***************************************************************** 11/16/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.271 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Recreation banned near nuclear plant 2 U.S. Chamber of Commerce gives backing to Yucca 3 CHINA INSTALLS EQUIPMENT IN TIANWAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION Asia 4 UK nuclear waste delay to cost taxpayer dear 5 Cabinet vows to continue battle against Sellafield 6 Green groups lose Sellafield MOX plant challenge 7 NATIONAL NEWS: Judge rules nuclear plant can open in Cumbria 8 Slovak-EBRD deal on subsidies for nuclear plant decommissioning 9 Armenian nuclear power station restarted 10 Russia to send nuclear reactor to Iran (bellona shorts) 11 Russia dispatches parts for Iranian nuclear power station 12 Russia to go ahead and build more power units at Volgodonsk 13 Russian firm begins work on nuclear reactor for India 14 Russia to invest 1.9bn dollars in nuclear power plants 15 Bulgaria: Russian firm wins tender for nuclear fuel supplier 16 YMP public comment period opened again 17 Wolf Creek emergency drill satisfies state, plant officials 18 Accidents expose pitfalls of aging N-reactors 19 Letter: Transportation will be deadly 20 Sellafield saved - for now 21 Letter: Storing waste at Yucca ignores terrorist threat 22 Nevada to woo other states in Yucca fight 23 Probe confirms conflict of interest for Yucca law firm 24 Greenpeace: U.S. can't defend nuke plants 25 Maine Yankee to implode building Saturday noon 26 Business -- Waste facility to begin operations by March 27 Panelists say dry cask safer system for nukes 28 Multi-pronged fight aims to keep nuke dump out of Nevada 29 Russia Ships Reactor Body to Iran 30 European parliament emphasises key role of nuclear energy 31 Assembly of reactor at Bushehr A-plant to start mid-Dec 32 Cincinnati visit overwhelms Chernobyl engineers 33 Environmentalists lose Sellafield case 34 Chubu Power ignored signs at Hamaoka 35 State addresses nuclear vulnerability 36 Expert calls for test of Maine Yankee security 37 U.S. cites conflict for city law firm 38 National Guard CO says 'Maine Yankee secure' 39 Japanese Not Ready To Renew Mox Business 40 Letter to Mr. Briggs, Jr., Ross, Dixon and Bell L.L.P. from 41 Town votes nukes out despite revenue loss 42 N-plant battle 'will not stop' 43 Security plan for Russian plutonium has foes 44 Maine Yankee tax waiver to help CMP customers 45 Accord reached on nuke plant cleanup 46 Probe finds Yucca law firm failed to disclose conflict NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Analysts Lukewarm on Nuclear Accord 2 Probe Finds Law Firm Had Dual Roles 3 Rule of law or arbitrariness? 4 Nuclear threat seen as unlikely scenario 5 Alabama selected for anti-terrorism team 6 U.S. Prepares 'for Mass Casualties' 7 Opinion: Halfway to history 8 Libya joins nuclear tests banning treaty 9 Homeland Security Briefing with Gov. Ridge and Secretary Abraham 10 Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Time to give thanks 11 United States should heed nuclear warnings 12 Nuclear reactions - Jane's International Security News 13 Security doesn't impede IAAPcleanup 14 Energy Secretary views ORNL technology 15 Opinion - A Summit That Is Not All About Concessions - 16 Nuclear Cleanup Pact Reached **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Recreation banned near nuclear plant mcall.com - The Morning Call No hunting, hiking allowed on PPL’s 228 acres near Luzerne facility. By HANG NGUYEN Of The Morning Call November 16, 2001 As part of increased security measures, hunting and hiking have been banned on land surrounding the PPL Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County, PPL Corp. officials said Thursday. State police asked the company to close 228 acres of PPL-owned land next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station near Berwick. The land, west of the Susquehanna River, has been opened to hunting and hiking since the plant opened in 1983. “But the tragic events of Sept. 11 forced us to put this restriction into effect,” John Fridman, assistant superintendent of the PPL Susquehanna Riverlands environmental preserve, said in a news release. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the plant has been monitored by state police and the Pennsylvania National Guard. Jerry Schutz, president of the Luzerne County chapter of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, said the impact will not be large since the land is not a prime hunting area. But he said PPL’s attempt is futile. “I don’t know how much damage anyone can do with hunting when the roads around there are open to the public,” he said. “It seems like they’re penny-wise and pound-foolish.” There are 850 chapter members who are part of 12 clubs in Luzerne County. Ted Onufrak, second vice president for the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, said he understands the decision to restrict hunting. “Obviously with what has occurred in the last few months, you can’t argue with PPL’s decision,” he said. “We knew that life was going to be different after Sept. 11. This is one of those things, and we just have to be patient and deal with it.” Hunting is still allowed on PPL land on the east side of the Susquehanna River. That area includes more than 500 acres of woodlands and fields along Route 239 north and east of Wapwallopen, except for the area surrounding the company’s electric transmission substation. The Susquehanna plant, which is about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned by PPL Susquehanna and Allegheny Electric Cooperative and is run by PPL Susquehanna. It’s the only nuclear power plant owned by PPL Corp., parent of PPL Susquehanna. Reporter Hang Nguyen 610-820-6539 hang.nguyen@mcall.com Copyright © 2001, The Morning Call ***************************************************************** 2 U.S. Chamber of Commerce gives backing to Yucca [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Friday, November 16, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Las Vegas chapter fumes at decision By STEVE TETREAULT DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday unveiled a lobbying campaign to urge speedy approval of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, presenting national figures John Sununu and Geraldine Ferraro to head the effort. A chamber leader said a 1,200-group coalition it formed in mid-May to bolster President Bush's energy strategy now will turn its attention to Nevada. The Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth will promote spent fuel storage as a key element to ensure the nation's energy security, said Bruce Josten, the chamber's executive vice president for government affairs. But apparently nobody told chamber leaders in Las Vegas, who blanched at being associated with a pro-repository movement. Government affairs director Kami Dempsey said the Las Vegas chamber will consider withdrawing from the U.S. group at a board meeting this month or next. "The fact is they have never contacted us for our opinion and our thoughts on Yucca Mountain," Dempsey said. "We are the third-largest chamber in the United States, and we consider we should be consulted when making huge decisions." The Las Vegas chamber adopted a resolution in January opposing nuclear waste storage in Nevada. Two months ago chamber President Pat Shalmy wrote to U.S. chamber President Thomas Donohue saying the local affiliate would not support a pro-repository stance by the national association. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce serves as a trade association for chambers across the country and is a major player in Washington lobbying. It sponsors benefit programs for its members, runs seminars on organization and fund-raising and keeps its membership informed on business issues. Dempsey said the Las Vegas affiliate pays $3,000 in annual dues but is not a heavy user of services provided by the Washington-based group. U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials said it is expected that not all members will agree on all things, and this would not be the first time a member has left in disagreement. The Las Vegas chamber, along with chambers from Sparks, Pahrump and Carson City, were among 10 Nevada organizations listed as members of the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth. Membership was free, along with a promise to be kept up to date about energy legislation is Congress. Until now, the alliance had not involved itself in the nuclear waste issue. Another group listed was the Nevada Restaurant Association, whose president, Van Heffner, planned to protest the Yucca Mountain campaign to the National Restaurant Association, which solicited him to join the alliance. "I'm immediately going to call the national office and see what's going on," Heffner said. "What are they thinking?" Josten said the Yucca Mountain effort has not been budgeted yet. Besides the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the alliance includes such major energy firms as the National Mining Association, Edison Electric Institute, Nuclear Energy Institute and American Petroleum Institute. Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor and White House chief of staff, will be a face on the Yucca campaign, along with Ferraro, a former congresswoman from New York and vice presidential candidate. "We're going to talk about the issue as visible individuals," Sununu said. "There will be advertising." Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the inclusion of the two is an example of the nuclear power industry reaching into deep pockets to fund the goal of burying waste in Nevada. "I'm sure they're going to be paid well," Reid said. He said he would not minimize the potential for the chamber coalition to build support for a Nevada repository. "They can be effective," he said. "They have the best that money can buy, they're greedy, and they have a direction they don't turn from." This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-16-Fri-2001/news/17465673.html [http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-16-Fri-2001/news/17465673.html] ***************************************************************** 3 CHINA INSTALLS EQUIPMENT IN TIANWAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION Asia Pulse; Nov 15, 2001 NANJING, Nov 15 Asia Pulse - Chinese and Russian technicians began to install the reactor containment for the No.1 nuclear island of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Station in the port city of Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, on November 14. Experts said the move marks the beginning of the project's equipment installment from civil engineers. The first phase of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Station has two nuclear power generating units with a designed capacity of 1.06 million kilowatts. Chen Zhaobo, chairman of the board of the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co., said the Tianwan project has been going smoothly with the support of the Chinese and Russian governments. Speaking during his trip to the port city, Russian Nuclear Power Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Russia attaches great importance to the construction of the nuclear power plant, and hopes to explore more opportunities for cooperation between the two countries on nuclear energy. The new station, the largest cooperative project between the two countries, is designed in strict compliance with the latest safety regulations and norms from the International Atomic Energy Agency and also takes into account the experience of Russia and other Western countries in building and operating nuclear power stations. Key technology used for it has been modeled after that of nuclear power stations in Russia and other countries. Ouyang Yu, chief engineer of the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co., said the new station will have four Russia-made pressurized water reactors, each with a generating capacity of one million kilowatts. Siemens digital instrumentation and control systems, believed to be the most advanced in the world, will be adopted to ensure the sound, smooth operation of the nuclear station. (XIC) World Reporter ***************************************************************** 4 UK nuclear waste delay to cost taxpayer dear By Matthew Jones Published: November 16 2001 15:01 | Last Updated: November 16 2001 15:06 The UK government's delay in deciding a long-term nuclear waste storage policy will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds, Britain's atomic decommissioning and research body warned on Friday. The UK Atomic Energy Authority, which is responsible for decommissioning six experimental nuclear sites around Britain, has told MPs its aim of minimising costs to the public is being hampered by the delay. In a submission to the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee, it said it was having to take decisions on medium-term storage that could be "incompatible" with the eventual long-term strategy. "This inevitably introduces a risk that we will need to rework wastes in the future and could result in additional costs of hundreds of millions of pounds across the industry," said an official. UKAEA's largest site is Dounreay on the northern tip of Scotland, where it is planning to vitrify waste in advance of government guidance and store it above ground in specially designed buildings. It said this could be done safely for more than 100 years, but that sites would be unattractive for commercial development, a policy that would benefit taxpayers and rural communities. Britain's nuclear waste stockpile stands at 10,000 tonnes but is set to grow to 500,000 tonnes over the next century, even if no new power plants are built. Michael Meacher, environment minister, launched a public consultation into nuclear waste storage in September but admitted it may be five years before a decision is taken. It could then be decades before a long-term storage facility becomes operational. Plans for a deep underground repository near Sellafield in Cumbria were thrown out by the Conservative government in 1997 after John Gummer, the former environment secretary, ruled there was insufficient understanding of the geology of the site. Environmental campaign groups argue that waste should not be stored underground because the risk of radioactivity seeping in groundwater could never be ruled out. But Mr Meacher last month told the House of Lords science and technology committee that underground storage was the only long-term option due to the threat of attacks on waste facilities by terrorists. The Lords committee has branded Mr Meacher's consultation as "vacuous" and lacking in detail. ***************************************************************** 5 Cabinet vows to continue battle against Sellafield Irish Newspapers - Date: Fri November 16th 01 THE FIRST legal attempt to block the controversial MOX reprocessing plant at Sellafield has failed, but the Government last night vowed to "pull out all the stops" to prevent the facility coming on line in the coming weeks. The British High Court yesterday ruled against a joint Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth bid to stop the Cumbrian plant from starting to reprocess uranium and plutonium. The ruling means heavily-armed British ships could be transporting the highly radioactive material on the Irish Sea by Christmas. But a high-powered Irish Government delegation, led by Attorney General Michael McDowell, will challenge their British counterparts in an international court next Monday. Mr McDowell, accompanied by lawyers from across the world, is seeking to have a United Nations tribunal in Hamburg put a binding injunction on the British and halt them from commissioning the MOX plant. Karl Brophy and Bernard Purcell ***************************************************************** 6 Green groups lose Sellafield MOX plant challenge The Irish Examiner 16 Nov 2001 By Cathy Gordon ENVIRONMENTAL groups yesterday vowed to carry on their legal battle after losing a High Court bid to challenge the British Government approval of the controversial MOX plant in Sellafield. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace were seeking to block the opening of the mixed plutonium and uranium oxide (MOX) plant in Cumbria. But Mr Justice Collins in London ruled that the British Government had made "no error of law" in granting approval. The judge granted Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace permission to appeal - a provisional date has been set for November 27. Friends of the Earth executive director Charles Secrett said after the ruling: "The judgment allows the government to ignore plant construction costs when deciding whether a nuclear project is justified. "In this land of fantasy economics, the Government can fiddle the figures until it gets the results it wants. "Despite this bitter blow, the campaign against MOX continues. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to do what we can to stop this nuclear madness." Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "While today's decision is disappointing, our fight to stop the MOX plant from opening is not over. "Tony Blair was right when he highlighted the threats from international terrorism and nuclear proliferation in his speech to the Labour Party conference. "It is time his actions matched his words and his government stopped allowing activities that will arm the terrorists of tomorrow." BNFL, which runs the Sellafield plant, welcomed the judge's decision that the MOX operation was both lawful and justified. The company said in a statement: "This is good news for the plant, the workforce and the local community. "We now want to get on with the job of manufacturing MOX fuel." Environmental groups fear the Sellafield scheme could lead to pollution and also become a target for terrorists or theft of nuclear materials. ***************************************************************** 7 NATIONAL NEWS: Judge rules nuclear plant can open in Cumbria Financial Times; Nov 16, 2001 By ANDREW TAYLOR Environmental groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth yesterday lost their High Court bid to prevent a controversial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant from opening in Cumbria. Mr Justice Collins ruled the government made "no error of law" in approving the plant, built by British Nuclear Fuels. BNFL said the plant would start commercial production "on or about December 20". Environmental groups, however, said they would go to the Court of Appeal. The Irish government, which has complained about radioactive pollution from the Sellafield complex, is pursuing separate actions to prevent the plant opening. Bertie Ahern, prime minister, told the Irish parliament last month: "We will continue to do everything we can on every front, legally and politically, to stop the British government from pursuing its proposals." The Irish government is challenging the development under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and under the Oslo and Paris convention, a treaty signed by North Atlantic countries to protect the marine environment. The Unclos hearing is due to start in Hamburg next week. The development at BNFL's Sellafield complex combines plutonium from reprocessed fuel into mixed oxide fuel, known as mox, for re-use in reactors. Environmental groups said the government's decision to allow the plant to proceed on economic grounds was flawed as it did not take into account Pounds 470m already spent on the project. The government instead wrote off the amount as a sunk cost. Environmental groups also criticised BNFL order figures for mox, which they said included Japanese contracts still to be confirmed. They said plutonium in the recycled fuel could fall into criminal hands and be used to manufacture crude atomic weapons. Justice Collins said: "No error of law has been established in the approach taken by the secretaries of state." He said the manufacture of mox was "the only feasible option now and in the foreseeable future". Charles Secrett, Friends of the Earth director, said: "Today's judgment allows the government to ignore plant construction costs when deciding whether a nuclear project is justified. In this land of fantasy economics the government can fiddle the figures until it gets the result it wants." Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace director, said: "Our fight to stop the mox plant from opening is not over. BNFL's order book is virtually empty. The plant poses a substantial risk as a terrorist target and producer of bomb-making materials. www.ft.com/bnfl Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 1995-1998 ***************************************************************** 8 Slovak-EBRD deal on subsidies for nuclear plant decommissioning signed BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Bratislava/London, 16 November: An agreement between Slovakia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on subsidizing the decommissioning of Bohunice nuclear power station's V-1 block was signed by Deputy Economy Minister Jan Sabol in London on Friday [16 November]... Source: TASR web site, Bratislava, in English 1442 gmt 16 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 9 Armenian nuclear power station restarted BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Yerevan, 15 November: The Armenian Nuclear Power Station on Thursday resumed operations suspended on 10 July for maintenance and refuelling, an official in the Armenian Energy Ministry told Interfax. The halt of operations lasted for more than the scheduled 75 days because of financial and technical problems. In particular, Russia would not send fuel before 16m dollars was paid for earlier deliveries and an advance payment of 13m dollars made for future supplies. Fuel was delivered once Armenia used a CIS Interstate Bank 4m-dollars loan to make the advance payment. The last consignment of nuclear fuel reached the station on 17 October. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1428 gmt 15 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 10 Russia to send nuclear reactor to Iran (bellona shorts) 2001-11-16 International cooperation Russian power engineering concern Izhora Plants (St Petersburg), which is part of the Unified Engineering Works holding company (Uralmash-Izhora), is to supply equipment for the first power-producing unit at Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran on 16 November, a source in the company told Interfax. Work on the production of the equipment for the Iranian nuclear power plant has been under way for about three years, the source said. Russia and Iran signed a contract for the construction of the first unit at Bushehr nuclear power plant, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, at a cost of about 800m dollars, in January 1995. It is planned that other St Petersburg companies will also supply equipment for the plant in 2002 -Leningrad Metals Plant (turbine) and Electrosila (generator). The schedule for the supply of the reactor is the end of 2002 and the launch of the reactor will possibly take place at the end of 2003 or start of 2004. Spent nuclear fuel might go to Russia by the Black Sea According to Krasnodar county administration, the administration and the local Duma received a letter from the first deputy of the minister for nuclear energy Ivanov V. regarding the possible transportation of the spent nuclear fuel through the port of Novorossiysk on the Black sea. It is mentioned in the letter that Russia would not be able to fulfil its obligations without using the ports on the Black Sea to deliver foreign spent nuclear fuel. At the moment state company Atomspetstrans of the Russian nuclear ministry is working out the routes for transportation and loading of spent nuclear fuel, in particular, through Novorossiysk. No concrete decisions about the ports and the companies for spent nuclear fuel transportation has not been made yet. The main reason is that the issue has to be approved by the local authorities. Minatom hopes for the positive answer. Novorossiysk administration will examine the possibility of using Novorossiysk as the transit point of foreign spent nuclear fuel. 2001-11-13 International cooperation Russia and India signed contract for NPP construction The nuclear ministries of Russia and India signed the contract for nuclear power plant construction on the south of India. The name of the coming plant is Kudunkulam and Russia can receive $1.5-2 bn for the contract. 15 per cent of the sum will be paid in advance, and the rest will be given in the form of credit by Russia. According to the general director of Atomstroyexport, Viktor Kozlov, Russia does not give cash to India, but equipment and materials necessary for the construction of the nuclear power plant. 2001-11-13 Rostov NPP Rostov NPP to receive $16.8 million bank loan It is expected to use the loan to finish construction of the second reactor unit. But this money will be probably spent to pay the debts for arranging 30 km zone around the plant, Vremya Novostey reports. The bank representative said it is an ordinary loan with 5% annual interest and Rosenergoatom as guarantor. The bank is interested to get such a big and perspective client. It is planned to spend $168 bn for the works on the second reactor unit next year. 2001-11-13 Accidents and Incidents Russian Nuclear Industry had no emergencies in October Russia's nuclear and radiation centres did not have any emergencies that could lessen nuclear and radiation safety in October, reads a report of the State Committee for Nuclear and Radiation Safety Oversight (Gosatomnadzor). The automatic safety systems were triggered twice, at the Kola and Leningrad nuclear power plants. "There was no violation of the conditions and limits of safe operation. The radiation was normal," the report says. The automatic safety systems of research reactors were also triggered twice, in Obninsk and Gatchina. "There was no radiation aftermath there either," the Committee said. 2001-10-29 Russian NPPs Reactor shut down at Rovno NPP ITAR-TASS reported that reactor unit no.1 of Rovno NPP shut down after the electrical transformer fault. The transformer’s failure led to the reactor’s cut off from the external grid, two turbo generator’s shut down and the reactor’s capacity reduction down to 9% from maximum capacity. Radiation levels remain normal at the plant and in the surroundings. This is the second incident at the Ukrainaian NPPs. The reactor unit was recently stopped at Khmelnitsk NPP. Ukraine has 13 NPPs, but only 10 are in operation. 2001-10-29 Rostov NPP Excessive energy after Rostov NPP launch After Rostov NPP began to run at full capacity, Novocherkask thermal power plant has to reduce its capacity, only 3 out of 8 power units are in operation, and those three run half capacity. The plant buys 50 per cent less coal now. For the last quarter of the current year it is planned to buy 440 thousand ton instead of 800-1000 tons in the recent years. The local budget is losing taxes, unemployment among the coal miners is increasing. 2001-10-24 International cooperation Ukraine to extend reactors life time Interfax reported that Ukrainian national atomic generating company Enerhoatom is to extend the operational life span of generating sets at Ukrainian nuclear power plants by 10-15 years, company President Yuriy Nedashkovskiy told journalists. "With our Russian colleagues - Rosenergoatom - we have prepared joint programmes to carry out work to extend the life spans of generating sets," he said. Nedashkovskiy explained that this work includes the development of legislative documents and calculations for the reconstruction of generating sets, with the replacement of obsolete equipment, in addition to steps to increase safety at power-producing units in accordance with modern requirements. "This work is very broad in nature and very expensive," he said. According to Enerhoatom specialists, the cost of work to extend the life span of one VVER-1000 unit by 10-15 years amounts to about $150m, which the company considers to be economically viable. "Calculations show that this is very profitable," the company president said. The 13 generating sets at Ukraine's four nuclear power plants were launched in 1981-1995 and have a 30-year life span. This means that 12 of the units should be mothballed in 2010-2020. Enerhoatom accounts for 45 per cent of electricity production in Ukraine. 2001-10-22 Leningrad NPP Sponsors upgrade Leningrad NPP Delovoy Peterburg reports, that the overhaul of the third reactor unit has begun at the Leningrad NPP. It is scheduled to last from 8 to 10.5 months. This long-lasting and complicated process is the know-how of the plant. The similar operation was carried out on the reactor no.4, which has recently suffered an incident resulted in the significant capacity reduction. The third reactor will be shut down on October the 19th. The repairs on the second reactor were completed on October 11th. The Leningrad NPP and the Danish agency DEMA finished the project on changing two pumps of the two reactor units. The four pump devices were delivered for the 1st and 2nd reactor units. These devices are capable to cool the reactor’s circuit even after complete flooding of the rooms with the pump systems. The next meeting of the Coordination council on detailed evaluation of the Leningrad NPP’s reactors is to take place in Washington in October 2001. The representatives of the country-donors from the USA, Sweden, and Great Britain will gather at the meeting. In particular, the participants are going to discuss the volume and the period of the works on evaluating the technical state of the Leningrad NPP’s reactors on the basis of the recently conducted evaluation on the second reactor. The operation time of the first reactor is over in 2003, but the works to extend the operation time should be finished in 2002. 2001-10-22 Nuclear Waste Managment Envirogroups in Chelyabinsk concerned about tritium problem The tritium problem brochure published in Chelyabinsk, Hartiya.Ru informs. The brochure comprises articles written by the leaders of local envirogroups. There are more than ten official watchdog organisations in Chelyabinsk , dealing with ecological problems of the region, but these organisations do not exercise control of tritium emissions. There is also no statistics of tritium contamination. Tritium, radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a mass about three times that of ordinary hydrogen, is beta emitter, easy dissoluble and dangerous for human health. 2001-10-22 International cooperation The Armenian NPP to be launched again The Armenian NPP may be put in operation again during the first decade of November, RIA News informs, referring to the Armenian Engergy minister Karen Galustian. Nuclear fuel for refuelling of the second unit is already delivered. The Armenian NPP stopped on July, 10, 2001, for refuelling and repairs. The power plant was planned to be put in operation in two months, but nuclear fuel supplies were delayed. Armenia has paid Russia $4m for the fuel delivered and guaranteed payment of the debt of $10m in three months. The Armenian NPP, located near the country's capital Yerevan not far from the Turkish boarder, has two first generation VVER-440/270s (seismically improved VVER-440/230s) reactors put in operation in 1976 and 1979. The plant is built in a seismically active area, but designed to withstand an earthquake with a force of up to 9 points on the Richter scale. It actually withstood the Spitak quake (Richter point 7-8), but was nevertheless shut down and partially discharged of fuel early in 1989. The second unit was re-launched in 1995 and since that time the NPP produces 33% of all the energy in Armenia. From January to April, 2001, the Armenian NPP had produced electricity of 1001.1m kWh. Russian vice-premier Ilya Klebanov will visit Armenia in the beginning of November. Armenia is likely to hand over to Russia a considerable part of its enterprises for repayment of the state debt of $95.7m, among them Rozdan Hydro Power Plant, Vorotan cascade, two plants of the Math Institute, Mars and Orbita. The Armenian NPP is also likely to be handed over to Russia in trust administration. 2001-10-22 Leningrad NPP Radioactive melting plant at Leningrad NPP works without proper evaluation On October, 16th, a train car with radioactive metal waste from Chepetsk mechanical plant in Udmurtia, arrived at Sosnovy Bor, the local envirogroup Green World informs. The metal is intended for reprocessing at the private Ecomet-S plant, illegally built at the territory of Leningrad NPP not far from the Baltic Sea shore. The melting plant launched at the beginning of the year 2001, works without the required state environmental evaluation. The plant is designed to melt up to 5,000 tons of scrap metal per year. The Green World claims, there were 10 casks filled with 20 tons of radioactive waste in the car no.66437633, the maximum radiation level at the car surface exceeded the natural background radioactivity in 1000 times. Neither the car, nor the casks had the required danger marking, while parked at the passenger terminal. In recent months such deliveries have become regular. About 160 tons of radioactive metal have been brought to the plant from Udmurtia. That is a considerable addition to the thousands of tons of radioactive waste of Leningrad NPP already melted at the Ecomet-S plant. 2001-10-16 Beloyarsk NPP Reactor no.4 of Beloyarsk NPP to start in 2009 According to NAUFOR, reactor no.4 of Beloyarsk NPP is scheduled to start in 2009. This fact was announced at the meeting in the ministry of construction and architecture of the Sverdlovsk region. The minister of construction and architecture of the region, Alexander Karlov, said that $51 should be used for construction in 2002. The new reactor of Beloyarsk NPP costs $1300 million. $600-$700 million would be spent on the construction, the rest of the sum – for the equipment, Karlov said. Rosenergo, Minatom’s subdivision, begins financing in the end of this year. This money will be enough to pay for the works during 3-4 months. 6-8 thousand works are wanted for the construction site. The working conditions are far from ideal as the roads and railways need repairs badly or even have to be changed. In the nearest 2 weeks the contracting construction companies should familiarise with the works to be done and require the necessary technical resources. Then after signing the contracts the subcontractors can start working at the construction site. 2001-10-16 Nuclear Powered Icebreakers State Duma committee suggests more money for nuclear icebreakers According to ITAR-TASS, the State Duma committee on Far East and North issues suggests to increase financing of the nuclear icebreakers fleet in the financial 2002 year. The committee suggests to add $ 8.173 million extra to the earlier proposed $14.339 million. This money will allow to extend the operation time of the 6 nuclear icebreakers on the North Sea Route (until 2010-2012). 2001-10-16 Zheleznogorsk Minatom to discuss construction of temporary storage sites ABN reported, that the Minatom Scientific-Technical Council is going to discuss in December 2001 how to speed up construction of temporary storage sites at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine in Krasnoyarsk region. The deputy nuclear minister, Valery Lebedev, said at the 4th International Conference that it is planned to construct storage sites for 33 thousand tons of spent nuclear fuel what includes 24 thousand tons of the fuel from reactors of RBMK type and 9 thousand tons of VVER-1000 type. It is also proposed to reconstruct the reprocessing plant RT-1 so it can handle the spent fuel from VVER-1000 reactors, but the reprocessing of the spent fuel from RBMK reactors at the RT-2 plant, is postponed for 20-25 years, the deputy minister said. However, no economically acceptable technology for reprocessing or regeneration of the spent nuclear fuel from the RBMK reactors exists nowadays. Leningrad NPP will be filled up with nuclear spent fuel in 2006, at the Kursk NPP – in 2007. 2001-10-16 Russian NPPs Mini nuclear power plants to the Russian far north A development program for the Russian atomic energy industry stipulates the building of 33 small scale nuclear power plant in northern Russian provinces. The Russian deputy minister on atomic energy, Bulat Nigmatullin, announced this last week. The power plants, which will partially be based on technology used in Russian nuclear submarines, will secure the power supply to areas located outside the Russian energy distribution network. The Russian atomic energy company, Rosenergoatom, has already planned the construction and installation of a floating nuclear power plant in the northern city of Severodvinsk. 2001-10-15 Nuclear Industry Minatom plans to mine 10 thousand tons uranium per year by 2010 The deputy nuclear minister Valery Lebedev told ABN that after the USSR break-up only one uranium mine remained in operation in Russia. It is situated in Chita region. Two more mines are to be opened in this region. The uranuim ore extraction in Karelia is not planned yet. The other deputy nuclear minister Bulat Nigmatulin said that Russia has enough uranium for 130 years. According to Mr. Nigmatulin, it proves that the Russian nuclear energy should switch to the MOX-fuel reactors of Brest-300 type. The MOX fuel is possible to supply during 1000 years. 2001-10-15 Leningrad NPP System of spent fuel storage to be changed at Leningrad NPP ABN reports that the Russian Nuclear ministry speeds up works on changing the system of spent nuclear fuel storage. The works on creation of metal-concrete cask for spent nuclear fuel from RBMK Chernobyl type reactors, are underway. The Russian deputy atomic minister stressed that the Russian nuclear ministry is planning to speed up the works. The temporary site for the storage will be located on the territory of Leningrad NPP, the site in Krasnoyarsk is also being prepared for the spent nuclear fuel of RBMK type reactors. 2001-10-10 Nuclear Waste Managment Petrozavodskmash to produce casks for spent nuclear fuel RIA-Novosti reports that the Russian Nuclear ministry and company Petrozavodskmash signed an agreement stipulating production of new type storage casks for spent nuclear waste. Until now the casks for nuclear waste were made of metal concrete at Izhora plants in Leningrad region and Sevmash in Severodvinsk. The capacity of the foundry plant Petrozavodskmash in Petrozavodsk allows to produce storage cask made of high-resistance cast iron. Such casks are capable to contain spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear power plants and nuclear submarines. The casks' operation time is practically unlimited. The new casks should raise interest abroad too as 130 thousand tons of spent nuclear fuel out of 200 thousand tons of spent nuclear fuel collected in the world, have to be shipped to another location. According to Petrozavodskmash general director, Valery Somin, the first 40-tons container is to be produced for testing in the beginning of the next year. Then the company can get order for serial production of the casks if the tests are succesful. The future of the cast iron casks for spent nuclear fuel storage will be discussed at the Russian foundry industry congress next year in Petrozavodsk. 2001-10-10 Spent fuel imports No nuclear and radiation incidents in September RBC reports that radiation and nuclear sites in Russia were safe in September. The Russian nuclear regulatory told RBC that automatic safety system went on three times at Kursk NPP, Novovoronezh NPP and Kola NPP, and five times it happened on research reactors. Once it happened at State Scientific centre of Fysics-Energy Institute and four times at State Scientific centre of Nuclear Reactors Research Institute. In all the cases no violation of safety took place. Radiation levels remained normal. 2001-10-10 International Co-operation EU to give Russia about $640 million for nuclear research European Commission is planning to earmark $640 million for nuclear research in Russia from 2003 until 2007. This agreement was reached during the bilateral negotiations between Russia and EU in Brussels. As EFE reports, commissioner of European committee on research issues, Filipp Buxin, and the Russian nuclear minister Alexander Rumyantsev signed two agreements stipulating the nuclear safety mutual cooperation on atomic issues. In particular, the parties agreed to increase safety of atomic reactors, radiation protection, and nuclear waste decommissioning as well as improve the security at the ventures working with fissile materials. 2001-10-10 Spent fuel imports Korean spent nuclear fuel to be shipped to Russia Russia can likely take part in reprocessing and storage of Korean spent nuclear fuel. At present the specialists of Tekhsnabexport, responsible for external relations of the Russian Nuclear Ministry, evaluate possible cooperation with the colleagues from South-Korea. Recent alterations in the Russian laws allow import of foreign spent nuclear fuel, despite lack of storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel from the Russian submarines and nuclear power plants. South Korea is likely to become the first partner for Russian in the nuclear import business. 2001-10-03 Russian NPPs Leningrad county governor needs underground NPP Russian Ministry for Nuclear Energy (Minatom) considers a plan for building an underground nuclear power plant, Valery Lebedev, Minatom deputy minister said in an interview to the Versiya-v-Pitere weekly. The site for the construction has not been chosen yet, but the plan is actively supported by the Leningrad county governor and stipulates that the underground NPP will be built in Krasny Bor on the basis of joint stock financing. The Central Krylov Research Institute designed the plan. "According to the Russian legislation, a NPP may be built on the joint stock financial basis, but only the state can possess a nuclear power plant", Mr. Lebedev says. But Alexander Agapov, the head of the safety department of Minatom, declares that the idea of a joint stock leaves the nuclear power plant operation to the will of any private person. 2001-10-01 Nuclear Waste Managment Murmansk region needs $1.5 billion to solve radiation safety problems Chairman of conversion, nuclear and radiation safety of Murmansk region administration Alexander Ruzankin said in an exclusive interview to Rosbussinessconsulting. "We have 13 projects for $318 million, which should be implemented soon" he said. The state budget covers only 25-30% of the total sum, and the region authorities have to search for donors, Ruzankin said. Norway is planning to invest $1.5 million for creation the infrastructure in Andreyeva Bay in 2002, where radioactive waste storage is to be built. Moreover, Norway can allocate $500 thousand for Radon plant reconstruction. Besides, Great Britain can invest $5 million pounds in the environmental programs in the region. 2001-10-01 Decommissioning Spent nuclear fuel from 183 nuclear submarines will be unloaded by 2007 183 Russian nuclear submarines are taken out of service. It is planned to unload spent nuclear fuel from all of them by 2007, the representative from the Russian nuclear ministry said. 60% of all the retired submarines are located in the Murmansk and Archangel region. 80% of the ageing submarines are kept afloat and have spent nuclear fuel onboard. In 1999 eight submarine reactors were unloaded. So far this year, 16 nuclear submarines were defuelled, and the unloading of two submarines has been postponed to next year. Totally 21 submarines are supposed to be unloaded this year. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 11 Russia dispatches parts for Iranian nuclear power station BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax St Petersburg, 16 November: Izhora Works (St Petersburg), which is included in the United Machine Building Plants (Uralmash-Izhora Group) holding, on Friday shipped equipment for the first power unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran, Izhora Works told Interfax. Izhora Works has been producing equipment for the Iranian nuclear power plant for about three years. Russia and Iran signed the contract for the construction of the first unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in 1995. It is expected that other St Petersburg enterprises (Leningradskiy Metal Factory, which is producing a turbine, and Elekrosila, currently making a generator) will supply equipment to the Bushehr Plant in 2002. The reactor is due to be commissioned in late 2002 and put into operation in late 2003 or early 2004. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1436 gmt 16 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 12 Russia to go ahead and build more power units at Volgodonsk nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Volgodonsk, 16 November: Rosenergoatom has decided to build a third and fourth power-producing unit at the Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant, Rosenergoatom Deputy Executive Director Aleksandr Pavlushkin said at a press conference today. The initial project for the construction of the nuclear power plant involved the construction of four power-producing units, however, an ecological expert group gave permission for the construction of only two units. The first power-producing unit at the Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant reached 100 per cent capacity on 5 September and it is planned to trial launch the second unit in 2004. Commenting on information that radiation pollution in the territory surrounding the plant during the launch of the reactor may be much worse than specialists considered, Pavlushkin said that pollution should not expand beyond the five-kilometre zone around the nuclear plant building. Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant is a subdivision of Rosenergoatom. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1147 gmt 16 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 13 Russian firm begins work on nuclear reactor for India BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax St Petersburg, 15 November: The Izhorskiye Zavody joint-stock company (St Petersburg), which belongs to the holding Unified Machine-Building Plants, has begun to construct the body of a reactor and other equipment for the Kudankulam nuclear power station in India. Mikhail Kosolapov, financial director of the holding, told journalists in St Petersburg on Thursday that Izhorskiye Zavody would take three years to construct the nuclear power equipment for India. In addition, Kosolapov said the plant would start building equipment for Kudankulam's second power unit. The first block of the Indian nuclear power station is to be commissioned in 2005, and the second in 2006. Kosolapov recalled that Atomstroyeksport - Russia's nuclear power construction exporter - concluded the contract for the Kudankulam station's construction when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee recently visited Russia. At present, Kosolapov stressed, the Unified Machine-Building Plants are regulating their relations with Atomstroyeksport on the implementation of the contract. Asked about the cost of the contract, Kosolapov said it would be "much above" the cost of the contract to produce equipment for two Chinese nuclear power units. It was earlier reported that Izhorskiye Zavody would supply equipment for the first and second Chinese power units in December 2001, and in December 2002, respectively. This equipment cost 140m dollars. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1902 gmt 15 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 14 Russia to invest 1.9bn dollars in nuclear power plants BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 15 November: The Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy plans to spend 1.9bn dollars by 2010 building new nuclear power plants, completing those currently under construction, and putting them into operation in the Central Federal District, the Ministry has told Interfax. In addition, the Ministry plans to allocate 1.5bn dollars to modernize the operating capacities in the Central Federal District by 2010. Nuclear energy specialists will modernize the 3rd, 4th, and 5th power units at the Novovoronezh nuclear plant; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd units at the Kursk plant; and the 1st unit at the Smolensk plant. New power units will also be put into operation at the Kalinin and Kursk plants. The Ministry plans to commission 6 gigawatts in the Central Federal District annually. Orders for power-generating facilities located in this region will average about R2bn a year. According to the Atomic Ministry's estimates, the atomic industry will generate up to 37 per cent of the total energy by 2010. In 2000, this figure was 30 per cent. At the moment, the nuclear capacity of the Central Federal District amounts to 52 gigawatts, which is 50 per cent of the aggregate capacity of all Russian nuclear power plants. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 0948 gmt 15 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 15 Bulgaria: Russian firm wins tender for nuclear fuel supplier BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 16, 2001 Kozloduy, 16 November: The Russian company TVEL won a tender for supplier of fresh nuclear fuel for the 440-megawatt units of the Kozloduy nuclear plant, said the plant's Executive Director Yordan Kostadinov. During the tender's second round, the other bidder decided to withdraw. TVEL has the advantage of being a traditional supplier and its offer was more attractive. In early December, TVEL and the plant are expected to sign a contract regulating the amount and the prices of the fresh fuel... Source: BTA web site, Sofia, in English 16 Nov 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to Copyright ***************************************************************** 16 YMP public comment period opened again Pahrump Valley Times By HENRY BREAN, Managing EditorNovember 16, 2001 A recent avalanche of new documents related to the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain has prompted U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to open a 30-day comment period for the public. On Wednesday, Abraham announced that Nevada residents would have until Dec. 14 to submit comments on the Yucca Mountain Project. The purpose of the comment period is to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on issues that had not been raised prior to the close of the previous comment period on Oct. 19. Since then, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have released documents relevant to the ongoing site characterization process at Yucca Mountain. Those documents include DOE's Final Site Suitability Guidelines, NRC's Final Yucca Mountain Repository Licensing Guidelines, and its "Sufficiency Letter." In that Nov. 14 letter, the NRC indicated that it believed sufficient information would be available for DOE to develop an acceptable license application for a repository at Yucca Mountain, about 20 away from both Beatty and Amargosa Valley. All of this is leading up to Abraham's ruling on the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a permanent repository for 77,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste. Abraham is expected to recommend the southern Nye County site to President Bush, most likely sometime early next year. "As I made clear at the department's hearings in September ... and as I have told Nevada officials, I am committed to providing Nevada's citizens additional public involvement opportunities to comment on the Yucca Mountain Project," said Abraham in a statement Wednesday. "This 30-day comment period keeps that commitment to the citizens of Nevada." Among those expected to submit comments is the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office (NWRPO). Officials for the county's federally funded oversight effort say they were disappointed by the licensing guidelines recently released by the NRC, which essentially concur with DOE's siting guidelines. Since February 2000, the county has been pointing to what it sees as shortcomings with the DOE's guidelines. According to Les Bradshaw, manager of the NWRPO and the county's Department of Natural Resources and Federal Facilities, those guidelines fail to address local and national waste transportation issues and impacts to the local water, environment and economy. "Criteria addressing these impacts should have been included in the siting guidelines," Bradshaw said in a statement, "along with specific information on how they are to be considered and how they are to be weighed against the more technical criteria." Perhaps most discouraging from Bradshaw's perspective is that the NRC concurred with DOE's guidelines without seeking comments from the public or holding a formal hearing on the matter. The county requested both a hearing and a comment period in June 2000. "That is very unfortunate," said Bradshaw of the commission's concurrence. "We feel such a hearing would have given all of us an opportunity to correct some very obvious shortfalls in the DOE guidelines. "By denying us an opportunity to express our views before the Commission, the NRC, it seems to me, has lost an opportunity to further public understanding of this entire process. That is very disappointing." Comments can be submitted on line at www.ymp.gov or mailed to the U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, M/S 25, P.O. Box 364629, North Las Vegas, 89036-8629. For more information on the comment period or to request a copy of DOE's siting guidelines, call toll free 1-800-967-3477. ©Pahrump Valley Times 2001 ***************************************************************** 17 Wolf Creek emergency drill satisfies state, plant officials Wichita Eagle | By John Milburn Associated Press TOPEKA -- State and power plant officials were pleased with the results of a two-day drill testing the emergency preparedness at Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. But the real grading will come from federal officials. Wolf Creek spokesman Rick Muench said the drill is part of the ongoing training at the plant 60 miles south of Topeka. "It's important to practice," Muench said. The drill involved more than 400 state, county and local officials, as well as plant employees. Muench said the scenario tested the ability to react to a rupture in a tube in one of the plant's steam generators, a break in a pipe carrying steam from a reactor building and damage to the nuclear fuel itself. Wednesday's exercises dealt with the initial incident, Muench said. Thursday was spent dealing with the aftermath of radiation exposure. Throughout the drill, distractions were thrown at participants, such as simulated loss of power and dispelling rumors. The drill was conducted under the watch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gov. Bill Graves visited the drill late Thursday afternoon in the basement bunker of the Kansas National Guard headquarters in Topeka. "Unfortunately, we have to take these exercises much more seriously than we have before," said Graves, while under the watch of armed guardsmen. The headquarters, like other military installations, has been operating at heightened security levels. Access to the grounds is restricted, with visitors requiring special permission and their vehicles subject to inspection. Visitors also are escorted by armed guardsmen. In response to the events of Sept 11, the NRC is conducting a top-to-bottom review of its safety rules. It has pulled from public access all information about the plants, their locations, security and operating records. And it has ordered all plants to be on their highest level of alert. Graves said the drill provided the state with the opportunity to train and react to accidents ranging from nuclear to chemical, testing the lines of communication across all levels of government. However, he said because of the nature of weather in the Midwest, Kansas is better prepared than others to react to disasters that literally come out of the blue. "There's a residual benefit to all this," Graves said. Wolf Creek is owned by KGE, a division of Western Resources Inc.; Kansas City Power &Light Co.; and the Kansas Electric Power Cooperative. The plant provides power to 800,000 customers, including those in Wichita and Kansas City. © The Wichita Eagle ***************************************************************** 18 Accidents expose pitfalls of aging N-reactors Daily Yomiuri On-Line Hiroshi Masumitsuand Kyoichi Sasazawa Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers Recently, two potentially disastrous accidents occurred at the No. 1 reactor of Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Hamaokacho, Shizuoka Prefecture. On Nov. 7, a steam pipe that formed part of the reactor's emergency core-cooling system burst, seriously compromising safety. In addition, leaks were found in a pressurized container that is sometimes lowered into the core. The reactor in question is an older light-water reactor of the so-called boiling-water type that was built in the 1970s. Its emergency safeguards, which are designed to prevent the core from overheating in the event of coolant loss, has five openings through which water can enter the core to remove heat. The rupture occurred in a secondary pipe (15 centimeters in diameter) of the high-pressure coolant-injection system, that would have been the first to be activated in an emergency. Surprisingly the accident occurred just after a regular inspection of the system started. The burst pipe has been ascribed to a phenomenon called water hammer, which occurs when high-temperature steam comes into contact with cold water and can rupture pipes. To get an idea of the energies involved: If a volume of water at standard atmospheric pressure were suddenly converted into steam, it would expand to 1,600 times its volume. In nature, when underground water comes into contact with volcanic magma, its subsequent--and sudden--evaporation can blow holes in mountain sides. Water hammer follows the same principle, but in reverse. Steam meets water and is supercooled. It is condensed into the liquid state, creating a vacuum into which water rushes. The entire process can occur in a split second, resulting in an extremely powerful explosion. Examinations of the Hamaoka pipe have found evidence of a water-hammer event. Another cause for concern: The pipe, which was fitted with valves and contained steam, was originally straight. But in regular inspections between 1993 and 1994, the pipe was bent at two points. Asked why, a Chubu Electric Power official said, "We thought that the change could reduce stress on the valves and prevent deterioration of the pipes." The bends created a space in which steam could condense, thus preventing steam from touching the valves. As a result, reactor steam and coolant water were brought together at the bends--which is where the pipe ruptured. While we cannot say for certain that altering the pipes was directly responsible for the accident, it is surely a prime suspect. An expert from the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute has a hypothesis about what happened inside the pipe. "Opening the reactor-side valve for tests reduced pressure inside the pipe and brought an inrush of steam that agitated the water pooled at the bends," the expert said. This last event is particularly important, according to the expert, since it allowed the steam to penetrate to the relatively cold water beneath the surface, thus causing the explosion. If this hypothesis is correct, it would indicate a structural failure in the pipes that the company and inspectors failed to predict. === Aging equipment prone to erosion Experts also are reasonably convinced that the leakage of radioactive water from below a pressure vessel, which was discovered during a test made after the pipe burst, was caused by damage to a welded joint connecting the pressure vessel and the container that houses the control rods. It is highly likely that damage to the control rod container was caused by a combination of stress and corrosion. The welds, long exposed to heat, were destroyed by sheer pressure, experts said. The same phenomenon, called "stress corrosion crack," occurred in the reactor in 1988, when welds on neutron-sensor housings and the pressure vessel in which they were placed failed. Welds are the weakest part of the structures, and the extremely high temperatures and pressures involved expose their weakness all the more quickly. The longer these extreme conditions continue, the more vulnerable welds become to stress and corrosion. However, the government actually plans to double the operational lifetime of nuclear power plants--from the 30 years predicted in its initial plan to 60 years, partly because of the difficulty in finding sites for new plants. Copyright 2001 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 19 Letter: Transportation will be deadly Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 As usual, our great government has put the cart before the horse. It has spent over $9 billion planning for a repository at Yucca Mountain, but it hasn't any firm publicized plans for transportation. They have ignored or just forgotten to tell the public that 140,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear power plant waste and 14,000 very hot metric tons of defense waste will pass through most of our major cities and farmlands from every direction to reach Mercury, Nevada's Yucca Mountain. One hundred twenty-five thousand pound oversized canisters (70,000 or more) have never been tested for safe containment for 10 years, much less the prescribed 10,000 years. The 55-gallon drums containing the defense waste have corroded in 14 days. They won't last 10 years and don't comply with the Nelson Limits, which are catastrophic explosion. There are no rail systems to Yucca Mountain. Our deteriorating highways will be destroyed by the caravans of the oversized trucks traveling at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour. Terrorists will be presented with a perfect slow-moving target. The 200 million Americans who will be exposed to this high-level radioactive waste as it passes through their cities and farms will be missed. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows one death in a million civilians and the Environmental Protection Agency permits one in 10,000 people. We in Nevada who live under the shadow of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository will miss all who have died from the radiation poisoning. SALLY DEVLIN All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 20 Sellafield saved - for now BBC News | SCI/TECH | 15 November, 2001, 17:24 GMT AP] Many people fear the links between nuclear weapons and peaceful uses of atomic power By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent The High Court in London has rejected an attempt by environmental campaigners to prevent a UK nuclear reprocessing plant starting work. The judgement sounds like good news for the nuclear industry. The plant, the mixed oxide (Mox) fuel facility at Sellafield in north-west England, is to start up soon. Ironically, when it finally does, it could make it harder for the industry to survive. The plant has been built by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), which hopes to commission it on 20 December. The immediate argument over the Mox plant has centred on what its critics see as its potential to help terrorists. Fears dismissed Mox fuel is made of oxides of both uranium and plutonium, and there are fears that terrorists could intercept it to make crude nuclear devices. BNFL and the UK Government both say that this is only a very remote possibility. [Sizewell reactor BBC] Civilian reactors could play a role But the Royal Society - the UK's national science academy - and the US Government's Office of Arms Control and Non-proliferation say it could be done relatively easily. In another scarcely-veiled criticism, British Energy, which owns and operates eight nuclear power stations in the UK, has called in effect for the Mox plant to remain mothballed. In evidence to a Parliamentary select committee, the company said there should be an immediate moratorium on the reprocessing of spent fuel at Sellafield from its advanced gas-cooled (AGR) reactors. It said the reprocessing was uneconomic, and also added to the UK's plutonium stockpile. British Energy's evidence is damning for BNFL, which is trying to drum up enough foreign business to keep the Mox plant busy. One industry source told BBC News Online: "After the scandal over the falsification of data, BNFL has got a hard job to win back its Japanese markets. "And its other big potential customer, Germany, is fraught with political difficulties." Nuclear advocates But beyond the vital arguments over security lies the question of the nuclear industry's future. Opposition to nuclear power remains strong across much of Europe and North America. Yet some respected voices now argue that it may have a role to play, at least for a time. [BNFL Sellafield plant BBC] Critics say reprocessing fuel is unnecessary Professor James Lovelock is known for the Gaia Hypothesis, his theory that that the global ecosystem sustains and regulates itself like a biological organism. Three months ago he said: "Nuclear is the only practical energy source that we could apply in time to offset the threat from accumulating greenhouse gases. "Greens could look on the use of nuclear power as a temporary bandage to be used until the harm from carbon burning has been remedied." In 1999, the British environmental biologist Sir Frederick Holliday wrote: "My belief is that all the people of the world need abundant energy at reasonable costs. "My science tells me that without nuclear power the long-term future of global ecosystems is at risk." One reason why many people distrust nuclear power is because they believe it is impossible to separate civil reactors from weapons-grade fissile material. If the industry could make that distinction transparent, it might win readier acceptance. But the High Court ruling will not distinguish atoms for peace from nuclear deterrence. In many minds, it will blur the distinction more than ever. ***************************************************************** 21 Letter: Storing waste at Yucca ignores terrorist threat Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 It's absurd, unscientific and makes a mockery of homeland security. The Department of Energy is proceeding on the Yucca Mountain dump as if Sept. 11, 2001, hadn't shown that terrorism is a risk. It is no longer theoretical that terrorists will attack any target. The DOE, nuclear lobby, Nuclear Energy Institute and nuclear power producers have little regard for us or future generations. They want the nuclear waste removed from their 103 operating nuclear reactors and the three decommissioned sites. Operating plants still need a cooling pool and dry cask storage on site for future nuclear waste. There are 106 terrorist targets now, and if the waste were removed there still would be 106 targets, the power plants themselves. Transporting the waste to Yucca Mountain, if it were scientifically suitable -- and it isn't -- would raise the potential targets to over 20,000 for decades. Just imagine truck convoys six times a day for decades! Rail is too dangerous since the Baltimore tunnel wreck, in which fire and water were involved, demonstrated the unacceptable risk. The most economical and patriotic method is to leave the nuclear waste in dry cask storage, on site, where it has been stored safely for 44 years. The $11 billion waste fund will provide $90 million for hardening of the 106 sites plus future storage costs. The repository on site would be reinforced and buried, like bunkers are in ammunition dumps. I hope that Tom Ridge, director of homeland security, stops the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump charade and forces the DOE to delay the report until the terrorist threat in the transportation of nuclear waste is evaluated. FRANK PERNA All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Nevada to woo other states in Yucca fight Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 Las Vegas firm hired to conduct media blitz against nuke transport By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas firm has been selected to launch a media blitz to convince residents of other states to join Nevada in its fight against a proposed high-level nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain. Brown and Partners of Las Vegas in the next two years will receive up to $1 million to fund a campaign designed to inform people outside Nevada about the potential dangers of radioactive material that is transported -- by truck or rail -- through their communities. Bob Loux, executive director of the state Office of Nuclear Projects, told a legislative committee Thursday in Las Vegas that the firm was selected from a field of three that submitted proposals. The others were F/F/E Associates and the Creative Group, both of Las Vegas. If Yucca Mountain is selected, Loux said, 3,000 to 4,000 shipments of waste each year will be transported through 43 states and thousands of cities and communities. "These shipments are virtually unprotected," Loux told the Legislative Committee on High-Level Radioactive Waste, headed by Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas. "That's a tremendous amount of targets" for any terrorist attack, Loux said. The goal of the contract is to persuade residents of other states to petition congressional representatives to vote against possible legislation that designates Yucca Mountain as the repository for 77,000 tons of the nation's waste. Congress has the final vote on this issue. The contract for Brown and Partners comes up for final approval before the state Board of Examiners Nov. 20. In a memo to the board, Loux said the Department of Energy and its allies in Congress "have long recognized that nuclear waste transportation is the Achilles' heel of the Yucca Mountain program. "Once states and communities along potential shipping routes become aware of the unprecedented volumes of waste to be shipped, the duration of the required shipping campaign, and the potential adverse consequences of accidents and terrorists incidents, opposition to the entire effort can be expected to increase and become extremely vocal throughout the country," he said. The legislative committee received a briefing from the energy department and Loux on the study of Yucca Mountain. Loux said some members of Congress believe President Bush will make a decision by Feb. 28 whether to select the site as the nation's repository. It would then go to Congress. But that could be delayed because of the potential legal fights, as lawsuits could be filed when Interior Secretary Gale Norton makes her recommendation to President Bush and when Bush sends his proposal to Congress. There also could be litigation if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission provides a license to build the project. Mortenson questioned J. Russell Dyer, project manager for Yucca Mountain, regarding the chances of terrorists striking at the underground burial grounds. Mortenson said the waste would be 800 feet below the ground, with only two entrances. Dyer replied, "It's hard to conceive how it could be" penetrated. He said there are a "lot of elements" in the system of handling nuclear waste. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 23 Probe confirms conflict of interest for Yucca law firm Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy could decide within 15 days what will happen to Winston &Strawn, the law firm that is handling the legal work for DOE's Yucca Mountain project. An internal investigation revealed Thursday that the firm may have had a conflict of interest with another client that it did not disclose, a DOE spokesman said today. Firm lawyers said in the report they did not have a conflict of interest by working for the pro-Yucca lobby group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, which the firm represented until July. From 1999 until July, the firm represented both NEI and the DOE. That's a conflict of interest because the DOE is supposed to be an independent Yucca manager, Nevada lawmakers said. DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman released a 26-page investigation report on Thursday, recommending the DOE's internal lawyers review the report, which details the firm's relationship with NEI and DOE, and then decide what kind of action to take against the firm, if any. DOE officials interviewed during Friedman's investigation said they could have disqualified Winston &Strawn as a candidate for the DOE Yucca contract if they had known the firm's ties to NEI when they hired the firm in 1999. But Friedman's report noted that DOE officials have made no conclusions about whether there was a conflict of interest. Nevada lawmakers have said the law firm mess helps aids their argument that the DOE's whole scientific study of Yucca Mountain has been flawed. "It's important to note that the IG report found no indications of an improper bias in the Department's analysis of Yucca Mountain," DOE spokesman Joe Davis said today. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., are plotting their next moves. Reid plans to send a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft requesting some sort of action, Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said today. Reid said he also could launch a congressional inquiry. Both senators said there should be an independent scientific investigation of whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable waste site. They also urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to carefully consider the law firm's actions when the NRC eventually reviews the Yucca proposal. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 24 Greenpeace: U.S. can't defend nuke plants Daily News | [http://www.philly.com] November 16, 2001 John Baer JUST IN CASE you're starting to sleep well again in the wake of 9/11, anthrax and airliners falling into neighborhoods, here's another bit of upbeat news. Greenpeace, the international environmental watchdog, yesterday said U.S. nuclear power plants can't be defended against terrorist attacks, and the government therefore should shut them down. Cheery, huh? The group also says the government's downplaying risks of sabotage and called it silly to be on national "high alert" while allowing plants to present a "national security threat." Worse, Greenpeace's "deadly dozen," the 12 worst reactors (out of 103) in the nation include five near Philadelphia: Limerick, 21 miles northwest of the city; Hope Creek and Salem southeast of Wilmington; Peach Bottom, 18 miles south of Lancaster, and Three Mile Island, 10 miles south of Harrisburg. "Worst" ratings are assigned on the basis of size of reactors and proximity to large populations. The report includes sobering estimates of what happens if the worst happens. Among highlights? If things went bad-wrong at Limerick, it could cost an area within a 55-mile radius 34,000 cancer deaths, 610,000 injuries and a staggering $213 billion in damages. Sound like fun? I joined a national teleconference to ask the report's author, nuclear power analyst Jim Riccio, about government security since 9/11. After all, Tom Ridge is riding herd to keep us safe from terror; isn't there some security in knowing the full force of government's at work? "I don't believe these plants are defensible," Riccio said. He said National Guard troops at reactors are no deterrent, claimed that an airliner hitting a plant (TMI's next to an airport) "would be devastating" but that there are lots of other ways to cause accidents at reactors: "You don't need to be on site." What? How? Well, he said he's not offering a "how-to," but safety efforts aimed at airspace around plants amount to little more than "a straw man." How comforting. I called the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, mostly looking for former NRC good-guy Dr. Harold Denton, who brought calm and sanity to Pennsylvania after the 1979 TMI accident. Spokeswoman Rosetta Virgilio said Denton's retired but didn't know where. She said that the NRC's not downplaying risks - "it's certainly out there" - and that a "top to bottom" security review is under way. When will it be done? Can't say, she said. As to Riccio's assertion one can cause an accident from off-site, she said, "I'm not sure what he's referring to . . . generally speaking, the NRC doesn't comment on these kinds of things." I turned to Homeland Security chief Ridge. He was out. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Ridge is working "to enhance security measures at nuclear facilities." I called state officials. Ted Kopas at Environmental Protection assured me nukes are "of utmost concern and a high priority," and a state anti-terrorism report, including nuke safety, is due next week. What about safety now? Kopas referred me to the National Guard. Guard spokesman John Maietta said, "It goes without saying the plants are more safe" than before 9/11. He declined to say exactly how. All of this, it seems to me, falls in the category "one more thing" to worry about it. And just another sign of the times. In times sadly worrisome.* Send e-mail to [baerj@phillynews.com] ***************************************************************** 25 Maine Yankee to implode building Saturday noon Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 Greg Foster Maine Yankee in Wiscasset is alerting the general public this week to plans for the implosion of one of its buildings around noon on Saturday, according to company spokesman Eric Howes. Sirens will signal the solitary blast required for the project. "This technique was selected primarily because it will be safer for workers, as it avoids the risks inherent in manual demolition of a structure this high and this large," Howes said. "The turbine hall is about a thousand square feet and 120 feet high. The implosion is the second in a series of controlled explosions at the plant, but this time residents within a ten mile radius may be able to hear it and people across the river in Westport may be able to see it as well. There will be audible signals given immediately before the blasting to alert area residents. Unlike the September blasts, the final phase of the turbine building demolition will occur with one blast only, according to Howes. "The same conservative safety parameters and blast monitoring techniques use for the turbine pedestal blasting will apply to the implosion of the southern part of the building," he said. Controlled Demolition, Inc., which conducted the controlled explosions in September over a period of three or four days, will be handling the implosion. Originally, the contractors planned to implode the rafters to drop the roof to about 40 feet above ground and take the remainder down with cranes. However, CDI decided on implosion of the building to ground level. "Due to the favorable progress of removing piping and other internal equipment from the building it became technically feasible to safely implode the building down to ground level," Howes said. Actual blasting is scheduled to take place sometime late morning, early afternoon on Saturday. The sound will be louder than the explosions used to weaken the concrete turbine pedestal. The turbine building is on the non-nuclear side of the power plant. Following the implosion of the south side of the building, the company will demolish the north side, parts of which are still in use, through mechanical, non-explosive means in stages, Howes said. CDI, a Maryland-based firm, has a world-wide reputation for its 50 years of experience in blasting large structures, including demolition projects at nuclear power plants, according to Howes. People may call 882-4545 for updates on the blasting. Maine Yankee plans to provide more public information on it at its public Community Advisory Panel meeting on decommissioning this Thursday at 6 p.m. at Chewonki Environmental Center. There is an opportunity at CAP meetings for public comments and questions. Top 15 November 2001 'Whaleback' Park Open Bensen NCAA Building implosion Dry cask safer Insight from Italy Maine Yankee Security National Guard Native American Culture No nukes Tax Waiver Train Station Parking Advertisers Back Issues Browse Community Calendar Home Town News Links Obituaries Photo GallerySearch [Pride Construction, Inc.] Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/building_implosion.html rev ***************************************************************** 26 Business -- Waste facility to begin operations by March Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:53 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Disposal operations at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility are expected to begin in March 2002. "We are over 80-percent complete," said Bill Cahill, the project's manager, regarding construction on the facility. He provided an update on the facility to the Oak Ridge Site-Specific Advisory Board during its meeting Wednesday night at the Garden Plaza Hotel. Located in East Bear Creek Valley just west of the Y-12 National Security Complex, the facility will initially hold up to 400,000 cubic yards of waste, including low-level radioactive, mixed, hazardous and polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated materials. The waste will range from soil, sludge and sediments to building debris and personal protection equipment. DOE has said in the past that the disposal facility could expand to accommodate up to 2 million cubic yards of waste. However, the future expansion and the facility's final size will be based on the quantity of waste generated during cleanup efforts on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The facility is expected to close in 2009. Duratek Federal Services Inc. has a $41.1 million contract for the construction, operation and the eventual closure of the facility. In providing a breakdown of the contract, Cahill said around $18.4 million goes toward the design and construction phases, $16.4 million for operating it and $6.3 for closing it. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 27 Panelists say dry cask safer system for nukes Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 Greg Foster Panelists for a public forum on safeguards for nuclear waste storage were in agreement Tuesday that dry cask storage of spent fuel is safer than present wet storage. There was considerable discussion about the potential dangers of spent fuel pool storage, especially if there is a partial draining of water there. Dr. Gordon Thompson, nuclear physicist and and waste fuel expert for the Institute for Resource and Security Studies, who was one of the panelists for the anti-nuclear Friends of the Coast sponsored event, claimed there could be a zirconium fire. However, Maine Yankee denies there could be a fire because of the age of the spent fuel, according to Maine Yankee spokesman Eric Howes. The whole situation will be a moot point once the spent fuel is soon moved to the dry cask storage installation on site. Another panelist, David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that the fuel pool would be more vulnerable than dry cask storage because more of the fuel could be reached at once. However, Lochbaum is a strong advocate of a force-on-force test of security for the spent fuel pool to better determine if more security measures need to be in place. He along with the other panelists, including Paul Blanch, worker concerns consultant to Maine Yankee, Millstone and Indian Point, believes the dry cask storage would make the fuel less accessible to potential terrorism. Lochbaum gave figures on the possible effects of one of the 1432 fuel assemblies being sabotaged. He claims it would spread lethal radiation over an area 57 times larger than a 10 kiloton atomic bomb. The Hiroshima atomic bomb was 15 kilotons, he said. Thompson said having a berm around each individual steel-lined concrete dry cask would add more security at a low cost. There was some discussion about beefing up security while the fuel is stored at Maine Yankee, since there is no federal respository receiving high level nuclear waste from commercial facilities. Blanch advises tighter security at airports as opposed to a no-fly zone. Friends spokesman Ray Shadis said that a National Guard presence would slow down intruders, provide an early warning system, and discourage potential malefactors. "I personally have a lot of faith in the National Guard," he said. Joe Grant, who is in charge of security at Maine Yankee, has been working for the company for many years and feels comfortable with security at the plant. "I live a mile from the plant knowing all the secrets," he said. "My risk is greater driving to the plant. Most of this stuff is out of context." "Everyone has their own personal opinion on what is safe," Blanch said. "What kind of risk can you personally tolerate? That's the question." Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/dry_cask_safer.html rev ***************************************************************** 28 Multi-pronged fight aims to keep nuke dump out of Nevada Nevada Appeal November 16, 2001 Geoff Dornan, Appeal Capitol Bureau Nevada's battle to keep nuclear waste out of the state stretches from courtrooms in Washington, D.C., to research labs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Nuclear projects director Bob Loux on Thursday gave an overview of the battlefield to the Legislative Committee on High Level Nuclear Waste. Loux said the legal arena now includes litigation in Washington, D.C., over changes the U.S. Department of Energy made to environmental standards for the dump as well as the state's expected challenge to the energy department's siting guidelines. "And we expect litigation on the environmental impact statement," he said. He said the issues are all coming to a head now as the Energy Department prepares to present its recommendations to President Bush and Congress to build the nation's high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 75 miles north of Las Vegas. "If we are successful on any one of those three, the process comes to a halt," said Loux. Loux told the committee his office is also working on research to force federal officials to recognize Yucca Mountain and the plans they have for storage are dangerous. He said the C22 containers the energy department hopes will last hundreds of thousands of years without leaking, according to state research, may be leaking in fewer than 1,500 years. He said the titanium drip shields over them may be compromised by fluoride in the water in as few as 100 years. "We're very concerned on the over reliance on engineered barriers," he said. Those "engineered barriers" -- the casks and drip shields -- were developed after evidence was developed saying the mountain may not be seismically stable and that the heat from the storage casks causes underground water to drip from the rock onto the storage casks. Loux said his office has hired University of Nevada Las Vegas researchers to continue studying the volcanic stability of the mountain. There are cinder cones visible from Yucca Mountain and other evidence of relatively recent volcanic activity in the area. And he said work continues on the flow of underground water through the area and, potentially, into groundwater supplies serving the Las Vegas area. Loux added his staff continues to work on the potential dangers from transporting nuclear waste. The issue, he has said numerous times, has helped focus the nation's attention on the potential dangers of the Yucca Mountain plan because nuclear waste would be transported through numerous states on its way to Nevada, exposing them to the risk of an accident. He described thousands of nuclear waste shipments each year for 30 years as a major danger to the nation especially in the wake of terrorist attacks. Loux said that danger has also attracted the attention of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since Sept. 11. The legislative committee is charged with monitoring and overseeing Nevada's fight to prevent the federal government from forcing the state to accept the nuclear dump. Copyright Nevada Appeal. ***************************************************************** 29 Russia Ships Reactor Body to Iran [AP Online] Story Filed: Friday, November 16, 2001 4:27 PM EST ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- The only Russian factory capable of making a complete nuclear reactor on Friday shipped its first reactor body to Iran, part of a project that has raised strong U.S. protests. Officials presided over a ceremony at the Izhora factory in St. Petersburg dedicated to completion of the 317-ton, cylindrical reactor body for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. ``We are glad the three-year-long work on the reactor construction is over and thank the plant workers for their labor,'' said Mohammed Reza Zahertar, representative of the Iran Atomic Energy Organization. Russia signed a contract in 1995 to build the first reactor at Iran's Bushehr power plant. It is to be completed by 2003 for an estimated $800 million. Washington, which accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism, has urged Russia to abandon construction of the reactor, fearing Iran could use the nuclear technology to develop nuclear weapons. Moscow and Tehran say the plant will be used only for civilian purposes and will be under international control. In the past, Washington has imposed sanctions against Russian companies accused of providing missile technology to Iran. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker on Friday reaffirmed the long-standing U.S. position. ``We believe that Iran uses Bushehr as a cover for obtaining sensitive technology to advance their nuclear weapons program,'' he said. ``We think Iran's clandestine efforts to acquire weapons grade material poses a threat.'' Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Thursday during a visit to the factory that his nation would sign a contract for a second reactor once the first is delivered, state-controlled ORT television reported. Khatami also toured Russian space mission control in Korolyov outside Moscow earlier this week, and expressed interest in buying both military and civilian aerospace technology. Copyright © 2001 Associated Press Information Services, all ***************************************************************** 30 European parliament emphasises key role of nuclear energy FORATOM: [M2 Communications Ltd.] Story Filed: Friday, November 16, 2001 7:47 AM EST Brussels, Nov 16, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- The need to retain nuclear power in Europe's energy mix was underlined by a series of votes in the European Parliament yesterday (Thursday). Members of the European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, approved a resolution spelling out the parliament's views on Europe's energy future. The parliament was giving its response to a Green Paper, published by the European Commission, on the security of energy supply within the European Union. The parliament approved a series of statements, one of which called on all EU Institutions to encourage a shift towards zero-carbon emission fuels - "notably electricity generation from nuclear energy" - by removing legislative and fiscal obstacles. Another statement expressed the view that growth in renewables, maintaining the present level of nuclear electricity production and building new clean coal power plants would all be essential for security of energy supply and for reaching the Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions. The final resolution was based on a report by UK MEP Giles Chichester on the Green Paper issue. In his report, Mr. Chichester said it would be "perverse" to deliberately deny ourselves such a major source of electricity as nuclear power. FORATOM's view is that the parliamentary vote marks a victory for common sense and rational energy use. The parliament has clearly recognised that nuclear has an important role to play, now and in the future, in terms of security of energy supply and holding down greenhouse gas emissions. Amendments tabled by the Greens sought to completely undermine the value of nuclear energy, despite its acknowledged contribution to EU electricity supply (35%), and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These amendments were completely rejected by the parliament. CONTACT: Jack Ashton, Media Relations Manager Tel: +32 2 505 32 26 e-mail: jack.ashton@foratom.org Karen Daifuku, Communications Director Tel: +32 2 505.32.20 e-mail: karen.daifuku@foratom.org M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information ***************************************************************** 31 Assembly of reactor at Bushehr A-plant to start mid-Dec [ITAR/TASS News Agency] Story Filed: Friday, November 16, 2001 12:25 PM EST MOSCOW, Nov 16, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Assembly of the nuclear reactor that the Russian machine-building company Izhorskiye Zavody (Izhora Plants) shipped to the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran Friday will start in late December, a senior atomic energy official said Friday. The assembly works are due to begin soon after the cargo ship carrying the assembly kit arrives in Iran, Viktor Kozlov, general director of the Atomsptroiexport company that reports to the Atomic Energy Ministry, said in an interview with Itar-Tass. He recalled in an interview with Itar-Tass that it had taken Izhora Plants three years to build the reactor. Its assembly kit is transported by a regular cargo ship, fitted out with special equipment for such cargoes. Kozlov admitted that the construction works at Bushehr had taken more time than initially planned. "It was not because of technical problems. The original construction schedule was tighter than actually needed. We wanted to speed up the works this way," he said. Russian and Iranian experts plan to sign a more realistic schedule of construction works in December. It stipulates that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be commissioned in December 2003. Russia and Iran signed the initial agreement on the Bushehr nuclear power plant in 1995. It was amended several years later to the effect that Russia would ensure key-turn completion of all facilities there. Iran will pay Russia about 1 billion U.S. Dollars for the Bushehr project, Kozlov said. By Viktoria Voskoboinikova (c) 1996-2001 ITAR-TASS. All rights ***************************************************************** 32 Cincinnati visit overwhelms Chernobyl engineers [enquirer.com] Friday, November 16, 2001 By Mike Boyer The Cincinnati Enquirer A group of 16 engineers from the now-closed Chernobyl nuclear plant is wrapping up a Cincinnati visit this week, giving them an up-close look at everything — from Home Depot stores to construction equipment. The three-week tour was sponsored by Cincinnati's Center for Economic Initiatives through a U.S. government grant. It was designed to expose them to new careers in construction as the Ukraine embarks on a $750 million project to entomb the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster that claimed 4,000 lives and still leaks radiation. The U.S. government has pledged to help retrain the nuclear plant's 6,000 workers after the massive entombment of the plant's damaged No. 4 reactor is completed by the end of the decade. “It's really gone well. They've been overwhelmed with the information they've received,” said Tom Dunn, who with partner Jim Titus of the Cincinnati architecture and construction management firm Dunn &Titus has led the tour. Thursday, the group toured a mini-trade show by 10 construction and building materials companies at the University of Cincinnati's College of Applied Science. Earlier, they visited the William H. Zimmer power plant in Moscow, Ohio, which like Chernobyl was converted from nuclear to coal-fired generation. They also toured concrete companies, a prefabricated home plant near Indianapolis and a Minnesota window maker. The nonprofit CEI annually hosts half a dozen study tours from the Ukraine, said Lee Cole, president. ***************************************************************** 33 Environmentalists lose Sellafield case ireland.com - The Irish Times - IRELAND Friday, November 16, 2001 From Rachel Donnelly, in London Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace pledged to continue their legal battle yesterday, after losing a high court bid to overturn British government approval of the MOX reprocessing plant at Sellafield. The environmentalists, who insist the plant is economically unjustified, were granted leave to appeal the high court's ruling that the British government committed "no error of law" when it sanctioned the manufacture of mixed oxide fuel at the British Nuclear Fuels plant in Cumbria last month. Praising the ruling, BNFL said it was "good news" for the plant, the workforce and the local economy. "Our customers have been very patient and we now want to get on with the job of manufacturing MOX fuel for them." But outside the court, Friends of the Earth condemned as "crazy economics" Mr Justice Collins's ruling that the British government adopted the correct economic approach when it disregarded the £470 million sterling construction and other costs of setting up the plant when assessing the economic case for manufacturing MOX. He also ruled that an EU basic safety standards directive did not compel the Environment Secretary, Mrs Margaret Beckett, and the Health Secretary, Mr Alan Milburn, to include the £470 million ("sunk") costs in their considerations. In addition, Mr Justice Collins said no "bad faith" was suggested on BNFL's part because it applied for approval to manufacture MOX after construction and other costs were incurred. Convinced a challenge in the court of appeal would succeed, Mr Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said Mr Justice Collins's ruling was "dangerous" for the public. "Obviously this is a bitter blow. It was a precedent-setting decision on the economics of new nuclear building," he said. "Essentially, the judge has said that when it comes to new nuclear building it's possible for the government and the company, BNFL, to write-off totally the construction costs in putting forward an economic case for a new nuclear plant. We can only hope that the Irish Government is more successful than we were today. "This plant must be stopped. It must not open. It's far too dangerous and it is an utter waste of money." Mr Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said the battle to stop MOX "is by no means over" and he argued there were other, non-economic grounds, why the plant should not go ahead. "It is a terrorist threat, it will make the area directly around Cumbria less safe by expanding Sellafield and it's also producing plutonium which is the main component of nuclear weapons," Mr Tindale added. A challenge in the court of appeal was set for November 27th. In his judgment, Mr Justice Collins ruled the British government could, once the net positive value was determined, decide that other factors which had not been taken into account - such as the benefits flowing from BNFL's other ***************************************************************** 34 Chubu Power ignored signs at Hamaoka asahi.com : ENGLISH Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com [http://www.asahi.com/] The Asahi Shimbun Sensors showed reactor problems as early as July, the utility admits. Chubu Electric Power Co., which operates the Hamaoka nuclear power plant at Hamaoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, acknowledged Thursday that signs of possible irregularities at its No. 1 reactor had emerged as early as July but were ignored. Two of the four reactors at the plant were shut down earlier this month because of accidents involving cooling systems. Utility officials said sensors showed unusual circumstances in the plant's No. 1 reactor as early as July, but no extra precautions were taken, despite the continued abnormal readings. ``We could not confirm irregularities with other monitoring equipment,'' said Hideo Ishibashi, vice president of the Chubu Electric's Tokyo branch. ``It is true that the monitors cannot detect small leaks that would not affect the safety of the reactor.'' One of the sensors is the dew-point recorder which measures humidity within the containment vessel, which houses the reactor and other components. Monitoring devices were installed at the reactors in 1988 as an extra precaution following a leak there earlier that year. Data from the monitors was relayed to the control room. Abnormal humidity readings at the No. 1 reactor were registered from July. The temperature at dew point recorded in June was around 10 degrees, but rose to 13 to 15 degrees during early July, officials said. Another monitoring system measured the amount of water accumulated in the air-conditioning system within the containment vessel. Its readings also rose during July to twice the normal level, remaining high after some fluctuations in September, the officials said. Because humidity tends to rise within the vessel during the summer, the utility conducted a thorough examination of the facility after officials were unable to ascertain the rise in readings from July was the result of seasonal fluctuations. They found no radioactivity nor unusual water leaks when they used other monitoring equipment, however, and decided that the abnormal readings were, after all, seasonal, officials said. [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 35 State addresses nuclear vulnerability CJOnline.com | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Bill Graves thanked state and local officials Thursday for their response to a hypothetical emergency at Wolf Creek -- a possibility that is even more frightening after the Sept. 11 attacks. Thursday was the second and final day of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plants' Plume and Ingestion Exercise, which simulated an accident at the Coffey County plant. The exercise involved more than 400 people representing local, state and federal agencies. Some were stationed in a bunker in the basement of the State Defense Building, 2800 S.W. Topeka Blvd., and others were located in and around Wolf Creek, which is 60 miles south of Topeka near Burlington. Gov. Bill Graves spoke during a conference call with Wolf Creek nuclear power plant officials and Coffey County officials from a command bunker at the State Defense Building, 2800 S.W. Topeka Blvd., on Thursday afternoon as Maj. Gen. Greg Gardner, the adjutant general of Kansas, listened in. The conference call capped a two-day exercise designed to prepare authorities should a radioactive leak occur. PHILIP CARLSON/The Capital-Journal Gov. Bill Graves thanked state and local officials Thursday for their response to a hypothetical emergency at Wolf Creek -- a possibility that is even more frightening after the Sept. 11 attacks. Thursday was the second and final day of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plants' Plume and Ingestion Exercise, which simulated an accident at the Coffey County plant. The exercise involved more than 400 people representing local, state and federal agencies. Some were stationed in a bunker in the basement of the State Defense Building, 2800 S.W. Topeka Blvd., and others were located in and around Wolf Creek, which is 60 miles south of Topeka near Burlington. In a conference call with Wolf Creek and Coffey County officials, Graves said the "critically important exercise" offered a chance to assess, learn and improve. "We take our citizens' public safety very, very seriously," Graves said. "Unfortunately, we have to take these kinds of exercises much, much more seriously than perhaps we ever did before." The drill Thursday was for officials to practice judging how a "plume" -- a cloud of radioactive materials -- might travel and how humans, livestock and plants might be affected. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed the state's performance on Thursday. The two-day drill, which has been required since the Three Mile Island, Pa., accident in 1979, is held every six years. A less-intensive one-day drill takes place every two years. The federal oversight agencies plan to announce their findings this afternoon in Coffey County. Rick Muench, a spokesman for Wolf Creek, said the scenario practiced this week was extreme because it would take a serious disaster to cause the safety mechanisms and their multiple backups to fail at Wolf Creek. In this week's scenario, a series of ruptures in the plant's cooling system pipes and a simultaneous failure of control rods within the reactor itself allowed radioactive materials into the environment. More than 11,400 people hypothetically had to be evacuated from Coffey County alone on Day One. "Overall it went very well," Muench said. "We learned some areas to improve in, but I think that it gave me reasonable assurance that we will do a good job protecting the health and safety of the public in the unusual, highly unlikely event that we get into a situation where we have to even activate this type of facility." Coffey County Commissioner Gene Merry said he was proud of how things went on his end of the drill. "It was two days of challenges and opportunities to interact with all parties," Merry told Graves. Otto Maynard, Wolf Creek president and chief executive officer, said his military background taught him the importance of training. "The only way you can really be prepared is with training, so these exercises are important," he said on the phone. "We all have the same goal in mind." Industry critics have warned that terrorist might target nuclear power plants, and some may be ill-prepared to ward off an attack. In response to advice from Maj. Gen. Gregory B. Gardner, the adjutant general of Kansas, Graves deployed Kansas National Guard troops to help guard Wolf Creek. "It's obviously something you wish wasn't happening," Graves said in an interview. "But given what we now know about some individual's inclination to inflict a lot of harm on Americans, it's an appropriate step to take to safeguard something happening at Wolf Creek." Chris Grenz can be reached at (785) 295-1190 or cgrenz@cjonline.com. © Copyright 2001 Morris Digital Works and The Topeka Capital-Journal. ***************************************************************** 36 Expert calls for test of Maine Yankee security Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer An expert in the nuclear safety field speaking before various interest groups in the area this week strongly advocates a security test of the spent fuel pool area at Maine Yankee in Wiscasset. If Gov. Angus King would request it, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would likely do it, said nuclear safety engineer David Lochbaum. Lochbaum, spokesman for the Washington, D.C. based Union of Concerned Scientists, said there is is no other way of determining if current security measures are adequate or need further beefing up from enhanced steps, which Maine Yankee reportedly has taken after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "If the Governor were to ask the NRC for an independent test to determine what is the right level of security, people would have greater comfort," he said, noting that meanwhile, "the National Guard is a good interim measure." A National Guard presence, which Gov. King currently believes is not necessary after inspecting the plant himself, would be a visible deterrent to any potential terrorist attacks, Lochbaum said. He referred to the 1996 incident at Maine Yankee when the Governor called for an NRC examination of the plant's operation, and the NRC responded right away. Lochbaum believes the NRC would be prompt in its response in this instance as well and would give the NRC some data to work with in determining if present security is enough. "When data is lacking, they don't have a way to address the security needs," he said. A test involving a simulated terrorist attack would give the needed data, in his estimation. In other words, there are currently no mathematical facts to work with in formulating a security system that would adequately protect the spent fuel pool. The spent fuel, amounting to more than 1,000 fuel assemblies and some high level nuclear waste, will soon go to the dry cask storage system installation where the same level of security or greater will be necessary. The town of Wiscasset had a referendum vote on a resolution requesting spent fuel to be taken away, but Lochbaum said the independent storage installation is safer than the spent fuel pool. "They aren't invulnerable, but in some respects are easier to maintain," he said. However, a test at the spent fuel pool would help determine what is needed for security of both the fuel pool and new installation. It would also help determine if there is a need for more security around the perimeter, which area residents complain is lacking. "A test would be the ultimate demonstration of having successfully passed the NRC requirements," Lochbaum said. "People in the community would feel their interests are being protected." Operating plants like those at Plymouth, Mass. and Seabrook, N.H. have NRC tests about every eight years, according to Lochbaum. He said that the Plymouth plant has reduced the number of its security personnel by one-half, but with the absence of any kind of test it is difficult to determine if that is too few. Lochbaum, who communicates with the NRC on a regular basis as part of his ongoing advocacy role, said the NRC has had a lot of budgetary considerations, which means there are priorities for projects. "If the Governor were to call for an independent test like he did a few years ago, that would move Maine Yankee to a higher priority than it would be otherwise," he said. There would be several spin-off effects of a such a test as well, according to Lochbaum. The NRC would have something to compare security with at other plants and it would also help to allay some concerns, he said. Lochbaum was scheduled to visit Maine Yankee and speak at the Advisory Commission on Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning hearing in Augusta on Tuesday as well as the Friends of the Coast panel discussion at Wiscasset Middle School. After he spoke before the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association Nov. 12, the association board passed a resolution urging the Governor "to insist that the NRC, at the earliest opportunity, conducts a force-on-force test of security at the spent fuel pool". The association's resolution also called for stationing National Guard troops at the spent fuel pool until such a test is conducted and passed or until there is some kind of determination whether they are needed there. Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/maine_yankee_security.html rev ***************************************************************** 37 U.S. cites conflict for city law firm Chicago Tribune | Investigation says Winston & Strawn concealed lobbying By Robert Becker Tribune staff reporter Published November 16, 2001 The Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn faced new conflict of interest allegations Thursday after a federal agency reported the firm worked on a project for the Department of Energy during the same period it was lobbying Congress on behalf of the nuclear industry. The report by the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General said Winston & Strawn attorneys assisted the department with a license application involving the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear waste storage site while also lobbying for the Nuclear Energy Institute on nuclear waste legislation. Responding to published reports, Winston & Srawn last summer acknowledged its dual role but denied there was any conflict. The firm confirmed it had been advising the Department of Energy on preparing an application to license the proposed nuclear waste dump, which would handle radioactive spent fuel rods from nuclear plants across the country. The firm also acknowledged it had lobbied Congress in favor of the nuclear waste depository on behalf of the nuclear industry during the same period. However, the inspector general's report released Thursday revealed that the law firm did not disclose its lobbying activities in 1999 when it applied for the contract to do legal work for the Department of Energy. Inspector General Gregory Friedman said that if the department had known, it could have taken a number of steps, including disqualifying the firm from the work. But according to Friedman, Winston & Strawn did not disclose its lobbying activities to the Energy Department until last July when the firm terminated its registration as a lobbyist. A spokesman for the law firm declined to comment on Friedman's report. The report cites an internal Winston & Strawn memo from June 17, 1999, in which the firm "recognized the potential for conflict" and, among other steps, said the firm "must avoid participating in certain Nuclear Energy Institute meetings concerning Yucca Mountain." But the inspector general notes that the firm's activities regarding the Nuclear Energy Institute were "inconsistent" with the tenor of the memo. The firm acknowledged there were no institutional barriers separating work on Yucca Mountain from Nuclear Energy Institute matters. The firm also said that 14 of its employees who billed for work on Yucca "worked on a variety of Nuclear Energy Institute matters." "This is a clear case of bias and an ethical meltdown," U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. "What the lawyers at Winston & Strawn need now is a good lawyer." Department of Energy spokesman Joseph Davis said Thursday that the report "found no evidence that the work performed by Winston & Strawn created an improper bias in the department's evaluation as to whether Yucca is determined to be suitable as a long term repository for nuclear waste." Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune ***************************************************************** 38 National Guard CO says 'Maine Yankee secure' Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 Greg Foster Labeling security measures at Maine Yankee in Wiscasset as classified, the head of the Maine National Guard tried Tuesday to assure a state commission on nuclear waste that security is tight and more than adequate, despite pleas for a National Guard presence there. At the same hearing held in Augusta, Maine Yankee's decommissioning head pointed to a high level nuclear waste repository in New Mexico currently used only for military waste as a site that should be made available. "There is no reason under God's sky that they could not do something for commercial facilities," Maine Yankee spokesman Mike Meisner said. Currently Maine Yankee plans to store its spent fuel, now in a spent fuel pool, in its new dry cask storage facility on site until the federal government follows through on its promise to provide a national repository. Meanwhile, security continues to be a debated issue in the state. "We found Maine Yankee security a very tough nut to crack," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham. Tinkham told the state Advisory Commission on Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning that he and the Governor have inspected the system at least four times along with the Maine State Police. "I am not releasing anything that's classified," Tinkham said. "People are just going to have to trust the fact that we've been doing our jobs well." Sen. Sharon Treat (D-Gardiner), commission chair, wants to know more, however. "It is very difficult to tell people everything is taken care of," she said. "It's not good enough to say we can't talk about that." Some people who testified at the hearing said reassurances are insufficient for them as well. Nuclear safety engineer David Lochbaum, spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists based in Washington, D.C., called for what he terms a force-on-force test of security which would amount to a simulated terrorist attack. Lochbaum told the commission that 50 percent of the currently operating nuclear power plants that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has tested have failed. The NRC has tested no decommissioning plants because they are not a priority, he said. He suggested that if the Governor requested one, the NRC would put Maine Yankee on high priority for a test. In his opinion, the test is the only adequate way of knowing for certain if plants like Maine Yankee are secure from a terrorist intrusion of some kind. In the meantime, Lochbaum, who toured the site on Tuesday before the hearing, strongly recommended National Guard troops at Maine Yankee. However, Tinkham argued, "If there were a threat there, we can put soldiers there pretty quickly." The National Guard leader questioned the value of a no-fly zone, which some people seek for Maine Yankee. "We don't have a combat air patrol in the skies today so a no-fly zone would be of no consequence," he said. Meisner, Maine Yankee decommissioning head, told the commission that plant security blended into the surroundings initially after Sept. 11, but since then there has been more of a visible presence to enhance the public's confidence that there is much tighter security in place since Sept. 11. Meisner criticized reports that people somehow violated security by driving around the grounds of the plant but that such was not the case at all. He said such misinformation would not make the spent fuel, now located in a 40-foot deep spent fuel pool, more vulnerable but may entice some unstable people to attempt something that could harm workers. "It might lead to some unintended consequences," Meisner said. The NRC has approved Maine Yankee's plan to transfer the spent fuel soon to the new dry cask storage installation on site. Legally Maine Yankee could decide to keep the fuel in the spent fuel pool, according to Assistant Atty. Gen. Dennis Harnish. Lochbaum said that he believes the dry cask storage is less vulnerable and less easy to get at than the 1432 spent fuel rod assemblies, which now are all in one fuel pool. In keeping with wishes of many people and local resolutions to promote early removal of the spent fuel from Maine Yankee, Meisner informed the commission about the high level waste dump in New Mexico for waste from military installations. He considers the matter a political issue that the federal government could resolve if it wants to. The proposed national repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. will not be ready before 2010 to receive spent fuel and other high level nuclear waste, according to Yucca Mountain officials. Editor@LCNews.Maine.Com [Editor@LCNews.Maine.Com] Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/national_guard.html rev ***************************************************************** 39 Japanese Not Ready To Renew Mox Business THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, November 15, 2001 The Japanese have angrily rejected optimistic claims that they were willing to re-open Mox business with Sellafield. The news comes as BNFL and their opponents, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, await judgement after the High Court hearing last week. In the High Court the environmental campaigners argued that starting active operations at the Sellafield Mox plant would breach article 6 of the Euratom Treaty. CORE spokesman Martin Forwood, who was in court, said: "Everyone agreed the legal arguments were finely balanced...a swift decision is expected from Justice Collins, possibly by Thursday.'' Crucial to the Mox project's viability is a Yes from Japan. However the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued a statement rejecting British Embassy optimism that Japan would accept Mox fuel start up within a year. The Ministry said: "We have never made such a statement to the British Government. We would like to know who is saying we are making such statements and where they are making them. Japan's Mox programme is absolutely in no state of starting and the Japanese Government has never commented to the British Government concerning any start up date.'' Meanwhile the court was informed of a letter from BNF lawyers stating that: "it has been decided that it is appropriate to move the target date for the opening of a plutonium can in SMP from on or around November 23 to on or around December 20 2001.'' BNFL spokeswoman Ali Dunlop said: "In the Judicial review FoE/Greenpeace abandoned their claims that there wasn't sufficient evidence of a Mox market in Japan.'' ***************************************************************** 40 Letter to Mr. Briggs, Jr., Ross, Dixon and Bell L.L.P. from Martin J. Virgilio, Director, NRC Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 November 7, 2001 Mr. William H. Briggs, Jr. Ross, Dixon and Bell L.L.P. 2001 K Street NW. Washington, DC 20006 Dear Mr. Briggs: I am responding to your letter of October 16, 2001, inquiring on the status of the State of Nevada's June 22, 1999, petition for rulemaking. The petition requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conduct a comprehensive assessment of the consequences of terrorist attacks that have the capability of radiological sabotage, including attacks against transportation infrastructure during nuclear waste shipments, attacks involving capture of nuclear waste shipments and use of high-energy explosives against a cask or casks, and direct attacks upon a nuclear waste shipping cask or casks using antitank missiles or other military weapons. NRC published a notice of receipt of a petition in the Federal Register on September 13, 1999, (64 FR 49410); and invited comments on the merits of the petition. At the time of the September 11, 2001, events, NRC staff were evaluating the petition and the public comments received in order to recommend resolution of the petition. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the NRC has advised its licensees to heighten security and increased our coordination and communication with the FBI, the Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as other Federal Agencies and members of the intelligence community. Additionally, we established communications with the new Office of Homeland Security. To date, NRC and its licensees remain in a heightened state of alert. The Commission also directed the staff to reevaluate the NBC's safeguards and physical security programs from top to bottom for licensed facilities and activities. The security and safeguards requirements for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste shipments will be considered as part of that effort. Based on that review, NRC regulations or guidance may be revised or updated, as appropriate. Any changes to the regulations will be initiated through a public rulemaking process. The petition resolution will be addressed in a Federal Register notice. Should you have any further questions, please contact Patricia Eng of my staff. Ms. Eng may be reached at (301) 415-8577. Sincerely, Martin J. Virgilio, Director Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards ***************************************************************** 41 Town votes nukes out despite revenue loss Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 Greg Foster Wiscasset voters backed a resolution last Tuesday to push for storage of high level nuclear waste away from Maine Yankee and gave its blessing on two school articles as well. Once the waste is removed, the storage facility, which is now ready to receive the waste in dry casks, would no longer be a tax asset to the town to the tune of $1 million per year. By its special town meeting action, the town is sending a message to the federal government to step up its fulfillment of a promise to provide a national repository for such nuclear waste. Since Sept. 11, attitudes have changed radically so that now the loss of $1 million in tax revenue per year from the new spent fuel storage facility is no longer a priority. Now security is paramount. However dim prospects are for the federal government doing anything in the near future about the situation, local selectmen plan to meet with Gov. Angus King to discuss the matter further. At that time, the board will no doubt bring up its request for a visible National Guard presence at the plant. "We can't operate a town when our airspace suddenly goes from safe to unsafe," First Selectman Ben Rines said referring to the temporary ban that included Maine Yankee a week before during the period of high alert until midnight Nov. 7. "That kind of action does not give us much confidence in the government and we want the spent fuel out of Maine Yankee." Selectman Judy Flanagan said that there is no reason why the federal government could not take the waste to some place like Brunswick Naval Air Station where it could be better protected. The federal Department of Energy does not expect to have the Yucca Mountain ready to take high level waste before 2010. The transportable dry casks in which the spent fuel rods will go are to be stored in steel-lined concrete silos. Flanagan said the federal government could build more at a place like BNAS, if not there. First Selectman Ben Rines said that taxpayers have already paid for the federal government's disposal of the waste, which has become a high risk for terrorism, and for that reason people want it taken from the area. Current plans at Maine Yankee call for removal of the spent nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool along with other high level waste for transfer to a dry cask storage facility constructed on site. The loss of tax revenue is not the main concern right now, Flanagan said. Invited to attend the session with the Governor along with Rep. Peter Rines (D-Wiscasset), Sen. Marge Kilkelly (D-Wiscasset) believes the more political pressure it put to bear on the issue the more likelihood of action from the federal government. "I plan to resubmit my resolution in January," Kilkelly said. "It may be that people will be more amenable and we may get enough of a groundswell, it may move forward. They're stalling." Kilkelly suggested acquiring a list of all the towns with nuclear power plants in them and writing to them about Wiscasset's resolution to gather more backing to force the federal government to comply with the desire of the people. Rines said he plans to bring the issue before area selectmen when they gather for a special round table discussion Nov. 14, at the invitation of the Nobleboro selectmen. School articles The same night, voters passed two school articles with little discussion. One concerned the purchase of a new school bus, which will cost an estimated $52,000. Funding for it will come from the town's surplus account. The town also voted in favor of a Wiscasset Primary School request for an additional fulltime Educational Technician I for the kindergarten program. Funding $15,600 salary-benefit package will come from surplus in the school budget. The expenditure required a town meeting vote, since it is an addition to the total amount approved at the March town meeting. Editor@LCNews.Maine.Com [Editor@LCNews.Maine.Com] Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/no_nukes.html rev 2001-11-16 ***************************************************************** 42 N-plant battle 'will not stop' Belfast Telegraph Digital Friday, 16 November 2001 By David Gordon THE fight against the extension of Sellafield will go on despite a courtroom setback, campaigners on both sides of the Irish Sea vowed today. A judge in London yesterday threw out a legal bid to prevent the opening of a mixed plutonium and uranium oxide (Mox) operation at the nuclear waste reprocessing plant. The case had been taken by Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, who are considering an appeal against the ruling. Meanwhile, the Republic's government has also begun legal action against the scheme. Minister for Public Enterprise Joe Jacob discussed the controversy with SDLP members in Dublin yesterday. The SDLP deputation was led by MP Eddie McGrady and included Carmel Hanna, deputy chair of the Stormont environment committee. Mr McGrady today voiced full support for the Dublin Government's legal action. He said: "The SDLP and those who live on the east coast of Ireland are of the firm belief that the re-processing plant at Sellafield, which contains the highest inventory of radioactive waste in Europe, should be closed down and properly decommissioned. The Republic is to argue that Mox will breach international laws on sea pollution. © Copyright 2001 Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 43 Security plan for Russian plutonium has foes [http://www.philly.com/] -- Select a Location -- Friday, November 16, 2001 Go to: S The Pentagon and House GOP members object to a proposal for U.S. defense funds to help pay for the program. By Jonathan S. Landay INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - The Pentagon and House Republicans are trying to block defense funding for a program whose ultimate goal is to prevent terrorists and rogue nations from buying or stealing plutonium from Russia. Under the program, Russia would pay for closing three aging, defect-plagued plutonium production reactors in Siberia, and the United States would pay to build and refurbish fossil-fuel plants to supply hundreds of thousands of people with heat and electricity now provided by the reactors. The reactors together add 1.5 metric tons of plutonium - enough to make as many as 500 thermonuclear warheads - annually to a mountain of excess Russian nuclear weapons fuel that U.S. studies warn is poorly guarded and vulnerable to theft. Many experts also say these reactors are among the most unsafe in the world. But senior Pentagon officials, with the blessing of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, are working with GOP members of the House Armed Services Committee to block the use of Pentagon funds for the program, said government officials who follow the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon and its congressional allies say that while they support a shutdown of the three reactors, U.S. defense dollars are too precious to be used to build and refurbish replacement fossil-fuel plants. Advocates respond that the plan is the cheapest and fastest way to eliminate sources of Russian nuclear weapons fuel that might find its way into the hands of terrorists or nations such as Iraq. In recent weeks, President Bush and senior U.S. officials have warned of the growing danger of nuclear terrorism and of suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge yesterday said information about nuclear weapons that could have been obtained on the Internet was found in a suspected al-Qaeda safehouse in Afghanistan. At a news conference Tuesday with visiting Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, Bush pledged to "strengthen our efforts to cut off every possible source of . . . nuclear weapons materials." Yet the President on Nov. 6 told lawmakers he would veto proposed additional spending that included a $221 million increase in funds for improving the security of Russian nuclear arms. Bush has declined to overrule the Pentagon's opposition to the reactor-replacement program, said the government officials and congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon opposed the program even though it passed a White House-led review of U.S. efforts to help Russia dispose of excess nuclear weapons and boost the security of its arsenal, they said. "We have heard from the Defense Department that absent a direct order from the President, they will not be executing this program," said a congressional staffer who follows the issue. Requests for comments from the Pentagon and the White House went unanswered. The reactor replacement plan is among a raft of initiatives divided among the Defense, Energy and State Departments that are collectively known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction program. Since the program began a decade ago, the United States has spent billions helping cash-strapped Russia dismantle much of its Cold War nuclear arsenal, protect its highly enriched uranium and plutonium, and find new work for Russian weapons experts. In 1997, Washington and Moscow agreed to cooperate in closing Russia's last three working reactors producing plutonium for the triggers of thermonuclear bombs. Ten similar plants had been closed, but Russian authorities kept the trio - two in the city of Seversk, one in the city of Zheleznogorsk - operating because they also supplied the surrounding regions of Siberia with electricity and heat. Under the plan eventually agreed upon, the United States would pay an estimated $300 million to $350 million to refurbish existing fossil-fuel plants and build new energy-production facilities. Experts say Russia's cost of safely shutting down the plants would be far greater and would involve the risk of radioactive leaks. Jonathan S. Landay's e-mail address is [jlanday@krwashington.com] . ***************************************************************** 44 Maine Yankee tax waiver to help CMP customers Nov 15, 2001 "Serving Maine and Lincoln County for Over a Century" Vol. 126-No. 46 Greg Foster Electric ratepayers will receive a sizable break in the future because of federal Department of Environmental Protection decision to grant Maine Yankee a sales tax waiver. The DEP made the award, which represents a $2-$3 million savings to the company, because of the environmental features of its new $65 million concrete, steel spent fuel storage facility. "Ratepayers will realize a considerable savings," company spokesman Eric Howes said. Applying for the exemption in March of 2000, Maine Yankee will be putting in place a storage system that virtually eliminates pollution, Howes said. "The dry cask system is welded shut, and eliminates radio-nuclide emissions," Howes said. Currently the spent fuel and other high level waste is stored in the spent fuel pool, from which there are regular emissions monitored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to Howes. The DEP grants such waivers on equipment, systems purchases that reduce air pollution. In this case, the savings will be passed on to the ratepayers who will still have to continue to pay for the installation over a period of years. Three aspects of the installation met DEP approval. The first consideration were the transportable airtight steel canisters in which the 1432 spent fuel assemblies will go. Secondly, there are the 64 concrete, steel-lined casks to allow for air cooling, with heat emissions but no radio-nucleid emissions. The third component of the system that received approval is the concrete pad on which the casks rest. Howes said that Maine Yankee also applied for a waiver for monitory equipment, as well as equipment used in the transfer of the spent fuel to the storage installation and other ancillary items. However, the DEP denied approval of a waiver for them. Maine Yankee plans to begin transfer soon of the high level nuclear waste from the spent fuel pool to the storage facility, which is designed to store the waste for many years unless it is transported elsewhere in the future. The national repository proposed at Yucca Mountain, Nev. would not be ready before 2010, according to a Yucca Mountain spokesmen. Central Maine Power Co. rate-payers and those of nine other utility companies are currently paying for the estimated $637 million for the decommissioning of Maine Yankee. Now there will at least be some reduction in what ratepayers will ultimately end up paying, Howes said. Maine Yankee still has a $100 million lawsuit in the federal claims court against the federal Department of Energy for its failure to provide a national repository as promised, he said. As a result, Maine Yankee was forced to build the installation in order to complete its decommissioning of the plant. [Editor@LCNews.Maine.Com] Lincoln County News PO Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543 Tel: 207.563.3171 http://lcnews.maine.com/2001-11-15/tax_waiver.html rev 2001-11-16 ***************************************************************** 45 Accord reached on nuke plant cleanup TheDay.com: By Paul Choiniere - More Articles Published on 11/16/2001 Haddam — The state and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. have reached an agreement on how the company's former nuclear power plant and the property around it should be cleaned up, but the cleanup plan still faces opposition from a citizens' group. The settlement was announced Thursday by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Department of Public Utility Control Chairman Donald Downes. The state officials had challenged several aspects of the License Termination Plan proposed by Connecticut Yankee. The plan describes the cleanup steps the company will take before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminates its operating license. Blumenthal and the DPUC had contended there were gaps in the 200-page document which details plans for identifying, removing, and disposing of radioactive materials on the 525-acre site. It also describes the dismantling of the power plant structures, the use of surveys to measure radioactivity at the site, and other environmental cleanup steps. Original plan greatly expanded Under the terms of the settlement the company agreed to perform a more comprehensive assessment that now identifies more areas to be evaluated for possible contamination. The changes are contained in a 327-page supplement to the original plan, including identification of past radiological leaks and their potential consequences. The company also agreed to remove buried pipes and drains that could be contaminated. Connecticut operated for 28 years before ceasing operations in 1996. Workers have gradually been dismantling the plant, but completion of the cleanup is still several years away. “The settlement fills unacceptable gaps in the plan (and are) necessary to protect our state. It provides for a thorough, systemic review of all known radiological leaks that occurred at the Haddam Neck facility over the years,” Blumenthal said. While several issues have been settled, Blumenthal said his office will stay very much involved in the process and still could press for changes in other aspects of the License Termination Plan. Downes said the goal in the settlement talks was to require an “environmentally prudent decommissioning” without requiring unreasonable and costly measures that would have been passed along to consumers in the form of higher electric bills. “It was a difficult balance and I am heartened that we could achieve (it),” he said. The settlement was reasonable and evidence that the process outlining the cleanup of nuclear plants works, said Kelley Smith, a spokesman for Connecticut Yankee. Still pending are contentions filed by the group Citizens Awareness Network. Deb Katz, executive director of the anti-nuclear and environmental organization, said the settlement deals with the surveying of the site and the nature of the cleanup. It was an important step forward, she said. Her group's contentions, said Katz, deal more with methodology. Connecticut Yankee has proposed cleaning up radioactivity at the site to the point where a farm family could safely live there, using in its calculations a 150-pound male. The Citizens Awareness Network wants to include a child in the radiation dose calculations, which would require a more intensive radiological cleanup. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has agreed to hear the contention, but Connecticut Yankee has appealed, claiming it goes further than the regulations require. Blumenthal said the citizens' group has raised some very pertinent and important contentions and his office will review them and, if judged appropriate, support them. “We are going to approach it with an open mind,” said the attorney general. A separate issue is what to do with the highly radioactive waste, in the form of spent nuclear fuel, that will remain stored there for years to come. The town and company remain at odds over where the storage facility for that waste should be located. © 1998-2001 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 46 Probe finds Yucca law firm failed to disclose conflict [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Friday, November 16, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Relationship with industry group not revealed By STEVE TETREAULT DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A law firm given $16.5 million to advise the Energy Department on the Yucca Mountain project failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest both before and after it began working for the government in 1999, the department's internal investigators said in a report released Thursday after a 3 1/2-month probe. Inspector General Gregory Friedman advised DOE leaders to "promptly evaluate" whether Winston &Strawn, one of the oldest and largest law firms in the nation, violated its contract or its "professional ethical obligations" by failing to reveal a relationship with the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group that supports building a spent-fuel repository at the Nevada site. The law firm had been a registered lobbyist for the institute from January 1995 until July but did not discuss those activities with the Energy Department until after news reports prompted Winston &Strawn to terminate its registration, the investigation confirmed. Friedman asked department officials to respond within 15 working days. The Energy Department is charged with conducting an unbiased assessment of whether Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, can be developed into an underground repository that can shield radiation releases from 77,000 tons of spent radioactive fuel. Nevada leaders who oppose the repository said the report casts further questions on the department's ability to perform a study untainted by influence from pro-nuclear interests. The Energy Department's Office of General Counsel will conduct an "expeditious review" of the report and the department's options, spokesman Joe Davis said. It was not clear what range of remedies were available to the government, or how the outcome may affect ongoing work on the program. Davis said Winston &Strawn was retained "to begin work solely on a potential license application" for Yucca Mountain that could be submitted in two or three years to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if the site is recommended for waste burial. "It's important to note the inspector general found no evidence that work performed by Winston &Strawn created an improper bias in the department's evaluation of Yucca Mountain," he said. However, Nevada's senators, who had asked Friedman to check out the conflict allegations, said the findings raise questions about the Yucca Mountain program that they will try to explore through congressional hearings and other action. "We're strategizing right now to take another look to see whether Winston &Strawn legal advice has tainted the whole process and, by extension, has biased the science," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who chairs a nuclear regulation subcommittee, said he may hold a hearing to question Energy Department and NRC officials about the matter. Reid also said the report provides an opportunity for further legal action by the state of Nevada, which already is planning multiple lawsuits to challenge the Yucca Mountain program on health and safety grounds. "If I were a litigator, this would be a big pile of gravy for me," he said. The Energy Department and Winston &Strawn told investigators they were working together to craft some "written understanding of how potential conflict of interest concerns may be more regularly raised and resolved." Davis said the results of those talks may be incorporated into the general counsel's review. Reid said the Energy Department has no recourse but "to dump this contractor. There's nothing to work out." Winston &Strawn did not comment Thursday. The investigators noted the firm stated there was no conflict of interest in its activities, and that Energy Department officials "expressed general satisfaction with Winston &Strawn's work." This story is located at: [http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-16-Fri-2001/news/17464793.html] ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Analysts Lukewarm on Nuclear Accord November 16, 2001 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:42 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- The mutual pledges to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles by President Bush and President Vladimir Putin of Russia are receiving only lukewarm approval among longtime American analysts. With the Cold War long over, and the two leaders building a new and friendly relationship, critics are disappointed they did not do more. Jack Mendelsohn, a former U.S. negotiator now with the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, faults Bush for failing to put the U.S. and Russian cutbacks in a formal treaty. A treaty would provide a systematic arrangement for doing what Bush promises: scrap about two-thirds of the U.S. strategic warheads stockpile of more than 7,000, Mendelsohn said in an interview. It also would give a way to ensure Bush and Putin follow through on their promises, he said. At the summit, Putin promised to slash the current Russian long-range arsenal to one-third or less. The Russians are thought to have more than 5,000 warheads. Mendelsohn said the new levels are still too high, and Bush is talking about spreading the U.S. reduction over 10 years. Questioning why the United States needs 2,000 warheads, the former negotiator said what Bush has done is free the United States from arms control so that U.S. nuclear forces can be increased or decreased. Alistair Millar, vice president of the Fourth Freedom Forum, a private research group, registered concern that tactical, or short-range, nuclear weapons were not covered at all. That, he said, is a big problem. ``They are much, much smaller, and they are vulnerable to theft, particularly by potential terrorists. The rise of international terrorism presents a grave and compelling reason to address these weapons,'' Millar said. Beyond that, he said, ``There are plans in the U.S. and Russia to put more emphasis on development of these weapons for purposes of hitting underground bunkers and targets in the future.'' Neither Russia nor the United States know how many short-range nuclear weapons are in Russia, Millar said. The total could be as few as 4,000 or as many as 20,000, he said. The United States has about 1,670 tactical nuclear weapons, the private analyst said. Millar said the United States should take the initiative to encourage Russia ``to get a grip on this at a time when the relationship is closer, while we cooperate to fight terrorism.'' Lee Feinstein, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, offered a more positive critique of the summit talks. Feinstein said an outline for agreement is within reach on anti-missile defenses as well as on offensive weapons reductions. Still, he said, ``we don't know the details of the Bush reductions. We don't know, for example, if he is going to offer an executive order to cut back independently or whether he is going to wait for President Putin to take reciprocal action.'' ``That's an important question,'' said Feinstein, deputy director of policy planning at the State Department in the Clinton administration. But Feinstein said it was very significant that Bush proposed a lower U.S. ceiling than the United States and Russia had ever negotiated. ``The president has been trying to say he is not looking to negotiate agreements with Moscow,'' Feinstein said. ``But if you look closely, the two of them are engaged in high-profile negotiations that will wind up being an agreement even if Bush does not call it that.'' Copyright 2001 The Associated Press | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 2 Probe Finds Law Firm Had Dual Roles Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 LAS VEGAS- A law firm hired to help the Energy Department get a license for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada failed to disclose a relationship with a pro-dump lobbying firm, the department's inspector general found. At least 14 members of the Chicago-based law firm Winston &Strawn working on the $16.5 million government contract also worked for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying firm that supports the Yucca Mountain project, reported DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman, who stopped short of declaring the relationship a conflict of interest. But Nevada's two U.S. senators, Democrat Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign, said the report documents "rampant conflict of interest violations" that contaminated 17 years of study of the Yucca Mountain site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. State officials and the Nevada congressional delegation oppose the proposed dump, which would store radioactive waste from about 100 nuclear sites nationwide. The Nuclear Energy Institute, based in Washington, D.C., has lobbied to promote the use of nuclear power and favors the Yucca Mountain site. It is the only site under study by the government to dispose of the nation's nuclear waste. In his report, Friedman said Winston &Strawn denied a conflict of interest and denied it compromised work on the Yucca Mountain project. James Thompson, Winston &Strawn chairman and former Illinois governor, referred questions to spokesman Chuck Connor at the Dilen Schneider Group in Chicago, who wouldn't comment. Connor also wouldn't comment on recent allegations that Winston &Strawn leaked to the Energy Department a confidential document outlining the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's standards for approving the project. Reid called last week for Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General Hubert T. Bell to investigate that allegation. It was not addressed in Friedman's report. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Thursday that Winston &Strawn is still working for the Energy Department, and the department would study Friedman's findings. "It's important to note," Davis said, "that the report found no evidence that the work performed by Winston &Strawn created an improper bias in the department's scientific evaluation of Yucca Mountain." The site selection process is in its final weeks, but officials said Friedman's report opens the licensing process to a possible legal challenge. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 Rule of law or arbitrariness? The Pasko Case Gregory Pasko, an investigative journalist who worked for the Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was arrested on 20 November 1997 by the FSB and charged with high treason for his writing about the nuclear safety issues in the Russian Pacific Fleet. Recently the Russian Supreme Court nullified the secret decree 055:96. What significance will this decision have for the case against Grigory Pasko and other similar cases? Read this article and find the answer. Jon Gauslaa, 2001-11-14 19:05 On November 6, 2001 the Appeal Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court confirmed the ruling of the Supreme Court's Military Collegium of September 12, 2001, regarding the nullification of the Ministry of Defence's infamous secret decree no. 055:1996. The significance of this ruling might yet seem somewhat unclear. There is however, reason to believe that it might have considerable impact, both on the future use of secret legislation in Russian criminal cases, and on ongoing criminal cases like the 'espionage' case against journalist Grigory Pasko in Vladivostok and a number of other similar cases. Decree completely nullified The verdict of the Supreme Court is directly related only to 10 of the approximately 700 provisions of decree 055:96. The reason for this limitation is that Aleksandr Nikitin, who challenged the legality of the decree, had to limit his complaint to the provisions that were used by the prosecution in the criminal case against him, which was determined with his final acquittal on September 13, 2000. Nikitin's original intention was to challenge the whole decree, but he had to make the said limitation for procedural reasons. Thus, the verdict of the Supreme Court, which its Appeal Collegium confirmed as "legal and reasonable" on November 6, 2001, only states that articles 235, 259, 260, 287, 305, 443, 444, 445, 489 and 650 of decree 055:96 are "illegal an invalid from the moment of their issuing". The remaining provisions of the decree are not mentioned. The grounds of the judgment does however, not apply only to the said provisions, but to the whole decree. In the decision of September 12, 2001 the Supreme Court refers to a letter of the first deputy Ministry of Justice dated March 16, 2000 where it is stated that decree 055:96 do not need state registration, because it contains no binding legal norms and is of an internal character. The Supreme Court found this opinion to be wrong. After having given several examples showing that the decree indeed contains legal norms that are binding for the citizens and that is not of an internal character, the Court concludes that the decree regulates "the rights and duties of the human being and citizen, … Therefore it is a normative act subject for [state] registration." Since the disputed provisions has not passed state registration in accordance with the existing legislation, the Court found them to be "illegal and invalid". It is however, not only the provisions that Nikitin challenged that are unregistered, but the whole decree. Thus, the legal effect of the Supreme Court ruling can not be any other than a complete nullification of decree 055:96 from the day of its issuing, i.e.: from August 10, 1996. A normative act It follows from the above-mentioned that the Supreme Court ruling clarifies the following: 1. Decree 055:96 is a normative act regulating the rights and freedoms of the citizens (this has previously been denied by the prosecution in the Nikitin-case, by the Ministry of Justice, and also by the attorneys of the Defence Ministry in the present case). 2. The decree, and all similar decrees listing up various kinds of information constituting state secrets, is subject to state registration. In his complaint Nikitin also set out the following pleas: 3. The decree is invalid as a basis for criminal charges, because it is not published in accordance with Article 15 (3) of the Constitution ('no normative acts affecting the rights and freedoms of the citizens can be applied unless they are officially published for general knowledge'). 4. The decree-provisions are invalid because they go beyond the limits for classifying information set up by the Law on State Secrets. Since the Supreme Court found the provisions that Nikitin challenged to be invalid and illegal because of the lack of registration of the decree, it found it unnecessary to settle the two latter questions. This may seem somewhat odd, but it is actually a quite normal approach for a Court not to go into other (subsidiary) questions and pleas after it first has found sufficient grounds for its ruling. Besides, the major significance of the ruling is the very fact that the Supreme Court has recognised decree 055:96 as a normative act, in a case where the legal status of the decree was the main question. This is apparently the first time that the Supreme Court has addressed directly the question whether the decree is a normative act or not (previously it has only addressed it indirectly, for instance in the Nikitin-acquittal). After the recent ruling decree 055:96 (and all similar decrees) should be considered as 'normative acts', not only in the sense of the legislation regarding the question of state registration, but also in the sense of Article 15 (3) of the Constitution. Thus, decree 055:96, its successor(s), and all similar decrees has to be officially published if they are to be applied in criminal cases. Although this clearly is the prevailing Russian law today, one will however, have to challenge this question in a separate case to get a court ruling that directly deals with the issue. The significance for the Pasko-case The legal foundation for the charges against Pasko is decree 055:96, as the expert evaluation of whether there are state secrets or not in the materials he is accused of having handed over to Japan is entirely based on this decree. One should therefore assume that the expert evaluation has to be regarded as invalid since it is based on a normative act that the Supreme Court has ruled to be "invalid and illegal". Russian law has however, not traditionally been based on precedents. Although this situation is slightly changing, there is no guarantee that the Pacific Fleet Court in Vladivostok will feel obliged to follow the legal opinion of a ruling issued by the Supreme Court in Moscow. Yet, the Pacific Fleet Court can hardly ignore the Supreme Court ruling. The ruling is not related to the concrete factual peculiarities of a case, which would have made it possible for other Courts to distinguish their cases from the Supreme Court case by saying that the ruling was so directly connected with the facts of the case that it is not binding for later cases. On the contrary it is related to a general question of law application, and it is clearly stated in the grounds of the judgment (its ratio decidendi) why decree 055:96 has no legal force. When this first is established, it is hard to imagine a situation where the decree is given legal force in some cases, but not in others. Obliged to follow? The question remains though, whether the Pacific Fleet Court will consider itself limited only by the concrete verdict of the Supreme Court (10 provisions are nullified) or also by the grounds of the judgment, which de facto nullifies the whole decree. In the former case, the Supreme Court verdict will have little direct effect, as the ten provisions used against Nikitin are others than the provisions the prosecution has used against Pasko. However, such an approach would - if Pasko gets convicted - form a good reason for an appeal from his defence. The appeal will be handled by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, which hardly will be able to ignore the grounds of its previous ruling. However, a possible outcome of such an appeal might well be that the verdict of the Pacific Fleet Court is cancelled for the second time and that the case is sent back to Vladivostok for a third trial, which is not exactly a dream scenario. If the Pacific Fleet Court on the other hand considers itself obliged to follow not only the concrete verdict of the Supreme Court, but also the grounds of the judgment, its verdict can not be based on the expert evaluation at all. This gives us two possible scenarios: i) Pasko will be acquitted, which is the only legal and adequate outcome of the case. The prosecution has not been able to prove the presence of state secrets in the disputed materials of the case, which is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for convicting him as charged. Moreover, it has not been able to prove that Pasko handed over (or planned to hand over) any of the disputed materials to the Japanese. This was why Pasko was acquitted of espionage at the first trial in 1999, and the prosecution's attempts to prove this at the second trial have been even more unsuccessful than at the first trial. Besides, most of the 'evidence' of the case is either illegally collected or downright falsified. Thus, it can not be proven that the materials were confiscated at Pasko's flat, and the 'evidence' should according to Article 50 (2) of the Constitution be disqualified from the case. ii) Rather than reaching a decision at the present stage, the Court might order a new expert evaluation that shall be based on the law on state secrets and other registered (and officially published) normative acts, which was valid in 1996/97 when Pasko did the actions he is accused of. Such an evaluation will postpone the case further, and is not an acceptable solution, when one takes into consideration the many postponements that already have occurred and the fact that the case On November 20 will enter its fifth year. Conclusive remarks At the time of writing it is hard to estimate the exact effect of the Supreme Court ruling on the Pasko case. This is partly because the ruling has some limitations (although it can not be interpreted in any other way that as a full nullification of decree 055:96) and partly because of the lack of traditions in Russia for the use of precedents. See for instance Moscow Times' article on the case against Valentin Danilov in Kraznoyarsk http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/11/09/001.html, which not gives reasons for much optimism regarding the future legal development in Russia. The Supreme Court ruling has however, all the needed features of a ruling that should make a precedent (it is related to a question of general law application, the grounds of the judgment are very clear, and the ruling is unanimous). Thus, the possibility that the ruling will have positive effect on the outcome of the case is definitively present. Given the latest developments with several postponements and various hints that might indicate that the Court is under pressure from forces who want a conviction, it is however difficult to predict the outcome of the case. As to the cases against academics Oleg Sutyagin, Vladimir Soyfer, Vladimir Schurov and Valentin Danilov, it is even harder to predict anything since the full factual and legal circumstances of these cases are not known. However, all these cases are to a considerably degree based on decree 055:96 and thus, the Supreme Court ruling should at least have some positive effect. It is also of great importance for the future legal development in Russia, which still is very much in the melting pot despite the fact that some positive steps have been taken, that the ruling gets such an effect. The difference between a legal system that is based on precedents and one that is not, is huge. In its core, this difference is equal to the difference between a country ruled by law, and a country ruled by arbitrariness. Thus, if the Pacific Fleet Court, or any other court ignore the Supreme Court ruling, one has to conclude that Russia still is a country that belong much more to the latter category than to the former. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 4 Nuclear threat seen as unlikely scenario Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Owen Bowcott Friday November 16, 2001 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Type in the words "How to build... a nuclear bomb" on an internet search engine and a deluge of information on assembling a device floods the screen. Trawl through the academic papers on fusion published since Nagasaki and Hiroshima, in 1945, and more technical details emerge. It is not difficult to uncover the means to manufacture a nuclear weapon, according to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which monitors nuclear proliferation. The problem is obtaining sufficient highly enriched uranium 235 or plutonium to sustain a chain reaction. Even Saddam Hussein, with the full resources of the Iraqi state, failed after 10 years' effort to create a nuclear bomb. "There were 10,000 people working on his secret programme," said David Kyd of the IAEA. "The Israelis bombed the reactor and we think the Iraqis were still a year and a half away from getting a weapon when the Gulf war intervened." Following the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the IAEA reassessed the risks of terrorists obtaining a nuclear device. "The fears are greater than before," admits Mr Kyd. "We were deeply impressed by the ruthlessness and sophistication of the attacks, as well as by the careful preparation and the readiness of those involved to die. But we don't believe possession of a nuclear weapon [by Bin Laden] is the most likely scenario." One reason for the authority's confidence is that a nuclear device would require 25kg of 90% enriched uranium 235, or 8kg of plutonium to initiate fusion. In the past five years there have been 178 incidents detected around the world involving the smuggling of radioactive or nuclear substances. Most have involved relatively small quantities of low grade material. But this year 600g of 60% enriched uranium 235 was discovered in a suburb of the Colombian capital, Bogota. It was thought to have come from a Russian submarine's reactor. Last week Italian police said they were searching for seven bars of enriched uranium 235 and 238 which had gone missing from the Democratic Republic of Congo and were believed to be in mafia hands in Italy. During the cold war, both the Soviets and Americans built so-called "suitcase bombs" - nuclear weapons that were comparatively transportable. "We know that when he was in the Russian army, General Alexander Lebed claimed a number of them had gone missing," says Mr Kyd. The greatest threat is from what is referred to as a "dirty bomb" - ordinary explosives packed around low-grade nuclear waste. Dispersing radioactive material found in industry or hospitals, such as caesium or strontium, could contaminate a city, making it uninhabitable for years. The IAEA has monitored reports of contacts between al-Qaida and the nuclear black market. Jamal al-Fadl, who left Bin Laden's organisation after the 1998 bombings of US embassies in east Africa, told American intelligence officers that on at least one occasion he attempted to buy nuclear material. Another al-Qaida aide was arrested in Germany several years ago after trying to buy reactor fuel. In Washington yesterday, the US homeland security director, Tom Ridge, confirmed that documents on how to make a nuclear device had been found in an al-Qaida office in Kabul. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 5 Alabama selected for anti-terrorism team | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Friday, November 16, 2001 Five new teams join 27 already in place in 26 states Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Pentagon selected Alabama on Thursday as one of five new sites for a versatile team of National Guard personnel trained in rapidly responding to terrorist attacks. The group of 22 National Guard members, which will be a separate unit from Guard forces already in Alabama, will assist local officials when chemical, nuclear and biological weapons are suspected. The five new teams join 27 already in existence in 26 states. With the addition of the National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, Alabama will feature one of the largest arsenals of quick-response units in the event of bioterrorism. The Center for Domestic Preparedness, based in Anniston, is receiving $30 million this year for its work training civilians to be on the scene first in the case of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack. The state also benefits from its proximity to Atlanta, home to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC has been the lead agency investigating recent anthrax outbreaks. Atlanta also has a National Guard support team, currently the closest one for most parts of Alabama. "They are not a prevention unit as much as they are an analytical unit to determine if this is a chemical attack, and what kind," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., of the new unit. "This team will have direct communications with the most critical laboratories." The Clinton administration set up the teams in response to the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The first teams were formed in 1998 and have been used in various capacities, including helping respond to the Sept. 11 attack at the World Trade Center. But the teams were criticized in a pair of reviews this year. The Pentagon said last spring that many teams had defective safety equipment and poor training. The review cited one instance where team members were given mobile labs with air filters installed backward and gas masks with incompatible parts. In September, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, recommended a moratorium on new teams, saying they need to resolve "problems that undermine their usefulness." But Sessions has long requested one for Alabama, citing the state's compact population and such alluring targets for terrorists as the Browns Ferry nuclear site and Anniston Army Depot, home to a chemical weapons stockpile. The team members will receive about 600 hours of specialized training beyond the normal basic training for the National Guard, according to a statement from Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. The units will include satellite and secure cellular telephone communication capabilities, allowing them to effectively communicate with military forces elsewhere. Sessions said he didn't know where the unit would be based but that it will largely be mobile, capable of traveling by van to anywhere in Alabama or surrounding states within a few hours. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said the National Guard team calms many of his fears about the state's ability to respond to terrorism. "Our main goal is preventing an attack before it occurs," Bachus said. "If we can't do that, we've got to be able to respond immediately and effectively." On the Net: National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction: www.ngb.dtic.mil/wmd/index.htm All content © 2000 Ledger-Enquirer ***************************************************************** 6 U.S. Prepares 'for Mass Casualties' U.S. Prepares 'for Mass Casualties' Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001 In his traveling slide show, Dr. Cham Dallas lectures about potential nuclear, chemical and biological attacks and how the government is preparing for mass casualties. ‘‘We’ve been preparing for this for a number of years now,” Dallas recites calmly. ‘‘We’ve been preparing our police and fire departments, and our medical people. The preparation is for mass casualties,” says the doctor, a national civilian consultant to the surgeon general for weapons of mass destruction. Long before Sept. 11, Dallas, associate professor of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences and director of the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program at the University of Georgia, was using a hypothetical attack on the World Trade Center as a model to prepare health professionals to cope with casualties from a terror event. In 1999 Dallas helped initiate a campus group called the ‘‘Bio/Chemical Task Force,’’ which went on to develop plans for a local center to train medical professionals to deal with mass-casualties either from a natural disaster or terrorists attacks. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., spoke to the Senate in support of the Dallas proposal as a model for a larger national effort. "I’ve been very surprised at the lack of follow-ups. They’ve lost the element of surprise to a certain extent, and I’m surprised at how much time they’re giving us to gear up,” Dallas told the Augusta Chronicle last week. "A nuclear incident will be very hard to respond to effectively because of the numbers of casualties, which could easily top a million,” he said. ”An exploded nuclear device could fill every burn bed in the United States,” he added. But Dallas sees accelerated biological and possibly chemical attacks as more likely than any nuclear scenario. "A biological weapon is the cheapest and most readily available to groups such as the one coming against us now,” he said. In his presentations, Dallas typically soothes the natural paranoia generated by recent events by declaring that the country is now better prepared to handle the next attacks. He attributes this preparedness to the public’s sense of belonging to a larger community. "It is an excellent response when you look at it from an organizational anti-terrorism point of view.” Potassium Iodide No Silver Bullet for Nuke Attack In a joint study with counterparts in the former Soviet Union, Dallas noted that beginning about four years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, there was a steady increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer observed in children and adolescents. Most of the thyroid cancer cases were diagnosed in settlements situated on major railways and roads. Radioactive iodine (radioiodine) is a major radioisotope constituent of nuclear power plant accidents and nuclear bomb explosions and can travel hundreds of miles on the winds. After the U.S. nuclear spill at Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union, available stocks of potassium iodide disappeared for months. Taken before or within four hours of exposure, potassium iodide will fill a person’s thyroid gland with safe stable iodine leaving no room for later uptake of radioactive iodine. However, as Dallas and other scientists have pointed out, potassium iodide protects only against radioactive iodine, just one of hundreds of poisonous "radionuclides” that people might be exposed to in a nuclear event. This rational consideration did not stop the latest public run on sodium iodide that occurred Oct. 17 when officials closed two Harrisburg, Pa., airports and launched jets in response to a terrorist threat against Three Mile Island. The threat alone (later judged to be not credible) drove flocks of locals to seek out potassium iodide tablets. Lancaster County’s Emergency Management Agency had stored enough tablets for emergency crews, but had to refer the concerned citizens to private labs. Reversing an old policy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission set aside $400,000 in fiscal year 2001 for potassium iodide stocks and requested more funding in fiscal year 2002. Some experts have suggested that several million dollars of the $40 billion Congress tagged to defend against terrorism be used to stockpile potassium iodide pills at schools and town halls across the country. Other countries have a long history of stockpiling the pills. As Dallas and other students of the world’s worst nuclear disaster noted, after the Chernobyl accident, nearby Poland distributed 10 million doses of the medication. Subsequently, there was no upswing in the incidence of thyroid cancer there despite encroaching radiation. ‘‘We have been saying that we are living in November 1941,’’ said Dallas. ‘‘There was this expectation of a mass-destruction event, probably with conventional weapons. Now that the line has been crossed, the kinds of people who think this way are now inspired to go forward.’’ Dallas said that thousands of lives may depend on the country’s ability to respond quickly and well to a small nuclear explosion, a more deadly anthrax attack or a smallpox outbreak. All Rights Reserved © NewsMax.com ***************************************************************** 7 Opinion: Halfway to history The Seattle Times: Editorials & November 16, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific Commendable proposals for deep cuts in the strategic nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia need to be written down, signed and ratified by each nation. Otherwise, any deal between President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin is only a statement of good intentions that can be changed or reversed when they leave office. Bush is proposing to cut long-range weapons by two-thirds over the next 10 years. A nuclear inventory that stands at 7,206, by some counts, would be pared to 1,700 - 2,200. Putin suggests the Russian stockpile of 5,826 warheads could go as low as 1,500. He hinted broadly at a White House news conference that all agreements from his side would be in treaty form. Bush is hoping to barter sharp arms reductions for Russia's permission to conduct tests on a missile-defense system not allowed by the 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty. A smaller U.S. arsenal helps sell the point a new missile defense is for protection against rogue states, and not its old Cold War adversary. What makes this all the more topsy-turvy is Bush's contention he is satisfied with a handshake to seal the cuts. Putin sounds more attuned to Ronald Reagan's dictum about trust, but verify. Neither leader should be excused from having to sell an agreement to skeptical legislators, and their respective military establishments. Bush is talking about reducing the number of deployable warheads. That appears to exclude those out of service for repair and such. The particulars are no small matter to U.S. military planners worried about having enough nukes on hand for a credible air-sea-land nuclear triad. A signed treaty also leaves no doubts about inspections and destruction schedules. Put it all down on paper, and sell it to Congress and the American people. Bush and Putin are halfway to making history. seattletimes.com home ***************************************************************** 8 Libya joins nuclear tests banning treaty Libya, Politics, 11/15/2001 The Libyan foreign minister Abdul Rahman Shalqam has announced Libya's joining to the treaty of total banning of nuclear tests. In a statement he read before the UN special conference on facilitating joining the said treaty, the Libyan minister said:" It please me to announce that my country decided to join the treaty on total banning of nuclear tests." The Libyan minister added that completing the legislation to join the said agreement, according to the Libyan rule will be made very soon. He called on the international community to pressure the government of Israel to abide by the international will provides for Israel's joining the NPT. In his statement at the 56th session of the UN general assembly, the Libyan foreign minister called for the immediate release of the Libyan citizen Abdul Baser al-Miqrahi. Copyright © 1995-2001 Arabic News.com, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Homeland Security Briefing with Gov. Ridge and Secretary Abraham For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 15, 2001 Press Briefing by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham And Director of Office of Homeland Security Governor Tom Ridge Department of Energy Washington, D.C. 11:04 A.M. EST SECRETARY ABRAHAM: Thank you all very much. And I want to begin by obviously welcoming Governor Ridge to the Department of Energy. We've just seen some of the technological wonders the men and the women of this department have developed for homeland security and the war on terrorism. And I think you can see, Governor, why I'm so proud to be the Secretary of this department. I want to just start by acknowledging and paying special thanks to two individuals who help us make this all work so well; one who couldn't be here today, General John Gordon, who heads up the National Nuclear Security Administration, doing an outstanding on just a variety of fronts, in addition to overseeing our lab work and our nonproliferation programs. Linton Brooks, our Deputy Administrator for National Nuclear Proliferation is here on behalf of NNSA. Thank you. And to Jim Decker, who is the head of our programs in the science division, I want to welcome Jim as well. He's the acting director of programs that are leading funders of basic research, as well as the largest government sponsor of the physical science research programs in the United States. We saw examples of the specific wizardry that this funding has created. And, Jim, I want to thank you for a great job. I also want to just say that we are also joined by the heads of three of our national labs -- Paul Robinson, John Brown, Bruce Tarter. Thank you all for being with us and for the great work done at these facilities. Our other labs are represented here, and we're proud of all of them. As Governor Ridge and I have discussed over the last several weeks, our national laboratories are probably among America's best-kept secrets. They are the source of unparalleled technological progress, and they're going to help us win this war against terrorism. In the weeks since September the 11th, Americans have been asking where we will get the technology we need for the detection of chemical, biological or nuclear attacks. Who will develop the means to protect us against terrorist threats, and who is looking over the horizon so we're prepared for tomorrow's threats as well. Well, the answer to those questions is very often these national laboratories. Just consider what we have seen today: decontamination foam from the Sandia Laboratory, which can rid buildings of anthrax. A Palm Pilot computer that can be transformed into a nuclear detection device, which comes from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. A joint program between Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore, which has developed a network of sensors that can be placed in the vicinity of large public gatherings, or even large areas, a system that can detect biological attack with great speed, that gives us the time for swift countermeasures. And the list goes on and on. And I just have to tell you, when I was helping lead this little tour today, I felt a little bit like Q in those old James Bond movies, with Governor Ridge as our James Bond. (Laughter.) I don't know that the labs have the capabilities of transforming me into the James Bond figure, but if you could go to work on that, I'd be appreciative. (Laughter.) But I know many of you will want to know which of these technologies that we've seen today are currently in use or ready for deployment. And I want to just say up front, as you can appreciate information about how and when and where these technologies are used is often very sensitive. We are not in a position, obviously, to answer the specific questions which relate to the deployment of the technology; although our Office of Public Affairs will do its best to help where it's appropriate. And I would direct any questions along those lines to them. The bottom line, Governor, is that we have many of the tools for homeland security, and to help this nation fight the war on terrorism. Staying one step ahead of our adversaries has never been as important as it is now. Everything shifted, new battle lines have been drawn. The administration and this Secretary recognize and appreciate the work which our labs do. And we want the American people to realize it and appreciate it as well. This department and our national labs will spare no effort to provide the nation with the instruments it must have to defeat terrorism and to defend our citizens in this difficult time. So, Governor, I want you to think of the men and women of this department as one of your most important assets in this battle. And, again, I want to welcome you to the Department of Energy. Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Tom Ridge. (Applause.) GOVERNOR RIDGE: Thank you very much. Actually, Spence, that was quite a tour. I think we could have stayed there for hours longer, and I suspect that the national labs would have had many other exhibits available to us if we would have had a little bit more time. And I want to thank you for the opportunity to spend a little time both with you and the extraordinary group of people with whom you work and whom you lead. I said shortly after I was given the opportunity to serve my President and my country in this capacity as Director of Homeland Security, that America should be reassured on a daily basis that, literally, hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans, even prior to September 11th, had been going to work every single day, trying to devise ways to make our homeland more secure. And now that I've had the opportunity to serve in this capacity for now all of five weeks and have had an opportunity to see with great clarity and specificity the kind of work that hundreds of thousands of Americans have been doing every single day, I'm absolutely confident -- I'm absolutely confident of our ability to rise to the challenge that the President has given us, an that is create a national strategy for homeland security. And you have to know, at the heart of that strategy, to detect, to prevent, to respond to terrorism attacks, at the heart of that technology, at the heart of that effort, at the heart of that strategy, will be technology. When I was governor, we invested hundreds of millions of dollars in technology to enhance certain capacities that the state of Pennsylvania needed: communications and information systems, public health. But we take the technology we have available to us in the national labs and configure it to provide for homeland defense. And I assure you and I assure the public generally, we will be investing substantial dollars in technology to help enhance our domestic security as well. Today, you've shown the American public, Mr. Secretary, and me some of the technological wizardry that has been or will soon be put to use to protect and defend our country. We are a very welcoming country. We're a very trusting country. We allow millions and millions of people who are not citizens to come in on a regular basis and visit, and even live and take up residence here. We are an incredibly open country -- open borders, open cities, open society. We can't, nor do we ever want, to change this. It is truly one of the unique characteristics of this great country. However, we are now facing an unseen foe that has proven it will take advantage of our openness whenever it can. So the challenge is fairly straightforward: How do we preserve our openness. How do we preserve the unique qualities of America and protect ourselves at the same time. How do we enhance security at airports without discouraging people from flying. How do we keep the United States Mail flowing smoothly. How do we expedite the flow of people and goods across international borders. How do we secure the homeland. How do we become safer. The answer, in large measure, across a wide possible spectrum of applications, is technology. Later this morning, I'll be addressing the Fletcher Conference to lay out the framework for how we are developing a comprehensive national homeland security plan. In the months and years ahead, technology-based solutions will be a huge component of that plan. You've given me a great deal of insurance; and more importantly, I think you've offered to the public today, all of America, a great deal of assurance that American ingenuity is already at work developing that technology. And so, on behalf of the President of the United States, I want to thank everyone at the Department of Energy, the national labs, that has worked so hard. You've got the qualities that guarantee that we will prevail in our war against terrorism. Ingenuity, a relentless spirit to get things done, a commitment, a resolve. And I'm absolutely confident, through the application of technology, both from the public and private sector, we will dramatically enhance in a very short period of time our goal to make our homeland more secure than it has ever been before. So I want to thank you, Mr. Secretary, and I want to thank the Department of Energy employees for giving me the opportunity to spend a little time with you this morning. The Secretary and I would be happy to take any questions. Q Governor Ridge, the Bush administration has consistently said that a strong national energy policy cannot occur -- a strong national security cannot occur without a strong national energy policy. Earlier this week, the administration announced that it would fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to protect against future supply disruptions. But that process is going to take three years, under the current plan. If the administration is serious about filling this reserve and protecting U.S. consumers and this economy from a supply disruption, why doesn't the administration go out and purchase this oil now, fill up their reserve in three or four months, now that prices are low. Would you recommend if prices keep dropping that they go ahead and do that, and not wait three years? GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, first of all, I think the President's goal is to fill up the Strategic Reserve over the next three years. The prices are low; indications are that they may continue to go lower. And it's just part of a scheme of things that the President is asking, and the administration is doing, in order to secure the energy security that we require. I think it's pretty clear -- and I'll let the Secretary speak to this -- but we feel strongly about the ability to start drilling more domestically as well. So I think as you take a look at the national strategy, whether it's energy security, economic security, there are many pieces to that puzzle. And just a ramp-up of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a piece of the energy puzzle. SECRETARY ABRAHAM: Well, Tom, you've asked me that question many times in the period that led up to it. As I told you, we were engaging in a very deliberate review of the process and what the considerations, the pluses and minuses were, what was the nature of the threat, if any, that we perceived. We concluded that it was in the long-term interest of the country to have the reserve filled. At the same time, we did not see the kind of immediate threat to disruption that would necessitate taking action that was too precipitous. At the end of the day, we have right now about 540 million barrels of oil in the Reserve; that's somewhere in the vicinity of 53 days worth of reserves. If we fill it entirely, that expands the number to about 68 days. I think we can do it at the pace we're talking about. If things change, we can reconsider the policy. But we're trying to do it in a way that balances all the issues, that range from energy security and cost considerations to implications on markets and a variety of other factors. But I think we're doing it the right way. Q Governor, there are some people who specialize in studying al Qaeda who think that perhaps Osama bin Laden and his followers might be more apt to take terrorist action because of the way the military campaign is going on the ground in Afghanistan. I'm wondering how you would gauge the threat level at this point, and if it's different than it was, let's say, one week ago? GOVERNOR RIDGE: I think it is -- it makes a great deal of common sense to conclude that if you are putting pressure on your enemy in one area or one venue, they may choose to act out in a separate area or a different venue. And so that is one consideration that obviously is in play. But I think our state of readiness and wariness is as high as it has ever been, and will remain that high until we have apprehended bin Laden and dismantled al Qaeda. That is not to say that once that bin Laden and al Qaeda have been dismantled and apprehended, that we would not continue to work very aggressively toward enhancing our homeland security. Q Yes. The Times of London and other publications today have reported that forces have invaded a safe house in Kabul where nuclear secrets or blueprints, I believe was the term used, were recovered; Osama bin Laden's blueprints for some sort of nuclear device or nuclear technology. It has been reported widely and he, himself, has admitted that he would like to use nuclear weapons. There has been lots and lots of evidence that he has certainly tried to acquire them, at least a dirty nuke. One of the exhibitors here has nuclear bomb detection material here. What kind of assurance or reassurance can you give citizens of this city and of New York and perhaps other places as well that they are safe from a nuclear attack? GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, one of the challenges as we have faced a bioterrorist threat over the past four or five weeks is the notion that our responsibility as a country is to be prepared for biological and chemical and radiological and nuclear. And the mission of providing homeland security is to enhance our capacity to detect, prevent and even respond to those kinds of events. And I would say the fact that we have discovered that one of the safe houses that bin Laden's associates or al Qaeda had some materials relative to a nuclear threat is certainly consistent with his statements that he would like to acquire that capacity. It is not to say, it does not confirm that he has the capacity, it just says that whether it's bin Laden or some other potential foe of this country, we have to be prepared for all eventualities, including a nuclear threat. Q Governor Ridge, you've seen a lot of technology today, but there are also technologies which could be used or may be already used at NASA, at NIH, at the EPA, a lot of agencies. How can you kind of integrate those technology departments and technologies to make them more effective and useful? GOVERNOR RIDGE: I'm not sure I quite understand the question. We have seen a variety of technologies that have applications at different parts of the national security plan. Q In this department; there are technologies all around the other agencies as well. And you have a lot of projects running, possibly some of them similar, some of them different. How are you going to integrate to make them more effective and useful? GOVERNOR RIDGE: The challenge to pool all of the public research and private research, I might add, is one of the more significant ones for the Office of Homeland Security. And the President's scientific advisor, as well as the leadership at the national labs, as well as leadership in the private sector, help us determine which technology has the greatest potential for immediate application to reduce the most pressing threat. So I think the assessment of capacity -- technology capacity and application will be done by the scientists in conjunction with what we perceive to be immediate threats. One of the biggest challenges we have right now and one of the reasons that I believe you saw so many exhibits out there with regard to biological and chemical, is that in enhancing the capacity of our first responders, the policemen, the firemen and others who arrive at a scene to determine the kind of environment that they and those who would follow on have to work in. So these assessments are ongoing, and they're done both with the resources and capacity of the public sector, the federal government; but our friends in the private sector help us as well. And I just wanted to add, you know, the information that I've been told this morning that was gleaned from that house related to al Qaeda, was, much of that information could have been taken right off the Internet some years ago. So there was nothing unusual about that information; it was available to the public through other sources other than through the al Qaeda network. Q Have you come up with a plan for coordinating security at privately-owned energy facilities -- pipelines, refineries? GOVERNOR RIDGE: I know that the Secretary of Energy -- and I'm going to let him talk more specifically to it -- but I will tell you that the Secretary of Energy and everyone in this government, in every department, in every agency, since September 11th, has been moving forward, working with the private sector where appropriate, to enhance security at public facilities; and I'll let the Secretary talk about the energy facilities. SECRETARY ABRAHAM: Thanks, Governor. One of the issues that we tried to begin addressing, literally our first month in office, was emergency preparedness. And, obviously, the nature of threats changes, the magnitude of threats can change. But having a significantly enhanced and aggressive emergency response operation at the department has been one of our priorities this year. And I'm happy to report we've made great progress on that even before September 11th. What we're trying to do, obviously, is to work with the private sector, because other than in the area of the nuclear reactor industry, the control and responsibilities are exclusively in the private sector. But we've been working very closely with -- on a very coordinated basis with the various sectors of the energy industries, from the gas and petroleum industry, oil, pipeline industries, electricity generation, electricity transmission and so on. And what we've been doing is trying to do several things: One is to identify priorities. Certainly, all of us can sit around and speculate about possible areas in which problems could occur. Our job has been to set those priorities, working with the private sector. The second thing we've done is to dispatch teams and to work in the ground, which we've already begun doing in key parts of the country based on those priorities with the private sector, with the states and local authorities, to determine what adequate security protection might mean. Finally, we're working with Congress and within the administration to identify some additional authorities that we think would help make this process more effective. You've heard some of that debate already, I think. It ranges from the need to perhaps modify some of the antitrust laws to allow for the pooling of information so that people can share information that relates to security matters, without running afoul of those laws. We also are concerned about making sure that the disclosure requirements that might be involved don't put us in a more vulnerable position because we have to make available to the public through FOIA, or more specifically, people in the world who might wish to do evil, information that could allow that to happen. So we're working on it on a priority basis, I think with a little bit more authority to work on a basis more like that which exists in some sectors we can get this job done. I'm very pleased with the progress we've made since September 11th. GOVERNOR RIDGE: Just one final comment. You should know that the Office of Homeland Security has received -- it's fair to say -- dozens if not hundreds of ideas relative to the application of technology. And we are going to channel them through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and some of them may end up in these national labs. So as I say, the country's desire and willingness to respond and to use technology to enhance our security is robust, it's -- and it's that kind of creative genius that I think we can count on to -- in making our homeland more secure in the years ahead. Q Secretary Abraham, could you comment on yesterday's OPEC cut, and what impact that will have on the domestic U.S. economy in the near term? SECRETARY ABRAHAM: Yes. I'm not sure that there was a cut made yesterday, actually. As I interpreted the actions that were taken, it was, I think, a decision to make a decision at a later time. We have said from the first day of this administration that we believe markets should be allowed to work in the oil sector. We haven't changed from that position. That has been my private, as well as public, message to both OPEC and non-OPEC producer countries. We think that's the best way for prices to be set and we also think it's the most consistent way for us to ensure that we have a growing world economy; and that's a priority. I would just say that the other night, I think Alan Greenspan, in a speech, made a very interesting point. He said that since the 1970s, the overwhelming and profound message with respect to the oil sector is that it's been a story of market power, rather of the power of markets rather than market power. And I share that view, and I think that will continue to be the prevailing way by which the oil sector operates in the future. (Applause.) END 11:28 A.M. EST ***************************************************************** 10 Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Time to give thanks Las Vegas SUN November 16, 2001 Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. NEXT WEEK we give thanks. Today we should spend a little time thinking about why we are thankful. Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays. It is the time of year when themes of family and friends, and expressions of gratefulness for all that we have, take front and center stage over the din of everyday life. This year, because of the lesson we have just re-learned about the fragility of life, we have even more reason to give thanks. But the blessings in life are not free. The ability to gather friends and family around for a celebration like Thanksgiving is not something we should ever have taken, and can never again take, for granted. While we plan our dinners and order the turkeys and go over the guest lists, men and women wearing the uniform of the United States military are searching caves in Afghanistan for the man and his men who brought such sorrow and devastation to the United States on Sept. 11. Most of them will live through the experience to celebrate with their own families. The knowledge that some will not come home, however, must give us pause to reflect on the cost of freedom in the 21st century. Having said all that, I think there are some questions to ponder. Now that it appears that Afghanistan is falling into anti-Taliban hands, what's next? What are we going to do to make sure that country and its people never again aid, abet, play host or give shelter to people who believe that terrorism is acceptable at any level? And after we clean up Afghanistan's act, what is the United States going to do to make sure that our new friends -- many of who remain on the U.S. list of terrorist countries -- dismantle their terrorist networks and remove from their midst the ways and means of wreaking havoc on civilized society? Are we going to bomb Iraq? Invade Syria? Put an end to the double-speak in Saudi Arabia? I admit none of this is great dinner table conversation while carving up the turkey, but we must consider how we feel about these issues as a nation because once bin Laden disappears and Afghanistan is no longer on the radar screen of worrisome nations, the hard questions will come. And the stronger the resolve that exists amongst the people of America, the easier it is going to be for President George W. Bush to make the right decisions in the face of overwhelming international political reasons not to act in the best interests of the United States. On a related subject, I was asked yesterday what I thought about the president's use of military tribunals to deal with captured and accused terrorists. There are many people who legitimately fear the abdication of our justice system in favor of secret trials and far swifter punishment. They think it will diminish us in the eyes of the world as the beacon for democracy and fair play. I have two thoughts: secret trials are not something I relish because, as a citizen, I want to know what our government knows about this terrorist thing. Jailing or executing people under cover of darkness and secret proceedings seems wrong except in the most exceptional circumstances. Secondly, I am a person who believes in wiping the world slate absolutely clean of those who contribute to terrorism, be they individuals or governments. There is no place in that equation for either kind of trial, open or secret. So, my answer is, ask someone else. And way off the subject of terrorism, but directly related to it, is the unfair, oppressive and irresponsible decision that will soon be made by President Bush to send the nation's high-level nuclear waste to Nevada. Forever. Or at least until it gets into the water table, the environment or the hands of some terrorist group looking to spread that deadly mess to the four corners of the earth. The discussion the other night with some Republican friends who claim to know what is happening centered on Gov. Kenny Guinn's chances for re-election if his friend the president chooses Yucca Mountain to bury what the rest of the world doesn't want in its back yard. Remember, it was our good governor who told Nevadans that George Bush was our friend and he felt our pain. Selecting us to be buried under a hundred thousand tons of nuclear garbage doesn't sound like a very friendly act, do you think? Assuming a fait accompli, my friend suggested that we talk about what Nevada should get in return for the nuke waste. My answer was simple. I told him I didn't care since I and my family would no longer be living here when the radioactive garbage rolled through town. It took a night's contemplation to come up with a different solution. If the federal government is hell-bent on doing the worst to those of us who live in Southern Nevada, then it should be willing to pay for the privilege. So far, our government has proved willing to compensate people for terrorist acts by strangers, as we should. So why not write a check for the value of Southern Nevada -- it would be far less than the last tax cut Congress sent and the current one in the works -- to pay for the terror we will endure if that stuff comes our way. I would think $50 billion to $60 billion would cover it. That way the government gets to try its stupid plan of burying nuclear waste in our desert and everyone who lives here gets fairly compensated so they can choose to live somewhere else. Someplace without the warm glow of a disastrous decision yet to prove itself. Just a few questions to ask before we give thanks. I will thank you in advance for your answers. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 United States should heed nuclear warnings Wichita Eagle | In the aftermath of Sept. 11, we discovered that the government had brushed off warnings that this nation was ill-equipped to defend itself against a terrorist attack. Now, we are about to learn whether similarly clear and authoritative warnings about the possibility of Russian nuclear weapons and materials slipping into the hands of terrorists will be treated with the seriousness they deserve. For reasons that seem trivial, and really inexplicable, Bush administration budgeteers are trying to save a few million dollars by holding back a successful, 10-year-old program to assist Russia in securing its vulnerable nuclear materials and assuring that penniless Russian nuclear scientists do not join or assist hostile forces. Under the Nunn-Lugar program, launched in 1991 by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and then-Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., high-energy uranium and plutonium that could have built 5,000 nuclear weapons have been removed from Russian warehouses and "defused." But the same Energy Department special task force that cited that success last January warned that "much more remains to be done (to counter) the most urgent unmet national security threat to the United States, ... the danger that weapons of mass destruction or weapons-usable material in Russia could be stolen and sold to terrorists or hostile nation-states." The authors of this report were neither amateurs nor alarmists. They were Howard H. Baker Jr., the former Senate Republican leader and Reagan White House chief of staff, subsequently named ambassador to Japan, and Lloyd Cutler, White House counsel during the Carter and Clinton administrations. They recommended that the Nunn-Lugar program be increased to the point that all nuclear weapons-usable material in Russia could be secured or neutralized within the next eight to 10 years. That would cost about $30 billion -- just 1 percent of projected defense expenditures. But President Bush's budget last winter proposed cutting overall defense nuclear-nonproliferation programs by $100 million, with roughly $55 million coming out of the programs focused on Russia. The recently passed Energy Department appropriations bill brought the money for Nunn-Lugar to within $10 million of last year's figure, but conferees rejected a move by Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, to boost the program by $131 million. The issue has been faced by the House Appropriations Committee again this week. With bipartisan support for expanding the program, Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., was prepared to put $45 million for Nunn-Lugar into the supplemental spending bill. But when Bush read the riot act to legislators last week about staying within his overall budget limits, even threatening his first veto, Young cut back the proposal to $18 million. Spending discipline is important. But if a terrorist ever slips a suitcase nuclear weapon, with stolen Russian materials, into the United States, we will rue the day the government decided this was a good place to economize. David Broder is a columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. © The Wichita Eagle ***************************************************************** 12 Nuclear reactions - Jane's International Security News 15 November 2001 By Darren Lake JDW Staff Reporter London Governments in the West are re-evaluating the dangers of nuclear terrorism. The demonstration on 11 September of a terrorist group willing and able to perpetrate an act of 'mass terrorism' has made the remote possibility of such an act a more immediate and justifiable concern to Western governments. The dangers of nuclear or radiological terrorism are largely threefold. Arguably the worst-case scenario, but also the least likely, is a terrorist organisation procuring enough material and expertise to manufacture a nuclear device. Evidence suggests that some groups, including Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, have attempted to obtain such material (JDW 31 October). The IAEA notes that since 1993 there have been 175 cases of trafficking in nuclear material, but only 18 of these cases have involved quantities of HEU or plutonium. The question of whether terrorists would be able to weaponise such material is not clear, however. The second strand of threat, and possibly the one that governments in the West are now most concerned about, is an unconventional attack on a country's nuclear facilities with the purpose of effecting widespread contamination. The possibility that terrorists may attempt to crash aircraft into such facilities has led to the implementation of a series of measures to deter/defend against such attacks. Air-exclusion zones have been placed around more than 86 nuclear sites that have been identified as possible targets in the USA. Some countries are also deploying surface-to-air missiles at some of the potentially more dangerous sites. The third and possibly most likely threat is the danger of terrorists combining conventional explosives and nuclear or radiological material to create 'dirty bombs'. Terrorists could encase nuclear material within explosives that on detonation would spread radiological contamination. Sources of such radioactive material are far more widespread, with radioactive materials used in many areas of industry, agriculture and medicine. 298 of 971 words © 2001 Jane's Information Group. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 13 Security doesn't impede IAAPcleanup The Hawk Eye Newspaper November 16, 2001 Iowa Time: 11:43 PM By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye • Only minor delays at ammo plant reported. MIDDLETOWN -- Except for a few minor delays, the heightened alert status at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant has had little effect on the Superfund cleanup at the plant, environmental restoration officials said Thursday. "It's not affecting things very much," said IAAP operations manger Leon Baxter. "Neither the long-range or short-range goals." Baxter and Rodger Allison, environmental projects director, acknowledged minor delays because of increased security checks of vehicles and workers entering the plant compound. "We are doing the best we can to accommodate people ... and still meet the (cleanup) deadlines," Baxter said. He declined to be more specific about the increased security checks. "I can't talk about that," he said. Scott Marquess, cleanup projects manager for the Environmental Protection Agency, said that for a short while after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, contractors were denied access to some of the soil treatment areas, but that was resolved within a few days. "That was a short-term thing, and it has now been completed," Marquess said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the middle of a 15-year, $100 million-plus cleanup of the IAAP overseen by the EPA. The bulk of the restoration involves excavation, storage and treatment of hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of soil and water sources -- on and off the plant -- that were contaminated with explosives, heavy metals and other hazardous materials during decades of munitions production. In addition, the Department of Energy has conducted preliminary assessments to determine whether further cleanup is necessary of areas contaminated with radiological and other hazards by the Atomic Energy Commission. That report is due next month, Allison said. It could open more sources of funding for the cleanup. The AEC manufactured, assembled and tested nuclear weapons components at the plant from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s. In its early years, the IAAP was the only U.S. facility assembling nuclear weapons. Allison said cleanup work at or near the plant includes determining the size of a plume of explosives-contaminated underground water southeast of the plant near U.S. 61, and sampling for chemical contamination at two firing sites used by the AEC to test components of nuclear bombs. That's in addition to the DOE testing at the same firing sites for radiological contamination, Allison said. Large chunks and smaller shards of depleted uranium previously were discovered at the two sites. The depleted uranium -- the material remaining when more dangerous radioisotopes are removed from fissionable uranium -- was used to test fire atomic weapons parts. It is expected that the plant's Restoration Advisory Board, a committee of citizens and regulators who monitor the cleanup, will be briefed on the latest cleanup operations at its next meeting, 5 p.m. Nov. 29 in the ballroom of The Burlington, 206 N. Third St. In a related matter, plant manager Ken Karr said Thursday that the war in Afghanistan did not affect munitions production. "We have really not seen any change," Karr said. "We have not seen increased orders." He noted that earlier this year the Defense Department did increase its orders for artillery weaponry, which created about 80 jobs at the plant. The civilian payroll at the plant stands at about 950 workers, Karr said. The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk · 319-754-6824 FAX · 1-800-397-1708 Toll Free ***************************************************************** 14 Energy Secretary views ORNL technology Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:54 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2001 Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on Thursday hosted Tom Ridge, director of the White House Office of Homeland Security, on a tour of some of the counter-terrorism technologies developed at the Department of Energy laboratories. Over two dozen technologies from around the country were on display. Among the technologies were two from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to information from ORNL. The Block II Chemical Biological Mass Spectrometer program, developed by scientist Wayne Griest, can detect both biological and chemical warfare agents in the midst of pollen, mold spores, engine exhaust, and fumes from fuels, lubricants and fires. The RAMan Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS), the creation of scientist Tuan Vo-Dihn, is the first battery-operated portable device with tunable filters and performance comparable to that of laboratory-scale instruments designed to analyze chemicals in the environment. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 15 Opinion - A Summit That Is Not All About Concessions - The St. Petersburg Times. General news from St.Petersburg and Russia #722, Friday, November 16, 2001 IN the days and weeks leading up to President Vladimir Putin's summit with President George W. Bush, the focus was on the future of the ABM Treaty and on what essentially would be a START III, an agreement to cut strategic nuclear arsenals. Officials shuttled back and forth between Washington and Moscow, hinting after each meeting that the two sides were getting closer. Putin came out over the weekend and told American journalists that he was "very optimistic" a compromise could be found on the ABM Treaty, which forbids the U.S. to develop a national missile-defense shield. And U.S. officials indicated that Bush was prepared to agree to a Russian proposal to slash the number of warheads held by both countries by as much as two-thirds. At the same time, Bush's national security advisor, Condoleeza Rice, cautioned that no specific deal could be expected from the three-day visit: "Not every meeting has to be accompanied, like the old summits were with the Soviet Union, by arms-control agreements." Rice went on to say that the Russian-U.S. relationship "is larger than the security relationship. And so economic relations are important, political relations are important. This is a very different relationship now." Rice is right. The relationship is larger than the security relationship. And while Russia has long pushed Washington for a drastic reduction in strategic arms, Putin now wants more. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Putin made a series of gestures to the United States. In standing firmly behind the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign, he opened the way for the deployment of U.S. troops in central Asia. He promised to close Russia's listening post in Cuba and naval base in Vietnam, two symbols of its past influence in the world. We could argue that these steps were not concessions to the United States, but pragmatic moves that furthered Russia's own interests. (Notice that Putin did not bow to the West at all over Iraq or Iran.) But that is not how Putin's actions have been seen by Russia's military and political elite, who fear that, once again, Russia is giving without getting anything in return. In order to overcome the discontent, Putin needs to come back from the United States with some tangible results. What Putin wants is U.S. support for redefining Russia's relationship with NATO and for putting Russia on track to join the World Trade Organization. Effective support on both issues is well within Washington's power, and here, too, we could argue that we're not talking about concessions to a former foe. Integrating Russia into the West economically and politically would do more for U.S. security than any deal on NMD. This comment originally appeared as an editorial in The Moscow Times on Nov. 13. [Copyright] copyright The St. Petersburg Times 2001 ***************************************************************** 16 Nuclear Cleanup Pact Reached ctnow.com: CONNECTICUT November 16, 2001 By GARY LIBOW, Courant Staff Writer The Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. has reached an agreement with the state on a plan requiring the company to better identify and clean up contamination at its former nuclear power plant site in Haddam. The deal announced Thursday requires the company to identify areas with possible residual radiological contamination as part of the plan it must file before its license with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission can be terminated. The license must be terminated before the federal government releases the land for reuse. Connecticut Yankee agreed to conduct more intensive radiological surveys of areas likely to be tainted. The company must also thoroughly survey and remove buried pipes that could be contaminated. The state raised concerns in April when the Department of Public Utility Control questioned the plan to disassemble the plant and restore the site. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the DPUC petitioned the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to schedule hearings on the environmental issues. "This settlement fills unacceptable gaps in the plan originally submitted by Connecticut Yankee necessary to protect our state," Blumenthal said. "It provides for a thorough, systemic review of all known radiologic leaks that occurred at the Haddam Neck facility over the years. Contaminated areas must be identified and cleaned up and CY must provide a blueprint and plan for disposal of contamination." DPUC attorney Randall Speck demanded that the historic site assessment be included in the proposed license termination plan, arguing contamination had not been controlled at the Haddam Neck site. The plant was licensed in 1967. It was shut in 1996, 11 years ahead of its license schedule, amid safety concerns. Plant operators decided the reactor was too costly to run. Decommissioning, cleanup and fuel storage are expected to cost $500 million and be completed in 2004. In a statement Thursday, Connecticut Yankee said it welcomes the additional steps requested by the state. "We're pleased that by working through a formal federal hearing process we were able to resolve the state's concerns," company spokesperson Kelley Smith said. "This is a major step forward in reaching a shared goal to complete decommissioning and release the CY site for unrestricted use." ctnow.com is Copyright © 2001 by The Hartford Courant ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************