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NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS
1 Yucca Mountain site poses many problems -
2 Yucca Mountain risks need to be tallied, NRC told
3 Despite safety advances, the public and utilities remain wary of
4 NRC Staff Seeks Input on Draft Turkey Point Environmental Impact
5 Board concerned about waste pumping safety
6 Hank Greenspun: Chernobyl should teach us a lesson
7 NRC to Meet with Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation
8 Brian Greenspun: Let the majority rule
9 NRC to Meet with Amergen Energy Company
10 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Friday, June 15, 2001
11 Sellafield nuclear plant's health and safety public watchdogs can now be
NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS
1 Crunch time for British tank ammunition policy
2 Queensland test 'was not a nuclear bomb'
3 REID CONTINUES PRESSURE TO HALT OPEN-AIR MUNITIONS DISPOSAL AT
4 Uranium cleanup on House's wish list
5 Beryllium maker tries to shift blame
6 GOP critical of plan to end Navy training exercises
7 Safety officials say Hanford plant operations improved
8 Congressman seeks review of cleanup program
9 Hanford board gets briefing on firefighting coordination
10 Court denies downwinders' appeal
11 Navy to Look for New Bombing Site
12 DU Health Risk Negligible - Burton
13 NZ Investigation Into DU Completed
14 Local group urges monitoring of Test Site ground water
15 Government to file A-bomb appeaL
16 Australian rain forest used for nuclear tests?
17 Paper:UK Scientists Conducted HK Baby Nuclear Tests
18 Post: U.S. Suspects Iran Getting Nuclear Components
19 Ten sites added, 10 proposed for Superfund list
20 DOE secretary to visit
21 EPA adds 2 Mass. sites to Superfund_
22 How we learnt to hate the bomb
23 Bush under fire over Vieques
24 Gov'ts challenge A-bomb victim's legal victory
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NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES
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1 Yucca Mountain site poses many problems -
By Sen. Harry Reid
The Hill
By Sen. Harry Reid
June 13, 2001
Once thought to be down for the count, nuclear power is now
poised to play a major role in America's energy future. Vice
President Cheney's Energy Task Force is breathing life into a
declining industry, a revitalization it's feeling for the first
time in decades. But the Task Force ignores the economic
realities of building new plants and avoids the dangerous
consequences of the pollution this industry generates.
Nuclear energy may some day be an important facet of our national
energy policy, but a number of important issues must be resolved
first. It would be irresponsible -- and dangerous -- to promote
the nuclear industry without admitting to some stark economic and
environmental realities.
In the last 50 years, American taxpayers have doled out hundreds
of billions of dollars for nuclear power in government subsidies.
Still, with all that investment, nuclear power accounts for only
7 percent of our nation's total energy consumption.
No nuclear power plants have been ordered since the late 1970s
because they are just too costly. When you include the costs of
decommissioning, pollution clean-up and construction, nuclear
power is one of the most expensive energy generation options.
More important than economic concerns, however, are severe risks
to public health and the environment. The industry generates
thousands of tons of nuclear pollution each year -- pollution
which remains hazardous for tens of thousands of years.
Supporters of the industry point to deep underground storage as
the best way to deal with this waste. But this out-of-sight,
out-of-mind "solution" never puts people and the environment out
of danger. Why? The Department of Energy (DOE) is only studying
one possible site for the repository of this deadly waste: Yucca
Mountain in Nevada.
The results of this research show significant uncertainties about
the long-term performance of the repository, even though the DOE
claims to be on the verge of recommending the site. Ignoring
these problems could have a devastating impact on millions of
Nevadans living near Yucca Mountain and in nearby Las Vegas, one
of the fastest growing cities in the nation.
Nevadans are not alone in this predicament. Burial of waste in
Yucca Mountain would require thousands of shipments of dangerous
high-level radioactive waste on highways and rail corridors
throughout the United States. Most of the nuclear power plants
are east of the Mississippi and getting the nuclear waste to
Nevada means thousands of trips through 43 states.
These shipments would provide a steady stream of high-level
waste, each one a potential target for terrorists or a
devastating accident. The DOE, however, has not done a detailed
environmental assessment of the impacts of these shipments. In
fact, the DOE has not even determined the shipping routes and
whether rail or trucks will be used. Every member of Congress
should demand answers to these questions before putting
constituents at risk.
My biggest concern, of course, is the safety of the people in my
home state of Nevada. Scientific evidence has still not proven
the Yucca Mountain Repository to be safe. There is a significant
threat to the groundwater below the site. This resource is vital
to the nearby communities for human consumption, irrigation and
other farming activities and livestock. Contamination of the
groundwater is the most likely way radioactive material will get
out of the repository.
Water is our most precious resource in the West, and any leak of
radiation into the groundwater would be devastating -- and
deadly.
Plus, geologists are finding plenty of fault, or faults, with the
selection of Yucca Mountain. There are 33 known faults near Yucca
Mountain. About 600 seismic event have occurred near the site in
the last 20 years alone, with a 5.6-magnitude earthquake
occurring as recently as 1992. There is also evidence of
relatively recent volcanic activity in the area.
Even without the relicensing of new nuclear power plants, nuclear
power will continue to provide electricity for our nation in the
short term. We have an historic opportunity to make a better
choice for our future -- an opportunity to encourage renewable
energy instead of wasting resources sustaining the outdated
nuclear power industry.
We need to invest our resources in the true energy sources of the
future: wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. And we need to
promote efficiency and conservation. In fact, a 10,000
square-mile region of Nevada could supply our nation's entire
electricity needs with existing solar technology. Developing
these resources will ensure that we leave future generations the
energy they need instead of the nuclear waste they'll regret.
*Sen. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, is a member of the
Environment and Public Works Committee and Senate majority whip.*
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2 Yucca Mountain risks need to be tallied, NRC told
[Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Friday, June 15, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nuclear waste official says Bush, Abraham, Congress need
information to make decision
_By TONY BATT _
DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU _
__WASHINGTON -- _The Department of Energy should give priority to
measuring the likelihood that Yucca Mountain will meet health
guidelines issued last week by the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was told Thursday.
The department should strive to tell President Bush, Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham and Congress that after 15 years of
studies, "we have determined that Yucca Mountain ... will meet
the EPA standard with a probability of x percent," said Jared
Cohon, chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
"That's quite a high hurdle to get over when you're analyzing
this complicated problem. That's different from saying, `With
reasonable expectation, Yucca Mountain will meet the standard,' "
Cohon said.
These "summary uncertainty statements" are crucial, Cohon said,
in providing guidance to Bush and other policy-makers charged
with deciding whether to go forward with the nuclear waste
repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
NRC Chairman Richard Meserve and Commissioner Edward McGaffigan
Jr. seemed skeptical of Cohon's approach, and they suggested a
broader analysis would be preferable.
"The degree of uncertainty will be decided in the licensing
process," McGaffigan said.
On June 6, the EPA announced radiation exposure from Yucca
Mountain should be limited to 15 millirem per year, or the
equivalent of three chest X-rays. In addition, the EPA set an
annual radiation limit of 4 millirem for groundwater downstream
from Yucca Mountain.
Abraham is scheduled to make a recommendation to Bush by the end
of the year on the suitability of Yucca Mountain to store 77,000
tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel.
If the president decides Yucca Mountain is suitable, the Energy
Department would submit a license application to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to begin operating the nuclear waste
repository by 2010 at the earliest.
Cohon and two other members of the technical review board, Debra
Knopman and Alberto Sagues, briefed the NRC commissioners
Thursday. The technical review board consists of 11 members
responsible for overseeing the Energy Department's studies of
Yucca Mountain.
Besides citing the need for quantifying the risks involved with
Yucca Mountain, the board also urged more studies on the
long-term corrosion rates of nuclear waste packages and the
effect of high and low temperatures on nuclear waste. And the
board said the Energy Department should develop multiple lines of
evidence to support Yucca Mountain's viability as a nuclear waste
repository.
Commissioners Greta Dicus and Jeffrey Merrifield asked Cohon how
the NRC could improve communication with Nevada.
Cohon advised them not to wear suits and dresses when they
conduct public meetings in Nevada. Cohon recalled wearing a suit
to one of his first meetings in Pahrump.
"A local county commissioner came up to me and said, "We've never
seen so many suits. You don't dress like us,' " Cohon said.
This story is located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jun-15-Fri-2001/news/16328397.html
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3 Despite safety advances, the public and utilities remain wary of
nuclear power
The Seattle Times: Nation &World:
_By Guy Gugliotta_
*The Washington Post*
JEFF GUENTHER / AP
Residents of the Hunter Trace subdivision in Soddy-Daisy,
Tenn., live in the view of the Tennessee Valley Authority's
Sequoyah nuclear plant. New plant designs take up less space -
and are purportedly safer to run.
WASHINGTON - At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, a pump malfunction set
off an alarm at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear-power plant
outside Harrisburg, Pa. Within nine seconds, equipment failures
and human error caused a dramatic drop in the reactor-core water
level, setting off the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
No one was injured, but the partial meltdown at Three Mile
Island, and the far worse meltdown and explosion at Chernobyl
seven years later, left deep scars on the American psyche about
the dangers of nuclear power. Not a single plant has been ordered
since 1973.
Now, however, the Bush administration's plan to increase energy
supplies - including nuclear generation - has focused attention
on whether the United States again might turn to the atom to
fulfill its electricity needs. The nuclear-power industry thinks
it's ready. Since Chernobyl, engineers have designed a new
generation of nuclear plants they believe will reduce the risk of
another Three Mile Island sharply.
Three simpler - and therefore cheaper and safer - versions of the
power plants currently in use have been approved by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC), a crucial vote of confidence for any
interested utility.
Moreover, an international consortium has designed a new type of
plant that uses hundreds of thousands of billiard-ball-sized
"pebbles" of nuclear material instead of a conventional reactor
core. It does not have enough radioactive fuel in a confined
space to generate temperatures necessary for the pebbles to
explode. In theory, it is meltdown-proof.
But none of these advances has enticed a U.S. utility to order a
nuclear plant, and many obstacles persist.
Polls show that public dread endures. About 40,000 tons of
radioactive waste from existing reactors are piling up across the
country because the Energy Department has not found a permanent
repository.
_Critics still skeptical
_Critics of nuclear power remain skeptical of the new plants'
safety. And although the economics are good today, who's to say
how long that will last? Even if a utility decided to build a
reactor tomorrow, it would take a snag-free minimum of six to 10
years to bring it on line.
"There's renewed interest, but people are still skeptical that
the public will allow nuclear (plants) to be built again," said
Stephen Lee of the Electric Power Research Institute, the utility
industry's research and development arm.
"Also, the financial risk is quite large. The private investor
will always take the lowest-risk, highest-return option, which,
for now, is still gas generation."
U.S. utilities in 31 states operate 103 commercial reactors,
which provide about 20 percent of the nation's electricity.
All U.S. plants are either "boiling water reactors" or
"pressurized water reactors" that use uranium-rich fuel rods in a
reactor core to create a controlled nuclear chain reaction.
Resulting heat changes water into steam that drives the
turbo-generators. "Control rods," usually made of boron, are
inserted or withdrawn from the core to regulate the pace of the
reaction by soaking up excess neutrons.
As with any boiler, the integrity of a nuclear core depends on
operators and instruments to prevent overheating. But while a
conventional boiler may blow up in a cloud of fire and soot when
it becomes too hot, a nuclear core can spew deadly radioactivity.
The keys to avoiding trouble are many: adequate operator
training, fail-safe shutdown measures and careful monitoring of
valves, gauges and instruments. This can be difficult, partly
because of the machinery's intrinsic complexity, but mostly
because U.S. plants are all one-of-a-kind designs with
modifications added along the way. Washington state's lone
operating nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station on the
Hanford nuclear reservation, had a spotty record after its
construction in 1984, with numerous safety shutdowns until a
management overhaul and major renovation greatly improved its
performance.
Energy planners now are studying the viability of finishing
construction of the dead plant next door to Columbia, WNP-1, and
firing it up. The debate will kick off in earnest this summer
when the study is completed and open to public consideration.
In recent years, utilities markedly have improved safety records
with better training and upgrades. Between 1987 and 1999, the
number of automatic shutdowns per plant dropped from 3.6 per year
to 0.6 per year, according to the NRC. The number of
safety-system failures per plant was cut in half, to 0.8 per
year.
In the meantime, the industry prepared three new reactor designs
and obtained NRC certification for them. The object was
standardization: "Right now there's a lot of highly skilled
construction - it's like airports," said James Lake, president of
the American Nuclear Society. "We're looking for a way to change
to building airplanes. If you can build in one place on an
assembly line, it's much, much cheaper."
The three designs - one by General Electric and two by
Westinghouse - are based on traditional technology. GE simplified
safety systems, reduced the amount of hardware and made the plant
easier to operate.
"It's still concrete, steel, welding, pumps and valves," said
Steven Hucik, GE's general manager for nuclear-plant projects.
"But when you simplify the design, there's much less of it. You
can reduce the size of the building, and that means savings."
GE has built two 1,350-megawatt "advanced boiling-water reactors"
in Japan and has six under construction: four in Japan and two in
Taiwan. The two operating plants took 4 years, 3 months to build,
and "we're predicting 54 months (4-1/2 years) in the United
States," Hucik said.
Neither of Westinghouse's two designs, both pressurized-water
reactors, has been built. The System 80-plus, also 1,350
megawatts, is projected to be South Korea's next-generation
reactor. The Westinghouse 600-megawatt "AP600" departs more from
tradition because it incorporates "passive" safety features based
on gravity and other natural forces. Many safety devices are
activated without human intervention.
_Off-site construction
_Obtaining certification for the passive safety system was "a
fundamental issue" for Westinghouse, said Howard Bruschi, the
company's chief technology officer, because the system will allow
off-site, modular construction that can be finished in three
years.
Critics acknowledge that standardization and simplicity make
new-generation plants safer, but reactors "are inherently
dangerous, so while it's a question of properly managing the
risk, you can't make it zero," said David Lochbaum, a
nuclear-safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The only truly innovative design on the horizon for the U.S.
market is the pebble-bed reactor. Instead of fuel rods, the
pebble-bed reactor uses tiny particles of uranium dioxide encased
in layers of graphite and silicon carbide and shaped into
spheres. These pebbles - 320,000 of them - are poured into a
65-foot cylindrical hopper that is lined with graphite bricks and
has a hollow column in the middle.
_Helium, not steam
_Once in place, the pebbles initiate a chain reaction. But
instead of making steam, the plant pumps helium into the top of
the hopper and extracts the heated gas at the bottom, where it
drives the turbines.
To shut down the reactor, control rods are inserted through
conduits in the graphite bricks. Because the rods cannot run
straight through the pebble bed, the reactor must be small - 110
to 130 megawatts, vs. 1,000 megawatts or more for a water
reactor. But proponents see small size as a plus.
"You can build it in a modular fashion and locate it close to
transmission lines where you need generation," said Oliver
Kingsley, president and chief nuclear officer of the U.S. utility
Exelon. Small size also should make the reactor virtually
accident-proof. Computer modeling shows that the plant can't
generate enough heat to melt the pebbles - even if helium flow is
stopped and the control rods are withdrawn.
"You can't have a runaway accident, and that's one thing that's
very attractive," Lochbaum said. "But the jury's still out.
Graphite can catch on fire, like it did at Chernobyl."
*Seattle Times staff reporter Lynda V. Mapes contributed to this
report.
_seattletimes.com home_
*****************************************************************
4 NRC Staff Seeks Input on Draft Turkey Point Environmental Impact
Statement; Meetings Scheduled for July 17
Region II Press Release - 2001 - 14 -
_UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION_
_OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II_
_61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303_
_Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA_
No. II-01-014 June 15, 2001
CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov
Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comment
on its preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental
impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating licenses for
the two units at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant near Homestead,
Florida.
The information is contained in a draft environmental impact
statement on the proposed license renewal published June 12. The
statement is open for public comment until August 6, and will
also be the subject of public meetings July 17 in Homestead.
The NRC has been reviewing the application for extension of the
Turkey Point licenses since Florida Power & Light, which operates
the plants, filed it in September 2000. Under NRC regulations,
the original operating license for a nuclear power plant is
issued for up to 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to
an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current
operating licenses for Turkey Point will expire on July 19, 2012,
for Unit 3 and April 10, 2013, for Unit 4.
The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of
nuclear plant operation are described in the NRC's Generic
Environmental Impact Statement, or GEIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC
issues a site-specific supplement to the GEIS on each plant
requesting license renewal to address the potential environmental
impacts. Issues specific to Turkey Point are addressed in
Supplement 5, published in draft form. The NRC staff's
preliminary recommendation is that the Commission determine that
the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for the two
units at Turkey Point are not so great that preserving the option
of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers would be
unreasonable.
On Tuesday, July 17, the NRC staff will hold two similar meetings
to obtain comments on the draft environmental impact statement.
The meetings will be held at the Harris Field Complex - Homestead
YMCA, 1034 Northeast 8th Street in Homestead, from 1:30 - 4:30 in
the afternoon, and from 7 - 10 in the evening, or until all
interested people have an opportunity to speak. An open house is
scheduled to begin one hour before the start of each meeting.
The two sessions will begin with identical overviews, including a
discussion by NRC staff and its contractors of the contents of
the draft supplement to the GEIS. The meeting will then be opened
for public comment.
For planning purposes, interested parties are encouraged to
pre-register to attend or to present oral comments at the July 17
meeting by contacting James Wilson by telephone at (800)
368-5642, extension 1108, or by Internet at
TurkeyPointeis@nrc.gov by July 12. Interested parties may also
register before each session to make comments. Individual
comments may be limited to accommodate all speakers.
Written comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS will also be
considered by NRC staff. Comments should be submitted either by
mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of
Administrative Services, Mail stop T-6 D 59, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by Internet
to TurkeyPointeis@nrc.gov .
The draft supplement to the GEIS, along with other related
documents, is available electronically for public inspection in
the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; or
electronically on the Internet at
www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/SR1437/S5/index.html_. In
addition, the Homestead Branch Library, 700 North Homestead
Boulevard in Homestead, has agreed to make the draft supplement
to the GEIS available for public inspection.
At the conclusion of the public comment period on August 6, 2001,
the NRC staff will consider and address the comments provided and
issue a final supplement to the GEIS. That supplement will
contain a recommendation regarding the environmental
acceptability for license renewal.
*****************************************************************
5 Board concerned about waste pumping safety
This story was published Fri, Jun 15, 2001
_By John Stang_ _Herald staff writer_
A federal oversight board has raised safety concerns about
Hanford preparations to pump radioactive wastes to a
yet-to-be-built glassification plant.
The board's top two concerns are:
-- Will the pipelines that eventually take liquid wastes from
Hanford's tanks to the glassification plant be strong enough to
withstand pressures required for pumping the fluids?
-- Will pumping the liquids from the tanks release flammable
gases and increase the chance of a fire or explosion in a tank?
The Department of Energy's Office of River Protection, which
oversees efforts to move the wastes from underground tanks to a
plant that will incorporate them into glass logs for safe
long-term storage, said those concerns are being reviewed.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which provides
technical advice to DOE, sent DOE a memo outlining its concerns.
The Office of River Protection supervises efforts to build a
glassification plant, with a target to glassify the first wastes
by 2007. It also supervises preparations to send wastes to the
plant.
The defense board's memo focused on four 200 East Area
double-shell tanks that will accept and hold wastes from other
tanks to eventually funnel to the glassification plant. Right
now, all four are close to full of a mix of solids, sludges and
liquids.
The defense board's memo said the pressures required to push
liquid wastes through pipes in the proposed network could exceed
900 pounds per square inch (psi), which means the same force
would be exerted on pipe walls. The problem is that parts of the
piping system -- especially at valves, joints and other
connections -- are rated to handle pressures of 275 or 400 psi.
Exceeding those limits increases the likelihood of leaks and
ruptures.
CH2M Hill, the contractor preparing for the pumping operation, is
buying new pipes rated to withstand 1,000 psi. But the same
danger could remain at valves and joints, the defense board memo
said.
DOE and CH2M Hill are studying what pressures are likely and what
measures are needed to handle them, said Craig Groendyke,
flammable gas project manager for the Office of River Protection.
The defense board also is worried about what will happen when the
top layer of radioactive liquids is pumped from the double-shell
tanks. Inside the lower, more solid waste layers are scattered
clusters of tiny bubbles of flammable gases such as hydrogen.
Pumping will change the forces within the tank and increase the
chance of flammable gas bubbles popping up into the tank's upper
air space.
Groendyke said the concerns are being studied. Also, a cushion of
time exists until 2006, when the four tanks are to be pumped. But
he wants the situation analyzed before many of the site's tank
experts retire or otherwise leave.
The problem is similar to the notorious and potentially dangerous
hydrogen gas "burps" in the 200 East Area's Tank SY-101, which
were fixed years ago with a mixer pump.
_Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This
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6 Hank Greenspun: Chernobyl should teach us a lesson
June 15, 2001
Sun founder Hank Greenspun's last Where I Stand column was
written in 1989, the year he passed away. In the following weeks
Classic Sun will feature columns written by Hank that still
relate to today's headlines. In this column, written on April 30,
1986, Hank examines the danger of nuclear power plants in the
wake of the tragedy in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union.
---
The devil unleashed.
When the first atom bomb was atmospherically exploded, many
scientists watched with awe and wondered what kind of demon had
been let loose on mankind. The people were assured it was safe.
As nuclear experimentation and use expanded, we were lulled into
a false sense of security by experts who promised there was no
danger in the construction of nuclear reactors and nuclear power
plants.
We had our own "accidents" and were lucky that casualties were
held to a bare minimum.
The same is not so with the gigantic nuclear accident that has
occurred in Russia with the reported death toll of 2,100 people
-- although casualties were less, according to figures the
Russians have given to world news sources. No one yet knows what
the final tally will be, as the fire is still burning and people
are being exposed to radioactive fallout. It might continue
burning until it reaches the Earth's core.
All the assurances that the Department of Energy gave us that
there is no danger and we can handle any emergency are false. We
never believed it, and now less than ever. They have changed
their opinions and evaluations too many times.
The United States has permitted nuclear reactor plants to be
built on major earthquake faults. How perilous -- how asinine --
can that be?
A plant blows in Russia with 2,100 people dead and we still
don't know what the Diablo reactor plant in Southern California,
right next to the ocean, could do.
The Department of Energy permits these things without any true
knowledge of what it will do in the future. If any of our
congressmen tell us that we have to wait to see what assessments
the DOE will make, we say that is humbug.
Russian scientists, I'm certain, assured their people it was
safe, and now many are dead. There's no nuclear energy that is
safe. We know that if it doesn't totally eradicate humankind it
will produce cancer and leukemia. And the nuclear waste will
contaminate land and water for thousands of years.
Why do they fool around with it? There are more acceptable forms
of energy -- solar energy, oil and coal.
Do we have to depend on this hellish energy source that cannot
be controlled?
A Department of Energy official, James Vaughan, acting assistant
energy secretary, sat before a Congressional group and was asked
if there have been any emissions during nuclear testing at Nevada
Test site. He said to the best of his knowledge there hadn't. He
was giving false testimony.
He went on to explain that was weapon testing and not in his
field, but the program was so carefully monitored that nothing
could happen.
There have been emissions and venting quite a few times.
A congressional committee, hurriedly convened to probe the
effects of the Russian disaster and to establish safeguards for
American nuclear plants, questioned Vaughan about U.S. safety
standards. He assured the representatives that everything was
monitored and was safe.
His assurances were erroneous, and all I could think is that the
fate of the world hangs in the testimony of that fat bureaucrat
who dismissed the questions of the probers as if they were
insulting to his intelligence.
He was insulting the intelligence of the people of Nevada and
Utah who have suffered death, leukemia and other forms of cancer
by the continued assurances of the Department of Energy.
The devil is in our backyard. No one is fully informed where
nuclear energy is concerned.
In the United States there are 95 nuclear power plants licensed
and operational. And there isn't a man alive who can guarantee
against accidents of the type that plagued Three Mile Island or
the terrible disaster in Russia.
It becomes increasingly urgent that effective steps be taken to
halt the spread of nuclear power plants for peace or nuclear
weapons for war.
The alternative is the extinction of mankind and the destruction
of this planet.
If we are going to leave a world of peace and well-being for our
children, we have to end all experimentation with nuclear fission
and find safer, more dependable methods of producing energy.
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
7 NRC to Meet with Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation
Press Release - Region I - 2001- 34 -
_UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION_
_OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I_
_475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406_
No. I-01-034 June 14, 2001
CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation on
Wednesday, June 20, to discuss the results of the agency's annual
assessment of safety performance at the R.E. Ginna nuclear power
plant.
The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is
scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Training Center at the plant,
located on Lake Road in Ontario, N.Y. NRC officials will be
available afterwards to answer questions.
The performance period to be discussed is April 1, 2000, to March
31, 2001. Overall, the NRC found that the plant operated in a
manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all
cornerstone objectives during the period. A letter sent from the
NRC Region I office to Rochester Gas & Electric addresses plant
performance during the period and will serve as the basis for the
meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr/ginna_eoc2001.pdf
Current performance information for the R.E. Ginna plant is
available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/GINN/ginn_chart.html
*****************************************************************
8 Brian Greenspun: Let the majority rule
June 15, 2001
Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
WHAT'S THE difference between a majority and a minority?
Usually a whole lot. Just ask the folks who had to trek back up
to Carson City because they couldn't concentrate sufficiently on
their jobs as legislators to get their work done according to the
Nevada Constitution.
Fortunately our good governor, Kenny Guinn, made them all return
to the scene of their crime of nonfeasance to do the job right.
As of this writing, the Legislature is in special session. With
any luck, by the time this is published today they will be on
their way home having finally done what we pay them to do.
The reason they couldn't get their work done right the first
time had everything to do with majority, minority status and the
long-term desires of those who felt ownership in their jobs -- if
not their specific desks -- so much so that they tried all they
knew to keep them. That meant that legislation, which was really
the people's business, became hostage to the political aims of
the folks who run the show.
In the state Senate that would be Bill Raggio and his majority
Republicans and in the Assembly, Henderson's Richard Perkins and
his majority Democrats. During the last few days, nothing moved
through either house for fear that one of the two leaders was
giving an advantage to the other in the all-important
reapportionment effort.
Obviously they outwitted each other, and when the final bell for
sine die rang --actually, it rang twice if you understand the
convoluted thinking of the lawyers trying to justify the
lawmakers' claim that one o'clock was the same as midnight --
they came up short. Thanks to Guinn they get a second chance to
do the right thing. Just how the voters look upon this bit of
mischief come the next election is anybody's guess.
This is one time when majority status meant something and
actually worked to mitigate the harm either side tried to do to
the other. There is another clear-cut example of the difference
between majority and minority status. That is in the big Senate,
the one located in Washington, D.C.
Much was made during the last election of the importance of
having Nevada's senators split between both the Republican and
Democrat parties. The theory went that having a member with both
feet in each camp would be good for the Silver State when it came
time for President George W. Bush to pull Nevada's name out of
the nuclear waste dump sweepstakes hat -- the only name, by the
way, in the hat -- and, thereby, set in motion a battle royale in
the U.S. Congress.
That theory had very little time to play out and, in fact,
didn't seem to be going anywhere when Sen. Jim Jeffords let his
conscience get the best of him, which gave the Senate over to the
Democrats.
And that is when the new majority leader, Sen. Tom Daschle,
taking his lead from his good friend and political soulmate,
Nevada's senior senator, Harry Reid, declared that the nuke dump
issue was dead as long as the Democrats held the majority and as
long as Harry was at his side.
Besides proving yet again the old adage that it isn't what, but
who you know, the majority leader's comments and his subsequent
affirmation of them when he was given a chance to backtrack,
spoke very loudly about the power of the majority.
And now that it is beyond question that the folks who run
Nevada's economic engine -- that's the gaming business for those
who just got here -- are on board with this Yucca Mountain fight,
it is no longer an inevitability that our futures will glow for
all the wrong reasons.
Almost to a person, the gaming establishment is convinced that
Yucca Mountain is not only bad for business, but it also is
anathema to an industry that makes a living as much on perception
as on reality. From quality of life issues to the quality of
employees who move to town to support this burgeoning business,
there is no doubt that a nuke dump would kill the golden goose
and smash all the eggs that we have become so used to seeing
around here.
So, given a choice between being in the minority and being in
the majority, Nevada's fortunes and its future demand support for
a majority that has come to her side in time of need. That
majority includes Harry Reid, his talent and his friends. Theirs
is a slim lead, to be sure, but a balanced one upon which the
future of this great and growing state hangs.
This is not politics. This is personal.
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
9 NRC to Meet with Amergen Energy Company
Press Release - Region I - 2001- 35 -
_UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION_
_OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I_
_475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406_
No. I-01-035 June 14, 2001
CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of AmerGen Energy Company on Wednesday, June 20,
to discuss the results of the agency's annual assessment of
safety performance at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant.
The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is
scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the cafeteria of the
Administration Building at the plant, located on Route 9 in Lacey
Township, N.J. NRC officials will be available afterwards to
answer questions.
The performance period to be discussed is April 1, 2000, to March
31, 2001. Overall, the NRC found that the plant operated in a
manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all
cornerstone objectives during the period. A letter sent from the
NRC Region I office to AmerGen Energy addresses plant performance
during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting
discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr/oyster_eoc2001.pdf
Current performance information for the Oyster Creek plant is
available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/OC/oc_chart.html
*****************************************************************
10 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Friday, June 15, 2001
State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS - Items of
Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Friday, June 15, 2001
These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web
site
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item ID: 011650011 Accession Number: ML011560601 Date Added:
6/14/01 9:11:22 AM Title: "WATERFORD 3 NUCLEAR SAFETY INFORMATION
PLANS TO HELP YOU DURING EMERGENCIES" Brochure. Author
Affiliation: Entergy Nuclear Southwest Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650124 Accession Number: ML011590263 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:01:30 AM Title: 05/21/2001 SUMMARY OF MEETING TO
DISCUSS SCHEDULES FOR PLANNED LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATIONS Author
Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLSB Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650290 Accession Number: ML011650359 Date Added:
6/14/01 2:43:40 PM Title: 06/11/2001 Mtg. with San Onofre re:
End-of-Cycle Assessment. Author Affiliation: NRC\RGN-IV\DRP\C
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650256 Accession Number: ML011650230 Date Added:
6/14/01 1:11:04 PM Title: 06/18/2001 - 07/23/2001 Commission
Meetings -FRN. Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY Document/Report
Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660028 Accession Number: ML011650545 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:14:59 AM Title: 06/21-22/2001 Meeting Notice:
Forthcoming U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S.
Department of Energy Technical Exchange on Igneous Activity and
Management Meeting Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/DWM/HLWB
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660033 Accession Number: ML011650651 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:15:23 AM Title: 06/26/01 Meeting wit;h Exelon
Generation Company, LLC Re: The NRC staff and Exelon management
will discuss the result of NRC's assessment of the safety
performance at the Limerick Generating Station for the period
April 1, 2000 through March 31, 2001. Author Affiliation:
NRC/RGN-I/DRP Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650221 Accession Number: ML011650040 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:23:50 AM Title: 06/27/2001 - Notice of Public Meeting
with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Representatives to Discuss
Resolution of the Staff's Comments on NEI 00-04, Rev A2, Option 2
Implementation Guideline, and Status of Pilot Activities. Author
Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RGEB Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650222 Accession Number: ML011650023 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:23:56 AM Title: 06/27/2001, Meeting with NEI Technical
Specifications Task Force Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RTSB
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660036 Accession Number: ML011650617 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:15:35 AM Title: 06/28/01 Meeting with PPL Susquehanna,
LLC Re: The NRC staff and PPL management will discuss the results
of NRC's assessment of the safety performance at the Susquehanna
Steam Electric Station for the period April 1, 2000 through March
31, 2001. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-I/DRP Document/Report
Number: MN 01-30
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650257 Accession Number: ML011650149 Date Added:
6/14/01 1:11:08 PM Title: 07/25/2001 workshop on future licensing
activities. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP Document/Report
Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650125 Accession Number: ML011010287 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:01:43 AM Title: 10 CFR PART 2 PROPOSED RULEMAKING MEMO
FOR COMMISSION Author Affiliation: NRC/OGC Document/Report
Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650047 Accession Number: ML011620300 Date Added:
6/14/01 10:16:24 AM Title: 2001 Annual Assessment Meeting
Invitation Letter Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-I/DRP/PB7
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660040 Accession Number: ML011410590 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:21:42 AM Title: ADAMS Release 3.3 Software Fixes and
Enhancements, a list of the changes affected NRC Endusers. Author
Affiliation: NRC/OCIO/IMD Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650079 Accession Number: ML011570133 Date Added:
6/14/01 10:19:56 AM Title: Letter informing that the U. S.
Department of Interior has reviewed the Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, regarding
ANO, Unit 1, and has no comment. Author Affiliation: US Dept of
the Interior Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650159 Accession Number: ML011360729 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:15:14 AM Title: Ltrs to Congress re April 2001 Report
to Congress on NRC's Status of Licensing & Regulatory Duties
Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/RAM Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660038 Accession Number: ML011650559 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:21:31 AM Title: M010614B-Meeting with Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board (NWTRB) on 06/14/2001 - Update on Status
of Yucca Mountain Studies. Author Affiliation: US Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660039 Accession Number: ML011650568 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:21:35 AM Title: M010614B-NWTRB Update on Status of
Yucca Mountain Studies - Presentation to the NRC, June 14, 2001.
Author Affiliation: US Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650259 Accession Number: ML011650322 Date Added:
6/14/01 1:11:20 PM Title: NUREG-0525, Vol. 4 - "Annual Safeguards
Summary Event List (SSEL) 2000, January 1, Through December 31,
2000." Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS, NRC/NMSS/FCSS
Document/Report Number: NUREG-0525, Vol. 4
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650089 Accession Number: ML011570108 Date Added:
6/14/01 10:20:58 AM Title: Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP)
- Transmittal of Revision 59 to Paducah Certification Application
Author Affiliation: USEC Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650091 Accession Number: ML011570104 Date Added:
6/14/01 10:21:15 AM Title: Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant
(PORTS) - Transmittal of Revision 53 to Portsmouth Certification
Application Author Affiliation: USEC Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650169 Accession Number: ML011590039 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:16:44 AM Title: Public Meeting Announcement - Meeting
with State & Local Government Officals - Hatch Nuclear Plant
Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-II/DRP/RPB2 Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650174 Accession Number: ML010790135 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:17:42 AM Title: SECY-01-0088 - Deferral of Regulatory
Oversight of Area 10 (The Sandpile) of the Lake City Army
Ammunition Plant to the EPA, and Request to Remove site from SDMP
List when Remaining Remediations Under NRC's Oversight are
Completed Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number:
SECY-01-0088
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650152 Accession Number: ML010800056 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:13:27 AM Title: SECY-01-0088-Attachment
3-COMSECY-99-007-Notice of Intent to Ship Low-level
Decommissioning Waste from the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant to
Waste Control Specialists' Facility in Andrews, Texas Author
Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number: COMSECY-99-007
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011650154 Accession Number: ML010810089 Date Added:
6/14/01 11:14:08 AM Title: SECY-01-0088-Attachment 7-Lake City
Army Ammunition Plant Dose Assessment for the 600-Yard Bullet
Catcher Area and Buildings 3A and 12A Author Affiliation: NRC
Document/Report Number:
_________________________________________________________________
Item ID: 011660037 Accession Number: ML011650107 Date Added:
6/15/01 7:15:39 AM Title: SRM-SECY-01-0088 - "Deferral of
Regulatory Oversight of Area 10 (The Sand Pile) of Lake City Army
Ammunition Plant to EPA & Request to Remove Site from Site
Decommissioning Management Plan List When Remaining Remediations
Under NRC's Oversight Completed" Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY
Document/Report Number: SRM-SECY-01-0088
*****************************************************************
11 Sellafield nuclear plant's health and safety public watchdogs can now be
contacted via the web.
Watchdog On Web
Friday, June 15, 2001
Full meetings of the local liaison committee, twice a year, are
open to the public and its new chairman, David Moore, said: "A
key feature is its openness.
"Our new website takes things a step further."
"It not only makes our records available to everyone, it also
gives people the opportunity to ask questions of us by e-mail at
a time to suit them."
"The SLLC is the eyes, ears and voice of the community and we'd
like people to make use of the website as well as attending the
meetings."
The website is www.sllc.co.uk.
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES
*****************************************************************
1 Crunch time for British tank ammunition policy
- Jane's Land Forces
23 May 2001
The tungsten kinetic energy anti-tank ammunition for the British
Army's Challenger 2 tank fleet may be withdrawn from service in
2003, *IDR* has learned. This could precipitate a supply crisis
among existing export customers for British tanks, and become a
further source of embarrassment for the British government
recently enmeshed in international arguments about the political
and medical acceptability of the alternative, depleted uranium
rounds.
The L23 120mm tungsten penetrator ammunition began in development
as an operational emergency (OE) upgrade for the Chieftain (and
subsequently the Challenger 1) tank in 1978. It is considered
that L23 has insufficient lethality to penetrate the frontal
armour of modern tanks.
Nonetheless, for the British Army it has remained on the
operational inventory, not least because of the relative paucity
of modern tanks encountered in the hands of potentially hostile
forces in recent peace support missions, but also to exploit the
less burdensome political image of tungsten ammunition in
comparison with depleted uranium types. For other armies using
Challenger 1 or Chieftain-type tanks the L23 has been and remains
the only available kinetic-energy (KE) round. Last year, as
reported in Jane's Defence Weekly, the L14A1/A2 charge stockpile
associated with the L23 projectile had to be trialled for life
extension.
This was undertaken, among other reasons, because of accuracy
debits manifested in the Greek firing evaluation of the
Challenger 2 tank; the British Army found that some of its
ammunition charges had been through too many temperature cycles
whilst stored in the open in the Gulf and they were removed from
stock - it was some of this ammunition that was used in Greece.
The British Army has adopted the line that it does not need to
take any action, because it now has stocks of a much more
accurate and lethal substitute for the L23, in the form of the
L27A1 (CHARM 3) projectile, which has a depleted uranium
penetrator and new high-pressure charge. The British Army's
Master General of the Ordnance, Major General Peter Gilchrist,
when asked about the desirability of retaining a tungsten KE
capability, insisted to *IDR*, "We have a requirement to meet the
threat and this can currently only be achieved by using DU. There
is no scientific evidence that DU has caused ill-health to anyone
and we have concluded that there is no significant health risk
from exposure to DU providing the proper procedures are followed.
The government fully supports this position."
Some observers might consider that British troops would be
well-served by having a new tungsten KE penetrator round for many
of the same reasons that it has retained the L23 until now.
Obsolescence issues apart, the option of re-introducing into
production the L14A1 charge currently used with the L23 is
untenable without incurring considerable expense, since the
propellant facility operated by BAE Systems at Bishopton is
scheduled to close as soon as its CHARM 3 production obligations
are fulfilled. Qualifying a second producer would be an expensive
step for an out-of-date design.
© 2001 Jane's Information Group. All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
2 Queensland test 'was not a nuclear bomb'
© 2001 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
16 June 2001 23:26 GMT+1
Home > News > World > Australasia
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
15 June 2001
Confusion surrounded claims yesterday that Britain, Australia and
the United States exploded a nuclear bomb in a tropical
rainforest in Queensland in the 1960s.
An article in New Scientist magazine quoted declassified
Australian cabinet documents, which it said revealed that a
50-ton nuclear bomb was detonated in 1963 at Iron Ridge as part
of a secret military experiment codenamed Operation Blowdown.
It said the records, which are in the National Archives in
Canberra, described the operation as "an investigation into the
effects of nuclear explosions in a tropical forest", while a
medal citation for a sergeant who supervised it referred to "an
airburst nuclear device".
However, both the Ministry of Defence and the Australian Defence
Department insisted that a conventional bomb made of TNT had been
detonated close to the ground to simulate the effects of a
10-kiloton nuclear explosion in the air. An Australian National
Parks and Wildlife Service ranger, Mick Blackman, who is based
near Iron Ridge, said records in his office showed that the test
used conventional weapons to simulate the effects of a small
nuclear explosion. He said soldiers and scientists built a 126ft
observation tower which extended above the canopy of the
rainforest, and that its remains could still be seen at the site.
Meanwhile, Australian journalists who examined the same cabinet
papers yesterday said they made no mention of testing a nuclear
weapon, but instead discussed a proposal by the US to use Iron
Ridge to test nerve gases.
The idea was rejected in 1965, partly because of the difficulties
foreseen in keeping the operation secret.
One cabinet submission said: "We would think in view of our
recent commitments in South Vietnam, we would do well to remain
free of being open to charges from Communist propaganda among
Asians of preparing the ground for use of chemical or
biologicalweapons."
*****************************************************************
3 REID CONTINUES PRESSURE TO HALT OPEN-AIR MUNITIONS DISPOSAL AT
SIERRA ARMY DEPOT
June 14, 2001
Washington, D.C. – Environment and Public Works Committee
Chairman Harry Reid today said that he will continue to press the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army to
require the use of safe alternatives to open-air ammunition
disposal at the Sierra Army Depot in Lassen County, California.
"While EPA says they will be monitoring to see that no laws are
broken, the agency is not aggressively using its authority to
prohibit Sierra Army Depot from burning or detonating old
ammunition, even though this practice sends toxic air pollution
into Nevada," said Reid, the Assistant Majority Leader.
In a May letter to the EPA, Reid requested that the agency review
Sierra Army Depot's current practice of burning or detonating old
munitions in the open. In his letter, Reid stressed that the
depot produces toxic fumes that are then carried downwind to
Nevada.
In a response to Reid's inquiry sent this week, the acting head
of the EPA region that oversees California and Nevada said her
agency lacked the authority to block current practices, though
she did note that recent permit revisions should place greater
limits on depot activities. However, Reid said the letter failed
to completely explain why the depot has not been forced to use a
safer means of disposal.
"One question that has yet to be fully answered is why we are
still allowing ammunition to be burned or destroyed in the open,
when clearly safer alternatives exist. It would seem that EPA has
deferred too much to the Army and the depot in this case." Reid
said. "In the meantime, residents living near the site and those
downwind continue to be put at risk and that is simply
unacceptable."
Reid remains concerned about the EPA allowing Sierra Army Depot
to decide whether or not a safe alternative to the open air
destruction of ammunition exists, a point he has raised in the
past.
"We continue to allow the fox to guard the henhouse by enabling
Sierra Army Depot to decide if alternate disposal methods are
available," Reid said. "While EPA says it can and will take
action if it finds the depot fails to follow the rules, that does
nothing to protect public health and safety in the short term.
This is an issue that must be addressed. "
In a letter to Reid dated June 13, Acting EPA Regional
Administrator Laura Yoshii stated that the agency has outlined a
three step approach to addressing concerns about open pit burning
or detonation of munitions at Sierra Army Depot.
The steps include: (1) requiring the reuse, recovery and
recycling of munitions where possible, (2) evaluating the Depot's
compliance with existing environmental laws and if necessary,
bringing enforcement actions against the base and (3) improving
the depot's environmental monitoring and reporting practices so
that the public is assured of complete and accurate information.
"I am pleased that EPA has outlined a three-step response to
concerns about the depot and its practices, but they have yet to
address my most pressing concern, which is putting an end to this
outdated and dangerous means of ammunition disposal," Reid added.
Reid inserted a provision in a spending measure last year, which
requires the U.S. Army to complete a study on alternatives to
open-pit burning and open-air detonation of old munitions. The
study is due to be completed in September.
In the meantime, Reid will continue to press EPA to monitor the
depot's compliance with new provisions of its clean-air permit.
This includes better monitoring of releases from disposal and
working to ensure that Sierra Army Depot complies with
requirements for filing a federally mandated Toxics Release
Inventory, to provide information on the amount of harmful
emissions released by the depot.
*****************************************************************
4 Uranium cleanup on House's wish list
[Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Friday, June 15, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Lawmakers provide money for study of site
_By CHRISTINE DORSEY _
DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU _
__WASHINGTON -- _House lawmakers have provided $1.95 million to
be used by the Department of Energy to pay for a study this
summer on how best to clean up a huge pile of radioactive uranium
tailings that is leaking into the Colorado River near Moab, Utah.
The money was tucked into a $6.5 billion bill to eliminate
shortfalls in the 2001 budget. The supplemental spending bill
provides money primarily for military, disaster relief and high
energy costs.
President Bush requested $2.8 million in his 2002 budget for
activities at an Energy Department office in Grand Junction,
Colo., some of which would have been used for the study, a
department spokesperson said.
Under legislation in a defense authorization bill last year,
cleanup of the Utah site will be turned over to the Energy
Department in September. This provided more incentive for the
House to include money in the supplemental bill for a mandatory
study of cleanup options by the National Academy of Sciences.
"They're going to have to jump on it," said Bill Hedden, Utah
conservation director for Grand Canyon Trust, an environmental
group that has been monitoring the mine tailings.
In March, Utah Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt wrote to Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham urging him to include "the necessary
funding" to move the tailings from where they sit, 750 feet from
the river.
In April, seven members of Congress, including Rep. Jim Gibbons,
R-Nev., wrote a letter to the House Appropriations Committee
requesting $10 million for the Energy Department to pay for the
cleanup this year.
Hedden said the Energy Department will need at least $8.25
million in 2002 to begin serious work on preparing a new site for
the uranium. In the meantime, the football field-sized pile sits
in a Colorado River flood plain just outside Arches National
Park.
"If we have a good water year, we're done," said Hedden, noting
that when water levels are high, the river laps up against the
exposed tailings.
Most of Southern Nevada's drinking water comes from the Colorado
River, via Lake Mead, about 450 miles downstream of the Moab
tailings pile.
Federal officials know of no evidence that uranium is traveling
down river into water supplies for Nevada or Southern California,
but some reports show the tailings are leaking radioactive
uranium into the river.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority regularly tests for traces of
radioactive substances, and has consistently found levels to be
well below the minimum federal level, the office has said.
Some officials estimate it could cost as much as $300 million to
remove the 13 million tons of radioactive tailings left behind by
Atlas Mining Corp. The Denver-based company used to mine uranium
during the Cold War. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1997,
turning the cleanup over to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Congress voted last year to turn over the project to the Energy
Department.
This story is located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jun-15-Fri-2001/news/16328173.html
*****************************************************************
5 Beryllium maker tries to shift blame
Rocky Mountain News: Local
Rocky Flats plant bears lion's share, manufacturer asserts
_By Ann Imse, News Staff Writer_
Beryllium producer Brush Wellman Inc. tried to shift blame to
Rocky Flats Thursday in hopes of reducing the amount the company
may have to pay nuclear plant workers suffering from chronic
beryllium disease.
About 50 Rocky Flats workers suing the Cleveland manufacturer
claim the company conspired with the federal government to hide
the dangerous effects of breathing even minute amounts of
beryllium.
The conspiracy was based on the government's need for the metal
to make nuclear weapons at Rocky Flats, the workers lawsuit in
Jefferson County District Court alleges.
If Brush Wellman attorneys can persuade the jury that their
client bears only 20 percent of any liability, then Brush Wellman
will have to pay only 20 percent of any damages.
If that strategy is successful, the compensation workers might
receive would be considerably slashed.
They could not get the remainder from Rocky Flats and its former
operators, Rockwell International and Dow Chemical. As employers,
they are no longer liable for paying damages because they have
already paid workers' compensation.
The jury may decide on liability as soon as next week. If it
finds there is liability, a second phase of the trial will set
damages for the first four workers and their spouses.
But this is just the first of 76 beryllium disease cases filed
against Brush Wellman across the country. The jury's decision is
expected to influence both sides in deciding whether to settle
the claims of a total of 203 plaintiffs. The last beryllium
disease case ended favorably for Brush Wellman a decade ago, a
company spokesman said.
But that was before the federal government declassified numerous
documents used by the plaintiffs to make their case in Jefferson
County. They are arguing that Atomic Energy Commission and Brush
Wellman officials knew that less than 2 micrograms of beryllium
per cubic meter of air could cause the wasting lung disease in a
small percentage of the population.
Brush Wellman countered Thursday with testimony from occupational
health expert Dr. Mark Van Ert of the University of Arizona. He
said that Rocky Flats repeatedly violated that 2-microgram
standard year after year.
He also testified that Rocky Flats documented the problems, but
did not fix them during the 1970s and 1980s, when the plaintiffs
were exposed to beryllium.
Plaintiffs' attorneys countered by confronting him with Brush
Wellman documents, which claimed the disease occurred only after
exposures of 30 to 50 micrograms.
_June 15, 2001_
2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co.
*****************************************************************
6 GOP critical of plan to end Navy training exercises
Seattle Times news services_
WASHINGTON - Conservative Republicans balked at President Bush's
plan to end six decades of naval training on Puerto Rico's
Vieques Island, complaining that he is caving in to protesters
and endangering the military.
"We are going to lose lives if we don't train these people," said
Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, after a Capitol Hill briefing with top
Pentagon officials on the decision to stop bombing and other
training exercises by mid-2003. Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., chairman
of the House Armed Services Committee, planned hearings.
The Navy's use of the 33,000-acre island off Puerto Rico's east
coast for target practice has sparked widespread protests since a
civilian security guard was killed in a botched bombing run more
than two years ago.
The Navy has said repeatedly that the site is vital to national
security, combining land, air and sea training sites without
interference from civilian air or sea traffic. The Pacific Fleet
trains on an uninhabited island off California.
The Navy owns about two-thirds of the 33,000-acre island, and its
9,300 residents are confined to the middle third.
The Navy admitted in 1999 that Marines at the base had mistakenly
fired bullets made from depleted uranium. Studies show Viequenses
are 27 percent more likely to get cancer than residents of the
rest of Puerto Rico.
President Bush, in Sweden yesterday, said, "These are our friends
and neighbors, and they don't want us there." He added: "The Navy
ought to find somewhere else to conduct its exercises."
In Puerto Rico, Gov. Sila Calderon said she was glad the
exercises would end, "but we deplore that the intention to
continue with the military exercises and bombings for two
additional years."
While White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the decision was
based on "merits," others charged the move was a miscalculated
attempt to win Hispanic votes.
Voters of Puerto Rican descent - concentrated in New York City,
Chicago and central Florida - are the second-largest Hispanic
group, behind those of Mexican descent.
Karl Rove, Bush's political strategist, discussed the politics of
Vieques with New York Gov. George Pataki on Tuesday. Pataki faces
re-election next year, as does Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the
president's brother. Hispanics are also an important voting bloc
in New Jersey, which has an election for governor this year.
_seattletimes.com home_
*****************************************************************
7 Safety officials say Hanford plant operations improved
This story was published Thu, Jun 14, 2001
_By John Stang_ _Herald staff writer_
The Plutonium Finishing Plant has gotten a springtime rash of
mistakes under control, Hanford observers said earlier this week.
But some operations still need some fix-it work.
And a study is under way to examine how likely a strategically
placed fire could spread radioactive particles throughout the
Hanford plant.
However, overall operations have improved significantly since
February and March, Department of Energy and Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board officials told a Hanford Advisory Board
committee Tuesday.
"We think things are going very well there," said Mark Sautman, a
defense board representative at Hanford.
During February and March, procedural and maintenance violations
increased. While none of them posed serious threats of radiation
releases, the increase worried DOE and the defense board.
Problems were traced to new operators, slow responses to unusual
situations, construction work getting in the way, projects being
declared ready before they actually were and supervisors being
unable to spend enough time where the conversion work is done.
The PFP's mission is to convert 4.4 tons of plutonium -- mixed
within 19.6 tons of scrap -- into safer forms by 2004. Some work
is slightly behind schedule, but the timetable has enough cushion
to catch up and make the 2004 deadline, said Pete Knollmeyer, DOE
assistant manager for facilities stabilization.
In the past year, the PFP has pushed its conversion efforts to
full speed -- meaning many new workers were hired. Also, several
ways to convert plutonium into safer forms are operating --
baking it into powders, extracting residue from liquids and
sealing chunks inside special cans.
The newer operators have become more experienced, and efforts are
under way to allow supervisors more time out of their offices,
Sautman and Knollmeyer said. They said internal communications
have improved, construction work is better controlled, responses
to problems are better and the number of operator problems has
dropped drastically.
The response to an April 5 false radiation-release alarm went
extremely well, they said, although workers made mistakes in a
subsequent drill. And problems remain with equipment that welds
shut the specialized cans.
Meanwhile, DOE and the defense board are looking at
radiation-release problems that might happen if a fire breaks out
where the plutonium-containing cans are surveyed.
Combustible materials in that area, the room's geometry and a
fire possibly splitting or bursting the cans could lead to a
"flashover" of radioactive particles spreading elsewhere in the
PFP, a defense board memo said. The worst-case scenario could
lead to a person absorbing 15,000 rem of radiation inside the PFP
or 250 rem outside of it, the memo said. At most, a Hanford
worker is allowed to absorb 5 rem a year, and that only with
special permission.
Knollmeyer said the calculations on this matter are conservative,
and the scenario is unlikely. But enough risk exists for the PFP
to study the matter more and find ways to decrease the risk, he
said.
_Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This
*****************************************************************
8 Congressman seeks review of cleanup program
This story was published Thu, Jun 14, 2001
_By Les Blumenthal_ _Herald Washington, D.C. bureau_
WASHINGTON -- A Pennsylvania congressman asked Congress'
investigative arm Wednesday to review the Department of Energy's
$6 billion-a-year nuclear site cleanup program, with a specific
focus on legal agreements that govern work at Hanford and
elsewhere.
While not singling out the Tri-Party Agreement at Hanford by
name, Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa., told the General Accounting
Office that he was troubled by court orders and cleanup
agreements that involve DOE, such federal agencies as the
Environmental Protection Agency and states where the sites are
located.
"Each entity has its own set of priorities for sequencing cleanup
activities, which, when considered from a national perspective,
may not be consistent with a cleanup program that prioritizes
high-risk cleanup activities or a cost-effective approach to
treating the waste," Greenwood said in a letter to the GAO.
Greenwood is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
His request comes as Washington state Attorney General Christine
Gregoire has threatened to sue DOE if Congress fails to provide
adequate funding to keep Hanford cleanup on track.
"These orders and agreements are now a major driver in DOE's
annual budget," Greenwood wrote. "However, it is also difficult
to determine the relationship between these orders and agreements
and the amount of money DOE requests in its annual budget request
to Congress. It is also difficult to determine how much
flexibility exists to shift funding from one year to the next
without violating the orders and agreements."
By way of example, Greenwood pointed to an agreement involving
DOE's Idaho Falls site, which requires the agency to package and
ship out of Idaho 3,100 cubic meters of transuranic waste by the
end of 2002.
Citing DOE's own inspector general, Greenwood said that would
cost $66 million more than if DOE waited until treatment
facilities under construction at the site were ready.
Greenwood specifically asked GAO to review the agreements and
their history, determine how much it would cost to comply with
them, what they have accomplished and whether they really are
addressing risks to human health and the environment.
2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not
*****************************************************************
9 Hanford board gets briefing on firefighting coordination
This story was published Thu, Jun 14, 2001
_By John Stang_ _Herald staff writer_
Firebreaks have been partly carved out around western Hanford to
prevent a repeat of last year's 256-square-mile range fire.
Hanford and Mid-Columbia fire officials briefed a Hanford
Advisory Board committee Wednesday on how firefighting
coordination is being upgraded after last summer's fire.
The 2000 fire started with a fatal auto accident on Highway 24
just west of Hanford. Then the fire quickly spread south and east
on the reservation -- jumping Highway 240 to almost reach Horn
Rapids Road, the 300 Area and the Fast Flux Test Facility. The
fire also swung southwest to destroy 11 homes in Benton City
before it was stopped.
Ultimately, 800 to 900 firefighters from numerous Northwest
departments were called in -- leading to many coordination and
communications problems. Those problems plus the fire spreading
extremely fast prompted plenty of self-examination among area
fire departments.
One of last year's problems was brush crowding highways 24 and
240, which decreased their effectiveness as firebreaks.
Consequently, much of the brush has been cleared this year from
Highway 24. But similar efforts along Highway 240 through Hanford
have slowed amid dust control concerns by the Benton Clean Air
Authority, said Greg Hughes, Hanford Reach National Monument
project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Numerous coordination and communications problems, which would
come from several fire departments working together on a future
huge Hanford fire, are being addressed, said Hughes, Richland
Fire Chief Glenn Johnson and Hanford Fire Chief Don Good. A
master fire management plan for Hanford is almost complete.
"I will not stand here and tell you all the problems have been
solved. They're not. But we've made substantial progress,"
Johnson said.
_Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights
*****************************************************************
10 Court denies downwinders' appeal
This story was published Fri, Jun 15, 2001
_By Annette Cary_ _Herald staff writer_
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided against Hanford
downwinders who are trying to force the federal government to pay
for medical monitoring.
During production of plutonium for nuclear bombs and tests, as
much as 1.1 million curies of radioactive iodine was released at
Hanford between 1944 and 1957 and spread downwind. Radioactive
iodine collects in thyroid glands, where it can cause cancer and
other thyroid illnesses.
Trisha Pritikin, a California attorney and activist who was
exposed to radioactive iodine as a child in Richland, sued the
Department of Energy under the Superfund law that governs
Hanford's cleanup to require DOE to pay for a program to monitor
the thyroid health of downwinders.
Her father, a Hanford scientist, died of a rare form of thyroid
cancer, and she believes the radioactive iodine also damaged her
thyroid gland and endocrine system. Children were particularly
susceptible to thyroid damage. Their thyroids are small, and the
radioactive iodine concentrated in the milk of cows that grazed
on contaminated grass.
In March 1999, U.S. District Judge Edward Shea dismissed her
suit, saying the Superfund law does not give a private citizen
the right to require DOE to pay for medical monitoring.
Wednesday, the Court of Appeals upheld Shea's decision. It agreed
that Pritikin cannot require DOE to make budget requests and to
shift environmental cleanup money into a medical monitoring
program.
Pritikin has argued through her attorney that the U.S. Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, is legally
required to monitor downwinders for thyroid problems, and DOE is
liable for the costs.
However, the appeals court found that ATSDR, which was not named
in the suit, could seek another way to pay for the program and
need not wait for DOE money to start the program.
"Thus, any failure to implement the medical monitoring program
lies at the hands of ATSDR," the court wrote.
ATSDR proposed a program to monitor the thyroids of 14,000 people
who lived downwind of Hanford in Eastern Washington and Eastern
Oregon in the 1940s and 1950s at a cost of nearly $50 million.
However, that was scaled back to a proposal to emphasize
providing information and education to eligible downwinders and
doctors.
Since the ATSDR medical monitoring program was proposed, an $18
million study failed to show that thyroid disease in vulnerable
downwinders had increased with larger estimated doses of
radioactive iodine.
_Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights
*****************************************************************
11 Navy to Look for New Bombing Site
June 15, 2001
WASHINGTON- Navy Secretary Gordon England said Friday he'll
create a panel to look for an alternative to the Vieques Island
training site now that President Bush is committed to withdrawing
from the island in two years.
He said the Navy might not find "another Vieques" but declared:
"We will adequately train our sailors and Marines."
"Vieques is a crown jewel" of the Navy's Atlantic training sites,
England told a Pentagon news conference. "That does not, however,
mean that we cannot find a suitable alternative for Vieques."
Bush's plan to end bombing and other training on the Puerto Rican
island has been criticized by Vieques protesters who say the 2003
withdrawal is not soon enough - and by some legislators who say
it could cost America readiness and eventually lives.
A law passed during the Clinton administration would have Vieques
residents vote in November on whether the Navy should stay or go
- and have the Navy abide by the result.
Now that Bush has decided to leave anyway, England said he'll ask
Congress to do away with the vote.
Earlier Friday, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott complained he
had no advance notice of Bush's decision.
"I've had basically no contact with the administration over it,"
the Mississippi senator told reporters. "At this point I disagree
very strongly with the decision."
Other conservative Republicans have expressed opposition, saying
the lives of military personnel would be endangered if the Navy
stopped the exercises. Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., chairman of the
House Armed Services Committee, said he would conduct hearings on
the proposal this month.
Bush announced Thursday that 60 years of Navy bombing exercises
on the island would end in May 2003. That's when the military
would have pulled out under an agreement between former President
Clinton and Puerto Rico's former governor, Pedro Rossello, if
Vieques voters decided in the referendum to end the exercises.
The training has been unpopular with Hispanic leaders, leaving
Bush with a political problem, but the criticism from GOP
lawmakers has created a new dilemma for the White House.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said Thursday that he "will do
everything I can within my power to keep from changing the law so
that we can go ahead with the November referendum and let the
self-determination on the island of Vieques take place."
Inhofe said, "I see this as an issue that means American lives.
We are going to lose other ranges if this range is lost."
Stump said he was "a little surprised today at the suddenness of
the announcement" and called the proposal "a step in the wrong
direction."
"We have other areas ... even within this country where there
have been numerous complaints about our training around our
bases, and I think once you give in to this type of action ...
then we're inviting trouble in many other places," he said.
Democrats said Bush should end the bombing sooner. "I'm sorry
that they seem to be putting it off for two years," House
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said.
A nonbinding referendum will be held later this year in Vieques,
where protests against use of the island have become more
intense. The island has more than 9,000 residents.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., ranking Republican on the Senate Armed
Services Committee and its former chairman, also called for
Senate hearings but the new committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin,
D-Mich., only would say he had taken the request under
advisement.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, a senior member of the House Armed
Services Committee, wondered what the United States should tell
other countries that host U.S. training facilities.
"What do we tell them? We won't bomb on ours, but we'll bomb on
yours?" Hansen said.
Speaking to reporters on his weeklong European tour, Bush said
Thursday, "These are our friends and neighbors, and they don't
want us there." He added: "The Navy ought to find somewhere else
to conduct its exercises."
In Puerto Rico, Gov. Sila Calderon said she was satisfied by the
announcement. "But we deplore that the intention to continue with
the military exercises and bombings for two additional years,"
she said.
On the Net: Pentagon's Vieques site:
http://www.navyvieques.navy.mil/
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
12 DU Health Risk Negligible - Burton
NZ Investigation Into DU Completed
By Staff Reporter Patric Lane at 11:08am, 15th June 2001
The possibility that New Zealand defence personnel could suffer
health problems from exposure to depleted uranium (DU) munitions
is negligible, says Defence Minister Mark Burton.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) launched an investigation
earlier this year, in the wake of claims that cancers among NATO
veterans who served in the Balkans and the Gulf War may have been
caused by such weapons.
NATO has denied there is any link.
Mr Burton said the investigation concluded the possibility that
any NZDF personnel were exposed to a DU related health risk was
negligible.
Mr Burton said questionnaires were sent to more than 1500
personnel who served in the Balkans and the Persian Gulf and just
under half were returned.
He said the incomplete response meant it was possible some might
have been exposed to residue released when munitions were
detonated and were not aware of it.
The minister said NATO medical experts last month released
findings that there was no increase in morbidity and mortality
rates for Balkan veterans compared with general populations and
personnel who were not deployed.
However, he urged any service personnel with health concerns to
seek medical help.
The minister said civilians working for non-governmental
organisations who might have also been in the affected areas
should contact public health services with any concerns.
© NewsRoom 2001
NewsRoom at _wapnews.co.nz_ on
*****************************************************************
13 NZ Investigation Into DU Completed
Press Release by New Zealand Government at 11:32am, 15th June
2001
Defence Minister Mark Burton today released details of an
investigation into the possible risk to New Zealand defence
personnel from exposure to expended depleted uranium munitions
(DU).
"The New Zealand Defence Force investigation has concluded that
the possibility that any NZDF personnel were exposed to a
DU-related health risk is negligible," Mark Burton said.
"However, a database will be maintained indefinitely and any
current or former service personnel with health concerns will
have access to full medical assistance."
The NZDF has sent 1557 questionnaires to current and former
service men and women who were deployed in the Gulf and the
Balkans, of which 733 to date have been returned.
"With an incomplete response, there remains a possibility that
someone may have had DU exposure and remains unrecognised," Mark
Burton said. "However, I am advised that knowledge of the
exposure areas and movement of NZDF personnel in those areas make
it reasonable to conclude the risk is negligible."
The possible health risk from any exposure to DU expended
munitions has been the subject of intense investigation in
Europe. Last month NATO medical experts announced their finding
that there was no increase in morbidity and mortality rates for
Balkans veterans, compared with non-deployed forces and general
populations.
"In summary, based on the available information, the NZDF
investigation has concluded that it is unlikely that any New
Zealand personnel were exposed to residue from expended DU
munitions, and that if any exposure had occurred, it is unlikely
to have presented a health risk," Mark Burton said.
"There are, however, gaps in knowledge about DU, particularly the
long-term effects.
"Even the smallest doubt justifies caution and a future
investment to protect our personnel," Mark Burton said.
"Therefore, the Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Carey
Adamson, is taking the following actions:
The database for NZDF personnel who by virtue of location and
activity may have been exposed to DU will be maintained
indefinitely; The questionnaires returned and future returns will
be maintained indefinitely as archives for future studies; Formal
links with expert groups on DU, including the COMEDS
organisation, will be maintained; The NZDF will include in its
pre-deployment training, when applicable, DU awareness and a
warning against picking up "souvenirs"; and Future research
efforts with NZDF veterans will include those who have been
identified as potentially exposed to DU.
"New Zealand civilians may have been involved with government and
non-governmental organisations and share similar concerns
regarding DU exposure," Mark Burton said. "I have discussed the
matter with the Minister of Health and public health authorities
will manage the issue. Non-service personnel with concerns should
contact their GP, in the first instance.
"The outcome of the investigation is reassuring for New Zealand
personnel who served in the Balkans and the Gulf," Mark Burton
said.
"But I want to re-emphasise my earlier message about the
importance of any defence personnel or veterans making full use
of their entitlement to seek assistance for any health or injury
concerns which they believe may result from any part of their
military service."
ENDS
at _wapnews.co.nz_ on
*****************************************************************
14 Local group urges monitoring of Test Site ground water
June 14, 2001
_By Steve Kanigher
_
LAS VEGAS SUN
A community panel that wants the federal government to better
monitor ground water for potential radioactive contamination from
the Nevada Test Site made its pitch to independent scientists and
engineers.
The pitch was made Wednesday by the Test Site's Community
Advisory Board at a scientific peer review that concluded today
at Texas Station hotel-casino.
At issue is whether nuclear weapons explosions at the Test Site
from 1951 to 1992 have contaminated aquifers and whether there is
a threat to Nevada's drinking water. Although the Department of
Energy has already spent more than $170 million studying the
groundwater issue and claims to have found no contamination
outside the Test Site, the board has been disappointed with the
results.
"People in rural communities have brought a lot of concerns to
us," said board member Kathleen Peterson, a Lockheed Martin
scientist. "We represent large groups of people, in some cases
people who feel they will be impacted but don't know by how much
or how quickly."
DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations
Office plans to spend about $700 million more over the next 25
years, including about $25 million this fiscal year, to continue
its monitoring efforts. There have been disagreements, however,
over the methods used to study potential underground radioactive
flows. Part of the problem is that no one knows for certain the
direction, speed or volume of such flows.
Since everyone agrees that it would cost too much money to rid
the groundwater of radioactivity, the alternative strategy has
been to develop an early warning system designed to alert
Nevadans about the potential for future contamination of their
wells. The closest residents to the Test Site, which is 65 miles
northwest of Las Vegas, are Oasis Valley ranchers who use wells
about 22 miles away.
"I would say there are not sharp differences between us and the
board," said Carl Gertz, the DOE's environmental manager at the
Test Site. "It's an excellent dialogue on a highly technical
subject."
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, which oversees
Test Site cleanup activities, and the DOE have agreed to pinpoint
geographic boundaries they believe unsafe levels of radioactive
groundwater will not cross over the next 1,000 years. Their goal
is to be 95 percent certain of those boundaries.
That may be easier said than done, however. Board members told
the peer review that they were concerned that the monitoring
could still fail due to insufficient scientific data or lack of
federal funding. Board member Mike Genge, a Pahrump resident and
Naval consultant, raised questions about the viability of
predicting how far contaminated groundwater could travel over the
next 1,000 years.
"It sounds like at the end funding may be the driver of this,"
Genge said of monitoring efforts.
The peer review involved a six-member team assembled by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers with an assist from the
Institute for Regulatory Science, based in Columbia, Md. The team
of experts, who specialize in subjects ranging from hydrology to
economics, is expected to issue recommendations by the end of
August on how the monitoring should proceed.
One citizen who voiced her concerns was Kalynda Tilges, nuclear
issues coordinator for Citizen Alert, an environmental advocacy
group in Las Vegas. Tilges urged the peer review to consider an
early warning system that would give Nevadans at least 20 years
notice that contaminated groundwater is coming their way.
She said Nevadans want assurances that "we can feel safe about
our water supply." With the rapid growth in Southern Nevada
creating increasing demands on Lake Mead for drinking water,
Tilges said that "we need our groundwater resources for the
foreseeable future."
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
15 Government to file A-bomb appeaL
asahi.com news
*The ruling by the Osaka District Court ordered allowances to be
paid to A-bomb victims residing outside Japan.*
The Asahi Shimbun
June 15, 2001
The government will appeal an Osaka District Court ruling that
ordered the payment of health allowances to an atomic bomb victim
living in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Today is the
deadline for filing the appeal.
This is in contrast to last month's surprise decision by Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi to abandon an appeal of a Kumamoto
District Court ruling that found the government and Diet had
infringed on the rights of former leprosy patients.
A Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare official said the rights
of the South Korean plaintiff were not violated as seriously as
those of the former leprosy patients.
The Osaka District Court ruled June 1 that Kwak Kwi Hun, 76,
should receive 1.16 million yen in unpaid medical allowances.
Government sources said there were three main reasons behind the
decision to appeal the Osaka District Court ruling.
The first is that in 1999 the Hiroshima District Court ruled in
favor of the central government in a lawsuit filed by atomic bomb
victims who were living in South Korea.
Secondly, in 1994 the ministerial director-general in charge of
providing health allowances to atomic bomb victims declared that
the program was limited to individuals residing in Japan.
And finally, an amendment submitted by the Japanese Communist
Party to change the system to encompass all atomic bomb victims
regardless of residence was defeated in the Diet.
But the central government, concerned about likely public
criticism of its decision, is discussing measures to provide
additional support to atomic bomb victims residing in South
Korea.
One measure under discussion is to beef up a fund set up to pay
the transportation expenses of atomic bomb victims when they go
for medical checkups or visit the hospital.
Four 4 billion yen was provided in 1991 and 1993, but the fund is
expected to run out of money by the end of 2004.
Copyright 2001 Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No
*****************************************************************
16 Australian rain forest used for nuclear tests?
15 June 2001 :
Times of India
SYDNEY: Declassified Australian government documents indicate
that a nuclear device may have been detonated in a rain forest in
Australia's tropical far north during the cold war.
According to the documents, quoted in this week's edition of the
*New Scientist* magazine, Britain, the United States and
Australia detonated a 50-tonne bomb in the area in 1963.
The test was conducted in remote rain forest at Iron Range in far
north Queensland as part of a secret military experiment code
named "operation blowdown," the *New Scientist* article said.
The documents, recently declassified by the National Archives of
Australia, described operation blowdown as "an investigation into
the effect of nuclear explosions in a tropical forest."
However, other sources claimed the blast - the occurrence of
which is not disputed - involved the detonation of a conventional
bomb to simulate a nuclear device exploding in the atmosphere.
A British ministry of defence spokeswoman said TNT was detonated
at ground level to simulate the effects of a 10-kilotonne nuclear
explosion in the atmosphere. "There was no radiation hazard," she
was quoted as saying.
An Australian national parks and wildlife service ranger Mick
Blackman, who is based near the bomb site at Lockhart river, said
he was aware of operation blowdown but did not believe it
involved a nuclear device.
Blackman said records available in his own office showed the
joint test venture relied on conventional weapons to simulate the
effects of a small nuclear explosion.
He said the soldiers and scientists involved, including 200 from
the Brisbane-based 24th construction squadron of the Royal
Australian Engineers, built a 42-metre tower which extended above
the canopy of surrounding rain forest at the test site.
"You can still see... The remains of the tower," Blackman said.
"It was not a nuclear blast - these rumours surface from time to
time."
However a medal citation for an Australian army sergeant in
charge of the operation refers to "an airburst nuclear device."
Brian Stanislaus Hussey was awarded the British Empire Medal in
1965 for supervising army equipment during operation blowdown.
He died three years later aged 45 after developing multiple
cancerous tumours. His daughter, Marie Strain, blames operation
blowdown for her father's death. "I want to know why the nuclear
tests had to be done," she said.
Blackman said the test may have led to further experimentation
with defoliants such as the highly toxic agent orange, widely
used by American forces during the war in Vietnam.
Reports of the blast follow recent revelations that hundreds of
British and Australian servicemen were used as guinea pigs during
British nuclear tests conducted in the Australian outback in the
1950s and 1960s. (AFP)
*****************************************************************
17 Paper:UK Scientists Conducted HK Baby Nuclear Tests
Friday June 15 1:31 AM ET_
HONG KONG (Reuters) - British scientists listed specific body
parts of dead Hong Kong children they needed for nuclear
experiments between the 1950s and 1970s, the South China Morning
Post reported on Friday.
Citing official British records, the newspaper said some Hong
Kong medical officials had given approval for bodies of Hong Kong
children to be used in the tests without parental consent.
Pressure has been mounting on the Hong Kong government for a
probe into recent reports in British newspapers that some 6,000
stillborn babies and dead infants were sent from Australia,
Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, the United States and South America
over a 15-year period.
The bodies and body parts were used by the U.S. Department of
Energy (news - web sites) for tests to monitor the impact of
fallout and radioactivity from nuclear tests.
The remains of Hong Kong babies were also used by British
scientists for similar tests and research that ended only in the
1970s.
According to the Post, Hong Kong health authorities were given
detailed instructions by British scientists.
``What we most need are bones from children 0-5 years of age with
the following minimum requirements: one complete femur from each
child, cleaned from soft tissue,'' it quoted documents obtained
from Britain's Public Records Office as saying.
``The following particulars about each subject: name; date of
birth; date of death; whether breast or bottle-fed; place where
the child lived; any other information thought relevant.''
In 1961, one scientist and a colleague analyzed samples from 31
Hong Kong children, which did not indicate dangerous levels of
radioactive element Strontium 90.
The Hong Kong government has said it would not investigate the
reports unless specific evidence came to light that Hong Kong
babies had been used in the tests.
Government representatives were not immediately available for
comment on the Post report.
Australia confirmed last week that cremated bones from some
Australian babies, children and adults of up to 39 years old had
been shipped to the United States and Britain to test for
radioactive fallout from nuclear tests.
Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
18 Post: U.S. Suspects Iran Getting Nuclear Components
_Friday June 15 2:46 AM ET_
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States believes Iran obtained
material that could be used to make nuclear weapons through a
Russian metals trader earlier this year, the Washington Post
reported on Friday.
Washington and Moscow have exchanged a series of diplomatic
messages over U.S. and Israeli allegations that Moscow allowed a
suspicious shipment of high strength aluminum to Iran soon after
President Bush (news - web sites) took office Jan. 21, the
newspaper said.
According to the Post, U.S. officials were told by the Russians
that the aluminum headed for Iran was intended for aircraft
manufacture, but the U.S. did not accept that explanation.
Citing American officials, the Post said the U.S. and Israel have
evidence that the aluminum was delivered to Iranian institutions
connected with what they suspect is Iran's nuclear weapons
project.
The newspaper quoted a Kremlin export official, Sergei Yekimov,
as saying that Russia had made an ``exhaustive'' reply to U.S.
concerns about the aluminum shipment.
According to the Post, U.S. officials did not know the origin of
the aluminum, but said the shipment was arranged by a Russian
metals trader -- leaving open the possibility that it did not
involve the Russian government.
U.S. officials told the newspaper Bush would raise nuclear
proliferation concerns in his first-ever meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) on Saturday in
Slovenia. However, the officials said Bush would not go into
details of specific cases.
The report said National security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news
- web sites) raised the aluminum case directly with Russian
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, while he was still head of the
Kremlin Security Council. Ivanov provided her with written
assurances that the aluminum was intended for aircraft
manufacture, according to the Post.
The newspaper said Putin gave former Israeli prime minister Ehud
Barak (news - web sites) a similar answer shortly before Barak
left office on March 7, citing the official sources.
The Post said U.S. officials believed the aluminum could be
intended for the manufacture of rotor blades in gas centrifuges
used to produce weapons-grade uranium.
``U.S. experts say that Iran has been attempting to acquire
centrifuge technology, as well as other technology for enriching
uranium, for much of the last decade as part of a larger effort
to build an atomic bomb,'' the paper said.
Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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19 Ten sites added, 10 proposed for Superfund list
Evansville Courier &Press -
By JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON — One is a creek contaminated with PCBs in Darby
Township, Pa., flowing into the John Heinz National Wildlife
Refuge where federal officials caution people against eating the
fish.
Another is a 150-acre former hazardous waste storage site in
Texas City, Texas, leaking chromium and lead into 600-mile
Galveston Bay — the seventh-largest estuary in the nation and a
major commercial and recreation fishery.
Then there is the abandoned copper mine in Strafford, Vt., closed
in 1958, but still pumping metals and sulfides into the Copperas
Brook and West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River.
They are among 10 new sites — six in New England — added Thursday
to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list of most
hazardous toxic waste sites in the nation.
The EPA, spending as much as $1.5 billion a year for Superfund
cleanups, also proposes adding 10 more sites to the list. The
public has 60 days to comment on those.
“Every time we clean up a Superfund site, we reclaim part of our
past and secure a cleaner, safer future for our children,” EPA
Administrator Christie Whitman said Thursday. “This is a top
priority for the EPA as well as the president.”
With these latest actions, announced in the Federal Register, the
EPA’s Superfund program has 1,236 sites and 67 proposed for
agency action. The combined 1,303 includes 166 federal
facilities.
The other new sites include four acres with recycled oil company
drums at Cooper Drum Company in South Gate, Calif., and an
intersection where groundwater is contaminated with
perchloroethylene (PCE) in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
There are two New York sites, an inactive junkyard in Newburgh
and 60 homes with PCE-contaminated wells along Shenandoah Road in
East Fishkill. In Sheridan, Ore., soil laced with hazardous
chemicals from pressure-treated wood and preservatives has been
found up to a half-mile away from a lumber plant.
There also are two sites in Massachusetts, one where groundwater
at a 46-acre plant in Concord once run by Nuclear Metals, Inc.,
contains uranium and thorium; and a former 50-acre landfill known
as the Sutton Brook Disposal Area in Tewksbury with buried drums
and contaminated groundwater.
Only about 15 percent of the nation’s Superfund sites have been
cleaned and removed from the list since it was created two
decades ago.
The EPA puts sites on the list based on its studies of the risks
to human health and the environment from uncontrolled hazardous
substances in ground and surface water, soil and air. States also
have a say in deciding priorities.
The EPA is proposing 10 new Superfund sites in Casmalia, Calif.;
LaSalle, Ill.; Louisville, Miss.; Central Islip, N.Y.; Hazle
Township and West Hazleton, Pa.; Richland Township, Pa.; Deer
Park, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Eureka, Utah; and Vershire, Vt.
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20 DOE secretary to visit
Oak Ridger Online -->
Story last updated at 11:09 a.m. on Friday, June 15, 2001
from staff reports
Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will visit Oak
Ridge Monday. His tour will include Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Spallation
Neutron Source construction site and East Tennessee Technology
Park at the Oak Ridge K-25 site.
According to a media advisory from DOE, Abraham will highlight
"the important role scientific and high-tech research and
advancements play to help solve America's energy challenges."
This will be Abraham's first visit to Oak Ridge, according to
DOE. He'll be joined by U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, U.S. Reps. Zach
Wamp and Jimmy Duncan and others.
All Contents ©Copyright* The Oak Ridger *
*****************************************************************
21 _EPA adds 2 Mass. sites to Superfund_
_By Tania Anderson, States News Service, 6/15/2001_
WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency added two
Massachusetts locations to the list of federal Superfund sites,
making them eligible for federal assistance to clean up toxic
materials that were dumped there over the past half century.
Starmet Corp.'s property in Concord and Rocco's Landfill in
Tewksbury were among the 10 locations added to the more than
1,200 Superfund sites nationwide.
Starmet's 46-acre property was previously home to Nuclear Metals
Inc., where uranium-tipped bullets were made for the US Army for
25 years, until 1997.
Several years ago, the company, which now produces specialty
metal powders and materials for aerospace and semiconductor
companies, received $6.5 million from the US Department of
Defense to start investigating and cleaning up the contamination
in the ground and surrounding water.
But when the company's finances started going downhill, the state
stepped in. Last summer, Massachusetts asked the EPA to consider
identifying the land as a Superfund site.
The EPA issued a final ruling yesterday adding the two
Massachusetts sites and four others on the East Coast, including
Elizabeth Mine in Strafford, Vt., to the Superfund list.
''We're gratified the federal government will be taking steps to
remove all the depleted uranium from the site,'' said Christopher
Wheland, Concord's town manager.
This story ran on page 5 of the Boston Globe on 6/15/2001. ©
Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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22 How we learnt to hate the bomb
© 2001 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
16 June 2001 23:27 GMT+1
Thousands of young, inexperienced troops observed nuclear tests
in 1950s Australia. They were never informed of the risks.
Survivors tell Kathy Marks of the sickness that has never been
acknowledged
15 June 2001
When the order was given, the men turned their backs and clasped
their hands over their faces. There was a blinding flash and
through his tightly closed eyes Peter Webb could see the bones of
his fingers. He felt a scorching heat on the nape of his neck; as
the shockwave thundered past, covering him in dust, he turned to
see a mushroom cloud forming on the horizon.
Webb, a private in the Australian Army, was standing on a small
hill 1,000 yards from ground zero when Britain exploded its third
atomic bomb at Maralinga, in the middle of the vast South
Australian desert. Three hours later, he was crunching around the
lip of the crater, where the ferocious heat had transformed the
red sand into glass. "Being an inquisitive little bugger, I
thought 'I wonder if it breaks' and I gave it a couple of kicks,"
he recalls. "It was like kicking a block of concrete. It was that
solid."
The detonation witnessed by Webb was one of the 12 atmospheric
tests that Britain carried out in Australia during the 1950s in
its quest to become the world's third nuclear power. He had just
turned 21, it was the height of the Cold War, and the testing
programme was shrouded in obsessive secrecy.
Some 16,000 Australian and 6,000 British troops served at
Maralinga and at the Monte Bello Islands, off the coast of
Western Australia. Another 16,000 Britons took part in weapons
trials on Christmas Island in the South Pacific. Almost half a
century on, surviving veterans are still trying to uncover the
truth about what happened to them in these far-flung spots when
they were little more than boys.
Now in their sixties and seventies, the men are haunted by
questions. Why was so little heed paid to their safety at a time
when the dangers of radiation were already well documented? Why
have governments in London and Canberra resisted their
compensation claims despite studies showing high rates of cancer
and birth defects? Why has there been a concerted effort, which
continues to this day, to conceal the consequences of Britain's
ill-conceived rehearsal for Armageddon? Lately they have added
another, chilling question. Were they used as guinea pigs,
deliberately exposed to nuclear fallout so that British
scientists could assess the effects of radiation on the human
body?
Peter Webb, an apple-cheeked 65-year-old who lives in Melbourne,
is convinced of it. He was attached to the Indoctrinee Force, a
special group of mainly British and Australian officers whose
sole function was to observe atomic tests at Maralinga and then
shortly afterwards to go to ground zero the epicentre of the
explosion to analyse its impact on tanks, aircraft, artillery
and military equipment.
But the men themselves were being analysed, too. Documents
unearthed last month in archives in Canberra revealed details of
an exercise in which 80 Indoctrinee Force members were ordered to
run, walk and crawl through radioactive dust to evaluate the
protection offered by different types of clothing.
A second set of papers outlined secret plans to station nearly
2,000 servicemen in trenches "as close as possible to ground
zero" during four atomic blasts that were scheduled for 1958.
That project did not go ahead, but only because the series was
cancelled as a result of a temporary moratorium on testing.
The documents suggest that the British government was being
disingenuous when it told the European Court of Human Rights in
1997 that it would have been "an act of indefensible callousness"
to use its own servicemen as guinea pigs in an "appalling
scientific experiment".
The veterans still have vivid memories of watching the atomic
bombs explode, of birds tossed out of trees and fireballs
blotting out the horizon. It was a different era; nuclear war
seemed a real possibility then and Britain was determined to have
its own weapons.
It could not have found a more compliant host for the tests than
Australia's sycophantically Anglophile Prime Minister, Robert
Menzies. Menzies reassured the Australian public that there was
"no conceivable injury to life, limb or property". (In fact, one
radioactive cloud reached as far as Adelaide.) Australia's role
was to supply troops and not ask too many questions; men such as
Len Butterfield, who was sent to Monte Bello as a teenage navy
rating in 1956, were colonial cannon fodder. Butterfield has
since developed four separate cancers: skin, kidney, stomach and
oesophageal. The first bomb was detonated at Monte Bello in
October 1952; testing began in the desert the following year.
Maralinga, set in an arid landscape of spinifex grass and mulga
trees, means "field of thunder" in an Aboriginal language.
Aborigines were moved off their traditional lands, and the
British dismissed concerns for their safety, remarking that "a
dying race couldn't influence the defence of Western
civilisation".
A British study published in 1998 found that the veterans have
suffered from 10 times the average rate of a rare bone-marrow
cancer called multiple myeloma. Another study identified a high
incidence of stillbirths, miscarriages and deformities among
their children and grandchildren. But it is virtually impossible
to link a cancer with a specific cause, and only a handful of
ex-servicemen in Australia have won compensation cases. In
Britain, legislation prevents them from suing the government.
Men in both countries have campaigned in vain to be given war
pensions on the grounds that their service at the test sites was
hazardous. New Zealanders stationed on Christmas Island receive
such pensions, while the US compensated its atomic veterans many
years ago.
Webb has failed to persuade the Australian government that the
numerous skin cancers on his back were caused by his time at
Maralinga; he was informed in a letter in 1984 that he "did not
enter areas presenting a radiation hazard". Clearly he did. But
the Indoctrinees were not the only people placed at risk, whether
for sinister motives or as in most cases out of a mundane but
no less deadly disregard for their health. Men such as
Lance-Corporal John Hutton, who was part of an engineer troop,
worked month after month in the "forward area", as the
increasingly contaminated test range at Maralinga was known.
Inhaling or ingesting radioactive dust is potentially lethal, as
those running the trials were well aware, but Hutton, a
19-year-old Sydneysider, had no clue. He and his mates were
"swallowing dust continually" as they dug up scientific
instruments buried 100 yards from ground zero within an hour of
three detonations in 1957. Once their task was completed, they
washed the dirt off their shovels and used them as frying pans,
cooking up steak and eggs over an open fire.
"You can't see radiation, you can't smell it, so we didn't even
think about it," he says. "We were just kids and we did as we
were told. We were lambs to the slaughter." Like many other
members of his troop, Hutton fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea
classic symptoms of radiation sickness and spent 10 days on a
drip in Maralinga Hospital. He developed massive stomach ulcers
after he left Maralinga, and his health is poor.
"In the last three months, three of my mates from 1957 have died
from three different cancers and a fourth has got prostate
cancer," says Hutton, now 64. He adds, without a trace of
self-pity: "I've got no doubt in the world that I'll finish up
dying of cancer. We all worked together and ate together, so why
should I miss out?"
As Peter Webb clambered over dust-coated Centurion tanks at
ground zero in his regulation boots, shorts and short-sleeved
shirt, he saw other men walking around in full-length white
"space-suits" with gloves, hoods, masks and rubber boots. They
were the scientists, and they always wore protective clothing in
the forward area. The young servicemen who worked there almost
never wore any protective gear. Webb was admitted to Maralinga
Hospital with nausea and headaches, as were many others; the
precise figure is not clear, as the hospital records have
disappeared.
The average life expectancy of the men who helped Britain to
achieve its place in the nuclear sun is 55.5 years. There are
just a few thousand surviving veterans in Britain and in
Australia, and they believe that their governments are simply
waiting for them to die.
Frank Gray, from County Durham, was just 22 when he witnessed the
first atomic test at Monte Bello from the deck of a naval ship,
the Arvik. Two hours later, he sailed a landing craft through
contaminated waters so that the scientists, dressed in protective
gear, could collect their monitoring instruments. Other men were
sent off to catch radioactive sturgeon. Gray died nine years ago,
aged 62.
His wife, Sheila, who is the secretary of the British Nuclear
Tests Veterans Association, miscarried their first child. They
then had three children, including a girl born with a hole in her
stomach and a boy who had duodenal ulcers by the age of two. All
were virtually bald by the time they were 20. Mrs Gray also
miscarried a six-month-old fetus that had no genitals.
The association's president, Peter Fletcher, is seriously ill
with chronic obstructive lung disease; his consultant has told
him that he hasn't long to live. His breathing problems began
soon after he left Monte Bello in 1952. "We've done our part for
our country; now our country doesn't want to know us," Fletcher
says. "They keep telling us the same thing: you were not harmed.
They've ruined my life, that's for certain."
*****************************************************************
23 Bush under fire over Vieques
Friday, 15 June, 2001, 14:56 GMT 15:56 UK
President George Bush's plans to end controversial US naval
bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques by 2003
have come under fire from all sides.
Legislators from the president's own Republican party have
threatened to block the proposal, which they say endangers the
lives of military personnel.
I see this as an issue that means American lives. We are going to
lose other ranges if this range is lost
Rep Senator, James Inhofe
But the Democrats described the move as an empty gesture and said
the White House should put an immediate halt to the use of
Vieques as a testing ground. Analysts say the anti-bombing
campaign has become a rallying cry for America's growing Hispanic
community, costing Mr Bush critical support.
Puerto Rico Governor Sila Calderon said she had mixed emotions
about the Vieques proposal.
"The president is moving in the right direction. It's not the
direction we want but it's a step," she said, adding that she
would continue with the legal battle to force the US navy to
leave the island immediately.
_Vieques vote_
Puerto Ricans are preparing to hold a referendum on the fate of
the island next month, which is expected to overshadow a
federally-binding vote to be held in November under a directive
signed by former President Bill Clinton. Under the Clinton deal,
the residents of Vieques will vote on whether the navy should
leave in 2003 - a vote widely expected to go against Pentagon
interests.
"It promises no more than has already been promised, an end to
the bombing by 1 May 2003," said Senator Hillary Clinton.
But many Republicans seem to view the Bush plan differently. They
say any decision taken before the November referendum sends out a
bad signal.
_Lives endangered_
"If you give in on this one, where is the next one to come out?"
said Representative James Hansen.
Protesters have disrupted exercises
Senator James Inhofe went further in his condemnation of the
plan.
"I see this as an issue that means American lives. We are going
to lose other ranges if this range is lost."
Republicans have threatened to block any moves to stop naval
exercises in Vieques during the next two years.
Our correspondent in Washington, Paul Reynolds, says the Navy's
problem is that there is no obvious alternative site.
_Protests_
Last February, a group of islanders filed a $100m lawsuit over
claims that ammunition, including depleted uranium shells, has
caused an epidemic of cancers.
Opposition to the bombing was also spurred by the death of a
civilian security guard after bombs went off-course in 1999.
In April, protesters succeeded in interrupting training after
breaking into the bombing range. About 180 people were arrested.
The latest round of Navy exercises began off the coast of Vieques
on Wednesday, with 11 ships and 10,000 sailors practising battle
formations. Bombing training is expected to start on Monday.
BBC News Online_
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24 Gov'ts challenge A-bomb victim's legal victory
Mainichi Interactive - Top News
Lawyers for a Korean atom bomb victim have slammed a
"disgraceful" central and Osaka prefectural government appeal
against a ruling ordering them to reinstate the man's health
allowance.
Mainichi Shimbun
_Compensation fight rolls on: Atomic bomb victim Kwak Kwi-hun
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi announced
the move Friday morning, drawing the wrath of the lawyers, who
said the governments' challenge was merely a rehash of
now-resolved arguments.
The man, Kwak Kwi-hun, 76, filed a suit against the governments
after his 34,000 yen monthly health allowance was cut off when he
returned to South Korea in 1998. The Osaka District Court ordered
that Kwak be put back on the compensation list, finding that just
because a person resides in a foreign country does not mean they
can be stripped of payouts.
Three main reasons lie behind the governments' decision to appeal
the district court ruling:
* The law on support for atomic-bomb victims is not intended for
those living overseas
* Those who can't get medical treatment in Japan (those not
living in the nation) don't qualify for a health-care allowance
* The national government had won a similar case in the Hiroshima
District Court in 1999
Kwak's lawyers said they'd seen it all before. "The government is
only repeating arguments it made in the Osaka District Court," a
representative lawyer said. "There is no reason for the appeal.
It's disgraceful."
After explaining the reasons for the challenge, Sakaguchi
admitted that difficulties still plague the victim support law
and that the government was considering altering it to cover
those living overseas.
"The problem over whether the support law is sufficient as it
stands remains," he said. "When it was enacted, there was no deep
discussion about atomic bomb victims living overseas."
The comments drew further fire from Kwak's lawyers. "This is just
camouflage to cover criticism that [the government] is cutting
off atomic bomb victims," one lawyer said. "They are just evading
the issue."
Kwak was exposed to atomic-bomb radiation while stationed with
his military unit in Hiroshima in August 1945. He returned to
South Korea after the war.
When Kwak came back to Japan in May 1998 to receive medical
treatment, he was awarded a five-year monthly health-care
allowance, expiring in May 2003.
But when he returned to his native country three months later,
the Osaka Prefectural Government cut off the allowance, saying
the Ministry of Health and Welfare had decided that victims who
emigrated overseas were not entitled to it. (Mainichi Shimbun)
(c) 2001 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Under the copyright law of
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