***************************************************************** 09/19/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.222 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Senators seek relief for DOE meetings 2 Yucca Mountain lawsuits make intervention unneeded, official says 3 China stresses nuclear energy's role in sustainable development 4 EPA official won't weigh in on radiation 5 Reid seeks delay of Yucca hearings 6 Hijacked Plane Targeted Nuke Complex 7 Daily Events Report 8 Hazardous-material fire rages at plant 9 Letters: Nuclear fear 10 Meeting to study hazardous waste - 11 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Wednesday, September 19, 2001 12 NRC Issues Finding of Low to Moderate Safety Significance on 13 Austria need not worry over Czech nuclear power station - 14 Russian nuclear power plants sufficiently protected, minister 15 County allocates $1 million to fight dump NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Test Site proposed as anti-terrorism training school 2 IAEA Verification of Weapon-Origin Fissile Material in the 3 IAEA General Conference Reappoints Director General Mohamed 4 IAEA General Conference Begins Annual Session - Press Release 01/16 5 Terrorism Haunts Nuke Delegates 6 Pentagon recommends use of nuclear weapons - 7 Is open campus still desirable at ORNL? 8 Servando Gonzalez: A Sad Day for Fidel Castro? ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Senators seek relief for DOE meetings Wednesday, September 19, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Reid, Ensign ask Energy Secretary Abraham to reschedule state Yucca Mountain hearings By TONY BATT DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Nevada's senators on Tuesday sought to persuade Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to reschedule two state hearings next week on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project. Abraham did not commit to reschedule the sessions. The effort by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., stemmed from the department's announcement on Monday that it would conduct hearings from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at the Longstreet Inn in Amargosa Valley and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall No. 0054 in Pahrump. The hearing in Amargosa Valley was originally scheduled Sept. 12 and the Pahrump meeting for Sept. 13. Both were postponed in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The hearings are required before Abraham makes a recommendation to President Bush later this year or early next year on whether Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is a suitable storage site for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor confirmed the senator spoke to Abraham. "He told the secretary the timing of these hearings could not be worse and asked for him to reconsider the scheduling," Naylor said. Abraham neither rejected nor agreed to Reid's proposal, Naylor said. Ensign failed to return phone calls on Tuesday, but sources said he also intended to speak to Abraham. Calls to the Energy Department in Washington and Nevada were not returned. Abraham did say this week he would schedule additional public hearings where he or senior department officials would attend. Additionally, a department official will be stationed at the Yucca Mountain Science Center in Las Vegas to receive comment. Abraham said he would be going "well beyond what the law requires" to solicit public comment on the Yucca Mountain program. An initial hearing was held on Sept. 5 in North Las Vegas. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., criticized the decision to schedule two hearings in one day. "This has been a terribly difficult time for our nation and Nevada. DOE should cut some slack for us, and spread out these hearings," Gibbons said. "I'm concerned that scheduling two hearings at the same time on the same day will prevent some Nevadans from attending these hearings." Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who was observing the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, said through spokesman Michael O'Donovan that the rescheduling was inappropriate. "It's too horrible to think that the Yucca Mountain supporters would try to further their goal in the wake of a national tragedy," O'Donovan said. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-19-Wed-2001/news/17032417.html ***************************************************************** 2 Yucca Mountain lawsuits make intervention unneeded, official says [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Wednesday, September 19, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal EPA ombudsman backs off By STEVE TETREAULT DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- An EPA ombudsman says lawsuits challenging radiation health standards set for a Nevada nuclear waste repository make it unnecessary for him to intervene at this time. Capping a three-month preliminary study, ombudsman Robert Martin said he concluded, "It would not be prudent to accept as an ombudsman case and investigate the EPA standards for Yucca Mountain." The official's decision came in a Sept. 10 memo to federal and state officials, environmentalists and nuclear industry executives he had consulted when weighing involvement in the issue. Martin said lawsuits filed by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the state of Nevada and various environmental groups makes it possible that questions surrounding the radiation limits will be settled in the courtroom. He said he preferred not to intervene when there was a chance "the courts may strike down any provision in the pending litigation." Martin had weighed getting involved in Yucca Mountain, which EPA colleagues said would have been his most ambitious case in his nine years at the agency. Martin more frequently intervenes in disputes involving the Environmental Protection Agency and communities over cleanup of Superfund sites and other toxic waste dumps. The ombudsman does not have authority to make binding decisions in cases he takes on, but he noted the EPA accepts his recommendations in more cases than not. But Martin and EPA higher-ups occasionally have clashed over his independence, and Yucca Mountain proved to be an example. Disagreement emerged within the agency whether Martin, who works from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, had jurisdiction over nuclear waste. Michael Shapiro, acting assistant administrator in the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, said a legal opinion solicited from the EPA's acting general counsel this summer concluded the radiation standards "do not appear to be within the scope of the ombudsman's position description" because they were not promulgated under solid waste laws. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., believes the ombudsman was pressured to back off Yucca Mountain, her spokesman Michael O'Donovan said Tuesday. "Obviously the EPA was worried about Martin's investigation," O'Donovan said. Berkley, observing the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, was not available. EPA officials could not be reached on Tuesday night for comment. Martin was said to be sick at home on Tuesday and did not respond to an interview request relayed through an associate. In May, Berkley asked Martin to investigate how the radiation standards were being developed, following reports that EPA officials were being pressured to favor what Nevada officials believed were less stringent health protections from the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. On June 5, the agency announced standards that the Energy Department must meet for radiation escaping Yucca Mountain through groundwater, and through the environment generally. The nuclear power industry, the state of Nevada and environmental groups filed lawsuits within days, charging varying problems with the agency's work. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-19-Wed-2001/news/17032615.html ***************************************************************** 3 China stresses nuclear energy's role in sustainable development (09/18/2001) (xinhua) Nuclear energy should be used more to ensure sustainable development, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should play a coordinating role in developing new technology of nuclear energy, Zhang Huazhu, head of Chinese delegation told an IAEA General Conference in Vienna on Monday. With the deterioration of the ecological environment and the increase in energy demand, it's necessary to optimize energy structure policies and increase the proportion of clean energy so as to cut down pollution and relieve climate change, Zhang said. He asked the IAEA to do more to "objectively popularize the significance of nuclear power to the reduction of environmental pollution and climate change," so that the general public may realize its importance in sustainable development. Zhang said more than 40 years of experience proved that nuclear energy is clean, safe and economical. So far, nuclear power accounts for one sixth of the world's total power generation. As the largest developing country in the world, China supports efforts made by all nations to relieve climate change, Zhang said, adding that the Chinese government has put forward the guideline of "developing nuclear power appropriately" in its 10th Five-Year Plan of national economic development (2001-2005). China now has eight nuclear power units under construction with a total installed capacity of 6,600 megawatts, and a few more nuclear power plants are under planning or feasibility studies, according to Zhang. The head of the Chinese delegation also said the IAEA should play a coordinating role in developing new technology of nuclear energy and give more consideration to the practical requirements of developing countries. Delegations from more than 120 member states of the IAEA, along with the new members + Yugoslavia and Botswana + and some other international organizations, opened Monday the 45th Session of the IAEA General Conference. Copyright 2001 By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 EPA official won't weigh in on radiation Las Vegas SUN September 19, 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN Environmental Protection Agency Ombudsman Robert Martin has concluded that he does not have the authority to investigate radiation exposure limits set by the federal government as they relate to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The EPA, by law, is responsible for setting exposure standards, which must be met by the Energy Department. Martin, in a Sept. 10 letter to Nevada officials, environmentalists and nuclear industry executives, said pending lawsuits challenging the radiation standards preclude him from intervening at this time. The Nuclear Energy Institute, the state of Nevada and several environmental groups filed suit immediately after the EPA issued the final standards on June 13. The lawsuits challenge groundwater standards, as well as determined radiation limits. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., on May 2 asked Martin to investigate EPA's process regarding the radiation standards. Michael O'Donovan, a spokesman for Berkley, said today that the congresswoman is not satisfied with the ombudsman's conclusion and believes the EPA pressured the independent investigator to abandon an investigation. Berkley was observing the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah and was not available for comment. Martin was ill and at home this week and could not be reached. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 Reid seeks delay of Yucca hearings Las Vegas SUN September 19, 2001 By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Tuesday urged Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to delay two Yucca Mountain hearings scheduled in rural Nevada for Monday, in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. DOE officials did not return phone calls Tuesday or today, but Abraham has not signaled he would further delay the hearings. Reid spoke to Abraham by telephone Tuesday afternoon, spokesman Nathan Naylor said. Reid's message: "Nevadans are just as distraught as everyone else around this country and this is a very bad time to do this," Naylor said. Naylor said Abraham's response was essentially, "The DOE just wants to return to business as usual." Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., thinks it's "outrageous" the DOE would hold hearings so soon after the attacks, Ensign spokeswoman Traci Scott said. Nevada's four lawmakers in Congress uniformly object to the Department of Energy holding two public comment hearings about the proposal to bury the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The hearings were postponed last week because of the attacks, but the DOE on Monday re-scheduled the meetings for this Monday -- both from 2 to 9 p.m.; one at the Longstreet Inn in Amargosa Valley, the other at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall No. 10054 in Pahrump. Nevada officials objected to the hearings before the attacks, saying an 8-hour, Sept. 5 hearing in North Las Vegas did not give citizens an adequate chance to voice opinions. They said the hearings also should be delayed until later this year when final reports about Yucca's suitability as a waste site are released. The DOE could do Nevadans "a great justice" by delaying the hearings, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 Hijacked Plane Targeted Nuke Complex (washingtonpost.com) By Duncan Mansfield Associated Press Writer Wednesday, September 19, 2001; 2:19 AM OAK RIDGE, Tenn. –– Twenty-nine years ago, hijackers took over an airliner with 27 passengers and four crew aboard and threatened to crash into the government's nuclear weapons production complex in Oak Ridge. "They let us know that if we didn't have the money by X hour then we were going to dive into Oak Ridge," co-pilot Harold Johnson recalled in an interview last week from his Memphis home. "And there was no doubt in my mind that we would have done just that." Johnson would be threatened with his life and shot in the arm before the 32-hour ordeal finally ended Nov. 12, 1972, in Havana. Airline hijackings to Cuba were common in those days. The commandeering of the Southern Airways DC9 with its '70ish smiley face on the nose was one of about 30 hijackings that year. But this was one of the few times in American aviation history – before last week's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon – in which hijackers threatened to use an airplane as a weapon. Johnson, who retired in 1983, said domestic security measures were increased after his flight. But he said the government didn't go far enough. "For a long, long time, it was something that I thought could happen someday, but had just hoped and prayed that it never would," he said. Unlike the recent hijackers, the three Americans who took control of Johnson's Memphis-to-Miami-flight had little training and virtually no plan. They did have guns, a hand grenade and a grudge against Detroit, where two of them had been charged with rape. Hijacker Melvin Cale grew up in nearby Knoxville and worked in Oak Ridge before moving to Detroit with his half brother Louis Moore, another hijacker. Henry Jackson of Detroit completed the trio. They commandeered the plane about 10 minutes after a stopover in Birmingham, Ala., crashing through the cockpit door with an arm around a flight attendant's throat and a gun to her head. They wanted a $10 million ransom, 10 parachutes and 10 bulletproof vests. The plane eventually reached Knoxville and began circling Oak Ridge, site of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and their specific target – a nuclear research reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "It was surreal in a sense," said Jim Alexander, a former government spokesman at Oak Ridge. "We would look up in the sky and see this jet airliner circling. It was high, but it never left." In his book, "Odyssey of Terror," the plane's captain, William Haas, wrote that the hijackers became enraged when their demands received a lukewarm response. They forced Haas to begin a steep descent on Oak Ridge, pulling out only when the airline said it would comply. Johnson, however, said the plane never got below 8,000 to 10,000 feet and that was only so the hijackers could identify Oak Ridge. The airline finally came up with $2 million for the hijackers, who then forced the pilots to fly to Havana. They shot Johnson in the arm during a shootout with FBI agents when the plane stopped to refuel in Orlando, Fla. The hijackers were arrested in Cuba and imprisoned for eight years. The trio returned in 1980 to Birmingham, where they were sentenced to 20- to 25-year terms. Haas retired in 1988 and died earlier this year. His widow said he never would have crashed the DC9 into Oak Ridge. "There is not a pilot in the United States that flies commercially that would do anything like that," Ann Haas said. "He might make the hijackers think that was what he was going to do, but never, never would they use it as a target." © 2001 The Associated Press ***************************************************************** 7 Daily Events Report U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center Event Reports For 09/19/2001 09/20/2001 ** EVENT NUMBERS ** 38295 38296 38297 38298 38299 Fuel Cycle Facility Event Number: 38295 FACILITY: PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/19/2001 RXTYPE: URANIUM ENRICHMENT FACILITY NOTIFICATION TIME: 09:00[EDT] COMMENTS: 2 DEMOCRACY CENTER EVENT DATE: 09/19/2001 6903 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE EVENT TIME: 08:13[EDT] BETHESDA, MD 20817 (301)564 3200 LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/19/2001 CITY: PIKETON REGION: 3 COUNTY: PIKE STATE: OH PERSON ORGANIZATION LICENSE#: GDP 2 AGREEMENT: N JOHN MADERA R3 DOCKET: 0707002 SUSAN FRANT NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: MIKE RICHIE HQ OPS OFFICER: LEIGH TROCINE EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NONR OTHER UNSPEC REQMNT EVENT TEXT OFFSITE NOTIFICATION REGARDING AN OPACITY VIOLATION (4 hour Report) The following text is a portion of a facsimile received from Portsmouth personnel: "At 0813 hours [on] 09/19/01, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) was notified per Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 3745 15 06(B) that an opacity exceedance had occurred at the X 600 Steam Plant. The opacity violation occurred on [the] #2 Boiler when our #2A Precipitator voltages began to fluctuate. Operators adjusted load/air requirements on the #2 Boiler in an effort to prevent further exceedances. [The] cause of the voltage fluctuations has not been determined at this time." "This is reportable as a 4 hour NRC Event due to notification to an outside agency (OEPA) being made per Nuclear Regulatory Reporting Procedure UE2 PAE1030, Appendix D, Criteria P (Miscellaneous)." Portsmouth personnel notified the NRC resident inspector. Fuel Cycle Facility Event Number: 38296 FACILITY: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC. NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/19/2001 RXTYPE: URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE PRODUCTION NOTIFICATION TIME: 10:16[EDT] COMMENTS: UF6 CONVERSION (DRY PROCESS) EVENT DATE: 09/19/2001 EVENT TIME: 09:05[CDT] LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/19/2001 CITY: METROPOLIS REGION: 3 COUNTY: MASSAC STATE: IL PERSON ORGANIZATION LICENSE#: SUB 526 AGREEMENT: Y JOHN MADERA R3 DOCKET: 04003392 SUSAN FRANT NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: HUGH ROBERTS HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: JBBE 40.60(b)(2) SAFETY EQUIPMENT FAILUR EVENT TEXT STANDBY DIESEL GENERATOR FAILED TO START AND IS UNAVAILABLE The licensee reported that a standby diesel generator failed to start in manual and automatic during a test. The generator is unavailable as redundant for required safety function. The generator is being worked on. The plant is shutting down their processing until repairs are made. The licensee will submit a 30 day written report and is notifying NRC Region 3. Fuel Cycle Facility Event Number: 38297 FACILITY: PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/19/2001 RXTYPE: URANIUM ENRICHMENT FACILITY NOTIFICATION TIME: 15:04[EDT] COMMENTS: 2 DEMOCRACY CENTER EVENT DATE: 09/19/2001 6903 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE EVENT TIME: 12:45[EDT] BETHESDA, MD 20817 (301)564 3200 LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/19/2001 CITY: PIKETON REGION: 3 COUNTY: PIKE STATE: OH PERSON ORGANIZATION LICENSE#: GDP 2 AGREEMENT: N JOHN MADERA R3 DOCKET: 0707002 BRIAN SMITH NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: MCCLEERY HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NONR OTHER UNSPEC REQMNT EVENT TEXT AUTOCLAVE ISOLATION OTHER NON CFR REQUIREMENT 24 HOUR NOTIFICATION At 1245 hours on 09/19/01, both the "A" and "B" High Level Condensate probes activated on Autoclave # 3 in the X 334 uranium hexafluoride Sampling Facility causing a High Condensate Alarm. The activation of either of these probes will cause the autoclave steam supply valves ("Q" components) to actuate (close). The steam supply valves closed, as designed, autoclave # 3 was in TSR Mode 2 (Heating) at the time of the alarm activation. Operations personnel immediately responded to the alarm in accordance with the approved Alarm Response Procedures. The alarm reset when operations personnel drained excess condensate from autoclave drain line, and then acknowledged the alarm at the local autoclave control panel. All autoclave (and cylinder) operating parameters were determined to be within normal ranges. Autoclave # 3 was placed in TSR mode 7 (Shutdown) by operations personnel and declared inoperable by the Plant Shift Superintendent. Based on the actuation of both High Level Condensate probes, this event is being reported as a valid safety system actuation, a 24 hour NRC event. An Engineering Evaluation has been requested to investigate the circumstances surrounding this safety system actuation. The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the certificate holder. Fuel Cycle Facility Event Number: 38298 FACILITY: PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/19/2001 RXTYPE: URANIUM ENRICHMENT FACILITY NOTIFICATION TIME: 18:36[EDT] COMMENTS: 2 DEMOCRACY CENTER EVENT DATE: 09/19/2001 6903 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE EVENT TIME: 10:06[EDT] BETHESDA, MD 20817 (301)564 3200 LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/19/2001 CITY: PIKETON REGION: 3 COUNTY: PIKE STATE: OH PERSON ORGANIZATION LICENSE#: GDP 2 AGREEMENT: N JOHN MADERA R3 DOCKET: 0707002 ERIC LEEDS NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: MCCLEERY HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NBNL RESPONSE BULLETIN EVENT TEXT NRC BULLETIN 91 01 24 NOTIFICATION During a meeting to discuss compensatory actions for PR PTS 01 04202, additional concerns were raised regarding compliance with the requirements of NCSA 705 076. Specifically, exterior walls have openings (windows and gaps) which could allow uranium bearing solution to spray outside the facility and collect in an unfavorable geometry inadvertent container. A walk down was performed. The findings resulted in a violation of control # 3 of NCSA 705 76, inadvertent containers. Compliance with NCSA was reestablished with the closure of windows, caulking of identified openings and continued shutdown of system involved. SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS: The safety significance is low because there was no leak of uranium bearing material! near the identified openings in the walls of the X 705. The two areas in question are designated as "Inadvertent Container Area" due to the presence of the Recovery System and Microfiltration, neither of which are currently in operation due to a stand down of all X 705 operations. The presence of an inadvertent container in the area is a violation of NCS controls and one leg of the double contingency principle as described in NCSE 0705 _076.E.03. POTENTIAL CRITICALITY PATHWAYS INVOLVED (BRIEF SCENARIO[S] OF HOW CRITICALITY COULD OCCUR): For a criticality to occur, the following events would be required: The recovery system or Microfiltration would have to be operating and processing uranium bearing liquid with a high concentration of uranium. Then a leak in this system must occur such that an unsafe amount of liquid sprays from the system directly through an open window or through another penetration in the building wall. The liquid would then have to flow or drip into a potentially unfavorable geometry that may be present immediately adjacent to the outside building wall. Depending on the volume collected, some reflection would also be required to sustain a critical chain reaction The Recovery and Microfiltration systems are not currently in operation. CONTROLLED PARAMETERS (MASS, MODERATION, GEOMETRY, CONCENTRATION. ETC.): Inadvertent containers are controlled based upon volume (2.5 liters maximum) or geometry (1.5 inches in depth or 4 inches in diameter). The exact potential collection volume for this event is unknown. Although analyzed for 100% enriched materials, the Recovery System would Currently process materiel with less than or equal to 5% enrichment ESTIMATED AMOUNT, ENRICHMENT, FORM OF LICENSED MATERIAL (INCLUDE PROCESS LIMIT AND % WORST CASE OF CRITICAL MASS): No uranium bearing material was involved in this event. There were no leaks of uranium bearing materiel in the area during this event. The event involves the presence of an unsafe geometry (via an opening in the building block wall) that could collect solution in the event of a spill. NUCLEAR CRITICALITY SAFETY CONTROL(S) OR CONTROL SYSTEM(S) AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FAILURES OR DEFICIENCIES: The presence of holes in the exterior building walls could lead to the collection of a spill or leak in the unfavorable geometry space. This is a violation of control #3 of NCSA 0705_076, Inadvertent Containers, which specifically evaluates this event. Compliance with inadvertent container controls was reestablished for a shutdown Recovery system and for the Microfiltration system (running or shutdown) within four hours of discovery. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS TO RESTORE SAFETY SYSTEM AND WHEN EACH WAS IMPLEMENTED: Compliance with the NCSA was reestablished with the closure of windows, caulking of identified openings and continued shutdown of Systems involved. Power Reactor Event Number: 38299 FACILITY: CATAWBA REGION: 2 NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/19/2001 UNIT: [] [2] [] STATE: SC NOTIFICATION TIME: 22:12[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] W 4 LP,[2] W 4 LP EVENT DATE: 09/19/2001 EVENT TIME: 20:15[EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: P. MCINTYRE LAST UPDATE DATE: 09/19/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY SCOTT SPARKS R2 10 CFR SECTION: ADEG 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) DEGRADED CONDITION UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 2 N N 0 Refueling 0 Refueling EVENT TEXT BORIC RESIDUE BUILDUP Visual inspection of the Unit 2 Steam Generator 2B (SG 2B) lower head bowl drain during the current refueling outage indicated boron residue buildup on the 0.5" piping immediately below the SG. The total volume of residue was approximately 1 cubic inch. The origin appears to be the partial penetration of a weld between the reducing coupling and the lower head shell. Exact location could not be conclusively determined at this time and additional inspection using NDE will be conducted. Visual inspection of the other three SG's was also conducted and no indications of leakage were identified. State and Local officials will be given a courtesy call. The NRC Resident Inspector will be notified by the licensee. ***************************************************************** 8 Hazardous-material fire rages at plant Worcester Telegram &Gazette Online Tuesday, September 18, 2001 By Bronislaus B. Kush Telegram & Gazette Staff WORCESTER-- A racing, three-alarm fire heavily damaged a Shrewsbury Street plant filled with hazardous materials and sent plumes of noxious smoke across the city's East Side yesterday. The fire, which broke out shortly before noon at Universal Metal Corp., 345 Shrewsbury St., forced the evacuation of pupils at the Adams Street School and shut down several businesses through the afternoon. Rerouted traffic was snarled for hours along Plantation and Belmont streets and, as a precautionary measure, officials at St. John's High School in Shrewsbury canceled many after-class activities. Within an hour, one of the three buildings making up the complex collapsed from the intense heat. Firefighters said they saved the other two, which did sustain some smoke and water damage. Fire officials said the plant, which employs about 30, contained a number of hazardous materials, including low-level radioactive metals and propane. They were particularly concerned because a large quantity of titanium stored there. Titanium is a highly combustible silvery metallic element that is used as a cleaning and deoxidizing agent in molten steel and in the manufacture of aircraft, satellites, chemical equipment and sporting goods. “We couldn't use water to fight this fire because it only makes matters worse,” said Deputy Fire Chief James F. Callery said of the parts of the building where the titanium was burning. “When you're dealing with titanium, you have to smother it.” Despite the potential for disaster, there were no injuries. “The Fire Department did a good job,” said City Manager Thomas R. Hoover, who, along with other ranking city officials, went to the fire to assess the situation. “This one really could have gotten out of control.” The fire was reported at 11:49 a.m. by a UMass Memorial Healthcare emergency medical technician working off-duty at the ambulance station across the street. EMT Phil Johnson said he was sipping some coffee while doing some administrative paperwork when he spotted the fire. “It didn't seem like much at first,” said Mr. Johnson. “But within two or three minutes, it looked like an overgrown campfire.” Fire officials quickly struck a second alarm a minute after receiving the call and a third at 12:19 p.m. Employees reported that they had made their escape well before the first pieces of fire equipment arrived. “I was in the back and somebody said there was a fire so I just got out,” said Jaime Navariete, a sorter at the plant for the past three years. Anthony Bello, whose father owns Bello Opticians, said he looked outside after hearing firetrucks and saw flames spilling out of the building's garage doors. “It moved pretty fast,” he said. By 12:30 p.m., the building fronting Shrewsbury Street was engulfed in flames, its metal framework melting down from the heat. Fire officials estimated the temperature within that structure to be between 6,000 and 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Thick clouds of alternating yellow, black and brown smoke billowed above the scene and could be seen for miles. Occasionally, a propane tank within the building exploded. Several ambulances were called and some paramedics prepared stretchers in case there were injuries. A car and sport utility vehicle parked in front of the burning building were damaged by falling debris. There were some scary moments early on when four firefighters sent “to vent” the building appeared to be caught on the roof as the flames began to intensify and shoot up. Fire officials said, however, that the four had no difficulty getting off. Pupils attending the Adams Street School were evacuated to the Belmont Street Community School, and police advised some neighborhood residents to close their windows and stay inside. Plainclothes investigators were called in to assist uniformed police officers with traffic and other duties, officials said. A number of small roads that feed into Shrewsbury Street were closed and the Interstate 290 off-ramp to the neighborhood was blocked by police for several hours. At times, the smoke made it very difficult to see, but the railroad tracks behind the plant remained open to train traffic heading to and from the Union Station area. Though there was no official “evacuation,” police said they directed some residents and business employees in the immediate vicinity to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Center, about a quarter of a mile away. The local chapter of the American Red Crossset up a relief station for public safety personnel across the street in the parking lot of the Buckley Insurance Agency. Bottled water was a favorite. Officials, who were concerned about shifting winds, warned some area towns about the stifling smoke, prompting St. John's administrators to cancel the junior varsity and freshmen football games scheduled to be held on campus, as well as all practices. “We had a lot of concern about the smoke banking down,” said District Fire Chief Walter C. Giard. Deputy Chief Callery said a plan was mapped out to smother the fire with sand hauled over to the site by Department of Public Works crews. But the fire spread too rapidly and fire commanders said they decided to let the blaze burn itself out while doing all they could to save the rear two buildings. “There was no way we were going to save that building,” said Fire Lt. Peter Lemieux of Ladder 1, who is also assigned to the Hazardous Materials Unit. Fire officials said the company stored at least 100 pounds of a powder-like substance designed to put out such fires, but it was unclear whether employees had a chance to get to the materials. Firefighters had the fire well under control by about 1:30 p.m. and the westbound side of Shrewsbury Street was reopened about two hours later. Firefighters were to stay at the site through the night and demolition crews have been ordered to raze what was left of the building on Shrewsbury Street. In all, 60 firefighters assigned to 10 engine companies and five ladder companies were dispatched to the fire. Under mutual aid agreements, firefighters from neighboring towns staffed local firehouses. Lt. Joseph A. Cassello of the Fire Department's Fire Investigations Unit said that he believes the fire was started accidentally. An employee reported to investigators that he saw some sparks while using a small bulldozer-like vehicle to pile up some titanium shavings. Lt. Cassello said the fire started in the building's bay area. Meanwhile, Lt. Lemieux, who has inspected the plant before, said the company has been in compliance with regulations. As firefighters mopped up late yesterday afternoon, a number of the company's employees milled about at the nearby Dunkin' Donuts, awaiting word about their jobs. Mr. Hoover said the city's Office of Training and Employment would be open to assist displaced workers. Officials listed Stuart Freilich as the company's owner. They said he was out of town but was making arrangements to return to Worcester last night. Neighbors said the company moved from Southbridge Street to Shrewsbury Street a few years ago. Tuesday, September 18, 2001 ***************************************************************** 9 Letters: Nuclear fear Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | September 19, 2001 The Guardian The world changed on September 11. However, it seems the government still intends to grant approval for BNFL to start operating its mixed-oxide (Mox) plant at Sellafield (Atom threat, September 18). This will result in shipments of fuel elements containing plutonium between the UK, Japan and other countries. The destruction of such a ship by a suicide attack would require less sophisticated capabilities than terrorist groups have recently demonstrated so tragically. If near land, the subsequent devastation could be at least as grave as Chernobyl. Prof Keith Barnham London Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 10 Meeting to study hazardous waste - The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, September 19, 2001 The Nov. 26 public meeting will focus on 15 billion pounds of hazardous material the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant would handle. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 A public meeting is set for Nov. 26 to study the environmental and economic impact of building a facility to convert about 15 billion pounds of hazardous waste at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant into safer material. The meeting will be from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Paducah Information Age Park Resource Center. In Tuesday's Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on the conversion project. Public comments will be accepted through Nov. 26, DOE spokesman Walter Perry said. DOE is expected to award a contract in late October for the work, which will convert nearly 58,000 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into material that may one day have commercial use. Most of the cylinders are at Paducah and the rest are at closed uranium enrichment plants at Piketon, Ohio, and Oak Ridge, Tenn. Finalists include three groups, one of which includes USEC Inc., the Paducah plant operator. John Cooper, a lobbyist for the city and county governments, told commissioners at a joint meeting Tuesday that last week's terrorist attacks may delay the contract award. "There was supposed to be a conversion decision in late October," Cooper said. "The events of last Tuesday changed all that. It has pushed it back, and I don't know how long." Construction must start by Jan. 31, 2004, according to federal law. Although the law mandates conversion facilities be built at Paducah and Piketon, DOE's notice describes that scenario as the "preferred" plan for purposes of the study under the National Environmental Policy Act. The contract is contingent on completing the study, DOE said. Other alternatives are building one plant at Paducah or Piketon, using existing commercial conversion plants, or continuing to store the material in cylinders. The study will assess worker and public health and environmental impacts of the project. UF6 in its normal, solid form resembles rock salt and contains low-level radiation. When released to the atmosphere, it reacts with water vapor to form toxic substances, notably hydrogen fluoride, the department said. Besides environmental impact, the study will gauge the facilities' construction and operational effect on local employment, income, population, housing and public services. Some past estimates have shown each plant would employ 100 to 200 people, depending on the level of government involvement. Several hundred construction jobs are anticipated in each community. The notice is available by linking the Federal Register at www.gpo.gov and doing a keyword search. For information or to send written comments, contact Kevin Shaw, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Office of Site Closure-Oak Ridge Office (EM-32), 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874; fax: 301-903-3479; or e-mail DUF6Comments@em.doe.gov (use NOI Comments for the subject). ***************************************************************** 11 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Wednesday, September 19, 2001 ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Wednesday, September 19, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 012610076 Accession Number: ML012560105 Document Date: 6/1/00 Title: 06/01/2000, Presentation re: AEP Meeting with NRC, Discussion of Containment Subcompartment Walls. Author Affiliation: American Electric Power Co Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610104 Accession Number: ML012560125 Document Date: 6/11/01 Title: 06/11/2001, Presentation Slides re: American Electric Power Meeting with NRC, Resolution of Containment Structural Issues for DC Cook. Author Affiliation: American Electric Power Co Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610103 Accession Number: ML012560115 Document Date: 6/11/01 Title: 06/11/2001, Presentation Slides re: American Electric Power Meeting with NRC, Resolution of Containment Structural Issues for DC Cook. (with Editiorial Comments) Author Affiliation: American Electric Power Co Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610283 Accession Number: ML012610064 Document Date: 9/19/01 Title: 09/26/2001 - Public Meeting to discuss revision to NEI 99-02, Regulatory Assessment Performance Indicator Guideline of the Revised Reactor Oversight Process on September 12, 2001. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DIPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610303 Accession Number: ML012610120 Document Date: 9/18/01 Title: 10/02/2001, Forthcoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission Meeting with the Public, Tennessee Valley Authority and The Department of Energy (DOE) on DOE's Tritium Production Program. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610138 Accession Number: ML012610002 Document Date: 9/17/01 Title: 10/09/2001 Forthcoming Meeting with NEI Technical Specifications Task Force to exchange information in ongoing process of maintaining & improving Standard Technical Specifications, post Revision 2. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RTSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610136 Accession Number: ML012610003 Document Date: 9/17/01 Title: 10/12/2001 Forthcoming Meeting with Industry on Risk-Informed Technical Specifications. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RTSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610156 Accession Number: ML012530128 Document Date: 8/28/01 Title: ACNW Meeting, August 28, 2001, pages 1-147. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACNW Document/Report Number: ACNWT-0150 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610153 Accession Number: ML012530057 Document Date: 8/22/01 Title: ACRS Meeting on Thermal Hydraulic Phenomena Subcommette, August 22, 2001, closed pages 141-194 & pages 1-104/195-199. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: ACRST-3167 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610151 Accession Number: ML012500302 Document Date: 8/23/01 Title: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Thermal Hydraulic Phenomena Subcommittee Meeting, August 23, 2001, pages 200-223/392-404. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: ACRST-3167 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610208 Accession Number: ML012530261 Document Date: 9/5/01 Title: BWX Technologies, Inc. - Biennial Update of Decommissioning Cost Estimate. Author Affiliation: BWX Technologies, Inc. Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610285 Accession Number: ML011200005 Document Date: 4/19/01 Title: Comments opposed to any new NRC rulemaking that would specifically provide for entombment (in situ disposal) of low-level radioactive waste or greater than Class C waste at reactor sites in New York State. Author Affiliation: State of NY Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610082 Accession Number: ML012560108 Document Date: 10/13/00 Title: DC Cook - Summary of 09/27/00 Public Meeting Regarding Update on Containment Structures. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD3 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610287 Accession Number: ML012600315 Document Date: 4/30/96 Title: NUREG/CR-6314 - "Quality Assurance Inspections for Shipping and Storage Containers" Author Affiliation: Idaho National Engineering Lab, NRC/NMSS/SFPO Document/Report Number: NUREG/CR-6314 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610267 Accession Number: ML011350184 Document Date: 6/1/01 Title: SECY-01-0099 - "Rulemaking Plan and ANPR of Proposed Rulemaking: Entombment for Power Reactors Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0099 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610297 Accession Number: ML011350205 Document Date: Title: SECY-01-0099 - Rulemaking Plan and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Entombment for Power Reactors Author Affiliation: Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610284 Accession Number: ML011350214 Document Date: 6/1/01 Title: SECY-01-0099Atch2 - Rulemaking Plan - Entombment Options For Power Reactors Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0099 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610266 Accession Number: ML011350222 Document Date: 6/1/01 Title: SECY-01-0099Atch3 - ANPR - Entombment Options for Power Reactors Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY Document/Report Number: SECY-01-0099 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012610016 Accession Number: ML012530242 Document Date: Title: Transcript of Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste Meeting, Wednesday August 29, 2001, Pages 148-430. Author Affiliation: Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 12 NRC Issues Finding of Low to Moderate Safety Significance on Fermi Nuclear Plant Violation Region III -- 2001 - 044 -- UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-044 September 19, 2001 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined that a violation of NRC regulations at the Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Station should be characterized as "white," meaning that it is an issue of low to moderate importance to safety. The plant, located in Newport, Michigan, is operated by Detroit Edison Company. The violation concerned a March 21 bearing failure on an emergency diesel generator during a test. NRC staff members concluded that earlier modifications to the diesel generator caused the oil level indicator to give an incorrect reading, which led to the inadequate lubrication and failure of the bearing. The diesel generator is one of four at Fermi 2 which can supply power to plant safety systems if there is a loss of offsite electrical power. The diesel generator was subsequently repaired. Under the safety significance determination process, NRC officials classify certain conditions at nuclear power plants as being one of four colors which delineate increasing levels of safety significance, beginning with green and progressing to white, yellow or red. A NRC inspection, completed June 30, reached a preliminary assessment of the bearing failure as a "white" finding - one of low to moderate importance to safety. The letter transmitting the report provided the company with an opportunity to either request a regulatory conference to discuss this issue with NRC staff or to respond in writing. Detroit Edison officials' response did not contest the "white" characterization of the safety significance of this finding and officials chose not to meet with the NRC staff. On July 27, the NRC completed a supplemental inspection on this issue to review the bearing problem further, and it was determined that the problem had been resolved. In a September 14 letter to the company, Region III Administrator Jim Dyer said, "The inspection (referring to the July 27 supplemental inspection) led to our conclusion that your evaluations and corrective actions adequately addressed the identified root causes." ***************************************************************** 13 Austria need not worry over Czech nuclear power station - official BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Sep 18, 2001 Vienna, 18 September: Dana Drabova, the head of the Czech National Nuclear Security Office (SUJB), today rejected the claims by Austrian politicians that defects observed during the test operation of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant have proved the poor safety of the installations. "If the complexity of the technology is taken into account, nothing unusual has happened during the tests," Drabova said during the 45th plenary session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)... "Moreover, like in the case of the Finnish Loviisa, Slovak Mochovce and Hungarian Paks nuclear power plants it was proved that the combination of a reliable modern equipment and managing system with the [Soviet-made] VVER technology significantly contributes to a high level of safety," Drabova said. She was reacting to a Monday speech by Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner who highlighted the problems of the plant during the test operation and supported the idea of holding an international conference about Temelin's abandonment... Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1718 gmt 18 Sep 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 14 Russian nuclear power plants sufficiently protected, minister says BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Sep 18, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Vienna, 18 September: Russian nuclear power plants are quite well protected against possible terrorist attacks, Minister for Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev told ITAR-TASS here on Tuesday [18 September]. He heads the Russian delegation at the session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. Rumyantsev said that there are elements of nuclear power engineering employed in the design of nuclear power stations such as the maximum level of accident and the maximum hypothetical accident. A possibility of a plane crashing onto a power station is classed in the category of hypothetical accidents. The Russian nuclear power plans are designed in such a way as to withstand a plane crashing down with an explosive devise on board. "We have considered virtually every possible scenario," the minister said. "The design of our power plants protects them against such events, so global catastrophes are precluded." He said this applies both to power plants of the new generation and to power plants with the "Chernobyl type" reactors, whose radiation zone lies deep underground so the external factors can have even less impact on them. He said that on the whole, the safety systems of nuclear power plants incorporates special services that prevent even approaching an accident. Certainly, no one can guarantee a 100 per cent protection against suicide terrorists. In this connection, the safety control has long since been increased at Russian nuclear power facilities, which are protected by special guards patrolling them around the clock. Besides that, nuclear power plants are situated at considerable distance from highways and are among facilities that are most thoroughly guarded by national defence forces. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1502 gmt 18 Sep 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 15 County allocates $1 million to fight dump [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Wednesday, September 19, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal REVIEW-JOURNAL As promised months ago, the Clark County Commission on Tuesday allocated $1 million in taxpayer money to the state's legal fund for battling the federal government's plan to store the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. The county is the first local government in the state to respond to Gov. Kenny Guinn's challenge for contributions, commission Chairman Dario Herrera said. There was no discussion by commissioners Tuesday. In order to keep an accurate accounting of where the money will be spent, the county is expected to receive invoices from the state explaining which services the county will be asked to reimburse, according to county staff. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-19-Wed-2001/news/17028774.html ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Test Site proposed as anti-terrorism training school Las Vegas SUN September 19, 2001 By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning The Nevada Test Site -- once a Cold War proving ground for nuclear weapons -- should be developed as a next-generation training camp in the nation's "new war" on terrorism, Nevada's House lawmakers said. In the wake of last week's terrorist attacks, counterterrorism training courses held periodically each year at the Test Site could be expanded into a permanent, established academy, they said. Nevada's congressional delegation has long argued the Test Site -- the secure, Rhode Island-sized former testing area for the nation's nuclear weapons -- is a suitable home for such a center. "It's perfect," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who plans to lobby for the proposal in the remaining weeks of this year's session. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also supports the proposal, especially because of the open space and infrastructure that already exists at the site, he said. As lawmakers in Congress are searching for innovative ways to prevent and respond to terrorist threats, the attacks in New York and Washington may renew interest in creating a better network of national counterterrorism training schools, several experts said. Government officials are already talking about developing more centers that teach combat skills, encourage strategic planning and foster more terrorism research, said Stephen Bowers, director of the Nelson Institute at James Madison University, which focuses on terrorism studies. "It's what the government calls 'consequence management' (training) and there is a great need for that," Bowers said. Congress considered one bill last year that would have established a national Office of Terrorism Preparedness and increased counterterrorism training centers. But the legislation died without lawmaker action. No nuclear weapons have been tested since 1992 at the remote, 1,375-square-mile desert Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It is the focus of proposals for windmill farms and a space shuttle launch pad. The Test Site since 1999 also has been the home of anti-terrorism training courses, coordinated by Bechtel Nevada, managing contractor for the Department of Energy at the Test Site. Congress last year allocated $4 million for training courses for local, state and federal law enforcement and emergency response teams. The courses, held four times last year, focused mostly on hazardous materials response to chemical, biological and nuclear terrorism, officials said. Police, firefighters, paramedics and other crews go through classroom and field simulations of exploding bombs, discharging weapons, and scenarios of biological weapons release, Bechtel officials said. Emergency workers have learned how to decontaminate victims after exposure to a radioactive or toxic substance. The Senate last week allocated $7 million for more courses next year, although lawmakers have not finalized that figure. The budget increase would both increase the number of courses and the number of people trained, Bechtel Nevada spokeswoman Cheryl Oar said. While the courses at the Test Site have been effective in mostly hazardous materials training, Nevada leaders envision a permanent, established center that one day could offer a broader array of counterterrorism training, Nevada officials said. An anti-terrorism school would be a natural fit for the Test Site, said Kevin Rohrer, a spokesman for the the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Not everyone agrees the nation needs a counterterrorism academy. The nation already has plenty of training sites for private citizens as well as emergency responders, the military and special operations CIA and State Department officials, said Neil Livingstone, CEO of Washington-based GlobalOptions. The company offers counterterrorism training to businesses and foreign officials. The United States may need more trained people but not training facilities, he said. "We don't need a West Point of counterterrorism training," Livingstone said. "It'll be a huge waste of government money." All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 IAEA Verification of Weapon-Origin Fissile Material in the Russian Federation and the United States - Press Release 01/18 [-] PR 2001/19 (17 September 2001) 45th IAEA General Conference IAEA Verification of Weapon-Origin Fissile Material in the Russian Federation and the United States The Secretary of Energy of the United States, Spencer Abraham, Minister of the Russian Federation on Atomic Energy, Alexander Rumyantsev, and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, met in Vienna on 18 September 2001 to review progress on the Trilateral Initiative. The Initiative was launched in 1996 to develop a new IAEA verification system for weapon-origin material designated by the United States and the Russian Federation as released from their defence programmes. The removal of weapon-origin fissile material from the defence programmes of the Russian Federation and the United States is in furtherance of the commitment to disarmament undertaken by the two States pursuant to Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). IAEA verification under this Initiative is intended to promote international confidence that fissile material made subject by either of the two States to Agency verification remains irreversibly removed from nuclear weapon programmes. Under new verification agreements planned between the IAEA and each of the States, the Russian Federation and the United States intend to submit to IAEA verification weapon-origin fissile material. The United States also intends to submit to IAEA verification other fissile material designated by it as no longer required for defence purposes. An essential requirement of the verification system and the methods to be applied is that they must allow the IAEA to draw credible and independent conclusions to assure that the objectives of verification are met. At the same time, each State must, in keeping with its obligations under Article I of the NPT, assure that the IAEA does not gain access to information relating to the design or manufacture of such weapons. In the technical area, the three parties are collaborating in developing and testing special verification equipment for use with classified forms of plutonium. This equipment will incorporate neutron and gamma ray measurement systems operating within a system of "information barriers" designed to allow the inspectors to derive sufficient information for the verification to be credible and independent, while preventing access to classified information. A prototype of such equipment has been demonstrated in the United States and the United States and Russian Federation are developing contracts to support the design, construction and testing of such a measurement system in the Russian Federation. The three parties are also collaborating on an inventory monitoring system that will assure the IAEA has continuity of knowledge once an item of material is verified and placed in storage to assure the material remains in storage as declared by the State. A number of technical workshops were conducted in the past year. A technical workshop was held in the United States at the Sandia National Laboratories in November 2000 to consider appropriate inventory monitoring techniques. A second technical workshop was held at the Plutonium Fuel Production Facility of the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute in April 2001 to consider how state-of-the-art safeguards systems employed for non-proliferation purposes could be adapted for disarmament verification. In addition, a technical visit was made in March 2001 to BNFL in Sellafield, United Kingdom to observe measurement and monitoring activities in a large plutonium storage facility. Significant progress was made in the development of a model for the Subsidiary Arrangements that provide details for the implementation of the new agreements. These Subsidiary Arrangements include such items as the facility-specific information, reporting requirements, the technical criteria for verification and the inspection procedures to be applied. Specific facilities being considered under the agreement are the Mayak Fissile Material Storage Facility in the Russian Federation and the Savannah River K-Area Material Storage Facility and the Lynchburg Babcock and Wilcox Uranium Downblending Facility in the United States. Secretary Abraham, Minister Rumyantsev and Director General ElBaradei reviewed the progress of the past year and committed their respective organizations to a work programme aimed at the completion of a new verification agreement, the Subsidiary Arrangements, the specific verification arrangements for the facilities identified by the States and the development of specialized verification and inventory monitoring systems. Secretary Abraham, Minister Rumyantsev and Director General ElBaradei agreed that the Principals would meet again in September 2002 to oversee the implementation of the Trilateral Initiative. ***************************************************************** 3 IAEA General Conference Reappoints Director General Mohamed ElBaradei - Press Release 01/18 International Atomic Energy Agency [-] PR 2001/18 (17 September 2001) 45th IAEA General Conference Vienna -- States meeting at the IAEA General Conference in Vienna today approved by acclamation the reappointment of Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, of Egypt, to a second four-year term as the Agency’s Director General. As head of the world’s central nuclear authority, Dr. ElBaradei has initiated and led efforts to strengthen the three main pillars of the IAEA’s work — nuclear safety, verification, and technology — and to realign and streamline its structure to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its results-based programmes. He was first appointed to the post of Director General in 1997, and the reappointment takes effect on 1 December 2001. In commending the reappointment, Finland’s Ambassador Tom Grönberg, President of the IAEA General Conference, expressed the conviction that "all delegates share the view that Dr. ElBaradei’s able and skillful leadership over the past four years gives confidence that a further term will be equally successful". In his brief remarks of acceptance, Dr. ElBaradei said he was humbled and grateful for the support and confidence that States have placed in him to meet the challenges the Agency faces. "I trust that through our work, we can move forward together to make our world a safer and more humane place," he said. He previously served the Agency and international community in various capacities as a senior member of the IAEA Secretariat since 1984, holding a number of high-level policy positions. He was the Legal Adviser before heading the Division of External Relations and becoming Assistant Director General for External Relations in 1993. His international service includes serving as Ambassador in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Permanent Missions of Egypt to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. Dr. ElBaradei, married and the father of two children, was born in Egypt in 1942. He gained his Bachelor degree in Law in the 1960s at the University of Cairo, and subsequently his Doctorate in International Law at the New York University School of Law in 1974. ***************************************************************** 4 IAEA General Conference Begins Annual Session - Press Release 01/16 [worldatom] [press] [current] [-] PR 2001/16 (17 September 2001) Vienna, 17 September 2001 -- Ministers and high-level governmental representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 132 Member States are meeting in Vienna this week for the 45th regular session of the General Conference. The Conference opened today, 17 September, and is scheduled to conclude 21 September 2001 at the Austria Center Vienna. The Conference opened on a somber note with a moment of silence followed by a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir to honour the victims of the tragedy in the United States. The opening session included a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a statement by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. (A separate press release will be issued on the statement.) The Conference approved the applications of Botswana and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for membership of the Agency. The Conference elected as its President, Ambassador Tom C.E. Grönberg, the Resident Representative of Finland. It also elected Ambassador Helga Hernes, Resident Representative of Norway, as Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole. The Conference's General Debate began with statements by Mr. Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, United States of America; Mr. Koji Omi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy of Japan; Mr. Kim Young-hwan, Minister for Science and Technology of the Republic of Korea; and for the European Union, Ambassador Michel Adam of Belgium. Among items on the Conference's provisional agenda, delegates will be asked to approve the Agency's 2002 regular budget which calls for expenditures of US $245 million for Agency programmes. Additionally, the Conference will be asked to approve a target of US $73 million for voluntary contributions towards the Agency's technical co-operation fund for 2002. Throughout the week, delegates will be considering a range of topics on the peaceful development of nuclear technologies. They include those related to further strengthening the IAEA's programmes in areas of nuclear, radiation, transport and waste safety and technical co-operation. Other items on the agenda include the strengthening of the safeguards system and measures to improve the security of nuclear materials and other radioactive materials; implementation of the safeguards agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and implementation of UN Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq. Also being convened during the week is a Scientific Forum on ‘Serving Human Needs: Nuclear Technology for Sustainable Development’, to promote awareness that technical co-operation in non-power applications can produce cost-effective solutions to high-priority problems of sustainable development. The Forum brings together experts and senior governmental officials from the IAEA’s Member States and partner organizations for discussions on nuclear technology applications. More information about the General Conference, including documents and background reports, is available over the IAEA's WorldAtom Internet Services at http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/About/Policy/GC/GC45/. ***************************************************************** 5 Terrorism Haunts Nuke Delegates Las Vegas SUN September 17, 2001 VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Haunted by last week's terrorism, delegates from 132 nations opened an annual atomic energy conference Monday with calls for tighter security - and admissions that little can be done to shield a nuclear power plant from an airborne assault. Governments, fearing a similar suicide jetliner crash at a nuclear plant, have tightened security outside nuclear power and radioactive waste facilities worldwide in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But Japan, which is heavily dependent on nuclear energy and has 52 nuclear plants, warned Monday that nothing can shield the plants from a direct hit from a missile or an aircraft. At the same time, the world must also "ensure that nuclear materials are never used as weapons of terrors," U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told the International Atomic Energy Agency gathering in Vienna. "We cannot assume that tomorrow's terrorist acts will mirror those we've just experienced," he said. In a message to delegates, President Bush also urged the Vienna-based agency to keep pace with "the real and growing threat of nuclear proliferation." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the effort "more important than ever in the aftermath of last week's appalling terrorist attack in the United States." The architects of the world's nuclear plants designed them more with ground vehicle - not airborne - attacks in mind, IAEA spokesman David Kyd said. Most nuclear plans were built during the 1960s and 1970s, and like the World Trade Center, were designed to withstand only accidental, glancing impacts from the smaller aircraft widely used at the time, he said. "If you postulate the risk of a jumbo jet full of fuel, it is clear that their design was not conceived to withstand such an impact," Kyd said. In Japan, Takeo Hiranuma, minister for economy, trade and industry, noted that his country's nuclear plants were built to withstand earthquakes - not "hits from above by missiles or aircraft." A direct hit of a nuclear plant by a modern jumbo jet traveling at high speed "could create a Chernobyl situation," said a U.S. official who declined to be identified. The 1986 nuclear explosion in Chernobyl, Ukraine, killed more than 4,000 people. Tens of thousands more were disabled in the cleanup afterward. However, the buildings that house nuclear reactors themselves are far smaller targets than the Pentagon posed, and it would be extremely difficult for a terrorist to mount a direct hit at an angle that could unleash a catastrophic chain of events, Kyd said. If a nuclear power plant were hit by an airliner, the reactor would not explode, but such a strike could destroy the plant's cooling systems. That could cause the nuclear fuel rods to overheat and produce a steam explosion that could release lethal radioactivity into the atmosphere. In the United States, one solution could be installation of anti-aircraft weaponry manned by military personnel who would be stationed outside the nation's 104 commercial reactors, said Paul Leventhal, president of the Washington-based Nuclear Control Institute, a nonproliferation advocacy group. Last week, military fighter jets were alerted to civilian airlines veering off course - but failed to get there in time. "We're in a new era, and we must protect these plants in extraordinary ways," Leventhal said. On the Net: International Atomic Energy Agency: www.iaea.org/worldatom Nuclear Control Institute: www.nci.org All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 Pentagon recommends use of nuclear weapons - Japan Today Japan News - News - September 19, 2001 at 09:30 JST Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 09:30 JST http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=78870 WASHINGTON The Defense Department has recommended to President George W Bush the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a military option to retaliate for last week's terrorist attacks in the United States, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. It is unknown whether Bush has made any decision. But military analysts said the president is unlikely to opt for the use of nuclear weapons because doing so would generate rebuke from the international community and could even trigger revenge from the enemy involving weapons of mass destruction. But the Pentagon's suggestion shows the determination of U.S. officials to retaliate for the first massive terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland, the analysts said. The recommendation appears intended to deter terrorists, they said. On ABC television's THIS WEEK program Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. He avoided clearly answering a simple question on whether their use can be ruled out. To a similar question, a Pentagon official also replied, "We will not discuss operational and intelligence matters." According to the diplomatic sources, the Pentagon recommended using tactical nuclear weapons shortly after it became known that an unprecedented number of civilian casualties resulted from the terrorist attacks. On Sept 11, hijackers seized four commercial U.S. aircraft. Two of the planes slammed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, while a third hit the Pentagon near Washington. The fourth plane crashed outside Pittsburgh. More than 5,000 people were left dead or missing in the attacks. Tactical nuclear weapons have been developed to attack very specific targets. The military analysts said Pentagon officials are apparently thinking of using weapons that can reach and destroy terrorists hiding in an underground shelter, limiting damage to non-targets. In 1986, the U.S. conducted an air raid on Libya, attempting to target Col. Muammar Qaddafi. In 1998, Washington fired a cruise missile into Afghanistan in an attempt to kill Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. sees as behind last week's terrorist attacks. The analysts said that since these attempts failed, it may be assumed that U.S. officials are mulling the use of tactical nuclear weapons, which can cause much greater destruction. Declassified official documents show that since the mid-1990s, the U.S. has indicated that it does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons if a country attacks the U.S., its allies, or its forces with chemical or biological weapons. (Kyodo News) ***************************************************************** 7 Is open campus still desirable at ORNL? By Frank Munger, News-Sentinel Senior Writer The more the better has always been the unofficial watchword for security at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Plant workers historically have sacrificed a measure of their privacy and a few other rights to work at the Oak Ridge defense installation. So, there wasn't much complaining when security was ratcheted up another notch or two last week following the terrorist attacks in our nation. Car searches and plant lockdowns are not everyday events at Y-12, but they're not much of a shock to the weapons workers. Folks are used to watch towers and metal detectors and pop-up barriers and concertina wire. The situation is somewhat different at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, about 10 miles from Y-12 on the U.S. Department of Energy's reservation. The trend at ORNL in recent years has been to decrease the physical security, particularly in areas that don't house nuclear materials or classified documents. In fact, UT-Battelle, the contractor that took over management of the federal laboratory last year, had vowed to change the atmosphere as well as the look of ORNL as part a $300 million makeover. The new leadership said the industrial visage rooted in the World War II Manhattan Project was contrary to the lab's current role as a 21st-century science institution. They suggested the feel of a college campus was more desirable. Last week, however, a UT-Battelle spokesman acknowledged management was rethinking some plans in the works to open up the federal lab in light of the terrorist acts. Based on the initial response I've received from laboratory employees, increasing access to the ORNL campus is no longer a high priority. "Personally, I want more security now, not less,'' one laboratory engineer said. Others offered similar sentiments. MOD SQUAD: It almost takes an act of Congress to get something built by the federal government. OK, you're right. It does take an act of Congress. Maybe that's why federal projects tend to drag on for years and years and get stretch marks before completion. Maybe that's also why UT-Battelle has drawn kudos for its modernization plan, which circumvents the federal budget process to get some buildings constructed in short order at ORNL. To kick-start the ORNL facelift, the lab's managing contractor got approval to seek private investment for three new buildings. As part of the innovative plan, the Department of Energy deeded several acres of federal property to the UT-Battelle Development Corp. UT-Battelle will then lease the land to the private developer (Colliers Keenan of South Carolina). After constructing the three buildings, the developer will sublease the privately owned research and office facilities back to the laboratory contractor. Ultimately, of course, money comes out of the federal budget through year-to-year leasing arrangements, but the capital project won't have to go through the traditional process or require a major up-front investment by the DOE. Thus, the federal lab is using this technique to supplement other construction projects sponsored by DOE and the state of Tennessee. Dr. James Decker, DOE's acting science chief in Washington, recently hailed the UT-Battelle financing approach and said it enabled a large-scale refurbishment of ORNL that otherwise wouldn't have been possible - at least not in such a short time-frame. Well, if that wasn't enough to put a smug smile on the face of the lab's leaders, now comes from a report from the U.S. General Accounting Office that suggests such public-private partnerships may be a way of addressing the widespread problem of deteriorating federal facilities. The July 25 report identifies the potential benefits of arrangements in which the government contributes real property and a private entity uses its financial capital and borrowing capacity to do the necessary renovations. An abstract of the report noted: "GAO found that public-private partnership authority could be an important management tool to address problems in deteriorating federal buildings, but further study of how the tool would actually work and its benefits compared to other options is needed. "Potential net benefits to the federal government ... include better space, lower operating costs, and increased revenue without up-front federal capital expenditures. ...'' Indeed, the GAO recommended that the General Services Administration, the federal landlord, do a pilot project to demonstrate the actual benefits. Is Oak Ridge ahead of the game? Senior Writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News-Sentinel. He can be reached at 865-482-9213 or at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This column is also available on the Web at www.knoxnews.com/editorsview/munger/ Copyright 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 8 Servando Gonzalez: A Sad Day for Fidel Castro? Pravda.RU Sep, 18 2001 Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was a very sad day for Fidel Castro. In his book about the 1989 events culminating with the death by firing squad of Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa and Col. Antonio de la Guardia, Cuban writer Norberto Fuentes, at some time very close to the highest levels of the Castro government, mentions an old dream of Fidel Castro: to be the first to drop bombs in the U.S. territory so the Yankees (Castro calls all Americans "Yankees") will suffer in their own home the same he suffered when Batista's planes were bombing he and his men in the Sierra Maestra. Castro's words were a direct reference to a short letter Castro sent in June, 1958 (that is, six months before the triumph of his revolution) to Celia SÂnchez, his secretary in the Sierra Maestra mountains. The letter was prompted by a rocket attack by American-built jet fighters of Batista's air force on the house of Mario Sariol, a mountain villager who had collaborated with Castro's Rebel Army. Castro wrote: Sierra Maestra June 5 - 58 Celia: After seeing the rockets they shot at Mario's house, I've sworn that the Americans are going to pay dearly for what they are doing. When this war is over, a much wider and big- ger war will begin for me, the war I am going to wage against them. I realize that that is going to be my true destiny. Fidel But it will be a mistake to believe that the bombing of a farmer's home by Batista's planes using American-made rockets is the true cause for Castro's deep hatred for Americans. There is evidence that Castro does not care much for anybody except himself, less for some obscure, poor farmer in the Sierra Maestra. Therefore, there should be more profound reasons for the irrational, inexhaustible hatred he feels for the United States and its people. Anyway, whatever is the source of Castro's hatred for the American people, the evidence shows that most of his actions during his long political career have been directed to accomplish what he believes is his true destiny. During the Cuban missile crisis, Castro did his best to push the Soviet Union and the United States into a nuclear Armageddon. He not only tried to convince Khruschev to fire the missiles, but was also planning to blow up several portions of Manhattan to make the Americans believe that they were under a nuclear attack and provoke them to retaliate with a nuclear salvo against the Soviet Union. When everything failed, the resourceful Fidel shot down an American U- 2 plane over Cuba, to push the U.S. into invading the island and kill Soviet soldiers as a way to force Khruschev's arm into a nuclear retaliation. After the crisis was over he began a secret project to create his home-made missiles using modified MiG 21 planes. The Juragu nuclear plant, which he tried for many years to build near the city of Cienfuegos, was just a cover whose real objective was to produce fissionable material to create nuclear bombs. In 1982 Fidel Castro DÎaz-Balart, Castro's son in charge of the nuclear program, told an associate that they were very close to acquiring the necessary knowledge to produce a nuclear weapon. The facilities were also involved in research on nerve gases and bacteriological weapons that could be delivered to the U.S. by different ways. But Castro's son failed to deliver the nuclear goods, and Castro fired him. After his missile development projects ended in failure, Castro's nuclear dream was postponed, but not forgotten. In 1989 General Rafael del Pino DÎaz, the highest ranking Cuban defector, said that at the time of the Grenada operation in 1983, Castro ordered Cuban MiG 23 pilots to program their computers to attack targets in Florida. Among the selected targets was the Turkey Point nuclear plant, which Castro said had the potential of producing a nuclear disaster larger than Chernobyl. According to Gen. del Pino, Castro's words were: "I don't have nuclear bombs, but I can produce a nuclear explosion." The plan included the possibility of suicide attacks, crashing Cuban planes against American nuclear plants and targets in Washington D.C. When Castro realized that making missiles or nuclear bombs was not an easy task, he began developing bacteriological weapons--the poor man's nuclear weapons. In his book Biohazard, Ken Alibek, who was first deputy director of the Soviet Union's main bioweapons directorate before defecting to the U.S. in 1992, wrote that he is convinced that Castro is developing bacteriological weapons. Several observers believe Castro was sending a clear signal to the United States when in January 28, 1998, his speech carried the threat, "This lamb cannot ever be devoured, neither with airplanes, nor with smart bombs, because this lamb has more intelligence than you and in its blood there is and always will be poison for you!" Apparently, however, Fidel's good Arab friends, showing a total lack of respect and consideration for the Cuban tyrant, beat him to it. It seems that Castro has mellowed with age, and the Arab terrorists took the initiative and won the big honor of being the first to drop bombs in the United States. Knowing the hatred Castro has always felt for America and the Americans, one may safely surmise that last Tuesday Castro had a very sad day. Now he will die some day without being remembered as the one who first attacked the Americans in their own soil. Or maybe not. Since last year Castro has been frantically working in creating a strong alliance of anti-American Muslim countries. Since then, visits to Cuba of Muslim leaders of all levels, as well as visits of members of the Castroist government to anti-American Muslim countries, have increased considerably. Last July, Hojjatoleslam Hajj Seyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, visited Cuba for the celebration of the triumph of Fidel's revolution. On May of this year Castro made a long trip visiting several anti-American Muslim countries, among them Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Qatar, Syria and Libya. In Algeria, Castro was received by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. One source close to the Cuban delegation commented privately that the official communiquÊs gave the impression that more things were actually discussed in the exchanges with "an old friend of many revolutionary conspiracies" than it were reported in the press. Political analysts in Havana mentioned the possibility that, despite what was said publicly in Algiers, the two leaders examined topics related not only to the Cuban interest in strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement and the so-called Group of 77, as the official Cuban press affirmed in evaluating the tour, but also about how to stop the worldwide spread of United States influence. Upon his arrival in Iran, the second stage of his journey, Castro was prodigal in praising Iranian Islamism. Afterwards, he made an emphatic declaration: "I have not come to speak of trade, but of politics and of culture." Observers noted attentively an affirmation by the president Mohammed Jatami: "The cooperation between Iran and Cuba will be able to confront the hegemony and the injustice of the great arrogance (of the United States)." One of the existing Cuban-Iranian cooperation agreements refers to the area of scientific investigation and vaccine production--a common cover for producing bacteriological warfare agents--in a high-technology laboratory now nearing completion in Iran. In Qatar, Castro was received by the Sheik Hamad bin Kalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who had visited Cuba last September. From Qatar Castro flew to Damascus, where he met Sirian leader Bashar Al-Hassad. During his visit, Castro again publicly praised the importance of Islamism in the modern world. In his visit to Libya, the next step of his trip, Castro was received by Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who gave his friend Fidel a tour of the house the evil Americans bombarded in 1986. Before visiting Qatar, however, Castro made a stop in Quala Lumpur, Malaysia, to pay a visit to his friend Mahatir Mohamad, whom he praised as an "excellent leader." During his visit to Malaysia, Castro repeated his new-coined mantra that he is a "great admirer of [the Islamic] religion." In Kuala Lumpur Castro and his large entourage visited the famous Petronas twin towers. With its 88 floors, the Petronas twin towers are considered the tallest buildings in the world. During his long visit to the tower, Castro said that he "felt closer to heaven." However, after the attack on the World Trade Center's twins towers last Tuesday, undoubtedly made by Islamic anti-American fanatics, Castro's visit to the Petronas twin towers takes a totally different meaning. The engineers who built the World Trade Center were shocked by the way the towers collapsed. They had calculated that the WTC towers would have been able to withstand a big commercial plane crashing against them. But, just a few minutes after the suicide planes crashed against the towers, they collapsed like card castles. Undoubtedly, the suicide bombers were familiar with the structure of the buildings, and knew exactly where to crash their planes to cause maximum structural damage. Short of a computer simulation model, only a close inspection of the WTC towers, or to a building with similar characteristics, would have allowed them to discover the weak points in the building's structure. Did Fidel Castro bring with him some of his highly trained army demolition engineers to study the structure of the Petronas towers? Did he pass the information on to the men who perpetrated the attack to the WTC? These are questions that should be investigated. During a five-hour speech on the occasion of commemorating the 40th anniversary of his revolution, Castro brought up again the subject of a U.S. invasion of Cuba. Talking about some anti-Castro organizations in the U.S., Castro claimed, in a typical freudian projection mechanism, that they "dream about a war confrontation" between Cuba and the U.S., adding that "their hatred is such, that they would like to see our motherland suffering a demolishing genocidal attack similar to the one suffered by the Serbian people." More recently, National Assembly President Ricardo AlarcÕn, one of the non-entities Castro surrounds himself with, declared in a lengthy proclamation that "the economic blockade imposed by the United States of America on Cuba constitutes an act of genocide." Likewise, the word "genocide" keeps popping up in Castro's speeches in his references to the U.S. One must keep in mind that the monster next door has an irrational hatred for the United States. Following Castro's reasoning one can arrive at the conclusion that, if it were true as he claims, that the U.S. has been committing genocidal actions against Cuba, then Castro would be morally justified to commit genocidal actions against the U.S. It seems that, as it happens all the time, Castro's twisted mind has found a good excuse to justify his evil plans. According to Norberto Fuentes, Castro's plans for a Cuban military attack on the U.S. territory were laid down a long time ago and are still operative. Fuentes tells how Carlos Aldana, at the time Castro's main ideologue, had been commissioned to write down the ethical principles justifying a devastating Cuban attack on the U.S territory. Recent information obtained from the "Wasp Network," a net of Cuban spies captured in Florida, indicate that Castro is still actively planning the destruction of America. I have always compared Fidel Castro to Adolf Hitler. Some people, however, may think that this is not only unfair, but far-fetched. Granted, the human cost of Hitler's madness was close to forty million dead, while Castro has been directly responsible for the killing of less than fifty thousand. But the reasoning is fallacious. In the first place, evil cannot be measured by the number of deaths alone. Some American snipers in Vietnam killed more people than Jeffrey Dahmer, but they cannot be properly called evil while Dahmer evidently was. Secondly, and this is even more important, one must keep in mind that while Hitler is dead Castro is still alive, and he does not mind how many have to die, so long as he takes revenge against the world. He still has the desire, the capability, and the means to cause mayhem and destruction in the United States on a magnitude never seen before in the history of this country, and such becoming one of the greatest mass murderers in modern history. Castro believes that Americans are an infectious plague that must be eradicated from the face of the earth in order to save Gaia from its main polluters. Contrary to his claims, Castro not only hates the U.S. government, but the American people as well, including (or perhaps particularly) the many Americans who love and support him. His efforts to incite Khrushchev into firing nuclear missiles against the United States in 1962 is proof of this visceral hatred. Therefore, it makes sense that, as he tried to do during the Cuban missile crisis, he is willing to sacrifice the existence of the Cuban nation itself to reach his ultimate goal of purification of Gaia by the destruction of the American people. Now, is the U.S. government going to investigate the possibility that Castro is connected to last Tuesday's tragic events? I suggest that you don't hold your breath. For reasons which I don't understand, Fidel Castro has proved to be an untouchable to the American government. Therefore, the U.S. government is not going to investigate the Castro connection to the WTC attack, the same way it never investigated the Castro connection to the Kennedy assassination despite the fact that most of the incriminating evidence pointed to Castro. Further proof of it is that, despite overwhelming evidence that Castro is producing bacteriological warfare agents and that he is willing to use them to attack the United States, Secretary of State Colin Powell recently made a statement claiming that Castro is "no longer the threat he was." Powell's words either reflect his total ignorance on the subject or shows that he has privileged secret information about Fidel Castro he does not want to share with the rest of us. President Bush declared that the U.S. government is going to go not only after the terrorists but after the countries who harbor them. Well, since he grabbed power in Cuba in 1959 with the help of the American government and media, Fidel Castro has been harboring all types of anti-American terrorists. For forty long years, Castro has been openly promoting anti-American guerrilla subversion in Latin America and terrorism in the U.S. and Europe. The attitude of the American government vis-Á-vis Castro, through a long parade of Republican and Democrat administrations, shows that, for reasons that we ignore, our leaders simply don't want to see what cannot be more evident. I guess that they must have good reasons for doing this. In 1961, Senator J. William Fulbright wrote a memo to President Kennedy which included a phrase that became famous, "The Castro regime is a thorn in the flesh, but it is not a dagger in the heart." 40 years later, however, there are strong reasons to believe that the Castro regime is not a thorn in the flesh, but a poisonous dagger pointing to the heart of the United States and its people. Fidel Castro is old, but he is not finished yet, and it is too early to tell his whole story. In 1961 Herbert Matthews called him "a prophet of doom." He was right. As long as he is alive and in power in Cuba he will persist in his Armageddon dreams. Seemingly his grandiose plan is to go to the trash can of history with a big bang. As Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante pointed out quoting an old Chinese proverb, "the most dangerous part of the dragon is its tail." Servando Gonzalez myCFnow.com : Fidel Castros Daughter Lives In Florida Click10.com : Fidel Castro To Get Nobel Peace Prize? RIA 'Novosti' ***************************************************************** 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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