***************************************************************** 10/18/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.245 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 German power mkt has reserves if N-plants shut - VDEW 2 Nuclear power plant warms Finnish wine production 3 France protect nuclear plant 4 France shuts 2 nuclear reactors for work Oct 14 week 5 Concerns Rise Over Safety of A-Plants 6 New York stations troops at nuclear power plants 7 Court agrees that workers should get overtime pay from TVA - 8 Whistleblower's suspension costs Ashtabula firm 9 Train hauling N-waste awaits clearance to go 10 2 Airports Shut on Nuke Plant Threat 11 Gov't eyes BNPP site as garbage dump 12 Decades of DOE research now Web accessible 13 Ukraine pays Russian firms direct for nuke waste imports 14 Kazakhstan should reconsider nuclear power station project - 15 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: Notice of Public Hearings 16 KOREA'S OUTPUT OF NUCLEAR INDUSTRY AT 1.8% OF GDP IN 2000 17 Court denies TVA appeal in OT case 18 Bulgarian nuclear reactor back in action after "minor 19 Opinion: Energy Department rigged hearing on Yucca Mountain - 20 Yucca Panel Tonight 21 Nuclear energy expert nominated as assistant secretary of defense 22 Latvia, Ukraine to cooperate in area of nuclear safety 23 Radionuclide Transport in the Environment: Draft Research Program 24 Gift from ambulance firm a boost for Chernobyl fund 25 Letters: Nuclear energy not `secure' NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 ORNL readies tool to detect hazards 2 Are Russian nuclear weapons a terrorist threat? 3 Norwegian experts confirm normal radiation levels in Barents Sea 4 Nuclear attack least likely scenario 5 Test Site workers' claims accepted 6 ORNL extends education outreach 7 Buyer discusses U.S. use of nuclear device 8 UN: Risk of unauthorized nuclear-weapon use, Middle East security 9 Health research funded at IAAP 10 Interior bill funds energy research at ORNL 11 PACE ratifies five-year contract for K-25 work 12 Y-12 employees cautioned on exposure information 13 Public comments on possible lift of scrap metal ban 14 Opinion - Joanne Gailar: Re-experiencing '60s threat to survival 15 Uranium reactor stockpiles falling-ERA 16 Outstanding DOE-Funded Research Recognized **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 German power mkt has reserves if N-plants shut - VDEW Planet Ark Environmental News: GERMANY: October 18, 2001 FRANKFURT - Germany's electricity producers have tightened security at nuclear plants and reviewed alternatives in case individual plants are switched off for security reasons, industry association VDEW said yesterday. "The power industry has reserve capacity for times of crisis and it can reactivate idled plants," a VDEW spokeswoman said from the association's Berlin headquarters. "In the meantime, the security of installations and checks on staff have been stepped up twice, but of course the details are unpublishable," she said in response to an enquiry. Germany's 19 nuclear plants, which supply one third of the country's electricity, have been assessing safety intensely since the September 11 attacks on the United States. As Germany has pledged support for the subsequent U.S. action against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The spokeswoman said the industry wanted to preempt exaggerated fears but at the same time did not want to make light of possible risks, which also applied to other European countries with a high proportion of nuclear energy. France relies on nuclear for three quarters of its power needs, Belgium for 60 percent and Sweden has a 45 percent share. Replacing nuclear energy in the 500 billion kilowatt hour market with other energy sources such as coal would be more expensive and harm the environment, she said. This would result in clashes with Germany's declared political target to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. COMMISSION POINTS TO SECURITY RISKS Her remarks came in the context of a preliminary report on recommended safety enhancements presented by a group of atomic scientists to environment minister Juergen Trittin this week. Trittin, who commissioned the report in the wake of the September 11 events, has said nuclear plants could be switched off if there were signs of possible attacks. The group, called the national commission on nuclear reactor safety (RSK), said there was only limited protection against deliberate suicide attacks as in the U.S. Because only new plants were equipped to withstand military fighter plane crashes, it recommended the improvement of anti-aircraft defence systems as a measure to reduce risks. Trittin this week commissioned further analysis of necessary physical enhancements to the plants' structure and of possible uncontrolled nuclear reactions. The RSK had found that if endangered plants closed immediately, there would still be a risks of high radioactive contamination because the removal of fuel elements would take several months and container capacity was limited. The Social-Democrat/Green government coalition has said the September events will not speed up German plans to phase out nuclear energy by the early 2020s. Non-governmental organisations have called for an immediate shut-down of all plants since the events. Story by Vera Eckert REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 2 Nuclear power plant warms Finnish wine production Ananova - A nuclear power plant in south west Finland should soon be producing wine with its electricity. Waste coolant water which is safely heated during power generation is being pumped to newly planted vineyards. The recycled water flows through a network of underground pipes, warming the soil and the vine roots before flowing out to sea. Vine is being used which can survive north European winters as long as its roots are kept warm. Around 150 vines have been planted at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant which should one day produce a between 500 and 800 gallons of wine. Grapes don't grow naturally in Finland so local wines have been traditionally made from berries. If the experiment works, the first full vintage of "Chateau Olkiluoto" should be ready within the next few years. Reijo Sundell, manager of the plant's environmental office, said: "We will get a little wine next summer but more after two or three years. "We are not yet sure how we will market it but it is quite good for a nuclear power plant to show that we are concerned with green issues." Story filed: 11:51 Thursday 18th October 2001 Copyright © 2001 Ananova Ltd ***************************************************************** 3 France protect nuclear plant online.ie 18 Oct 2001 France has revealed they are protecting the nuclear processing plant at Cherbourg with ground-to-air missiles. This is believed to be in response to fears of further terrorist attacks. It is claimed if an airliner were to strike the building, the effects would be 50 times worse than the Chernobyl disaster. ***************************************************************** 4 France shuts 2 nuclear reactors for work Oct 14 week Planet Ark Environmental News: FRANCE: October 18, 2001 PARIS - France said two nuclear power reactors were shut last week for repairs, bringing the total number of plant outages to 13 out of 59 plants, the French industry ministry said. The B1 reactor at the 1,400 megawatt Chooz plant in Chalons en Champagne in the northeast was shut on October 13 to inspect a primary pump joint, the ministry said in its data released for the week October 8-14. Its second reactor was working normally. Also on the same day, the reactor no. 3 at 900 MW Tricastin plant in Lyon in the southeast, was shut for a 10-yearly check, refuelling and to replace a vapour generator. The other three reactors were still in service. The same week saw the restart at two plants, the ministry said. Orlean's 900 MW Chinon plant restarted its B4 reactor on October 14 after it was stopped on October 4 to inspect its principal transformer, while in Lyon, the 1,300 MW St. Albans plant restarted after a 5-day shutdown. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 5 Concerns Rise Over Safety of A-Plants October 18, 2001 By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD he decision by the United States Coast Guard to end round-the-clock patrols off the Indian Point nuclear power plants has intensified mounting concerns over how well the plants are protected from terrorist attacks. With boats and crew members strained by constant patrols since the Sept. 11 attack, the Coast Guard said this week that it would end 24- hour patrols in the Hudson River on Monday and instead periodically watch the plants by boat and air. The guard had been augmenting riverfront patrols conducted by Entergy Corporation, which operates the Indian Point 2 and 3 reactors along the water in Buchanan, N.Y., 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. That decision drew complaints from a broad range of people, including United States Representative Sue W. Kelly, a Republican whose district includes the plants; Senator Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat; and Greenpeace, which has long raised questions about the safety of the nuclear industry. "When the federal government says more terrorist attacks are likely, the Coast Guard decision is misguided and unwise," said Mrs. Kelly, who has written to the guard's senior commanders in protest. After Sept. 11, a number of officials and nuclear watchdog groups called for stepped up security at Indian Point, which is in the most densely populated area around any nuclear power plant in the country. Some 20 million people live within a 50-mile radius of the plants. Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, a Rockland County Republican whose district is near the Indian Point plants, said the Federal Aviation Administration should bar flights at least over Indian Point, if not over all nuclear plants. Immediately after Sept. 11, all of the nation's 103 active reactors were put on the highest state of alert. That meant more restricted access to the plants and more security patrols from teams of on-site armed guards. As part of the response, Gov. George E. Pataki ordered National Guard troops to help patrol New York State's six nuclear reactors. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing security at the plants and evaluating how safe they are from airborne attacks. Last Thursday, the N.R.C. shut down its Web site to remove information on nuclear plants that it believed a terrorist might find valuable. A direct hit from a commercial jetliner would not cause a nuclear explosion, officials at the N.R.C. said. Rather, the danger would come from the release of high levels of radiation caused by a break in the protective barriers that seal in radiation produced by reactors. The nuclear reactors are housed deep within containment buildings made of reinforced concrete several feet thick and designed to withstand a hurricane, earthquake or tornado. The N.R.C., however, said it had not analyzed how the containment buildings would hold up under a direct hit from a large commercial airliner. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear watchdog group based in Washington, said a more pressing concern was not the containment building, but the less protected stockpile of spent radioactive reactor fuel stored at most plants. This fuel, stored in pools of water for cooling and containment of radiation, is typically in buildings not nearly as sturdy as containment buildings. In a bulletin last month, the Union of Concerned Scientists said a crack in the pool lining from a missile or aircraft could cause the radioactive water to leak. Spent fuel is sometimes stored in dry casks, sometimes in plain view, and the group contends that these casks can be vulnerable to explosives and other weapons. The N.R.C. said it was examining such concerns. Officials with Entergy, the operator of Indian Point 2 and 3 and owner of the long-defunct Indian Point 1, said they believed the containment buildings and the structures housing spent fuel could withstand an airplane crash. Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy, said other security measures had been added to hinder an airborne attack, but he declined to discuss them in detail. "For people concerned about a plane crashing into Indian Point, they should know it is much less likely now than before Sept. 11, and certain protections by federal agencies have been implemented," Mr. Steets said. He said the company believed the spent fuel was adequately protected. Questions also persist on how well the area around Indian Point could be evacuated if a major leak occurred. The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave the plants passing marks on their most recent emergency drills, in May 1999. Critics, however, have long maintained that an orderly mass evacuation, which could include New York City, is virtually impossible. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 6 New York stations troops at nuclear power plants Planet Ark Environmental News: USA: October 18, 2001 NEW YORK - U.S. National Guard troops this week patrolled six nuclear power plants in New York after Gov. George Pataki ordered their deployment to protect against potential attacks. Already posted at tunnels, bridges, train stations, and airports, members of the National Guard will be stationed at the nuclear plants "as long as needed" to help state and local police guard the facilities, Pataki said. The deployment comes as government officials and the public have become concerned about the safety of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants in the wake of the Sept 11. hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington. As a precaution, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has temporarily shut down its Web site to review its contents and remove anything that might prove a safety risk. New Jersey has also ordered National Guardsmen to protect its reactors. But other states have yet to deploy troops at their reactors, experts said, warning that a successful attack on a plant could kill thousands and spread radioactive contamination over hundreds of miles (km). Steve Dolley, the research director at the Nuclear Control Institute, a research center specializing in problems of nuclear proliferation and safety, said such an attack could come from a hijacked airplane, a truck bomb or a "commando style raid." "It's very difficult to determine how safe these plants are right now, based on information in the public domain," he said, adding "we hope that governors in other states will take similar measures." New York's troop deployment was not connected to any specific threat. But given "general threats being made by terrorist groups, it is a prudent action to augment and enhance the high level of security that is currently being maintained," Pataki said. At the Indian Point nuclear plant, located about 20 miles (32 km) north of New York City on the Hudson River, the troops come in addition to a series of security measures taken since last month's hijacked airplane attacks on the United States. Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy Corp. which owns the Indian Point plant, would not comment on details of the additional security. But he said, "Imagine every possible way you can get into this plant, as authorized personnel, a visitor, a member of the media, and understand that every way you could have gotten into the plant in the past has changed." Along with Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Reactors 2 and 3, troops are stationed at Nine Mile 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants, the James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant and Ginna Nuclear Power Plant. Pataki ordered the deployment of troops from the National Guard's 27th Brigade over the weekend. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 7 Court agrees that workers should get overtime pay from TVA - Thursday, 10/18/01 KNOXVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court yesterday upheld a lower court ruling that the Tennessee Valley Authority should compensate some nuclear plant employees who sued over the loss of overtime pay. Employees at Watts Bar and Sequoyah nuclear plants sued after they stopped receiving overtime pay in June 1996. U.S. Magistrate Robert P. Murrian ruled in 1999 that TVA willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by stopping overtime payment and ordered the agency to compensate 20 employees for every hour of overtime they were owed. Those positions at the plants have since been eliminated. TVA appealed the decision. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reviewed the case and yesterday affirmed Murrian's decision. The agency said the employees were exempt from overtime provisions because they held management positions. Nine of the employees were lieutenants and nine were shift supervisors with TVA's security forces, and two others were involved with security operations. Murrian determined that these employees should not be considered exempt administrative workers based on their job descriptions, and the appeals court agreed. TVA officials received a copy of the decision yesterday and were reviewing, spokesman Gil Francis said. He could not say whether TVA would file another appeal. © Copyright 2001 The Tennessean ***************************************************************** 8 Whistleblower's suspension costs Ashtabula firm 10/17/01 James Lawless Plain Dealer Reporter Ashtabula - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined the former RMI Environmental Services $17,600 for suspending an employee after he complained about the company's safety practices. RMI, now Earthline Technologies, put a radiation protection technician on involuntary leave after he complained about the handling of radioactive pipe. The NRC doubled the fine because RMI did not take corrective steps relating to the violations, according to James Dyer, the commission's Chicago regional administrator. The NRC found RMI responsible because a supervisor deliberately disposed of the contaminated pipe. The company was not fined over the issue of disposal of the pipe because RMI took quick steps to retrieve the pipe. Earthline has until Oct. 24 to pay the fine or protest it. James Henderson, Earthline division manager, could not be reached for comment. The technician, James Lewis, said he was forced to resign after he reported to the NRC that RMI Titanium, a subsidiary of RMI Environmental Services, had sold 65 six-foot sections of uranium-contaminated drainpipe to a Conneaut scrap dealer. The NRC found the pipe contained six times the allowable limit of radiation for public use. Lewis said that after he threatened to tell the NRC about the pipe, RMI employees returned it to the company's property. Lewis sued RMI, saying he was ostracized and forced to resign and asking for $150,000. The suit is pending. RMI Titanium is undergoing a $188 million environmental cleanup after many years of work as a Department of Energy weapons-program contractor. Contact James Lawless at: jlawless@plaind.com, 440-602-4776 © 2001 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Train hauling N-waste awaits clearance to go Buffalo News - WEST VALLEY News Staff Reporter 10/17/01 The train that was scheduled to carry high-level nuclear waste from the West Valley Demonstration Project to Idaho may yet begin that journey before the snow flies. The shipment, which was postponed by the U.S. Department of Energy after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., could be rescheduled, Alice C. Williams, director of the project for the DOE, said Tuesday. "We have not been told we cannot ship this year," she said. "Obviously, it's more complicated than it was a few months ago." There are some impediments to a shipment. In light of the terrorist attacks, authorities along the 2,360-mile route are re-examining security procedures to minimize the possibility of disruption. The specially engineered casks that hold the 125 spent nuclear fuel rods cannot be shipped if the temperature dips below minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, Williams said. And contracts with some of the four railroads that are hauling the waste were scheduled to expire at the end of the month. Williams said those contracts will have to be renegotiated. "Any time you are extending a subcontract, it's not a trivial thing in most cases," she said. However, the obstacles "are not insurmountable," Williams said. "Everybody in the DOE is committed to this shipment, and nobody is saying we have to rethink" the decision to move the waste to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls. If the shipment does not begin sometime before the year's coldest weather begins, Williams said the casks will have to be taken off the rail cars they are now on and stored inside for the winter. Such a task would involve "heavy lifts with a crane to get the casks off the cars, and (indoor) work space we would be doing other things with will be taken up by the casks," Williams said. As was the case before Sept. 11, project authorities aren't expected to announce when the shipment will leave West Valley, for security reasons. In an unrelated West Valley matter, the contractor doing the work, West Valley Nuclear Services, has reached a settlement with the state over back taxes a state court ruled the company owed. The ruling said the contractor improperly used a sales tax exemption from 1985 to 1990 and owed $842,000 in back taxes. But because West Valley Nuclear Services used the same exemption from 1990 to 1999, theoretically it might have owed millions more. West Valley Nuclear Services spokesman Terry Dunford declined to divulge the terms of the settlement, saying it was an internal company matter. e-mail: jbonfatti@buffnews.com Copyright © 1999 - 2001 The Buffalo NewsTM ***************************************************************** 10 2 Airports Shut on Nuke Plant Threat Las Vegas SUN Today: October 18, 2001 at 7:20:26 PDT HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A threat against the Three Mile Island nuclear plant prompted two nearby airports to close for four hours, until the threat was discredited, a federal official said Thursday. The plant remained on high alert, though the reactor was shut down earlier this month for maintenance. Military aircraft patrolled area skies and the FBI and state police watched over the plant, site of the nation's worst commercial nuclear accident. "It was a real threat, and we handle it the same way as if (the reactor) was up and running," said Maria Smith, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Authorities said the threat came Wednesday night but released no other details. Harrisburg International Airport and Lancaster Airport reopened at 1 a.m. Thursday. Officials had no timetable to lift the additional security at Three Mile Island. Security had already been increased since Sept. 11 and was heightened again after Wednesday's threat. Three Mile Island was the only nuclear power plant threatened, plant spokesman Ralph DeSantis said. The airport shutdown had been part of a temporary flight restriction that extended for a 20-mile radius around the Harrisburg airport, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. Three Mile Island is located just outside Harrisburg. In 1979, the plant was the site of America's worst commercial nuclear accident when about a third of the nuclear fuel melted inside a reactor and radiation leaked into the atmosphere. On the Net: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 Gov't eyes BNPP site as garbage dump MB - Thursday, 18 October 2001 By MYRNA M. VELASCO The government is looking into the possibility of converting the site of the idled Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into a garbage dumpsite, to finally give a solution to the worsening garbage problem, particularly in Metro Manila. Energy secretary Vincent S. Perez bared the BNPP site was considered after President Arroyo expressed determination to fix the metropolis' garbage problem soon. The energy department earlier proposed several options on the plant's conversion, but Perez said they would give way to whatever the President is planning to do with it. The most recent plan was to transform the mothballed power station into a natural gas-fired electricity generating facility, as this is seen as the cleanest fuel option. Studies indicated that it could be converted into a 1,700megawatt facility, making it the largest natural gas-fired plant in the country. It was, likewise, noted that total consumption of natural gas over 25-year period would be at 2.5 trillion cubic feet; more than half the entire projected resource from the Malampaya natural gas fired facility. The study also found out that the installation of the gas turbines could be completed in 18 months, but the construction of the steam generators and carrying out modifications to the existing plant would take another 24 months. By making use of the site as a garbage landfill, the government is hopeful that it could finally provide medium-term solution to the garbage problem, which is now posing threat to the public's health. President Arroyo earlier signed the Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 or Republic Act 9003, which deals firmly with the mountains of trash in Metro Manila and is aimed at arresting similar problems throughout the country. The law also establishes mechanisms of waste minimization, resource recovery, appropriate collection and transport services, and environmentally sound treatment and disposal of garbage. It, likewise, provides for mandatory segregation of waste at the household level with collection vehicles having the appropriate compartments for the sorted wastes. The law prohibits open dumping of solid wastes and the establishment of sanitary landfills for final disposal. Copyright © 2000 Manila Bulletin, ***************************************************************** 12 Decades of DOE research now Web accessible Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:16 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 The Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information recently announced its latest Web-based application -- the Energy Citations Database, which provides easier and faster access to bibliographic records of DOE's scientific and technical information from 1948 to the present, with links to electronic full text when available. This product is publicly available without charge to users and contains approximately 2 million bibliographic records for energy and energy-related information from DOE and its predecessor agencies, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration. Energy Citations Database, located at www.osti.gov/energycitations, encompasses information from disciplines of interest to the DOE such as chemistry, physics, environmental science and several other areas. It includes citations to the various forms of literature used to announce DOE's research results, including report literature, conference papers, journal articles, books, dissertations, and patents. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 13 Ukraine pays Russian firms direct for nuke waste imports [ITAR/TASS News Agency] Story Filed: Thursday, October 18, 2001 7:19 AM EST KIEV, Oct 18, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- In a new development, Ukraine this year settles its accounts directly with the Russian nuclear waste processing companies, said Yuri Nedashkovski, president of the Ukrainian national atomic energy company Energoatom. It has already paid 16 million US dollars to the nuclear plant Mayak at Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk region, and the Krasnoyarsk mining and processing plant that recycle its waste nuclear fuel. This is only one half of what it is due to pay, however.The Russian enterprises can normally charge between 28 and 32 million US dollars for the four consignments already delivered to Russia, Nedashkovski said. In November and December, Ukrainian power plants will send two more consignments of waste fuel to Russia. By Vitaly Matarykin (c) 1996-2001 ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Kazakhstan should reconsider nuclear power station project - premier BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 18, 2001 Text of report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency Astana, 18 October: Kazakhstan should be in no hurry to build a nuclear power station near Balkhash Lake (central Karaganda Region), Kazakh Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev believes. Speaking in the parliament today, he said that the project should first be studied thoroughly since on the one hand there are inherent environmental risks whilst on the other it is expedient from the economic point of view. As was reported, earlier the Kazakh government excluded the project from the blueprint for the development of the republic's nuclear sector. Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 1024 gmt 18 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material ***************************************************************** 15 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: Notice of Public Hearings [Canadian Corporate News] Story Filed: Tuesday, October 16, 2001 5:09 PM EST OTTAWA, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 16, 2001 (CCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announces a two-day public hearing on an application by TRIUMF of Vancouver, British Columbia, for a new Class I Operating Licence under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and Regulations for the particle accelerator facilities at TRIUMF. Hearing Day One: December 13, 2001 Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario Hearing Day Two: February 28, 2002 Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario Public hearings begin at 8:30 am and follow the order listed in the agenda published prior to the hearing dates. The public is invited to participate either by oral presentation or written submission on Hearing Day Two. Requests to participate and text of oral presentations or written submissions must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission by January 29, 2002. c/o Carmen Ellyson Commission Operations Officer Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission 280 Slater St., P.O. Box 1046 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5S9 Tel.: (613) 996-2026 or 1-800-668-5284 Fax: (613) 995-5086 E-mail: interventions@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca Members of the public are welcome to observe public hearings. For current agendas and information on the hearing process, visit the CNSC web site: www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca CONTACT: Carmen Ellyson (613) 996-2026 or 1-800-668-5284 Copyright (C) 2001, Canadian Corporate News. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 KOREA'S OUTPUT OF NUCLEAR INDUSTRY AT 1.8% OF GDP IN 2000 [Asia Pulse] Story Filed: Tuesday, October 16, 2001 9:43 PM EST SEOUL, Oct 17, 2001 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- Nuclear energy output last year accounted for 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product, or 9.4 trillion won (US$7.3 billion), the Science and Technology Ministry said Wednesday. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Nuclear Energy Industry Council, nuclear energy output amounted to 9.49 trillion won last year, up 8.3 per cent from 1999, accounting for 1.8 per cent of GDP. Electricity produced by the Korea Electric Power Corp. at its nuclear power plants amounted to 7.57 trillion won and other suppliers and nuclear energy consuming organizations accounted for 1.91 trillion won. A total of 32,395 personnel worked for organizations related to nuclear energy fields last year, up 4.2 per cent from the previous year, including 20,646 employed by nuclear energy suppliers and nuclear energy consuming organizations. Another 11,749 were employed by organizations using radiation. Last year, 45 cases of nuclear technology import valued at 13.5 billion won were recorded, with 35 cases of nuclear export worth 15 billion. A nuclear industry survey has been conducted every year since 1996. This year it included 1,242 nuclear energy related organizations such as installation construction firms, nuclear energy generating firms, equipment manufacturers, research and educational institutes. (Yonhap) (C) 2001 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd ***************************************************************** 17 Court denies TVA appeal in OT case Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:38 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 KNOXVILLE (AP) -- A federal appeals court upheld on Wednesday a lower court ruling that the Tennessee Valley Authority should compensate some nuclear plant employees who sued over the loss of overtime pay. Employees at Watts Bar and Sequoyah nuclear plants sued after they stopped receiving overtime pay in June 1996. U.S. Magistrate Robert P. Murrian ruled in 1999 that TVA willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by stopping overtime payment and ordered the agency to compensate 20 employees for every hour of overtime they were owed. Those positions at the plants have since been eliminated. TVA appealed the decision. It contended the employees were exempt from overtime provisions because they held management positions. Nine of the employees were lieutenants and nine were shift supervisors with TVA's security forces, and two others were involved with security operations. Murrian determined these employees should not be considered exempt administrative workers based on their job descriptions, and the appeals court agreed. TVA officials received a copy of the decision on Wednesday and were reviewing, spokesman Gil Francis said. He could not say whether TVA would file another appeal. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 18 Bulgarian nuclear reactor back in action after "minor deficiency" repaired BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 18, 2001 Text of report in English by Bulgarian news agency BTA web site Sofia, 18 October: The 440 MW Unit 2 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant regained its maximum-control level of operation at 6 p.m. [1500 gmt] Wednesday [17 October], following a 41-hour scheduled repair sanctioned by the Central Operation Control Department to make up a minor deficiency, the plant's press centre said Thursday. The unit's turbogenerator 4 was brought back on stream at 11.26 p.m. Wednesday. The unit is undergoing a gradual recharge scheme before it resumes nominal capacity. Source: BTA web site, Sofia, in English 18 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 19 Opinion: Energy Department rigged hearing on Yucca Mountain - By Abby Johnson Wednesday, October 17, 2001 BY ABBY JOHNSON For the Appeal The Pandora's Box of terrorism mayhem is now wide open. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks should have been a wake-up call for the U.S. Department of Energy and its secretary Spencer Abraham in their relentless pursuit of a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. DOE needs to heed warnings, which they've heard from the public for years, that nuclear waste transportation shipments are vulnerable to terrorism and sabotage. It's too bad it takes a savage act of terrorism to force DOE to listen to common sense. What about the many legitimate concerns that Yucca Mountain opponents have raised over the years? Does there need to be an earthquake before that threat is taken seriously? Does the ground water have to be contaminated with radioactivity before DOE acknowledges the problem of fast moving water? Does there need to be an actual attack on a nuclear waste shipment before DOE rethinks the wisdom of transcontinental nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain? DOE has just finished 29 mini-hearings in every Nevada county and Inyo County, Calif. These poorly announced comment sessions were a belated attempt by the Department of Energy to make up for scheduling only three real hearings to ask citizens what they think about a repository at Yucca Mountain. I attended the first full hearing on Sept. 5 in Las Vegas. DOE bungled the hearing, leaving Jane and John Q. Public to wonder how the federal agency could be trusted to handle the safe transportation and disposal of nuclear waste. The Secretary of Energy is required by law to "hold public hearings in the vicinity of the Yucca Mountain site, for the purposes of informing the residents of the area of such consideration (of Yucca Mountain as a repository) and receiving their comments regarding the possible recommendation of such site." Here's how DOE handled that directive, which was issued to them 14 years ago, in 1987. They initially scheduled only three hearings, interpreting "in the vicinity of the site" as Las Vegas, Amargosa Valley and Pahrump. When Sen. Harry Reid requested hearings in Reno, Carson City and Elko, DOE added video-conferencing of the Sept. 5 hearing at those remote sites rather than full hearings. At DOE's well-guarded and obscure Nevada Test Site Operations Office, an overflow crowd of 500 packed the hearing room and the adjacent cafeteria where observers could watch the spectacle on big screens. It soon became clear that DOE had rigged the hearing to ensure that pro-dump speakers dominated the early time slots in Las Vegas. Apparently, DOE staff signed up speakers by telephone but did not tell the general public that they could preregister to speak. After the governor, the congressional delegation and the spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone Nation spoke, six of the first nine speakers favored the project, and none were the ordinary Nevada citizens who showed up wanting to be heard. At 9 p.m., a "Yucca yes" union man (speaker No. 11), endorsing the project for its great jobs, irked the woman next to me (No. 117). "I'm in the AFL-CIO union too, and our local doesn't support the Yucca Mountain project," she said. "I asked my husband to stay with the kids tonight so I could come and speak, but with this number, I won't be able to speak. My ride leaves at 10 p.m. and then I have to go to work." Families with children couldn't stay - the kids had to get to bed. It was after 10 o'clock when Las Vegans who had not preregistered by telephone were permitted to speak for five minutes each. DOE did provide a court reporter in a separate room to take testimony from those who had to leave. But as one speaker observed: it's supposed to be a hearing, where people are heard. Secretary of Energy Abraham heard no one. He sent a deputy to listen for him. The hearing ended at 2:15 a.m., after the last speaker (No. 132) was called (only about half could stay to be heard). I can only conclude that DOE is sufficiently threatened about the viability of the Yucca Mountain project that they felt the need to give the pro-nukers the edge. The hearing was a travesty. So is the assertion that Yucca Mountain will be "safe." Earthquakes, volcanoes, ground water seepage could all disqualify the site if DOE weren't in the process of eliminating disqualifying conditions from the guidelines. Add in the ominous prospect of the resumption of underground nuclear weapons tests and the vulnerability of nuclear waste to terrorism and sabotage. The Las Vegas hearing was an opportunity for DOE to stop their advocacy for the project, to look Nevadans straight in the eye, and to listen to their thoughts about the Yucca Mountain project. Abby Johnson consults on rural community development, grant management and nuclear waste issues. She is married and has one elementary school-age child. ***************************************************************** 20 Yucca Panel Tonight Tonight, October 18, from7PM - 9PM, at UNLV's Alumni Amphitheater just North of the Moyer Student Union, Students Conscious Of Protecting the Environment (S.C.O.P.E.) is sponsoring a Panel Discussion on why Yucca Mountain should not be the nation's radioactive waste dump with the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA). The Alliance is a coalition of grassroots organizations from around the United States that have served as the public's watchdog on the Department of the Energy's nuclear weapons sites. Speakers will include: Don Hancock, Southwest Resource and Information Center (New Mexico), Judy Treichel , Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, John Wells, Western shoshone Nation, (Newe Segobia) Beatrice Brailsford, Snake River Alliance, (Idaho) the moderator will be John Hadder, Citizen Alert (Nevada). This event is free and open to the public. It is an outdoor event so bring something warm to wear. Call your friends and let them know. Kalynda Tilges Nuclear Issues Coordinator Citizen Alert - Las Vegas P.O.Box 17173 Las Vegas, NV 89114 702-796-5662 voice 702-796-4886 fax lvcitizenalert@earthlink.net Citizen Alert "A Voice for the Land and People of Nevada" ***************************************************************** 21 Nuclear energy expert nominated as assistant secretary of defense The Dallas Morning News: Texas/Southwest Bush taps official from UT 10/18/2001 By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN  President Bush has nominated Dale Klein, a University of Texas vice chancellor and expert in radioactive waste disposal, to be assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs. Dr. Klein, who has been on the engineering faculty at UT in Austin since 1977, directs a university consortium that advises the Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Amarillo. While the appointment includes responsibility over chemical and biological defense programs, Dr. Klein's expertise has been exclusively in the area of nuclear energy. An advocate of nuclear power, Dr. Klein has appeared on television and written widely about the disposal of nuclear stockpiles and the relationship between the United States and Russia with the end of the Cold War, including efforts to keep radioactive materials out of the hands of rogue nations that sponsor terrorism. Dr. Klein has promoted nuclear energy as safe and an alternative to coal-powered plants that would help lower greenhouse gases and curb global warming. As governor, Mr. Bush appointed Dr. Klein to a six-year term on the Texas Radiation Advisory Board. Dr. Klein received his undergraduate, master's and doctorate degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Missouri. At UT, where he is a professor of mechanical engineering and vice chancellor for special engineering programs, Dr. Klein has served in a number of posts, including associate dean in the College of Engineering. ***************************************************************** 22 Latvia, Ukraine to cooperate in area of nuclear safety BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 18, 2001 Text of report in English by Baltic news agency BNS Riga, 18 October: Latvia and Ukraine closed an agreement on information exchange in the area of nuclear safety, the Interfax agency reported. The agreement was closed during the visit of Latvian Environment Protection and Regional Development Minister Vladimirs Makarovs to Ukraine. Under the agreement the two parties also undertake to notify each other immediately in the event of a nuclear catastrophe. Ukrainian Nuclear Regulation Committee reported to Interfax the two parties in the event of a nuclear catastrophe will cooperate in elimination of consequences, protection human lives and health, property and environment from radio-active pollution. Under the agreement the authorized institutions of the two countries - Latvian Environment Protection and Regional Development Ministry and Ukrainian Nuclear Regulation Committee - are to hold meetings as frequently as may be necessary but no less than once a year. Makarovs' visit to Ukraine will last until today. Source: BNS news agency, Tallinn, in English 0630 gmt 18 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 23 Radionuclide Transport in the Environment: Draft Research Program Plan [Federal Register: October 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 202)] [Notices] [Page 52952] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr18oc01-115] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments. Background: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research is preparing a research program plan on radionuclide transport in the environment and is seeking public comments on the plan. The radionuclide transport research program is intended to provide data and computational tools to assess the effect on public health and safety and the environment from nuclear materials that may enter the environment from NRC-licensed activities. The technical issues examined include source-term characterization; the effectiveness of engineered and natural containment systems surrounding the radioactive material; multi-phase flow of water, including episodic infiltration, into and through the environment; the transport of radioactive material through the geosphere; the transport of radioactive material through the biosphere; and estimating exposures of members of the public to radiation from these materials. Results from the radionuclide transport research program are intended to be generically applicable to NRC licensing activities including the decommissioning of facilities, disposal of uranium mill tailings, low- level radioactive waste disposal, and high-level radioactive waste disposal. This plan will present the basis for the radionuclide transport research program, describe the key elements of the program, describe how research priorities are set, and present a list of proposed research projects. Solicitation of Comments: The NRC seeks comments on the plan and is especially interested in comments on the research topics proposed in Chapter 5. Suggestions for new research not specified in Chapter 5 are welcome. Comment Period: The NRC will consider all written comments received before November 30, 2001. Comments received after November 30, 2001, will be considered if time permits. Comments should be addressed to the contact listed below. Availability: An electronic version of the plan is available in Adobe Portable Document Format at http://www.nrc.gov/RES/nrc.html and can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader software, available at no cost from http://www.adobe.com. Hard and electronic copies are available from the contact listed below. CONTACT: Dr. John D. Randall, Mail Stop T9F31, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, telephone (301) 415-6192, e-mail jdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of October 2001. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Cheryl A. Trottier, Chief, Radiation Protection, Environmental Risk and Waste Management Branch, Division of Systems Analysis and Regulatory Effectiveness, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 01-26280 Filed 10-17-01; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 24 Gift from ambulance firm a boost for Chernobyl fund New Haven Register Joseph Straw, Register StaffOctober 18, 2001 NEW HAVEN — The immediate casualties of the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in current-day Ukraine numbered less than 40. But the full list of victims — those of cancer and birth defects caused by radiation released in the accident — may not be known for another 15 years, and could number close to 500,000, according to the United Nations. The burden on the former Soviet Union's arcane health care system, particularly its meager capacity to care for gravely ill newborns, is huge. The New Jersey-based Children of Chernobyl Fund has answered the crisis this week with some help from the city's branch of American Medical Response, the country's largest ambulance service. Since its founding in 1990, CCRF has raised $47 million toward the opening of seven new neonatal intensive care units in Ukraine and Belarus, and 37 mass shipments of goods and equipment. This week AMR donated three of its ambulances to CCRF for use in affected areas, each worth roughly $15,000 to wholesalers, but, said AMR spokesman Eric Berthel, is "priceless to them." "Unfortunately, a lot of the vehicles they use are woefully inadequate," said Alexander B. Kuzma, a Hamden attorney and executive director of CCRF's Connecticut office, at 1358 Whalley Ave. Kuzma departed this week for Odessa, the Ukrainian port city on the Black Sea, for the opening of a new neonatal intensive care unit Monday, funded in large part by fund-raising efforts by champion figure skater and Odessa native Viktor Petrenko, who lives in Connecticut. Petrenko headlined an April benefit in Simsbury that raised more than $120,000 for the charity. CCRF co-founder Nadia Matkiwsky said that the organization's aid takes the form of technological equipment for hospitals, but more importantly, the expertise of medical professionals who travel to the region to train doctors and nurses. "Neonatology is basically new in the Ukraine," Matkiwsky said. Kuzma said that the most common radiation-related birth defects in Ukraine and Belarus are polydactylism, or the birth of children with extra extremities, and growth of organs on the outside of newborns' bodies. While Kuzma placed the quality of neonatal care in the Soviet Union in 1986 at 40 years behind the U.S.'s, he said that now, hospitals aided by the CCRF, are "only" 20 years behind. Overall, cancer mortality rates at hospitals aided by CCRF have been cut in half, Kuzma said. ©New Haven Register 2001 ***************************************************************** 25 Letters: Nuclear energy not `secure' The Taipei Times Online: 2001-10-18Thursday, October 18th, 2001 In your article, "Energy expert suggests increased diversification," (Oct. 8, page 17), former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Hsu Yi-yun (³\Ál¶³) states quite reasonably that Taiwan needs to diversify its energy resources to reduce its dependency on imports in times of international uncertainty. The next sentence, however, makes the reader wonder what planet he's from: "He stressed that nuclear power is the energy form which meets Taiwan's needs the most now because of its cheap cost and security." Since when did putting all your eggs into four nuclear baskets become a "security" measure? Why not just paint target crosshairs on the containment domes, so the Chinese missiles can home in more accurately? And how exactly does increased dependence on a centralized nuclear power grid make Taiwan more secure from interruptions in supply? Have geologists recently discovered uranium deposits under Yangmingshan? As for the cost, nuclear power is notorious for budget overruns and expensive maintenance. Over the long run it is, at best, competitive with fossil fuels, while in the short term, its astronomical start-up costs make it much more expensive. The word "cheap" simply does not apply. And the word "diversification" certainly cannot in any reasonable sense be used to describe the construction of yet another nuke. Hsu is right when he says that Taiwan needs both diversification and security in its energy supply. But he is way off base when claiming that nuclear power offers either benefit to Taiwan. True security can only come from true diversity with a strong emphasis on decentralization and renewable sources. Taiwan has vast untapped potential in many alternative energy sources, such as wind, ocean wave, ocean thermal, biomass, biodiesel and solar energy. Many of these sources have the added advantage of being capable of being built to the scale appropriate to the circumstances. (You can't build a "mini-nuke" to power a rural village, but you can easily build a small scale wind farm for that purpose.) These are not "experimental" technologies anymore. All of them have proven track records in real-world "production" installations. And all of them are much cheaper than nuclear power over the long term, and, of course, they are all much safer and easier to maintain as well. Taiwan's security is ill served by concentrating energy production in a few large, well-known locations. Obviously a robust, decentralized structure is likely to be much more resilient in the event of attacks or natural disasters. And a truly diverse range of sources is much more dependable in times of uncertain supply -- especially if those sources are renewable and free. Decentralization across hundreds of small-scale facilities also saves the 8 to 10 percent of overall capacity which is normally wasted by transmission losses in power lines. If the power is produced locally, you don't need to transmit it at all. Finally, decentralization spreads more employment opportunities around Taiwan, at a time when jobs are scarce. Continuing to ignore these simple facts only exacerbates Taiwan's security woes, and constitutes criminal negligence on the part of those responsible. John Diedrichs Taipei This story has been viewed 197 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/10/18/story/0000107663] Copyright © 1999-2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 ORNL readies tool to detect hazards By Frank Munger, News-Sentinel senior writer A California company is manufacturing 14 "pre-production" units of the Block II Chemical Biological Mass Spectrometer. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps will use those to certify capabilities and make last-minute adjustments before sanctioning full-scale production. The Oak Ridge instrument was honored last year as one of the nation's top 100 inventions, providing a special capability for detecting warfare agents - both chemical and biological. The shift from research to production culminates a five-year, $45 million project, and ORNL scientists are ecstatic. "This has been the most difficult task we've ever had here," said Dr. Wayne Griest, who headed the project team in ORNL's Chemical Sciences Division. "We're going to pull it off, and I think we'll have done something really significant. This can save lives." The system integrates different techniques for identifying chemical and biological agents, but both rely on a mass spectrometer that electrically charges atoms - called ions - and identifies different elements by the mass-to-charge ratios or other unique markers. "This is the first integrated instrument to do both chemical and biological warfare agents," Griest said. The Block II system is reported to have significantly fewer false readings than units used previously. The Army funded the Oak Ridge research program and plans to incorporate the chem-bio unit with a suite of other detectors aboard reconnaissance vehicles. Monitors gather samples from the air, and a special attachment rolls a wheel along the ground to pick up any traces of chemical contamination. The ORNL technology is complex, but Griest said operation will be easy because the computer software does all the hard work. "The Army wanted an instrument that wouldn't take a mass spectrometrist to run," he said. "So a lot of automation went into this. The current crop of kids, they're used to video games and ATMs, so they can push a button and say, I want this mode. And the machine does the rest." Hamilton Sundstrand Sensor Systems in Pomona, Calif., is ORNL's industrial partner on the project and will manufacture the systems for the military. The first units probably will cost about $200,000 apiece, but that figure is expected to come down as production goes up. The high-tech manufacturer also expects to commercialize the system, although Pete Kenefick - the program manager at Hamilton Sundstrand - said it probably won't be the same as the chem-bio units being manufactured for the Army and Marine Corps. "There's probably a lot of aspects the military is not ready to release to the commercial world," Kenefick said. Griest said the computer software probably will be restricted. In the wake of last month's terrorist attacks and recent anthrax reports, the Oak Ridge research team has been told to be more tight-lipped about their work. Team members are now prohibited from talking about performance results or the list of agents the system can detect. However, Oak Ridge researchers previously acknowledged they were testing equipment with dozens of chemical and biological materials, including lethal nerve agents such as VX, GB (Sarin), GA (Tabun) and GD (Soman); blister compounds like Lewisite and sulfur mustard; and toxins, including Ricin and botulinum. ORNL also confirmed the use of anthrax, although the bacteria brought to Oak Ridge had previously been killed with radiation and contained no live pathogens. Dr. Kevin Hart, an analytical chemist on the research team, said biological agents are more difficult to evaluate than pure nerve agents and other chemicals. "You're looking at fused molecules, compared to a chemical with a single structure, so it's a much more complex image," he said. The Block II system, which weighs about 170 pounds, is designed to be mounted in the military's armored vehicles, but future versions will be adapted for use in buildings or other high-threat locations. Much of the testing is done with harmless simulants, and the Oak Ridge scientists demonstrated the system - using a material that simulates the properties of Sarin, a nerve agent. Tests involving real chemical and biological agents take place in a specially equipped facility on a ridge behind ORNL's main research complex. ORNL officials allowed the News-Sentinel to visit the chem-bio labs but would not permit photographs to be taken of the small building's exterior. Hart said the five-year research effort has been rewarding. "The Army's invested a lot of money, and it's paying off because I think this instrument is going to be a big step up from what they have now. That's a good feeling." Griest said this is not just science for science's sake. "I'm not putting down writing a paper and publishing it in an obscure journal that only a handful of people will read. There's room for that. But this is something that will really have an impact, and I'm just proud as punch." Frank Munger can be reached at 865-482-9213 or twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Click for permission to ***************************************************************** 2 Are Russian nuclear weapons a terrorist threat? Miami Herald: Published Thursday, October 18, 2001 JON WOLFSTHAL An internal government report, obtained by an outside watchdog group, reveals that America's 10 nuclear-weapons research and production facilities are vulnerable to terrorist attack and have failed about half of recent security drills. In several cases, commando squads were able to capture enough nuclear materials to make nuclear weapons. If this report scares you, then just imagine how much worse things are in Russia, with its huge and under-funded nuclear-weapons complex. The former Soviet Union produced more than 1,300 tons of nuclear weapons-grade plutonium and uranium, most of which is now vulnerable to theft or diversion. Only a few kilograms are needed to produce even a crude nuclear weapon. Of even greater concern is the fact that Russia itself doesn't even know how much material it produced or where all of it is. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the world has to confront the very real possibility that some of this material already may be missing. We know that terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, have shown interest in getting such material from Russia in the past. U.S. programs designed to secure Russian nuclear weapons, materials and technology have made significant progress, despite having come under recent funding pressures and skepticism from the Bush administration and Congress. The terrorist attacks appear to have refocused U.S. attention on the need to prevent other countries or terrorist groups from seizing this material. Obviously, U.S. facilities need to have the best possible security, and additional resources and attention should be applied. But the more-likely scenario -- that Russian material will be seized and used against U.S. territory or allies -- should be given increased funding and attention as well. How much of the administration's $40 billion anti-terror package will be applied to these threats remains to be seen. Jon Wolfsthal is an associate in the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. ***************************************************************** 3 Norwegian experts confirm normal radiation levels in Barents Sea BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 18, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Murmansk, 18 October: Norwegian environmentalists consider the Barents Sea to be safe for fishing, Norwegian environmentalists who monitored the area where the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank, have told the press. Ingar Amundsen, an official with the Norwegian Radiation Safety Department said the Russian colleagues did not impose any restrictions on the Norwegian environmentalists' work. "We were free to do our work for as long as we found necessary, and to send the information obtained to our management every day, so they could pass it on to the press," he said. "In the first place, we needed to reassure the buyers of sea food and prevent panic on the fish market. Therefore, we supplied reports about radiation levels in the vicinity of the disaster area to the press every day," he said. At the initial stage, the crew of environmentalists monitored the radiation situation from the research vessel Semen Dezhnev, at a distance of about four kilometres from the disaster area. But two days after the submarine was raised, the ship moved to a distance of two kilometres from the area, Amundsen said. In August 2000, shortly after the nuclear submarine disaster in the Barents Sea and in the autumn, Norwegian environmentalists also took samples of the water near the disaster area. "No radiation leaks were detected, and the latest results were quite predictable," he said. But after the Russian submarine was raised from the bed of the Barents Sea and the transportation of the submarine towards the Kola gulf and the Roslyakovo dock began, only the Northern Fleet's radiation measuring equipment remained on the submarine, Amundsen said. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 0932 gmt 18 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 4 Nuclear attack least likely scenario Would involve many difficulties, experts say By Ken McCall e-mail address: Dayton Daily News A dozen years after the fall of the Soviet Union, an old fear is back. The threat of nuclear terrorism, which has been simmering in the intelligence community and congressional subcommittees for years, has flared to life in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. When federal authorities, including the president and attorney general, issue warnings for vigilance and talk of terrorist threats, they mention not only chemical and biological, but also nuclear weapons. As much as we'd rather not think of a scenario like that represented in Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears — a terrorist-built nuclear device detonated on American soil — the threat of nuclear terrorism can no longer be easily dismissed. Authorities say the smuggling and detonation of a nuclear weapon would involve many difficulties. The more likely scenario for nuclear terrorism, they say, would be the sabotage of an existing nuclear facility, or the use of a "dirty bomb" made of radioactive material and conventional explosives. Local officials, meanwhile, are being told the nuclear scenario is a lower "priority." "The things the FBI are telling us to be on the alert for are the biological and the chemical threats," said Dayton Fire Capt. Rennes Bowers, the city's expert in weapons of mass destruction and emergency operations planning. "They obviously have access to the best intelligence there is, and that's what they think the credible threats are right now." Still, it's generally agreed that, for close to a decade, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network have been attempting to buy nuclear materials or weapons. Bin Laden openly admitted in a 1998 interview that he wanted to obtain nuclear weapons. At the federal trial early this year where four al-Qaeda members were convicted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, prosecution witness Jamal Ahmad al-Fadl testified that he helped in bin Laden's attempt to acquire enriched uranium in late 1993 and early 1994. Al-Fadl, now in the federal witness protection program, said he did not know if the bid to buy the uranium for $1.5 million was successful. Other sources, including a report published last April by a New Delhi, India-based think tank, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, have reported that bin Laden has purchased suitcase nuclear weapons from the Chechen mafia, who got them from former Soviet republics during the breakup of the Soviet Union. In a series of highly publicized 1997 appearances, one on the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes, a former Russian security council secretary reported that his country could not account for scores of tactical nuclear weapons. General Aleksandr Lebed, who also testified before a congressional subcommittee that same year, said the Soviet Union made hundreds of "suitcase" nuclear weapons for the Cold War KGB capable of yielding a 1 kiloton explosion, and that many appeared to be missing. The Russian military and government, however, denied that such devices ever existed. Another former Russian official, a noted biologist and former advisor to then-President Boris Yeltsin, told the same House subcommittee on military research and development that he had talked to people who helped build the suitcase nuclear weapons. But Alexei Yablokov also told the subcommittee those so-called atomic demolition munitions may no longer be a threat. Warheads in any nuclear weapon must be replaced every six or seven years, and Yablokov said he doubted that had happened "in the last 10 years at least." Nevertheless, he warned the subcommittee, "nobody can trust our nuclear ministry." Defense Intelligence Agency officials told United Press International last week that al-Qaeda "probably does not posses a nuclear weapon." With hard facts tough to come by, emergency and law enforcement officials are left with little choice but to plan for the possibility of some sort of nuclear attack. Nuclear incidents are represented by the second letter in the unwelcome new government acronym to sum up terrorist attacks, BNICE for Biological, Nuclear, Incendiary, Chemical, Explosive. The ironic acronym sums up a nightmarish list of threats that every firefighter, law enforcement, emergency, and intelligence official has to keep in mind when responding to unusual incidents. "We're trying to prepare for the whole BNICE scenario," Bowers said. "We think that's probably not the route terrorists would take, but you can't rule it out." A committee to put together the new Metropolitan Medical Response System includes nuclear experts from the Mound Laboratories in Miamisburg who are helping with nuclear emergency planning, Bowers said. Dayton is one of 25 cities provided federal government grants to create a system that would respond to large-scale public emergencies. The regional hazardous materials team has also been trained for radiological incidents, Bowers said, "because we have radioactive hazardous materials flowing through Dayton every day on trucks. So we are prepared for that — to a degree." In addition, he said, the city sent two members of the HazMat team to the federal missile test site in Nevada for a week of training on radioactive contamination. The training, which included dealing with "live radioactive elements" was comprehensive, Bowers said. "They felt like they got the latest and the greatest refresher course on nuclear events," Bowers said. The graduates are now training local firefighters on what they learned. Bowers, who is busy writing a plan for the new medical response system, also is in the process of rewriting the city's emergency operations plan, which spells out how the city will respond to disasters. The same is true for the Miami Valley Emergency Management Authority, which coordinated disaster response plans and operations for Montgomery and Greene counties. Rob Gunter, the authority's director, is in the middle of rewriting the 8-year-old emergency operations plan. Gunter expects the direction of his rewrite to change. "In the next six to eight months, we will see a new state and federal push to really redefine what the new threats are and how we can plan to meet them," he said. The basic defenses against radioactivity, experts say, are time, distance and shielding. But, as Dayton Assistant City Manager Dusty Hall put it, "You're really only looking at two options: stay put or get out." The current plans contain directions, based on an international nuclear exchange or accidental launch, grafted out of the old civil defense manuals. And while modern emergency planning is a direct descendant of civil defense, some of the recommendations clearly would not apply to a terrorist attack. For example, the plan contains direction on where to build a fallout shelter or how to improvise one out of a sturdy table and dresser drawers or boxes filled with earth. But none of the local officials interviewed for this series recommended building a fallout shelter. "I just can't imagine a fallout shelter providing enough protection for a long enough time for it to be worthwhile," Gunter said. "You would save more lives by evacuating." Sheltering in place for a nuclear attack might have made more sense in the context of massive Soviet attack that would have included multiple detonations across the country, including at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. But a terrorist event is likely to be isolated, making it easier to use distance as the best public health defense. The Ohio Emergency Management Authority, and every region that contains a nuclear power plant, drills every year on what to do in event of a nuclear accident, said authority spokesman Dick Kimmins. Ohio has two nuclear plants along Lake Erie and a third is just across the border in Michigan. There are no nuclear plants directly upwind in Indiana. Such plans include evacuation zones within 10 miles and 50 miles of the plant, depending on the severity of the accident. Experience gained in those drills, as well as the more specific nuclear response plans, could be used for a nuclear terrorist attack. But they aren't practiced in the Miami Valley. Maybe they should be, Gunter said, but disaster drills are expensive because of overtime involved in the public safety people, and planners have to work on the "most significant credible threats." The region has drilled on a chemical attack, and plans a biological drill in February. Right now, the nuclear scenario isn't on the calendar. "The money and time is going to be committed to the most significant threats we face day to day," he said. All the preparedness planning in the world won't neutralize a terrorist attack, officials say, and nuclear terrorism is the hardest BNICE scenario to predict. "It would be a very, very difficult thing," Bowers said. "Was New York prepared to deal with airliners flying into the World Trade Center? In some ways they were — they're dealing with it." The city has lots of resources at its fingertips, he said, including access to "all the experts." "Are we prepared? Absolutely — to a degree. It depends on where the situation would be and the extent of the spread of the radiation. "It would be a disaster, but would we deal with it? Yes. But you hope you never have to see anything like that." Gunter also said a nuclear attack would be extremely hard to predict. "What can you do with a situation so mind-numbing that even to talk about it causes alarm?" asked Gunter, who is also a senior master sergeant in the Air Force Reserves. "It would be very difficult to walk you through that scenario. I would have to know what is left, what level of destruction occurred." In the event of a detonation, for example, an electromagnetic pulse could take out much of the communication system. That may mean, Gunter said, emergency officials are going to get in cars to get the word out. But what if the cars won't start because of the pulse? "Then we'll get on bicycles," he said. "We're going to find a way, whether it be walking across the county telling people what the plan is. I'm going to pull together the smartest people in the area, and we're going to determine what we do now to protect the citizens of the Miami Valley and their property." Even if the worst fear — a nuclear detonation — occurs, Gunter asks, "Would the world be over? No. It'll be like Hiroshima or Nagasaki. The thing will happen. We'll have to make immediate plans and carry them out." As soon as possible the federal government would be called in, and plans would be made to deal with recovery, whether that means rebuilding or covering the site in a concrete vault, similar to what was done at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine. But Gunter emphasized that a nuclear terrorist attack "is not a significant threat," according to the prevailing intelligence he's heard. "I don't want to alarm a lot of people, and I don't want people to be scared," Gunter said. "We need to be aware and take that awareness and turn it into actions that lead to greater preparedness." " Contact Ken McCall at 225-2393 or e-mail him at kmccall@coxohio.com [From the Dayton Daily News: 10.17.2001] Copyright © 2001, Cox Ohio Publishing. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 Test Site workers' claims accepted Las Vegas SUN Today: October 18, 2001 at 10:32:48 PDT The Las Vegas Resource Center, 1050 E. Flamingo Road, Suite W-156, continues to accept claims for compensation from former and current Nevada Test Site workers and their families. Claims may be filed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, passed by Congress in 2000. The law provides a $150,000 lump sum payment, as well as related medical benefits, for eligible applicants who suffer from cancer, chronic beryllium disease and chronic silicosis. The center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (702) 697-0841. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 ORNL extends education outreach Oak Ridger Online -- > Story last updated at 11:16 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 As part of their goal of becoming education partners with the region's science and math programs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT-Battelle will provide science enrichment classes to more than 6,000 area students during the current school year. The 2001-2002 school year marks the 15th anniversary for ORNL's Ecological and Physical Sciences Study Center. During that period, the study center has provided science instruction for more than 200,000 K-12 students. ORNL currently has five instructors who teach classes on 29 topics that include chemistry, nature, plant science, weather and physics. The instructors are certified teachers who teach science using research conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Last school year the study center provided 304 classes for more than 6,500 students. In the first six weeks of the current school year, schools from several area counties have registered almost 4,000 students for 138 classes. The ORNL study center is one of the largest education outreach programs in East Tennessee. Billy Stair, director of ORNL's Communication and Community Outreach program, said the number of schools using the study center has grown over the last year. "We are pleased that the laboratory can offer teachers and students a quality program that will expand interest and make science fun," Stair said. Study center classes are conducted in the American Museum of Sciences and Energy and in other locations such as schools and churches. Classes can be scheduled between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. In addition to the study center, UT-Battelle has provided new science laboratories to six area schools and funding for the University of Tennessee Academy for Math and Science. Those wishing more information about the ORNL study center can contact Gail Beyersdorf at (865) 241-9515. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 7 Buyer discusses U.S. use of nuclear device Staff Report October 18, 2001 U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said Wednesday that he would support limited use of a nuclear device under certain specific circumstances. Speaking to reporters for WTHR (Channel 13) at Indianapolis International Airport, Buyer said that if the United States can prove a causal link between the anthrax and bin Laden's organization, "I would support the use of a limited precision tactical nuclear device. What does that mean? When there are hardened caves that go back a half a mile . . . don't send in Special Forces to sweep. We'd be naive to think biotoxins are not in there. Put in tactical nuclear devices and close these caves for a thousand years." He added: "I am not a warmonger. I am not someone who says use offensive nuclear weapons. We're the ones attacked. This is a bio-attack. It's also important to figure out who is doing it. But I want you to know . . . if he (Bush) has to make difficult decisions -- like Truman did to save lives -- that he'd have support here." Buyer added that he has yet to speak with anyone in the administration about the topic. Copyright 2001 The Indianapolis Star. ***************************************************************** 8 UN: Risk of unauthorized nuclear-weapon use, Middle East security among issues addressed in First Committee's general debate -- Part 1 of 2 [M2 Communications Ltd.] Story Filed: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 4:23 AM EST Oct 17, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate this afternoon, with the representative of India warning that thousands of nuclear weapons were maintained in a state of hair-trigger alert, with possible disastrous consequences, and given the audacity and scale of the recent terrorist operations the urgency for action was greater than ever. He said that India, as a nuclear-weapon State, realized the urgency, pending a total ban on nuclear weapons, for all nuclear-weapon States to take steps to reduce the risk of the accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons. Its voluntary moratorium on further underground nuclear-test explosions had met the basic obligation of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). His Government was also committed to building a national consensus that would allow India to subscribe to the Treaty. It would not stand in the way of the entry into force of the test-ban Treaty. The representative of Israel called terrorism a "strategic weapon" that had forced the international community to address a "profound and unequivocal" global security challenge. For Israel, that new global reality had added another complex dimension to an already fragile regional stability. It had been confronting an intense combination of threats across the spectrum of its national security -- from terror, to increasingly sophisticated conventional arms, to the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles -- which had led to extensive preparation to prevent the exposure and vulnerability of its citizens to imminent and potential dangers. The representative of the United Arab Emirates said that many regions had bolstered international peace and security by establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones. That initiative had so far failed in the Middle East, however, because of Israel's continued possession of nuclear military reactors outside the framework of the control system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Israel had retained its nuclear programme in order to guarantee its military superiority and continue its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands, despite international law and the threat that policy posed to peace and security. Iraq's representative said the Arab region suffered from a great imbalance in armaments, where the Zionist entity that occupied Palestine possessed all the weapons of mass destruction. Iraq had suffered the use of depleted uranium shells against it in 1991 by the United States and the United Kingdom, leading to the death of more than 50,000 children in the first year. Depleted uranium was a generation of radiological weapon that destroyed lives and the environment, and produced toxic and chemical effects. In view of the danger of that weapon, negotiations should start in the Conference on Disarmament on a treaty banning its development, production, stockpiling, and use. Turning to a central theme of the Committee's debate, the representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia today welcomed the intensive consultations between the Russian Federation and the United States on possible adaptation of the global strategic framework to the new circumstances and emerging threats. Amending or replacing the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty) was acceptable only if it made at least a comparably strong and effective contribution to maintaining global security and stability. Committee Chairman, Andre Erd's (Hungary), welcomed to the meeting the President of the Conference on Disarmament, Camilo Reyes, as well as a group of disarmament fellows and said that, for the past 20 years, the Disarmament Fellowship Programme has trained several hundred diplomats, who had made significant contributions to the global effort in the cause of disarmament and international security. Statements were also made by the representatives of Lithuania, Ethiopia, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Haiti. The representative of Iran spoke in exercise of the right of reply. The Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 17 October, to conclude its general debate. Background The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met this afternoon to continue its general debate on a wide range of disarmament and arms limitation measures. Questions of global stability and strategic security will also be examined in the context of the recent terrorist attack on the United States. Today's debate was expected to focus on a number of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agreements, among them the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). At the 2000 Review Conference, the nuclear-weapon States agreed to an "unequivocal undertaking" to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals. The delayed entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) will also be examined. The Treaty -- which outlaws all nuclear tests in all environments -- has still not received the number of ratifications it needs to enter into force. Thus, the Secretary-General is expected to convene a second Conference to facilitate its entry into force in November. Under an unusual provision, the Treaty requires ratification by 44 States listed in an Annex. Of the 13 pending ratifications critical to its success, two are nuclear-weapon States -- China and the United States. The others are Algeria, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Viet Nam. (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India and Pakistan still have not signed the Treaty). Also in the context of nuclear disarmament, the Committee has before it a report of a group of States that call themselves the New Agenda Coalition. The coalition is a group of seven countries -- Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, Sweden, New Zealand and South Africa -- which introduced a resolution, at the fifty-third General Assembly session, aimed at a nuclear-weapon-free world. The 1972 Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems -- the ABM Treaty -- by which the United States and the Russian Federation agreed to limit the deployment and development of anti-ballistic missiles, will also dominate the debate. The declared intention of the United States to build a national missile defence system prompted the introduction and adoption since 1999 of a resolution calling for continued efforts to strengthen and preserve the Treaty. Multilateral agreements banning the development of other weapons of mass destruction will also be stressed, such as: the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention); and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and of Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention). The creation and consolidation of nuclear-weapon-free zones will also be considered. Existing zones include the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga), the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Bangkok), and the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba). The Committee will also have before it the report of the Conference on Disarmament (document A/56/27), which covers the annual 2001 session and contains pertinent documents and records. The Conference met three times in Geneva: from 22 January to 30 March; from 14 May to 29 June; and from 30 July to 14 September. It adopted the following agenda: cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters; prevention of an arms race in outer space; effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons; radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament; transparency in armaments; and consideration and adoption of the annual report. The report recalls that during the annual session, successive Presidents of the Conference conducted intensive consultations with a view to reaching consensus on the programme of work, but that was not agreed and the Conference did not re-establish or establish any mechanism on any of its specific agenda items. At its meeting on 14 June, it adopted a decision to appoint special coordinators on the review of its agenda, the expansion of its membership and its improved and effective functioning. These special coordinators will take into account all proposals and views, as well as future initiatives. The Conference requested that these special coordinators report to it before the end of the 2001 session. In other business, the Conference took note of the reports of the special coordinators and agreed that, while priority should be given to pursuing substantive work, the Conference recommended that special coordinators on the issues be reappointed as early as possible in its 2002 session. It decided that the dates for that session would be: 21 January to 29 March; 13 May to 28 June; 29 July to 13 September. (For summaries of additional reports and notes before the Committee, see background press release GA/DIS/3197 issued 5 October) Statements RAKESH SOOD (India) said that, as a nuclear-weapon State, India remained committed to the goal of global nuclear disarmament. Thus, it would submit a resolution, as it had done since 1982, calling for a convention prohibiting the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. India's exercise of its nuclear option by conducting a limited series of tests in 1998, and subsequent weaponization, was a decision it was forced to take due to the nuclearization of its region and the failure of existing non-proliferation regimes to deal with it. The decision was characterized by moderation and voluntary restraint, with a deployment posture defined by the concepts of "minimum nuclear deterrent" and "no-first-use". He said that there could be no justification, in the post-cold war period, for thousands of nuclear weapons to be maintained in a state of hair-trigger alert with possible disastrous consequences. Given the recently witnessed audacity and scale of terrorist operations, the urgency for action in that regard was greater than ever. His resolution, entitled "Reducing Nuclear Danger" would be brought before the Committee for the fourth consecutive year in the hope that it would receive wider support and that speedy action would follow. India's declaration of a voluntary moratorium on further underground nuclear test explosions met the basic obligation of the CTBT and his Government was committed to building a national consensus so that it could subscribe to that Treaty. That was not a simple issue, as developments in other countries had shown, and consensus-building in democracies needed considerable patience and time, he went on. Meanwhile, his country had made it clear that India would not stand in the way of the entry into force of the CTBT. It also expected that other countries would adhere to it without conditions. He was also committed to participating constructively in negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty. Unfortunately, the Conference on Disarmament was in a "comatose" state. Five years had passed without any negotiations. Prolonged discussions limited to procedural issues would weaken genuine multilateralism. He said that while his country respected the sovereign choice exercised by non-nuclear-weapon States in establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones, regional approaches underlying such zones did not do justice to the concerns emanating from the global nature of the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Existing legal instruments were inadequate to deter imminent attempts for the further militarization and weaponization of outer space. Endeavours in that field should aim to preserve space for the full range of cooperative, peaceful and developmental activities. Meanwhile, arms limitations and disarmament treaties should be implemented fully and in good faith in order to contribute to stability. Last year, he recalled, the Committee had recognized the need for a comprehensive approach to missiles, in a balanced and non-discriminatory manner, as a contribution to international peace and security. There was widespread recognition that "club-based, discriminatory" export control measures had failed to address the issue. His country wished to see the norms against the proliferation of missiles strengthened through transparent, multilateral agreements on the basis of equal and undiminished security that also ensured that civilian space-related applications were not adversely affected. The issue of export controls went beyond missiles to a whole range of dual-use technologies, for which a transparent system was urgently needed. India, like many other countries that had actively participated in negotiations to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, was disappointed at the ad hoc group's inability to conclude its work in time for the fifth Review Conference planned for the end of the year. He sincerely hoped that the Conference would succeed in maintaining the mandate for strengthening implementation of the Convention. Concerning the outcome of the small arms Conference, he said it had fallen far short of "breaking the nexus" between small arms proliferation, international terrorism, drug smuggling, organized crime, money laundering, and the "gray markets" that fed that link. Nevertheless, the modest action programme should be implemented expeditiously and fully, as a first step in a multilateral process. ABDULAZIZ NASSER R. AL-SHAMSHI (United Arab Emirates) said that international cooperation in the field of disarmament was considerably low and disappointing, whereas military expenditures continued to increase at an alarming rate. Tests of nuclear weapons continued publicly and covertly, arms smuggling was on the rise and new, more dangerous phenomena, such as international terrorism, drug-trafficking and cross-border organized crime threatened regional and international security. International military expenditures exceeded $800 billion, even as there had been a noticeable decrease in the levels of official and unofficial development assistance to developing countries, he said. That reflected a state of danger and rising tension that persisted at the expense of development plans. The international community was witnessing a race to develop military nuclear reactors and ballistic missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction. That ran counter to commitments made at the Millennium Summit and contributed to the failures in current negotiations to achieve the goals of disarmament and non-proliferation. Nuclear-weapons States were called upon to take their full responsibilities in implementing their obligations, as stipulated in a series of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation treaties, and especially under article 6 of the NPT, he said. While many regions had bolstered international peace and security by establishing nuclear-weapons-free zones, the Middle East had not yet been able to do so. That failure was due to Israel's continued possession of nuclear reactors outside of international controls, in order to guarantee its military superiority over Palestine, despite the threat that posed to international peace and security. The United Arab Emirates had joined the CTBT, NPT and Chemical Weapons Convention to show its commitment to building a nuclear-weapon-free zone that would be the cornerstone of regional stability, he said. The international community must pressure Israel to join the NPT and discontinue its financial, technological and scientific aid for the development of dangerous Israeli nuclear installations. International efforts to establish peace and provide relief to areas destroyed by wars -- such as Palestinian lands, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Somalia -- should be supported. The establishment of international peace and security was the joint and collective responsibility of the nuclear-weapons States. To help create an environment free of all threats, nuclear-weapons States must start serious multilateral talks to eliminate their nuclear arsenals and stockpiles. GEDIMINAS SERKSNYS (Lithuania) said that the beginning of the twenty-first century might be characterized as the time when the world attempted to achieve multilateral progress on the issues of poverty and peace. The abundance of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and small arms meant that they were now in reach of the wrong hands. The attacks of 11 September had been directed against the values shared by all of humanity -- openness, freedom, tolerance and democracy. The response to international terrorism must be unified and coordinated and there was much that could be done to prevent future attacks carried out with weapons of mass destruction. Many of the non-proliferation and disarmament treaties remained uncompleted, he continued. Technology slipped away from legal and moral guidance and military expenditures were again on the rise. Lithuania was encouraged, however, that the United States and the Russian Federation had recently converged views on significantly lower levels of nuclear weapons. Progress had been made on START I and START II and the dialogue between the United States and the Russian Federation should be supported. The availability of weapons and terrorism with a global reach made the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction obsolete. The world needed mutually assured peace, which would be helped by reductions in nuclear weapons. Without universal application of the CTBT, its main objectives would continue to be elusive. Copyright 1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD ***************************************************************** 9 Health research funded at IAAP The Hawk Eye Newspaper October 18, 2001 Iowa Time: 11:07 PM Local News: 10/18/2001 By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye IOWA CITY -- University of Iowa health researchers have received a second year of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue surveying the health status of former atomic weapons workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition plant. Dr. Laurence Fuortes principal investigator for the project said the $790,000 grant renewal will be used primarily to gather health and work histories of former IAAP workers and provide medical screenings based on workers' exposure to potentially hazardous substances. For the past year, Fuortes' team has been identifying thousands of former workers who helped build nuclear weapons at the plant from 1945 through 1975 under the authority of the Atomic Energy Commission. The IAAP was one of only two facilities in the United States known to have assembled nuclear weapons into the final product. "Evidence suggests that a large number of workers had potentially significant exposures to detrimental agents such as asbestos, beryllium, radiation and explosives," Fuortes said. He said workers who participate in the health screenings will receive information about their test results, risk factors and the need for any medical follow-up. Workers will also receive help to determine if they are eligible for federal and state workers' compensation programs, Fuortes added. The researchers expect to screen 500 workers each year for the next several years. Fuortes said plans are being developed to send a mobile health care service provider to the Burlington area to conduct hearing, lung function and blood tests. Chest X-rays will be performed at local participating hospitals. The U of I team is also available to help former workers fill out forms for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act. Team members will be in Middletown today, Tuesday and next Thursday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Machinists' Union Hall on U.S. 34. Those wishing more information on the medical screening program or to schedule an appointment to complete the compensation forms, are urged call the project's toll-free number at (866)-282-5818. 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 ***************************************************************** 10 Interior bill funds energy research at ORNL Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:38 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 from staff reports Energy conservation research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could be getting a $96 million boost from the interior appropriations bill, which was approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives. Next up, the bill will go to the full Senate for approval before being sent to President Bush for his signature. "We must stay ahead of the curve when it comes to energy production and innovation," stated U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee's Interior Subcommittee. The funding is expected to support continued research in a variety of areas including: * Space conditioning -- Ways are being developed to use gas more efficiently to heat and cool buildings. * Distributed generation -- Energy that is used to perform one function is put to other uses. For instance, if electricity is used to light a building, the excess is used for heating. * Federal energy management program -- ORNL personnel are working on ways to save energy in federal buildings. * Hybrid lighting -- In this technology, sunlight can be transmitted through fiber optic cables or "light pipes" into areas of buildings where natural sunlight would not ordinarily extend. At times when natural sunlight is not available, artificial lighting would automatically come on, so the system is a "hybrid" of natural and artificial light. Studies show that employees who work in natural sunlight are more productive and happier than those who work entirely in artificial light. Other important Tennessee projects included in the interior appropriations bill include: * $5.135 million for the forest legacy project for conservation efforts. * $1 million for the Cherokee National Forest to rebuild aging structures . * $5.3 million for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 11 PACE ratifies five-year contract for K-25 work Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:38 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 from staff reports Members of Local 5-288, Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union have ratified a five-year contract for performing work at the Oak Ridge K-25 site. The contract, which was ratified Sunday by a vote of 178-17, was negotiated with Bechtel Jacobs Co. and six of its subcontractors -- J. A. Jones Construction Services, WESKEM LLC, Radian International LLC, American Technologies Inc., I.T. Corporation and Theta Technologies, Inc. Bechtel Jacobs is the Department of Energy's environmental manager in Oak Ridge. "It was especially challenging to convert a labor agreement that had been crafted for one employer into an agreement that worked for multiple employers," said Sandy Davis, Bechtel Jacobs' labor relations manager, in a prepared statement. The new contract, which took effect on Oct. 15, provides for annual pay increases, along with pension plan enhancements that match those recently negotiated between BWXT Y-12, UT-Battelle, Bechtel Jacobs Co. and the Atomic Trades and Labor Council. The contract also calls for higher medical plan co-payments and deductibles. "I think all parties can feel good about this agreement," Davis said. "There is something in it for everyone." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 12 Y-12 employees cautioned on exposure information Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:38 a.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex were recently issued a "friendly" reminder: Don't expose too much information when talking with physicians about chemical exposures. "Anyone may reveal the identity of any material they believe they were exposed to at Y-12 to their personal physician, but may not be able to discuss how or where they were exposed," according to an article printed in a recent issue of BWX TYmes, the Y-12 employee newsletter. "If questioned about the details of possible exposure to materials with classified uses, the 'no comment' policy applies. A response of 'I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to discuss how or why I was exposed to this material' should be used." Bill Wilburn, a spokesman for BWXT Y-12, which manages the plant, indicated the article was printed to serve as a reminder that security, including information security, is every employee's responsibility. "Placing it in the BWX TYmes was a way to remind current employees and also to inform former employees," Wilburn said. "It is not a response to the recent terrorist attacks." Y-12, which is sometimes referred to as the "Fort Knox of Uranium," produces components for nuclear weapons. The plant does not manufacture nor store complete weapons. In 1998, the Department of Energy declassified the simple presence of materials at it sites to allow employees to openly discuss any health care concerns they might have regarding workplace exposures with their physicians. However, there are a number of materials whose uses remain classified. Employees sign a form titled, "Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement" when they are granted a clearance. BWXT Y-12 officials did not specifically say what disciplinary actions, if any, would happen if an employee disclosed classified materials to physicians. In order to prevent this from happening, BWXT Y-12 advises employees to contact the Y-12 Classification Office in advance to discuss what information about the materials with classified uses can be revealed to physicians. "The Classification Office staff will review the information and based on current classification guidance, decide if the information is or is not classified," Wilburn said. "DOE regulations take into account the need to discuss health concerns with health care professionals, especially is the event of a medical emergency." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 13 Public comments on possible lift of scrap metal ban The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Thursday, October 18, 2001 An informational meeting was held via teleconference from PCC to discuss the DOE possibly releasing contaminated metal. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 Some people say the Department of Energy has no business considering lifting nationwide bans on the release of radioactively contaminated scrap metal from its facilities, including the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant, which has 54,000 tons of the material. "What would ever make you conceive of this idea?" asked Pam Dickerson, whose father worked at the Paducah plant for many years. "... We don't like it. It's your mess." Dickerson was among about 20 people attending an informational meeting Wednesday night at Paducah Community College. They were linked by satellite with officials at DOE's Washington, D.C., headquarters and Oak Ridge, Tenn. The department wants public input for an environmental impact statement on whether to resume the controlled release of the metal or continue with two bans issued last year based on concerns from the metals industry and public. Dickerson and others are worried some of the recycled metal might end up in children's dental braces and other consumer products. But DOE officials said the environmental process is to determine what amount of release, if any, is safe to workers and the public, as well as the costs involved. Although the study will examine the health impact of using the metals commercially, the use traditionally has been limited to construction materials with standards requiring radiation to be no higher than that found naturally in soil and elsewhere, they said. "Clearly, if it's going to show that it's not safe to do that (release the metals) ... I won't recommend, anyway, that we select those alternatives," said Ken Picha Jr., DOE environmental impact statement program manager. The department plans to hold a public hearing in Paducah at an unspecified date before issuing a draft impact statement in March. After another round of public comments, a final statement will be issued in August. Mark Donham, chairman of the Paducah plant's citizens advisory board, said the board issued a policy two years ago saying the metal should not be released unless federal safety standards were set. The National Academy of Sciences is studying the safety issue for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees nuclear safety at the Paducah plant. DOE projects a million tons of the scrap metal, mostly carbon steel, will be generated within the next 20 years under current plans to decommission its plants. Roughly 30 to 50 percent of the surplus metal could be a candidate for recycling. About 84 percent of the metal is at Oak Ridge; Piketon, Ohio; and Paducah, in buildings still used and scrap yards. The impact statement does not include contaminated nickel at the Paducah plant that some companies want to recycle. Bans also cover the nickel, a situation that concerns the Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization, which is trying to market recycling business. ***************************************************************** 14 Opinion - Joanne Gailar: Re-experiencing '60s threat to survival Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:09 p.m. on Thursday, October 18, 2001 Musings Joanne Gailar "Mr. Stern," the physician ordered my father, "I don't want you watching any more Dr. Kildare programs" this, after Daddy had "come down" with the most recently featured malady on a (then) popular TV series. Only recently did I recall Dr. G's advice when my own family doctor handed me a prescription for my blood pressure, which had become elevated since my last visit. Although I had mentioned being "agitated" (in response to his question, 'Are you depressed',) neither he nor I made the connection between my state of anxiety during the first few months after our fire and its return on Sept. 11. Sure, I am using Dr. P's prescription -- along with my own remedy, more drastic than Dr. G's: forswearing not only unsettling TV programs, but also any reading matter that would follow me to bed at night (this, after a mere glance at a Newsweek cover story on "Biological and Chemical Terror: How Scared Should You Be?," caused a considerable elevation of blood pressure over the previous reading on our measuring device). Problem is, even without reading the article, my work during the mid-60s and early 70s in ORNL's Civil Defense Research Project taught me more than I wanted to know about the threats covered by Newsweek, along with considerably more about the (then) greater threat of nuclear warfare. In those days, I knew nothing of the Taliban or Al Quaeda, nor had the words "terrorist" and "bioterrorist" entered my vocabulary. However, the means of safeguarding our population against biological, chemical and especially nuclear warfare were the very stuff of the research going on in this "Project." Studies included the use of baffles to attenuate shock waves in underground shelters; the design (and actual construction) of fallout shelters to safeguard people from radiation; possible means of protection against pathogens and poisonous gases; and, even, the psychological effects of nuclear warfare. Other research encompassed potential bottlenecks in the flow of petroleum; the effects of electromagnetic pulse on components in aircraft; the effect of radiation on bees (because of their importance as pollinators); the protection of cattle against radiation, and methods of decontaminating meat, should such protection fail. Not surprisingly, our researchers included physicists, chemical and mechanical engineers, social and veterinary scientists, along with an economist, authority on bees, librarian, and generalist. During my nine years in the Project, the first four were devoted to devising a subject index (and method of retrieval) for the documents that flowed in every day and investigating the feasibility of an information center on CD research. It was during this time, when scanning the diverse documents that arrived each week, that I became familiar with what we speak of today bio-terrorism and pathogens, as well as the disease vectors (organisms or insects that transmit pathogens). These included not only anthrax, smallpox, and botulism, but equine encephalitis, dengue fever, and other equally horrible maladies, the names of which have blessedly slipped out of my memory over the past 27 years. The late Conrad Chester was our authority on both this subject and that of chemical warfare agents, such as mustard gas and phosgene. Even more disturbing to me was an early assignment of reading Herman Kahn's "On Thermonuclear War." Also the author of "Thinking About the Unthinkable," Kahn not only described various scenarios, but went on to expound his own view of "acceptable losses," all of which sent me home from my windowless office in a state of gloom. Yet, an even more depressing experience awaited me six months later when one of our staff members, a doctor of veterinary science, took us on a conducted tour of the UT-Agricultural Research Laboratory. There we saw the repulsive sight of cows urinating from their necks to which their bladders had been transplanted; immobilized and apathetic sheep that had recently been irradiated ("We find they do better when we curry them," our guide informed us); and a number of droopy dogs. They had been administered increasingly high doses of radiation and then forced to "carry a small load" in order to determine the extent to which they were slowed down. How my heart ached for these forlorn creatures. Our tour ended with each of us being given an irradiated coleus in a small pot. Like the animals we had just seen, it was adversely affected, its colors far less bright than those of others of its genus. When it failed to thrive in my windowless office, I discarded it, this abject reminder of what I came to think of as a concentration camp for animals. I could only hope that some results, beneficial to the survival of our own species, would come of these experiments of the 1960s, as well as of all the other research in the Civil Defense Research Project that has returned to me full blown during the continuing threat to our country and its human and animal population. Joanne Gailar's Musing column appears weekly in The Oak Ridger. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 15 Uranium reactor stockpiles falling-ERA [Reuters] Wednesday October 17, 10:19 pm Eastern Time SYDNEY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Stockpiles of uranium held by nuclear power generating companies were slowly being used up, creating more demand for new supplies, uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia Ltd said on Thursday. ``Growth in demand for primary uranium production will largely arise through the depletion of utility inventories,'' ERA chairman Barry Cusack told the annual shareholders meeting. Markets for intermediate uranium concentrate were relatively flat, with requirements from nuclear reactor operators worldwide expected to increase only modestly over the medium term, Cusack said. But there were signs that supplies could begin to tighten, leading to higher selling prices, he said. Prices for uranium oxide used by the reactors have slipped 15 percent in the last year to an average of US$7.89 a pound, but had improved recently to around $9.33 a pound, he said. Mining companies overall produced 34,746 tonnes of uranium last year, a 12 percent increase on 1999, Cusack said. ``Primary production represented only 56 percent of demand, the balance being made up from secondary sources such as utility stockpile draw down,'' Cusack said. About 440 commercial nuclear reactors in 31 countries supply 16 percent of the world's electricity, Cusack said. New supply sources of uranium were being concentrated in Canada and Australia, he said. ERA mines uranium in Australia's far northwest. Rival WMC Ltd (Australia:WMC.AX - news) produces uranium as a by-product of its copper mining business in South Australia. Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd, an affiliate of U.S. utility General Atomics, also operates a uranium mine in South Australia. Most of the new nuclear reactors planned for construction are located in Southeast Asia, although the California energy crisis has led to discussions of nuclear power in the U.S., Cusack said. Australia has no nuclear industry of its own but exports uranium to North America, Asia and Europe. At 12:15 a.m. (0215GMT), ERA shares were three cents lower at A$1.83. ERA, 68 percent owned by Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: RIO.L)(Australia:RIO.AX - news), earlier this year posted a 62 percent fall in 200/01 (July/June) net profit to A$13.1 million. ***************************************************************** 16 Outstanding DOE-Funded Research Recognized EarthVision Environmental News WASHINGTON October 18, 2001 - A host of Department of Energy-funded research projects have garnered recognition for their outstanding commercial potential by receiving R&D Magazine's "R&D 100 Awards." In total, 26 of the 100 awards given this year went to DOE-funded researchers for work that includes a way to convert harmful oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in vehicle exhaust into components of clean air; an efficient method of converting methanol, ethanol, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel into hydrogen for use by a fuel cell to produce electricity; a heat pump water heater that uses one-third the electricity of a conventional water heater; a way to recharge lead-acid batteries that extends their life by three to four times; and a method for processing computer chips using supercritical carbon dioxide with the potential of saving the semiconductor manufacturing industry tens of millions of gallons of water per day. The researchers winning the R&D 100 Awards work at 13 of the department's laboratories and facilities, one company whose research was funded by the department will also receive an award, and 11 awards went to joint projects with companies or universities. The DOE laboratories and facilities whose researchers are receiving awards (multiple awards indicated) are: Ames Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory Kansas City Plant Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (3) Los Alamos National Laboratory (3) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (3) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (4) Sandia National Laboratories (3) Savannah River Technology Corp. DOE's Office of Science has more information on each award. ***************************************************************** 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. 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