list, were General Atomics, on the one hand, and Foster Wheeler Environmental Conversion Services, composed of BWX Technology Services, Inc., BNFL Inc. and Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp. on the other. The Energy Daily was told that DOE’s source evaluation board, which reviewed the bids, did not recommend American Conversion Services. Sources suggested to the publication that political factors may have been behind the consortium’s eventual inclusion in the top three. For instance, DOE may want to compensate USEC for a possible decision by the Bush administration to name a second executive agent for the US-Russian HEU agreement. According to DOE spokesperson Walter Perry, DOE’s Oak Ridge Operations office is scheduled to award the contract in October. Construction of the conversion plants must start by Jan. 31, 2004. (DOE announcement, 8/6/01; George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, 8/10/01; Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, 8/9/01; Joe Walker, Paducah Sun, 8/8/01) Depleted uranium imports USEC Inc. has asked the NRC to determine whether it can import depleted uranium under a general license as source material. In support of its request, the company is citing the decision in May of the French Conseil d’Etat that depleted uranium is not a waste. USEC has requested an "indication" of the NRC’s thinking in about a month, but, according to an NRC staffer, the NRC may not be able to meet this timetable, since the decision will likely be up to the commissioners rather than the staff. (, 8/22/01) VIII. SCRAP METAL Preliminary Environmental Impact Statement DOE has extended by sixty days the public scoping period for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the Disposition of Scrap Metals. The department will now consider all comments received by November 9, 2001. Furthermore, DOE will hold three additional meetings: in Santa Monica, CA (Oct. 8), Simi Valley, CA (Oct. 9), and Minneapolis, MN (Oct. 16), and New York city (Oct. 18). (See August UEN) Information on the PEIS is available at . Future scrap DOE predicts that it will generate 942,000 tons of scrap carbon steel, 37,000 tons of stainless steel, and 3,000 tons of iron, plus unspecified amounts of aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, and other metals between now and 2035. Eighty-four percent of the steel will come from facilities at Oak Ridge, Paducah, and Portsmouth. (Tim Bonfield, Cincinnati Enquirer, 8/15/01) ***************************************************************** 25 EC Gives Green Light to Environmental Cleanup Thursday, Sep. 13, 2001. Page 7 Reuters HELSINKI, Finland -- Multilateral lenders, the European Commission and Russian officials meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday endorsed plans to step up funding of environmental projects in Russia and the Baltic Sea region, the Nordic Investment Bank said. The conference was the first meeting of the steering group of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, approved by the European Union's Goteborg summit in June. The meeting brought together officials from the NIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, the EC and Russia, the NIB said. "[The meeting] was a very significant step forward," said NIB senior vice president Oddvar Ronsen. "[Now] for the first time we have set a partnership between the international financial institutions, bilateral financing institutions and the Russian Federation to accelerate implementation of significant environmental projects in Russia." The first projects in line to receive funding from the partnership are a wastewater treatment plant in St. Petersburg and environmental investments in Kaliningrad, the NIB, the Nordic countries' international lending institution, said in a statement. The partnership would also consider funding for nuclear cleanup and nuclear waste-management projects, the NIB said. A pledging meeting for a partnership fund is planned by the EC and the EBRD for the last week of November in Brussels, the NIB said. Ronsen said that the first funds for partnership projects could be provided before the end of this year. The Moscow Times ***************************************************************** 26 Hungarian nuclear station can't withstand attack by Boeing plane BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Sep 13, 2001 Text of report by Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag on 13 September The Paks nuclear power station has a complex physical security system in accordance with international standards, the institution's Deputy Director Gabor Vamos has told Nepszabadsag. Visitors are only allowed to enter certain parts of it and movements between zone limits are monitored by computer. Together with internal armed security guards and security service, a police intervention unit trained in averting terrorist attacks has also been deployed at Paks. There is a ban on air traffic 2.3 kilometres above and three kilometres around the nuclear power station. The Hungarian air traffic control authority monitors is making sure that this requirement is met. Like other nuclear power stations throughout the world, many risk factors were taken into account in the course of building the Hungarian nuclear power station, although the crashing of a passenger aircraft the size of a Boeing jet had not been considered anywhere. However, the power station has prepared for a potential attack across the water. Detectors have been installed and defence plans drafted. Source: Nepszabadsag, Budapest, in Hungarian 13 Sep 01 p 4 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 27 Norwegians unable to proceed with radiation monitoring in Barents Sea BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Sep 13, 2001 Text of report by Russian TV6 on 13 September [Presenter] To conclude our bulletin, some news from the Barents Sea. This morning Mammoet representatives said the first stage of the operation to raise the nuclear submarine Kursk had been completed. In Murmansk journalists are now awaiting an official announcement that the Kursk's No 1 compartment has been removed once and for all. Here is a report by our special correspondent in Murmansk, Vadim Tokmenev. [Correspondent] The large monitor screen at the Murmansk press centre is currently the only way of obtaining confirmation of the news which came in this morning. Mammoet representatives said the torpedo compartment had been completely separated from the rest of the Kursk's hull. Another stage of the operation has been completed. The Russian military may also make an announcement about this in the next hour or two. A direct video link to the [battle cruiser] Pyotr Velikiy has been set up. But at the moment the screen is only showing a logo. Norwegian ecologists may have been the first here on shore to find out that the submarine's bows had already been cut off. Last night they got a call from their office in Oslo asking them to get ready to go to sea. Ingar Amensen, Bred Muller and Bjorn Linde [all phonetic] are three specialists from the Norwegian Radiological Protection Agency [NRPA] whom the Russian authorities are allowing to be in the area when the submarine is raised. [Amensen] It took a lot of effort to obtain this permission. Everything connected with the Kursk is shrouded in a veil of secrecy. Fortunately, our diplomats, including the foreign minister, managed to convince Russia that this would be in the interests of both states. For example, we want to provide a personal guarantee to our state's partners and to inhabitants of Norway that nothing has happened at sea. Our instruments will show this. [Correspondent] The ecologists got to Murmansk by road. That's the easiest way of crossing the border with large metal containers and getting through all the customs formalities. Some of the boxes contain protective clothing in case the weather deteriorates or something happens on the sea-bed, as well as complex instruments which will record all this. Here, for example, is a device which looks more like a pump. It can be used to obtain an instant analysis of water and soil. A special display will immediately show up even the slightest radioactive contamination. [Amensen] This container is for liquid samples and that one is for solid ones. As far as we know, there are already various soil samples aboard the [diving support ship] Mayo. We will gather everything with a view to taking it back to Norway later. [Correspondent] The department has been preparing for this operation for a long time, even though the military were opposed to it. The ecologists brought this glossy booklet with them in order to demonstrate how open they are. It contains everything, including operational plans and diagrams showing the danger points on the submarine, from where water samples will need to be taken. [Bjorn Linde] We are aware that the most dangerous stage lies ahead - when they start to move the submarine, and therefore the reactor. We are now trying to trust the forecasts being made by the Russian military. We even hope to cooperate with them. We will be taking good equipment with us. Every two hours we will obtain fresh information about the radiation situation in the area of the special operation. [Correspondent] All morning ecologists waited to hear when they could go aboard the vessel [Semen] Dezhnev. But later it transpired that for the time being they would have to unload their equipment at the Norwegian consulate. Today the Norwegian ecologists are returning home to Norway. The Russian military explained that they would not be able to go aboard the hydrographic ship any earlier than 21 September. The lifting of the Kursk will start shortly after that. The NRPA specialists do not know exactly how much time they will spend in the area of the special operation. This is Vadim Tokmenev, Andrey Grebtsov and Konstantin Stepanov-Molotov reporting for TV6 from Murmansk. Source: TV6, Moscow, in Russian 1100 gmt 13 Sep 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Flats work goes ahead despite S.C. dispute Rocky Mountain News: Local Plutonium game plan is still on By Berny Morson , News Staff Writer Rocky Flats workers have been told to keep packaging plutonium for planned shipment to South Carolina by mid-October, an official said Monday. But South Carolina has not agreed to accept the highly radioactive material, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Hodges said. A meeting is scheduled Friday between South Carolina officials and the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees Rocky Flats and other nuclear plants. South Carolina and DOE have been in a standoff over plans to send the Rocky Flats plutonium to DOE's Savannah River Site in the Palmetto State. Hodges is willing to accept the material temporarily, but does not want Savannah River to become the permanent repository for the nation's plutonium. He threatened at one point to lie down in front of the truck unless DOE has a plan to remove the plutonium. Rocky Flats spokesman Jeremy Karpatkin said workers have been told to keep packing the plutonium in the special shipping containers with the expectation the material will begin leaving as scheduled. "That doesn't mean it will leave on time," Karpatkin said. "We've been instructed to be prepared to meet the original schedule." Cortney Owings, Hodges' spokeswoman, said the governor's "right-hand man on environmental issues" will meet Friday with the DOE. "We are hopeful this will be resolved to the state's benefit before mid-October," Owings said. But, she said, the state remains distrustful of DOE. That's because the agency scrapped a plan favored during the Clinton administration to convert plutonium to reactor fuel and ship it to other nations. U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he's "guardedly optimistic . . . that there will be news in the near future that we've worked out an arrangement (with South Carolina). Having said that, it's not definite, but I'm hopeful. "My sense is that people really want to resolve it." Udall has been warning since May, when he wrote a letter to DOE secretary Spencer Abraham, that failure to fund a program to get the plutonium out of South Carolina would spark a political crisis. Under the plan that was scrapped, the United States and Russia were to convert 50 tons of weapons-grade plutonium to reactor fuel. That was a smart move, Udall said, since the Russian plutonium could end up in rogue nations. September 11, 2001 2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 2 Israel Eyes Air Strikes at Iran's Nuclear Arsenal Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 NewsMax.com reported Wednesday that Israel warned the U.S. that an air strike against Iran's missiles was a strong possibility. Now the Russians have been given similar hints. In Sunday's New York Post, Uri Dan, an Israeli insider considered a member of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's kitchen cabinet, reported that Sharon raised his nation's concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the aid Russian companies are providing to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Putin tried to reassure Sharon in their three-hour talk that he wouldn't put Israel in danger, Dan reported. "We are not crazy," Putin told Sharon. "We will not allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons, because it might endanger neighboring countries, and that would be an insane move by us." But Sharon's aides insist that the evidence of Russian assistance to Iran's nuclear missile program is undeniable, evoking memories of a similar situation 20 years ago when France denied it was helping Iraq's Saddam Hussein build an atomic bomb. According to Dan, intelligence reports indicate that Iran, which already has the ability to build long-range missiles, could have nuclear warheads in three to five years and threaten the entire Mideast. When Israel faced a similar threat 20 years ago, Dan recalled, it reacted. After French officials denied reports that they were supplying Iraq with the material needed to build a nuclear bomb, Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's reactor in Baghdad in a daring air raid in June 1981. Dan noted that the decision to attack and destroy Iraq's Osirak nuclear center was made by then Prime Minister Menachem Begin and, significantly, by "the toughest member of his defense cabinet - Sharon." In our Sept. 5 NewsMax report we revealed that Israel's defense minister made Iran's nuclear program a top priority during a meeting at the Pentagon – hinting strongly that Israel was prepared to strike against Iranian weapons' facilities. NewsMax also reported that Israel may make such a strike at the same time it hits Iranian targets in Lebanon. Dan reported that Iran has actually put members of its Revolutionary Guard in control of missile units that have a long range and can hit Tel Aviv, and that Iran and Syria are coordinating military moves to "open a second front" against Israel if the Palestinian crisis blows. Recent history has shown that Israel does not sit idly by in the face of such imminent threats. An air strike against the Iranian missile site can thus be expected at any time. As we reported then, when Israel strikes against these missiles, expect a broader sweep, which may include air strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. NewsMax.com Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 3 Terrorists vow to hit Indian nuclear sites rediff.com: September 12, 2001 Sharvani Pandit in New Delhi Terrorist groups based in Pakistan have threatened to target nuclear and military installations all over India in their bid to escalate their separatist campaign, reports said. Some half-a-dozen groups have dramatically stepped up their jingoistic campaign since the failure of the India-Pakistan summit at Agra in July. In the past fortnight, the threats have taken an ominous turn. Sheikh Jamilur Rehman, leader of the Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen that is active in Jammu and Kashmir, has vowed to attack Indian political leaders as well as the country's nuclear and military installations. He said the attacks would be carried out if India "does not cease atrocities on Kashmiris immediately". "We have a very effective network throughout India and nothing is out of our reach," he said. Lashker-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed said jihad would not be limited to Jammu and Kashmir. "There is no limit to it. If someone is going to stop us from carrying our mission, we will declare jihad against him as well." "We plan major operations against the Indian military installations in Kashmir and would continue to carry such actions until liberation." At a seminar organised by Al-Badr, separatist groups pledged to launch large-scale attacks against sensitive Indian military installations and target important personalities. Hizbul Mujahideen deputy supreme commander Maulana Muhammad Javed Qasoori has similarly threatened to extend military attacks throughout India. Indo-Asian News Service ***************************************************************** 4 Letter: DOE doesn't keep promises Las Vegas SUN Today: September 13, 2001 at 8:44:39 PDT I'm one of the "real people" referred to in Jon Ralston's column of Sept. 9, "Politics takes back seat for a spell." Mr. Ralston's sympathy is touching but, Mr. Ralston, please forget the sympathy and work on your logic instead. "Surrendering" to what you call the "inevitable" Department of Energy plans for Nevada is not a position of negotiating strength. Once an area has "sold out," and makes a deal for "mitigation benefits," the DOE never pays. One perfect example is New Mexico's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site. The DOE promised millions, got local politicians to sign on, and now won't pay for anything, not even road improvements. Worse, DOE reneged on health and safety promises. Is this what we want in Nevada? We come from a position of knowledge, not one of tragic nobility. Mr. Ralston, spare me your sympathy and your opinions. Your time would be better spent investigating what happens to communities who "sell out" to the DOE. JEAN TREICHEL All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 DOE: (Oakridge) SELLS Meeting Announcement Agenda Tuesday through Thursday, October 23-25, 2001, American Museum of Science and Energy Oak Ridge, TN The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Society for Effective Lessons Learned Sharing (SELLS) Fall Workshop will be hosted by DOE Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Contractors October 23-25, 2001. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The theme for the workshop will be "Lessons Learned Integration." Workshop sessions will include discussions of ways to improve Lessons Learned Programs with a focus on integrating multiple programs at a Site and integrating DOE Lessons Learned Programs with commercial business programs. Interested contributors and/or participants are invited to submit additional topic ideas and/or abstracts by e-mail to one of the following individuals no later than September 15, 2001: + John Bickford at: John_C_Bickford@rl.gov + Mike Smith at: smithmc@oro.doe.gov + Bobbie Smith at: bsmith@legin.com The abstract should be long enough to convey the substance of your proposed paper or presentation. Please include estimated time needed for presentation to assist in agenda development and scheduling. PROPOSED TOPICS: New member orientation briefing and Q & A session Multi-contractor/DOE LL Program Assessments BNFL "Learning from Experience Colonial Pipeline LL Program Integrating with Industry (panel discussion) Yucca Mountain Project LL Program growth Near miss investigations Activity level feedback process and system The above topics are only suggestions. Additional related topics are welcome. REGISTRATION: Please register for the workshop by 9/30/2001 using the on-line form at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/ll/sells/sellsrgistr.cfm. If you have trouble with that form, please send an e-mail to John Bickford or FAX your name, address, e-mail, and telephone number to (509) 376-6112. Hotel reservations must be made separately (see below). HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS: A block of 50 rooms has been reserved at the at the government rate of $55.00 per night (does NOT include 13.5% tax). Reservations must be made before September 30, 2001. Please let the Inn know that you will be with the "DOE SELLS Conference." 433 South Rutgers Avenue Oak Ridge, TN 37830 (800) 553-7830 or (865) 481-8200 or register on-line through the Inns Web page. The Inn Web site has a map and directions. The Museum is 1/2 mile west of the Inn. WORKSHOP LOCATION: Early registration will be available in the Comfort Inn hospitality room starting at 3:00 p.m. on October 22, 2001. Registration for the workshop at the American Museum of Science and Energy will begin at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 23, 2001. The workshop itself will begin at 8:00 a.m. An agenda will be posted to the SELLS Website (http://tis.eh.doe.gov/ll/sells/mtg200110/Agenda.htm) as it develops. OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES: Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: http://www.visit-or.org Oak Ridge Chamber Of Commerce: http://orcc.org ***************************************************************** 6 SRS, Fort Gordon tighten security Augusta Georgia: Web posted Wednesday, September 12, 2001 By Brandon Haddock Staff Writer Security increased Tuesday at Savannah River Site, Fort Gordon and Plant Vogtle in the wake of the apparent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Savannah River Site temporarily stopped operations at its nuclear-processing facilities, said Rick Ford, an SRS spokesman. Most of the federal nuclear-weapons site's day-shift employees were sent home just before 1 p.m., although a few SRS officials remained behind, in part to man the site's Emergency Operations Center, Mr. Ford said. The site closed to all visitors and vendors, said Mickie Seitter, a spokeswoman for SRS contractor Westinghouse Savannah River Co. Employees leaving SRS were told they could not return that day. But second- and third-shift employees reported to work as usual, said Julie Petersen, an SRS spokeswoman. Day-shift workers were told to report at their regular times today, Ms. Petersen said. Security guards at SRS, armed with automatic weapons, direct traffic leaving the site after a majority of the daytime work force was sent home just before 1 p.m. in the wake of apparent terrorist attacks. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF The shutdown affected not only SRS, but also nuclear-weapons sites across the country, Mr. Ford said. ''As a prudent measure and per our security procedures, we are suspending nuclear materials processing activities,'' he said. Wackenhut Services Inc., the private security company that serves as the site's police force, increased security along site roads and stepped up inspections at SRS barricades, said Wackenhut spokesman Rob Davis. Beyond that, site officials revealed little. ''We've taken some extra precautionary measures that we can't get into for security reasons,'' Mr. Davis said. The site long has prepared for attacks out of concern that terrorists might try to steal the materials needed for an atomic weapon. The site treats and stores plutonium, and also recycles tritium, the radioactive, gaseous form of hydrogen used in modern nuclear weapons. Fort Gordon also increased security measures after the attack, as did military bases across the country. Visitors were not being allowed onto the Army base, said Marla Jones, a fort spokeswoman. Plant Vogtle also heightened security after the attacks, said Rick Kimble, a spokesman for Southern Nuclear Operating Co. in Birmingham, Ala. Southern Nuclear operates the nuclear-power plant near Waynesboro for Georgia Power Co. Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com. All contents ©1996 - 2001 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights ***************************************************************** 7 Security still increased at DOE Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:56 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff As employees began returning to work this morning at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities, heightened security measures remained in effect, including random searches of people's possessions. The majority of the employees were allowed to leave work early Tuesday due to terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. In light of these events, several local DOE facilities took precautions today by making changes in parking areas, plant access and traffic patterns, including the ongoing closure of Bear Creek Road to through traffic. "It differs from site to site," DOE spokesman Steven Wyatt said of security measures. One official at the Federal Building said workers there were being subjected to random searches of purses, briefcases and other items. Additionally, Billy Stair, a spokesman for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said this morning that the federal lab had around 125 employees on travel -- a larger number than reported on Tuesday. Stair said ORNL officials have made contact with all but 19 of these employees, nine of whom who are on foreign travel. He added that there is no reason to believe any of those who are unaccounted for was injured or killed in Tuesday's attacks. Stair added that one lab employee, who was in Paris, France, spent about seven hours trying to get a call into the United States. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 8 SRS officials use trees to suck up nuclear contamination GoUpstate News The Associated Press AIKEN -- The Savannah River Site's operators are using trees as a new way to suck nuclear contamination out of groundwater. The process, called phytoremediation, uses the roots of plants and trees to absorb tritium and other radioactive material found throughout the site near Aiken where nuclear material for bombs was once produced. ''Our objective is to keep it out of the groundwater,'' said Dean Hoffman, program manager of environmental remediation, adding that no contamination has spread from the SRS site so far. The old cleanup process involved pumping contaminated groundwater into the air where chemicals were released. By using trees and plants, SRS's operators say they are saving millions. ''Phytoremediation is not any faster than pump and treat systems,'' said Bob Blundy of Westinghouse's remediation unit. ''It is more natural, passive and not as expensive.'' Nuclear material drawn into the plant ''is used in normal plant tissue,'' said Lee Newman of the Savannah Ecology Laboratory. ''The projects going on here are fairly good from engineering and scientific standpoints.'' Loblolly pines, poplars and willows are often used in the process because they are sturdy, have deep roots and can withstand the contamination. The process is particularly effective on tritium because it dissolves more quickly than other contaminants, said Greenville health physicist Kevin Taylor, who has been involved in groundwater cleanups. ''Their cells can be affected like ours, but there is no central nervous system in a plant,'' he said. SRS is one of only a few federal facilities in the country to use phytoremediation, said Bill Taylor, a spokesman for the Energy Department. ''Almost instantly, downstream tritium readings went spiraling down,'' Taylor said. Newman estimates the groundwater should be cleaned up to acceptable standards within 20 years. Tom Temples, a geologist at the University of South Carolina, called phytoremediation a ''pretty nifty tool.'' ''Some plants have a natural ability to absorb those contaminants, break them down and make use of them,'' he said. ***************************************************************** 9 DOE: Reindustrialization works Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:14 p.m. on Thursday, September 13, 2001 DOE: Reindustrialization works by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Reindustrialization continues to be a viable concept in Oak Ridge. That was the picture painted by Susan Cange, team leader for the Department of Energy's local Reindustrialization Division, during her presentation Wednesday night to the Oak Ridge Site-Specific Advisory Board. "Reindustrialization is an innovative method to accomplish cleanup of underutilized (DOE) facilities and equipment and make them available for commercial use," said Cange during the meeting at the Garden Plaza Hotel. DOE's reindustrialization efforts are accomplished in three approaches, one of which is by working with the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee. The federal agency leases land, facilities and equipment to CROET, which in return subleases them to private-sector businesses. Cange said 72 leases have been signed with 36 companies to occupy space on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Using contracts to accomplish reindustrialization is another viable method, Cange said. As an example, she pointed out DOE's $238 million, six-year contract with BNFL Inc. to decontaminate and decommission three buildings at K-25. Those buildings are K-33, which totals 2.8 million square feet; K-29, 586,880 square feet; and K-31, 1.4 million square feet. "It has created a tremendous amount of jobs Š more than 900," she said of the BNFL contract. Bartering is another way DOE works toward reindustrialization. This method allows companies to use DOE equipment and/or facilities at reduced rates in exchange for cleanup services. "Savings to the government through bartering arrangements totals over $4.64 million in current year dollars," Cange said. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 10 No end in sight to increased DOE security Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:14 p.m. on Thursday, September 13, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Small but noticeable American flags were attached to a couple of vehicles entering and exiting the Y-12 National Security Complex this morning. The small patriotic symbols, some say, seem appropriate since the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities continue to implement heightened security measures in light of Tuesday's tragic terrorist attacks. "We're still in that mode," said DOE spokesman Frank Juan this morning regarding security precautions. As of this morning, Juan said there is no end in sight to the precautions DOE and its contractors are taking, which include changes in parking areas, plant access and traffic patterns. With Tuesday's terrorist attacks putting DOE on alert, it is also not known how those events or future threats might affect future plans in Oak Ridge. For example, Oak Ridge National Laboratory plans to become a more open campus. If that should happen, the lab's security focus will be shifting from fences and gates to building-based access. "For the first 50 or some years, the lab lived behind the fence and that was the appropriate model," Lab Director Bill Madia told The Oak Ridger earlier. "What we did here throughout the Cold War needed to be restricted and couldn't have the general public walking around." For the next 50 years, however, that should not be the case, Madia said during a March interview. "We don't need a restricted campus for 95 percent of what we do," he said. "Therefore, taking down the fences and controlling access at the doors of the buildings is the appropriate security posture for us to be in." On Wednesday, Jeff Smith, deputy for operations at ORNL, said it's possible those plans could be revisited. "It's too early to start jumping to conclusions about are we going to change this or stop that," Smith said. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 11 Beazley warns of nuclear terror threat ABC News - The Federal Opposition leader, Kim Beazley, has warned the threat of attack by nuclear, chemical and biological weapons still exists, not because nations are likely to use them but because terrorists could. He has put terrorism at the top of threats to national integrity and he has called for Australia to be part of a global human intelligence network which can infiltrate terrorist groups. Mr Beazley says the United States attacks have highlighted the danger which still exists. "When you look at how readily this particular group was able to penetrate and use if you like the common coin of everyday life, it is still a possibility that they could do that with something like anthrax," he said. "So don't rule out the question of weapons of mass destruction." © 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 12 Plutonium will be ready to ship if S.C. accepts it charlotte.com - - - - - [charlotte.com] Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 radioactive showdown Plutonium will be ready to ship if S.C. accepts it Packaging continues at Colorado weapons site; talks will resume Friday Associated Press GOLDEN, Colo. -- Workers at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant have been told to keep preparing plutonium to be moved to South Carolina by mid-October, despite a dispute over the shipments. Rocky Flats spokesman Jeremy Karpatkin says workers will keep packing the plutonium in special shipping containers with the expectation the material will begin leaving as scheduled. "That doesn't mean it will leave on time," Karpatkin said Monday. "We've been instructed to be prepared to meet the original schedule." South Carolina has not agreed to accept the highly radioactive material, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Hodges said. A meeting is scheduled Friday between S.C. officials and the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees Rocky Flats. South Carolina had an agreement with the federal government to bring 50 tons of weapons-grade plutonium from Rocky Flats and elsewhere to the Savannah River Site near Aiken beginning in October. It would be converted into fuel for nuclear power plants or immobilized for storage in Nevada. Hodges threatened to stop the shipments unless federal authorities agreed in writing to specify when the plutonium would leave the state. "We are hopeful this will be resolved to the state's benefit before mid-October," said Cortney Owings, Hodges' spokeswoman. Triggers for nuclear weapons were made for 40 years at Rocky Flats, about 12 miles west of Denver. It closed in 1989. ***************************************************************** 13 Workers prepare plutonium to ship Columbia, S.C. Wednesday, September 12, 2001 FAQs | The Associated Press GOLDEN, Colo. (--) Workers at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant have been told to keep preparing plutonium to be moved to South Carolina by mid-October despite a dispute over the shipments. Rocky Flats spokesman Jeremy Karpatkin said Monday that workers will keep packing the plutonium in special shipping containers with the expectation the material will begin leaving as scheduled. "That doesn't mean it will leave on time," Karpatkin said. "We've been instructed to be prepared to meet the original schedule." South Carolina has not agreed to accept the highly radioactive material, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Hodges said. A meeting is scheduled Friday between S.C. officials and the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees Rocky Flats. South Carolina had an agreement with the federal government to bring 50 tons of weapons-grade plutonium from Rocky Flats and elsewhere to the Savannah River Site near Aiken beginning in October. It would be converted into fuel for nuclear power plants or immobilized for storage in Nevada. Hodges threatened to stop the shipments unless federal authorities agreed in writing to specify when the plutonium would leave the state. "We are hopeful this will be resolved to the state's benefit before mid-October," said Cortney Owings, Hodges' spokeswoman. Triggers for nuclear weapons were made for 40 years at Rocky Flats, about 12 miles west of Denver. It was closed in 1989. © Copyright 2001 The State-Record Company ***************************************************************** 14 Pasko case enters decisive stage Gregory Pasko, an investigative journalist who worked for the Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was arrested on 20 November 1997 by the FSB and charged with high treason for his writing about the nuclear safety issues in the Russian Pacific Fleet. (Moscow:) The experts who have evaluated whether there are state secrets or not in the materials that allegedly were confiscated at Pasko’s flat in November 1997, have finalized their evaluation. Thus, the Pasko case has entered what may turn out to be its decisive stage. Jon Gauslaa, 2001-09-12 11:47 The Pacific Fleet Court announced earlier this week that it would start its interrogations of the experts on September 12, and it has apparently planned to use four days on the interrogations. Independent Court analysis? - I consider this as a good sign, said defense attorney Ivan Pavlov. It does at least indicate that the Court’s intents to make its own independent analysis of whether there are state secrets or not in the disputed materials and that it will not just leave the decision of this question to the experts. The defense has previously questioned both the objectiveness and the competence of the experts. -We have already pointed out that they have a security clearance from the FSB, which means that they are not independent from the body that initiated the case; and that they will answer questions of legal character, although none of them have any legal education, said Pavlov. What questions we will ask the experts will of course depend on their conclusions, but we are well prepared for this part of the trial, as the stage we now have entered may turn out to be decisive. Grigory Pasko was arrested in November 1997 on charges of espionage on behalf of the Japanese TV-station 'NHK'. He was acquitted of espionage in July 1999, but convicted of abuse of his official authority and freed under a general amnesty. Seeking a full acquittal, Pasko appealed the verdict, but so did the prosecution, insisting he was a spy. The Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court cancelled the verdict in November 2000, and sent the case back to Vladivostok for a re-trial. After several postponements, the re-trial started on July 11, 2001 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 Menu system java script courtesy of Peter Belesis at the Dynamic HTML lab. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************