***************************************************************** 04/20/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.97 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 DOE gives county money for radiological emergencies 2 Tribe wants in on Yucca talks 3 Tribe, Nuclear Utilities Sue Utah 4 N-storage fight shifts to court 5 State Gets Sued Over N-Storage; Goshutes, developers say their 6 Skull Valley Band and PFS Ask Court To Declare State Laws 7 Leavitt's soliloquy takes on Capitol issues 8 EPA begins cleanup of toxic site 9 Port handles slightly radioactive shipment 10 Hints of a Nye County power shift 11 Editorial: Nuclear risks and rewards 12 Another $5 million for plant 13 Yankee's hydrogen plans aired tonight 14 Texas House Passes TNRCC Bill 15 State lawmakers begin reshaping environmental agency 16 U.S. readies push for more nuclear plants 17 Duratek Reports $12.5 Million Loss (washingtonpost.com) 18 Letter to GAO regarding energy policy 19 Boat with N-waste crosses Panama Canal despite protests 20 Possible 'leak' at Lucas Heights reactor 21 No radioactivity released as nuclear plant springs leak 22 Cooling water leak suspected at nuclear plant in Fukui Pref. 23 Gov't panel to discuss MOX fuel use with local gov'ts 24 LEAD: Russia wants to reprocess Japan's spent nuke fuel 25 Fallon probe not confined to radiation find 26 Czech Today on Central Europe Online - Czech Today - 27 Temelin Opponents Might Again Block Austrian-Czech Border 28 Chernobyl impact still being felt in Finland 29 Campaigners Anchor Near Sellafield 30 BNFL Sacks Worker Over Gum 31 Reid, Gibbons demand new Fallon water tests 32 Nuclear Waste Bill Passes Its 2nd Reading - 33 Rancho Seco Fuel Rods Being Moved Again NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Energy Chief Defends Cuts 2 New Energy Secretary Sees "Crown Jewels" of Science 3 Oak Ridge begins building hazardous waste dump 4 HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM 5 The Widowmaker / Film's version of once-secret '61 meltdown on 6 'The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm': Questioning U.S. Motives in the Persian 7 Letter to Lundquist, Energy Department regarding Energy Policy' 8 LEAD: Lawmakers form group to help A-bomb survivors abroad 9 Talk of n-conflict again 10 ASEAN to hold talks with nuclear powers in Hanoi next month 11 Plenty of tea but not so many trains after the Bomb 12 Secret weapon for nuclear war was a nice hot cup of tea 13 Labor office accepts nuclear-worker compensation program 14 Inco’s nuclear secrets emerge **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 DOE gives county money for radiological emergencies Pahrump Valley Times Nye County may be in the midst of a hiring freeze due to budget concerns, but the big chill does not extend to positions funded by grants. That being the case, Tuesday the county commissioners voted 5-0 to begin the process to fill a training officer position in emergency services. The Dept. of Energy has made available roughly $47,000, and the person who earns the salary will be responsible for teaching c lasses on radio logical responses and incidents. The funding is for one year only, but the grant can roll over. "It will be funded as long as we perform," Commissioner Cameron McRae said, adding the county has worked "very hard" on the Dept. of Energy in the effort to get funding for "this kind of support." The DOE generates the revenue for the grant by charging a fee for every cubic foot of low-level nuclear waste that is shipped to the Nevada Test Site for storage. PowerAdz.com, LLC. ***************************************************************** 2 Tribe wants in on Yucca talks [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Friday, April 20, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Council wants designation it is affected by proposed waste repository By KEITH ROGERS Concerned about health and safety, the Timbisha Shoshone council said Wednesday it has asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to determine the tribe is affected by the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. A designation as an affected American Indian tribe would give it full participation in the Yucca Mountain Project planning process, allowing the possibility for oversight funding appropriated by Congress. The Death Valley, Calif., tribe's "primary interest is in ensuring that a culturally appropriate understanding of site characterization is obtained to address issues of tribal health and safety," according to a statement from Council Chairwoman Pauline Esteves and Administrator Barbara Durham. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas and 50 miles east of Death Valley, is the only site the Department of Energy is studying to entomb the nation's highly radioactive waste. "Understanding the tribal community life-ways is crucial to identifying past experiences, present concerns and possible future threats," the statement says. "Through participation of the tribe, studies would promote reasonable assurance ... that the tribe and environments will be adequately protected from the hazards posed by high-level nuclear waste." Currently there are no tribes with affected status involving the Yucca Mountain Project. This year's Department of Energy budget, however, requests nearly $6 million in oversight funding divided among 10 affected local units of government, including Nye and Clark counties. The Bush administration is requesting an additional $2.5 million for state oversight. This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Apr-20-Fri-2001/news/15906300.html ***************************************************************** 3 Tribe, Nuclear Utilities Sue Utah April 19, 2001 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Goshute Indians and a group of nuclear power utilities sued the state Thursday to challenge new laws aimed at preventing the storage of spent nuclear fuel on the tribe's reservation. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, argues the state laws are pre-empted by existing federal laws that regulate nuclear waste storage. A law signed by Gov. Mike Leavitt last month bans the storage of high-level nuclear waste in Utah. A companion measure requires the nuclear utilities to make up to $2 billion in financial guarantees in case of an accident, should waste reach Utah anyway. The laws were written in response to the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes' plan to make a deal with Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of waste-producing utilities, to keep spent reactor fuel on the reservation about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Attorneys argue that companies have a right to do business without being subjected to punitive fees that are clearly designed to put them out of business. "Several laws in the last three years have gone well beyond the powers granted to the states," said John Parkyn, chairman of Private Fuel Storage. Federal nuclear regulators already do a thorough job of making sure waste storage sites are safe, he said. Few other businesses are interested in doing business on the reservation, said Leon Bear, chairman of the 112-member tribe. The reservation is surrounded by a hazardous waste site and the Dugway Proving Grounds, which handles chemical and biological weapons. "It blocks commerce with the tribe," Bear said. The deal with Private Fuel Storage could bring the tribe millions of dollars in fees and provide jobs. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 4 N-storage fight shifts to court [deseretnews.com] April 20, 2001 Goshutes sue, say laws that target plan violate Constitution By Brady Snyder Deseret News staff writer The fight over a plan to store 40,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste on the Skull Valley Goshute reservation has landed in federal court. The Skull Valley Goshutes and Private Fuel Storage (PFS), a consortium of nuclear power companies, filed suit Thursday against several state officials, including Gov. Mike Leavitt, alleging six Utah laws — designed to derail the nuclear storage plan — violate the U.S. Constitution. The suit says the half-dozen laws illegally restrict interstate commerce, violate tribal sovereignty and undermine federal laws regulating the storage of nuclear waste. "These laws go well beyond the rights of states to pass laws . . . . When laws like this are passed they have to be challenged," PFS chairman John Parkyn said after the suit was filed in U.S. District Court. State officials expressed confidence the laws will hold up in court. "These (legal) issues were studied at the time these laws were being considered and we feel that they are capable of being defended," assistant attorney general Phil Pugsley said. The most controversial among the challenged laws is one the Legislature passed this year banning high-level nuclear waste from entering the state. It also requires PFS to pay the state about $150 billion cash up front; imposes a 75 percent tax on anyone providing services to the project; and bars Tooele County from providing municipal-type services such as police and fire to the site about 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Thursday's suit was expected. Also in its most recent session, the Legislature established a $1.1 million legal defense fund to fight potential legal challenges from the Goshutes and PFS. "From my perspective the lawsuit still leaves unanswered the most critical question, which is that this won't be a temporary storage facility," said Utah Department of Environmental Quality executive director Dianne Nielson, who was named as a defendant in the suit along with Leavitt, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and several transportation officials. The PFS and Goshute plan is to store the rods in Skull Valley, either for 25 or 50 years. However, state officials believe once the waste arrives it will remain in Skull Valley forever. "If we have to meet them in court, that's what we'll do," Leavitt said in a statement issued from Cedar City. "We do not want high-level nuclear waste in Utah. This shows that they are insistent about moving the material from someone else's backyard to ours. We will continue to fight that, using every legal, environmental, legislative and political tool available to ban nuclear fuel rods from this state." The suit comes as PFS is scrambling to secure licensing for the Goshute site. The power companies are faced with shutting down dozens of power plants unless they find a temporary nuclear waste storage facility for tons of spent nuclear fuel. A permanent high-level nuclear waste dump, in Yucca Mountain, Nev., is still years in the works and most power plants have used up all their on-site storage. If all goes as planned and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants the Goshutes and PFS a license to store the wastes, construction could begin by April 2002, Parkyn said. The Skull Valley facility would cover 820 acres, most of which would be covered by rows of some 4,000 stainless steel canisters, each 18 feet tall, enclosing spent nuclear fuel rods transported to the site by rail from plants nationwide. The facility would be a boon to desolate Skull Valley as Goshutes would be given preference in construction jobs as well as have first crack at 43 full-time jobs at the site, tribal chairman Leon Bear said. It's just the kind of economic development, Bear said, that will draw tribal members — most of whom now live in Grantsville, Tooele and Salt Lake City — back to the reservation. And the financial windfall, he said, will help create the infrastructure that will provide more than jobs. "We're ready to get paid," Bear said. The Goshutes, Bear said, would be willing to end their nuclear-waste storage push if the state could come up with a equally lucrative economic plan for the barren valley. *E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.coms* © 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 5 State Gets Sued Over N-Storage; Goshutes, developers say their rights are violated April 20, 2001* BY JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The people behind a proposed high-level nuclear waste site in western Utah have gone to court with their claim the state is running roughshod over the basic rights of Utahns and their business partners. The Skull Valley Band of Goshute and Private Fuel Storage LLC filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. They want a judge to affirm their view that six recent state laws violate the U.S. Constitution or federal business laws. "We had no choice," said Goshute Chairman Leon Bear, whose tribe would play host to the facility on its reservation 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. "The state has engaged in a pattern of illegal actions to interfere with our sovereign rights." PFS reiterated that. "When laws like this are passed, they have to be challenged," said company Chairman John Parkyn, whose eight-utility consortium wants to store the spent fuel in Utah. Opponents, who expected the legal tussling, stood firm on the state's authority to keep the spent fuel out of the state. "This lawsuit is nonsense," said state Sen. Terry Spencer, the Layton Republican who authored two of the contested laws. "And they are eventually going to lose." "The state has broad authority over the businesses within its boundaries, and that will prove itself out," said Dianne Nielson, director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. The lawsuit names as defendants the governor, the attorney general, Nielson, the Transportation Department director and the Utah Transportation Com- mission. State lawmakers banned spent nuclear fuel from Utah during their 2001 lawmaking session as part of an effort to stymie the Goshute-PFS initiative. The new law would impose a 75 percent tax on any business transactions conducted with entities trying to place nuclear fuel in the state and require PFS to put up $150 billion cash as insurance against any accidents. It imposes legal penalties on such routine business activities as holding a news conference, retaining attorneys, engaging a public-relations firm, hiring expert witnesses and renting hotel meeting space, said Parkyn. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. The effect of this law, and five other anti-waste laws enacted in recent years, would be to prevent the tribe and the company from going about their business, Bear and Parkyn said. Bear noted that his tribe is a sovereign nation, with the authority to carry out its business affairs without interference from the state within whose borders the reservation lies. While the lawsuit wends its way through the federal courts, PFS is going forward with its federal application to open a spent-fuel storage facility in Utah. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is conducting the safety review, has said it will decide the matter in a year. The storage site would be large enough to hold all of the power-plant waste that has been generated in the 30-plus-year history of nuclear energy. While there are no nuclear plants in Utah, there are 75 commercial nuclear generation sites in the nation that are running out of space to store fuel. Without storage, the useful lives of some plants will end within a few years and crimp the nation's electric supply, Parkyn said. Eventually, the waste is expected to go to a permanent disposal facility at Yucca Mountain, Nev., but that idea has been snarled in legal and political turmoil for more than a decade. The NRC permit would allow the spent fuel to be stored aboveground in steel and concrete casks for 20 years, with a possible 20-year extension. The Goshute facility's opponents insist the Utah storage site is neither safe nor temporary. e-mail: fahys@sltrib.com ***************************************************************** 6 Skull Valley Band and PFS Ask Court To Declare State Laws Unconstitutional Thursday April 19, 5:05 pm Eastern Time Press Release SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2001--The Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians and Private Fuel Storage (PFS) Thursday filed a complaint in U.S. District Court challenging the constitutionality of six Utah laws that aim to prevent the licensing and operation of a temporary facility to store spent nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation. The lawsuit alleges the state laws are unconstitutional and they are preempted by federal law. The complaint, filed at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, also seeks injunctions prohibiting state officials from enforcing the laws and from taking any action inconsistent with federal and tribe jurisdiction over reservation lands and PFS' rights under any license that may be issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Additionally, the complaint seeks an award of attorney's fees and costs associated with the lawsuit. Named as defendants are Gov. Michael Leavitt, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, DEQ Executive Director Dianne Nielson, and other state officials who are responsible for enforcing the challenged laws. ``It is unfortunate that a lawsuit became necessary,'' said Scott Northard, project manager for PFS, a consortium of eight utilities. ``Laws enacted by the state forced us to protect the constitutional rights of PFS, and the many businesses that are doing, or wish to do, business with PFS. Businesses everywhere have a right to provide goods and services to other legal entities and not be subject to punitive fees clearly designed to put them out of business. ``These laws taken together are intended to delay or stop the project regardless of the safety or merits of the facility. We are filing this claim now because Utah has placed PFS in the position of having to plan for the licensing, construction and operation of a $3 billion facility, under the threat of state laws that clearly are unconstitutional and designed to prevent the project from going forward even if it is licensed by the NRC.'' Leon Bear, chairman of the Skull Valley Goshutes, said his Band was forced to join the lawsuit by the state's direct attack on the Band's sovereignty. ``The state laws attempt to take away our inherent sovereignty and our rights recognized by the federal government, including rights under the Supremacy and Indian Commerce clauses of the U.S. Constitution,'' Bear said. ``The state laws would also try to take away our free access to the reservation, making it impossible for us to attract other economic development, and they seek to take away any benefits we would see from our lease with PFS. We reject this direct attack on our constitutional rights, and we have been forced by the state into this action to preserve our sovereignty.'' Bear and Northard said they acknowledge and encourage the state's participation in the licensing process to determine, based on scientific analysis, whether the facility can be built and operated safely according to federal regulations. ``If it is not safe, it will not be built,'' Bear said. Northard agreed, and added, ``We also believe there is room for agreement and cooperation with the state on many issues. However, the state's position, as presented in the laws Utah has enacted, leaves no room for constructive dialogue and leaves us no alternative but to file this lawsuit.'' BACKGROUND The Skull Valley Band of Goshutes and PFS assert that the six laws passed by the state in 1998, 1999 and 2000 violate: + the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because they legislate in areas governed exclusively by federal law, and they are designed to thwart the purposes of federal legislation, including the Atomic Energy Act, the Price-Anderson Act, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, the Indian Self-Determination Act, and the Band's 1863 Treaty with the United States. + the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because they interfere with interstate commerce and create an undue burden on interstate commerce. + the Indian Commerce, Treaty and the Supremacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution, because they infringe on the federal government's exclusive authority to regulate Indian affairs, including leasing of Indian lands, and create an undue burden on the rights of the Skull Valley Band and PFS to enter into and fulfill a lease agreement. + the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because they aim to void the Skull Valley Band's lease agreement with PFS, Tooele County's agreement with PFS, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' contract with Tooele County for benefit of the Band, and PFS' agreements with private persons and entities for the provision of goods and services. + the First Amendment (freedom of speech, freedom to associate, freedom to petition the government), the Sixth Amendment (right to assistance of counsel) and the 14th Amendment (right to due process of law) of the U.S. Constitution. + the right of PFS and the Skull Valley Band to associate and contract with suppliers of goods and services and other persons essential to the carrying on of its lawful business, in violation of the freedom of association protected by the First Amendment. *Contact:* W.S. Adamson & Associates Sue Martin, 801/532-5322 or Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians Leon Bear, 801/474-0535 Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 7 Leavitt's soliloquy takes on Capitol issues [deseretnews.com] April 20, 2001 By Nancy Perkins Deseret News correspondent CEDAR CITY — A somber Hamlet (a k a Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt) came to life Thursday in a dramatic performance both Democrats and Republicans loved. *Associated Press* "To veto or not to veto — that is the question," intoned Leavitt, wearing a glistening crown studded with grape-sizejewels. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous Legislature, or to take nuclear waste out of Utah and by taxing, end it?" Leavitt's soliloquy, penned by Lisa J. Kalantzes and Mark Brady of the Utah Association of Counties, poked fun at the I-15 project, the media's wrongs, the tobacco settlement, lobbyists, cold fusion, legislators, and even his own party. "To fund education, to fund the 1-15 project, to fund light rail — Aye, there's the hub!" the governor shouted to his audience in mock agony. The only political hot potato Leavitt declined to lampoon was the 2002 Winter Olympics and the much-publicized scandal surrounding Utah's winning bid to host the Games. Leavitt, along with elected county officials from throughout the state, enjoyed a Shakespearean Feaste hosted by the association during its Spring Management Conference. A few folks wore period costumes and some sported colorful hats from Shakespeare's era. Dinner was served by Southern Utah University students who also respectfully called the women "m'lady" and the men "m'lord." King for the evening, Mark Walsh, associate director of the organization, helped lead the audience in thunderous table-pounding, shouts of "huzzah" and other signs of approval during Leavitt's performance. "May the royal shovelers and dirt movers soon prepare and deliver the road known as the 15," Walsh bellowed in a toast to Leavitt upon the conclusion of his speech. Uinta County Commissioner Cloyd Harrison, whose "I Dream of Genie" hat had slipped precariously close to his dinner plate of cornish game hen and tender green beans, warned the room was full of commentary he wouldn't print. "They're going downhill," Harrison said, pointing across the room to a rival table of county commissioners. And, although Thursday night's audience seemed to love the governor's speech and artistic flair, it wasn't always that way, Leavitt said, returning to the stage for a quick curtain call. As the governor tells it, as a 14-year-old boy growing up in Cedar City he "did a little acting" and once played the part of a page in a Shakespeare play, complete with a handsome costume. The only drawback was the fact that his part had no lines. "The lead actor poured some juice into a goblet and it spilled. We engaged in a bit of dialogue," said Leavitt with a smile. "I believe that was the end of my acting career." *E-MAIL: perkins1@redrock.net* © 2001 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 8 EPA begins cleanup of toxic site OA Online News April 19, 2001 *By Ian Heald Odessa American* The Environmental Protection Agency was to resume cleanup efforts today at a radioactive site in northwest Ector County. Fifteen contract workers hired by the EPA will don protective clothing and begin removing radioactive material from the long-abandoned Gulf Nuclear building at 2717 W. 81st St. In 1993, Gulf Nuclear, a producer of radioactive materials for the oil and medical industries since 1976, filed for bankruptcy. In doing so, the company vacated the building. Gulf Nuclear produced radioactive tracers, or radioactive sand used in oil drilling. The company also produced tracers for cancer treatment and radioactive iodine for thyroid treatments, according to an EPA fact sheet. The site is part of a Superfund cleanup, meaning the federal government is footing the entire $1.3 million bill for the toxic cleanup. In the years since Gulf Nuclear’s bankruptcy, anonymous tips of illegal toxic burials near the site led the EPA to investigate. Last year, EPA studies revealed that there was no burial of radioactive material and that the site was not a major threat to the environment. Still, anyone who gains illegal access to the site could put their health at risk, said Greg Fife, federal on-scene coordinator for the EPA. Gulf Nuclear neighbors include various run-down factories and a smattering of mobile homes. "The real threat would come if someone were to get into the radiation areas and then stay in there long enough," Fife said. The two-acre Gulf Nuclear site has one building containing two rooms, both of which are radioactive, Fife said. The complex is surrounded by a chain-link fence and security system, according to the EPA fact sheet. The EPA has hired Pangea Group, from St. Louis, to remove the site’s radioactive material and demolish the building. The two-phase cleanup should end in June, Fife said. Today, the crew begins a five-week process of removing all radioactive materials from the site, Fife said. Then, the building will be demolished and removed, Fife said. All radioactive materials taken from the site will be buried in private landfills in Utah and South Carolina, Fife said. "They’re special landfills designed to take this stuff and be able to monitor it," Fife said. But the more radioactive materials will be transported to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Fife said. "Some of the material will have to be reused or stored elsewhere because the tracer activity is too high for those two other landfills," Fife said. "Then we’ll ship it to Los Alamos and the lab that they have up there." Despite the on-site dangers that exist at the site today, Ector County Judge Jerry Caddel said the site, once it’s cleared, could become part of a recreational area. Fife said the EPA has considered installing a water purification system at a chromium plume site that neighbors Gulf Nuclear. The chromium has seeped into the water table and ruined the water supply, Caddel said. He said if the EPA establishes a purification system, it would operate for 10 years or until the water was leached of the chromium. There is no timetable for installing a purification system, Caddel said. Still, Caddel said, "The county has talked to the EPA about uses of that land for the 10-year period while that purification system is in operation. Because it’s a system they use, they’ll have all this available water that becomes purified. The EPA has said they’d be interested in working with us to create that area into a recreational park type setting." News Index Editorial Columns Home Sports Oil & Gas Classifieds Editorials Lifestyles Obituaries Advertising Reader Services The 20th Century Special Sections Copyright © 2000, 2001 Odessa American. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Port handles slightly radioactive shipment Carolina Morning News on the Web | Local News - 04/20/01 Carolina Morning News on the Web] *PORT ROYAL: The parts from a dismantled nuclear power plant will eventually be taken to Barnwell County for disposal. * By Lolita Huckaby Carolina Morning News Port Royal town officials were busy answering questions, mostly from the media, Thursday about a load of low-level radioactive nuclear reactor parts which arrived at the local port Tuesday. The cargo - two large steam generators from a dismantled nuclear power plant in Connecticut - is headed for permanent disposal in Barnwell County and will be carried there by train next week. The generators were shipped in enclosures 40 feet long by 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. The individual weight is 160 tons, considerably larger than the traditional loads of cement and clay which are shipped through the port of Port Royal. Although this is apparently the first time radioactive shipments have come through the local port, Port Royal has had an ordinance dealing with such shipments since 1982, said town Spokeswoman Marti Gatlin. Based on those regulations, the low-level materials in the shipment are far below the town's threshold, Gatlin said. The units are being handled by Lockwood Brothers, a specialized shipping operation. Such shipments usually are barged up the Savannah River to Snelling, S.C., but because of low water levels, the Port Royal port was preferable. "I would just as soon we not have these types of shipments through our town, but if they do come through, I'm confident the town staff will know what to do," said Mayor Sam Murray. Town officials were notified of the shipments Tuesday by officials from the State Ports Authority, owners of the facility. As required by ordinance, the town emergency management officials were notified but no special precautions were warranted, Gatlin said. The port traditionally handles 300,000 tons a year, according to SPA records. ***************************************************************** 10 Hints of a Nye County power shift Pahrump Valley Times By: RICH THURLOW, Editor April 18, 2001 "No mention of north-south tensions would be complete without a look at the school district." The tension level between the south and north in Nye County has been on the decline after reaching a peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The sticking points then, and to a much lesser degree today, regarded where taxes were/are spent. For example, back in the days when there were three county commissioners and Pahrump had about one-fourth of the county's population, the Pahrump Town Board had a brief skirmish with the county over keeping interest income in town accounts. Prior to that time all the interest went back to the county. A letter from Len Smith, just hired as the Pahrump town attorney, to the district attorney's office settled the matter, but it didn't make the commissioners happy. One of them groused that the county really needed that money, and he would keep that in mind the next time Pahrump wanted something out of the ordinary from the commissioners. Later in the meeting the commissioners took the $1 million or so available for road projects in the county and allocated about one-tenth of it to Pahrump. The high-road low-road battle was another donnybrook, one that took several years to resolve. In the end the commissioners voted to do what they had contractually obligated themselves to a few years earlier and paved Bell Vista all the way to the state line. I suppose that beats the hell out of getting sued by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which provided the money for the road in the first place. Still, the 3-2 vote absolutely infuriated one county commissioner. The easing of tensions can be attributed to a number of factors, including the terms of Tonopah Commissioners Joe Maslach, Wayne Perkins and Bob Davis. Pahrump Commissioner Cameron McRae also played a significant role by repeatedly reminding his colleagues that if it's good for Pahrump, it's good for all of Nye. If that didn't work he'd bludgeon them with logic, at the very least making them look like narrow-minded fools when they cast anti-Pahrump votes. Getting big gobs of Payments Equal to Taxes money from the Dept. of Energy for site characterization work at Yucca Mountain also played a big role, as did the sale of Nye Regional Medical Center to a private outfit. Of course, it was PETT money that allowed a majority of commissioners to keep shoveling millions at NRMC. So what's the forecast for the immediate future? Well, roads are back on the agenda, and the commissioners recently voted to spend another big chunk of PETT in Pahrump. When that vote was cast, it came with a plea from Commissioner Dick Carver that his colleagues not forget the needs of northern Nye. For the record, at this point in time some officials refer to everything outside of Pahrump as "northern Nye County." I suppose that's a byproduct of having three-quarters of the county's population. And what are the needs in northern Nye? Some specifics haven't been spelled out, but the record is clear that the freeze-thaw cycle and of this past winter played havoc on some pavement. I don't want to start this north-south thing back up, but if I were a commissioner I'd be in favor of keeping existing infrastructure in the towns in good condition. If that means essentially rebuilding pavement or putting down chip seal on some roads in Tonopah, so be it. These are assets worth preserving. But I'd take a long look at the crumbling asphalt on the Belmont and Poleline roads, and the traffic counts. It's true the county has a substantial investment in those two roads. If the traffic counts are a fraction of what they are elsewhere in the county, it was a very bad investment in the first place. Maybe its time to grind up that deteriorating pavement on Poleline and Belmont roads and throw down some gravel if its too late to rehab them with chip seal. No mention of north-south tension would be complete without a look at the school district, and the seemingly annual budget crises. You can point fingers in a lot of directions, but if the district truly is strapped, wouldn't it make sense to close one of two elementary schools in Tonopah (population 2,627)? More to the point, if former interim Supt. Harold Tokerud thought it was a good idea, wouldn't that be an indication the students could be educated just as effectively in one location without having the expense of teaching them at two? Perhaps the savings from closing one campus in Tonopah might allow the district to offer programs it is thinking about eliminating in Pahrump, if there are any. What we have is a shift in the balance of power, a shift that is going to alter the numbers significantly in terms of where representatives of both boards reside. I'd hazard a guess members of both boards have had the political acumen to realize this was going to happen, and that it has guided their actions accordingly in recent years. And I'll hazard a guess that if nothing significant changes in the coming years in northern Nye in terms of traffic patterns and population growth, Belmont and Poleline will be well maintained gravel roads and Silver Rim Elementary will be vacant. *©Pahrump Valley Times 2001* ***************************************************************** 11 Editorial: Nuclear risks and rewards Savannah NOW: Opinion - 04/20/01 SWORDS into plowshares is an attractive concept, especially when dealing with the remnants of Cold War weaponry. -->Web posted Friday, April 20, 2001 TURNING SWORDS into plowshares is an attractive concept, especially when dealing with the remnants of Cold War weaponry. Harnessing the dangerous power that once armed the United States and the former Soviet Union and turning it into life-enhancing electricity is a welcome switch in priorities. That goal, however, comes with some huge question marks, especially when the sword-beating will occur in Savannah's near-backyard. More information and assurances are needed before the federal government gives the green light to use the Savannah River Site as a giant plutonium processing plant. For example, why not clean up what's already there before adding more hazardous waste to the site about 70 miles upriver from Savannah? An armed and dangerous Soviet Union is now mostly a memory. What better use could there be for the stockpile of weapons that helped fuel the Cold War than to turn it into electricity to power homes and businesses? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is trying to decide whether to construct a fuel fabrication facility at SRS to make nuclear-reactor fuel out of 36 tons of surplus plutonium. That fuel, in turn, would be used to create electricity for the Charlotte, N.C., area. The economic benefits are obvious: more than 400 long-term jobs would be created. While those jobs would primarily help the Augusta and Aiken, S.C., area, the impact could be felt state-wide. However, the new production plant would create about 4 million gallons of radioactive water over the 20 years it would operate. That's a lot of hot water, but it doesn't really compare to the 35 million gallons still in storage at SRS. That's the real problem, and it affects the federal government's credibility. Although the government has spent years trying to clean up SRS, all that radioactive material is still there, and it doesn't appear to be going away. Savannahians who fear a threat from radioactive material upriver are not talking about goblins hiding under their beds. In 1991, some radioactive tritium was released into the Savannah River from the site. As the contaminated water worked its way south, plants and mills along the river had to scramble for other water sources, both for processing and for drinking. The potential impact would be greater if such a discharge were to occur today because the Savannah River supplies the City of Savannah with more water for domestic use than ever before. The issue is largely one of trust. Before the NRC approves this new facility, it needs to assure the public that it has a handle on the radioactive waste that's already at SRS. Only then can it develop a way to deal with whatever by-products result from the fuel fabrication process. By all means, turning nukes into electricity should be pursued. But the end doesn't justify any means. That includes making people who live and work along the Savannah River take unnecessary or unreasonable risks. ***************************************************************** 12 Another $5 million for plant April 19, 2001 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The federal government has committed $5 million more to the cleanup of a southern Ohio uranium processing plant, a move that will retain 170 jobs, Gov. Bob Taft said Thursday. The extra money brings the total that the federal government will spend to keep the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant on standby status to $130 million. The money will keep 1,370 workers on the plant's payroll after production ends in June. The Department of Energy previously committed $125 million for winterization and worker transition programs. The $5 million announced on Thursday will pay for the removal of uranium deposits in canisters at the plant, Taft's office said. The U.S. Enrichment Corp. is ending production at Piketon and consolidating its operations in Paducah, Ky. AP-CS-04-19-01 1755EDT --> ***************************************************************** 13 Yankee's hydrogen plans aired tonight *April 19, 2001* By MEGGAN CLARK Reformer Staff VERNON -- Eight to 12 tractor-trailer length tanks of hydrogen could be added to Vermont Yankee's physical plant, if the project passes muster with the Vermont Public Service Board. Vernon residents are invited tonight to a public hearing at the elementary school on the proposed $3 million hydrogen tank construction. The hearing, at 7, will be proceeded by a site visit at 4 p.m. All interested parties should meet at the Governor Hunt House. "A number of plants nationwide have moved to installing these hydrogen injection systems," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan. "The size of the system that (Yankee is) talking about installing is not unusual, either." He called the hydrogen systems "benign" and said there have been no safety problems. Hydrogen is the simplest of the elements, a very light gas whose usual molecular makeup is only one proton, one neutron, and one electron. In nuclear power plants such as Vermont Yankee, hydrogen is added to water in the reactor to increase cooling. It also prevents corrosion by bonding with loose oxygen molecules to form water. Liaison Engineer David McElwee said Yankee currently adds hydrogen to reactor vessel water to increase cooling of the reactor core and decrease corrosion, but the hydrogen is kept in cylindrical bottles in an enclosed building. The proposed construction would be larger. "The (proposed) tanks are about 2 feet in diameter and about the length of a tractor-trailer," McElwee said. He said they would rest on a specifically designed tractor-trailer on a fenced-in concrete pad. Yankee began applying for permits in January. Jurisdiction lies with the Vermont Public Service Board, under Act 248, to decide if the new construction is in the public interest, and issue a certificate of public good. According to Patrick Dakin of the Vermont Environmental Commission, the new structure would not require an Act 250 permit. "(Act) 248 is in lieu of 250," he explained. "If it has to do with the actual generation of power we don't have jurisdiction over that." McElwee said the equipment could potentially add to the reactor's value. "There shouldn't be any impact on the neighbors," he said. NewsChoice.com/ ***************************************************************** 14 Texas House Passes TNRCC Bill Friday April 20 12:37 PM EDT It will receive a final reading today, but legislators have given preliminary approval to a bill to continue the state's environmental agency for at least another twelve years. Legislators spent almost 12 hours listening to debate on more than 200 amendments before the bill was tentatively passed late last night. The bill makes significant improvements in the agency, increasing pollution controls and making the agency more accountable to the public. Representative Fred Bosse, Democrat from Houston, said his legislation is aimed at moving the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from command and control type regulation toward incentive-based regulation. The conservation commission has broad regulatory power, covering everything from agricultural runoff to disposal of radioactive waste. One of the most important amendments would close a grandfather loophole. The change would require environmental permits from plants that had previously been left to voluntarily meet r! eq! uired pollution control standards. Electric utility plants already were required to obtain permits. Copyright © 2001 KEYE. All Rights Reserved. Yahoo! is a trademark of Yahoo! ***************************************************************** 15 State lawmakers begin reshaping environmental agency HoustonChronicle.com *April 19, 2001, 2:12PM* Associated Press AUSTIN - Legislators began the task today of acting on more than 200 amendments to a bill that recommends the state's environmental agency continue for at least another 12 years with significant improvements. Rep. Fred Bosse, D-Houston, said his legislation is aimed at moving the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from "command and control type regulation" toward incentive-based regulation. The conservation commission has broad regulatory power, covering everything from agricultural runoff to disposal of radioactive waste. Debate on the bill was expected to be lengthy and at times heated. House Speaker Pete Laney took the unusual step of breaking for lunch as members barely began acting on the amendments. Among the early amendments approved was one by Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, that requires the agency to post advisory reports on the Internet. Another by Maxey would require the commission to keep on file all environmental complaints, including those submitted over the Internet or telephone. Rep. Lon Burnam's amendment that would allow people who report violators to remain anonymous also was approved. The change will encourage the public to be an environmental watchdog "without the burden of being the whistleblower," said Burnam, D-Fort Worth. Most in the first batch of amendments failed, including one that would prohibit working lobbyists from being appointed to the agency's board for at least two years and another that would have allowed a $500 reward for those who report tips resulting in the fining of violators. The reward would have created "a cottage industry bounty hunters out there who go around the state looking to make a profit," Bosse said. Environmentalists have said the overall bill helps make the agency more responsive to the public but it does not go far enough. His bill would require the TNRCC to develop a common definition for compliance and place agencies into tiers based on their compliance history. The state would have less need for unannounced inspections for companies with an above average compliance history and would be more likely to award them certain permits, Bosse said. On the other hand, companies that have violated regulations before would have a tougher time getting permits, he said. Bosse's bill also would require the agency to set up procedures to respond to complaints after normal business hours. The bill is the result of the agency's first sunset review since the agency was created in 1993, when several other regulatory agencies were combined. The Sunset Advisory Commission periodically reviews state programs and recommends to the Legislature if it should abolish them, continue them or make additions and changes. The measure would continue the agency until Sept. 1, 2013. The environmental agency bill is CSHB 2912. ***************************************************************** 16 U.S. readies push for more nuclear plants UPI News Article: 19 April 2001 18:24 (ET) By MARK BENJAMIN WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- In the face of a mounting electricity shortage, the Bush administration is preparing to encourage the construction of new domestic nuclear power plants for the first time in decades, with three new plants waiting in the wings, government and industry officials said Thursday. The White House is scheduled to release a closely held comprehensive energy policy next month, focused on increasing domestic energy supply. While proposals to expand domestic oil exploration have grabbed most of the headlines, the White House also is expected to announce steps to boost nuclear power output to and construct new plants -- one of the few forms of generating electricity that does not cause air pollution. "There definitely is momentum in that direction," said Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Steve Kerekes, who is not included in the White House talks. "What we are seeking is that any incentives to increase output from new construction of any type not leave out nuclear ... We feel that the administration needs to expand and improve the proven methods of generation out there." Industry and government officials said that after receiving the anticipated go-ahead from the White House next month, the nuclear power industry would try to move forward with the construction of three new nuclear power plants. Virginia energy giant Dominion is expected to seek construction of a new generation facility at its existing nuclear power station on Lake Anna, 60 miles northwest of Richmond. Exelon Corporation will reportedly press the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to gain swift approval of a new "pebble bed" design facility in Illinois. And Southern Company is reported to be considering locations for a new plant in either Georgia or Alabama. The policy shift would jump-start the first construction on new nuclear power plants in a generation. The last plant, completed in Tennessee in 1996, began construction in 1973 and cost around $8 billion, according to Public Citizen. Representatives from the power companies did not return calls seeking comment on the plans. New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici last month introduced the bipartisan "Nuclear Electricity Assurance Act of 2001." That bill requires the government to assist in the construction of three new nuclear power plants, at undisclosed locations, and allows the Department of Energy to pay companies $30 million to defray the costs of negotiating the government licensing procedures for a new plan. Government officials familiar with the White House talks said President Bush's energy policy announcement next month would focus on streamlining licensing procedures and reducing any other regulatory or political barriers that have chilled the construction of new nuclear facilities over the past 25 years. "Part of it is letting (the nuclear power industry) know that they will get a fair hand," one official said, adding, "The government might help fund some of the design work." As the White House readies the announcement, an energy task force established by the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University released a report Tuesday calling for increased reliance on nuclear power. But efforts by the White House or Congress to give nuclear energy a boost have angered non-governmental organizations that argue nuclear power is dangerous and costly. "I expect (the White House) will come out with a package that will basically support the industry," Public Citizen Senior Analyst Jim Riccio said. "They are using a self-inflicted crisis in California as an excuse to drill (for oil) in the Arctic and build new nuclear power plants." Copyright 2001 by United Press International. -- ***************************************************************** 17 Duratek Reports $12.5 Million Loss (washingtonpost.com) *By Sabrina Jones* Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 20, 2001; Page E02 Duratek Inc. of Columbia said yesterday that it lost $12.5 million in the fourth quarter and $9.1 million in all of 2000, after reporting operating problems with its radioactive-waste processing facilities. The company also said it revised its financial results for the first three quarters of last year and all of 1999. Duratek said the previously reported figures did not reflect a buildup of unprocessed waste. Last month, the company postponed the release of its financial results to review its plants in Memphis and Oak Ridge, Tenn. The company said it incurred $14 million in unexpected overtime, waste-burial and transportation costs in the fourth quarter, after waste-storage space ran out at the Oak Ridge plant. Duratek lost $12.5 million (95 cents per share) on $66.9 million in revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with a profit of $3.8 million (19 cents a share) on $51.5 million in revenue for the same period in 1999. For all of 2000, Duratek lost $9.1 million (79 cents) on revenue of $229.8 million, compared with profit of $10.8 million (55 cents) on $176.4 million in revenue in 1999. The company said its operating problems will also hurt its results for the first quarter of 2001. Duratek shares closed yesterday at $3.81, up 53 cents, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In a conference call yesterday, Duratek's chief executive, Robert E. Prince, said that the company has hired new accounting staff for its waste-processing plants and that the manager of the Bear Creek disposal plant in Oak Ridge has been replaced. "This was a complex problem," Prince said. "Let there be no doubt that as a management team, I fully feel that we failed our shareholders, that this did not need to happen. . . . But the milk is spilled." Robert F. Shawver, Duratek's chief financial officer, said the company last year started several new waste-processing programs. Complications arose when the start-up of the new processes was pushed back to last last year, leading to an accumulation of waste and high labor, shipping and burial costs, he said. "The company ran into a condition when it had waste accumulating on site," Shawver said. "That had a negative impact on profitability in the fourth quarter in specific areas. . . . We believe the company is back on track, although these things did carry over into the first quarter." The company said that because of its losses, it had to negotiate waivers and amendments to agreements with its banks. Duratek's $135 million credit line has been reduced to $125 million, the company said. The company has scheduled another conference call with shareholders for 11 a.m. April 30 to discuss its financial future. Prince said the company's other divisions performed well, and Duratek remains a leader in radioactive-waste disposal. He said the company plans to expand its operations overseas. Its clients include commercial nuclear power plants, the U.S. Department of Energy, universities, hospitals and laboratories. "What I would like our shareholders to focus on is that we didn't lose the assets," Prince said. "We have the most complete set of tools to deal with customers' low-level radioactive waste issues of any company in the United States." © 2001 The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 18 Letter to GAO regarding energy policy Text only of letters sent from the Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats. April 19, 2001 The Honorable David Walker Comptroller General General Accounting Office 441 G Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20548 Dear Mr. Walker: Earlier this year, President Bush announced the establishment of a task force, to be chaired by Vice President Cheney, to help him develop an energy policy. It is our understanding that the task force has conducted a number of meetings since at least March 15, 2001, and some, if not all, of these meetings have included exclusive groups of non-governmental participants -- including political contributors -- to discuss specific polices, rules, regulations, and legislation. While we have never been provided with an official list of members of this task force, it is our understanding that these meetings took place at federal facilities with the participation of federal employees. We further understand that the meetings were conducted entirely in private. We have become concerned about the conduct and composition of the task force. As Members of the House Committees with primary jurisdiction over federal energy policy and the conduct of the agencies responsible for implementing it, we question the apparent efforts of the task force to shield its membership and deliberations from public scrutiny. The process of energy policy development needs sunshine. At a minimum, the public has the right to know who serves on this task force; what information is being presented to the task force and by whom it is being given; and to learn of the costs involved in the gathering of the facts. To that end, we request you immediately undertake an investigation of the President’s energy policy task force with special attention to the following matters: 1) A complete list of all task force members and staff, including name, title, office, or employer represented. In addition: a) please identify each member or staff who is not a full-time employee of the federal government and cite the hours per week that person works for the federal government and date on which that person began working for the federal government; b) please identify each task force member or staff who, at the time of any task force meeting, was serving as a contractor to, or temporary full-time employee of, the federal government while on leave from non-federal employment. For each member or staff identified, please include the name of that person’s non-federal employer and the dates on which that person began working for the federal government and ceased receiving remuneration from their non-federal job. 2) A complete list of all task force meetings held, including the date, location, and duration of each meeting. 3) An accounting of the statutory authorities, regulations, rules, and guidelines pursuant to which the task force was organized and conducts its business. 4) For each task force meeting that has occurred to date, a complete accounting of all attendees at each meeting. Please include the name of each attendee as well as the name of each person’s employer and the name of all clients represented by each person for the purpose of any particular task force meeting. 5) Copies of all notices of task force meetings provided to the general public. 6) An accounting of the number of task force meetings open to the general public. 7) Identification of the person or persons responsible for determining which non-federal employees would be invited to participate in each meeting. 8) The criteria used by the task force in determining which non-federal entities would be invited to participate in these meetings or excluded from the meetings. 9) Copies of all invitations to participate in task force deliberations and phone records relating to such invitations. 10) An accounting of all direct and indirect costs incurred by the task force to date. Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about this request, please contact us or have your staff contact Rick Kessler of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Minority staff at 226-3400 or Paul Weinberger of the Committee on Government Reform Minority staff at 225-5420. Sincerely, JOHN D. DINGELL RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE HENRY A. WAXMAN RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM Enclosure cc: The Honorable W. J. "Billy" Tauzin, Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce The Honorable Dan Burton, Chairman Committee on Government Reform [rwb_line.gif (207 bytes)] Prepared by the Democratic staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Select Feedback to let us know what you think. Back to the Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats Home Page ***************************************************************** 19 Boat with N-waste crosses Panama Canal despite protests 21 April 2001 : The Times of India PANAMA CITY: Despite protests by several environmental groups, a ship carrying nuclear waste passed through the Panama Canal on its way to the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal Authority said Thursday. The Pacific Swan crossed the canal Wednesday night. It is carrying radioactive waste from a nuclear plant in Tokaimura, Japan, and routinely travels between Japan and Europe. "This waste represents a real danger for people," said Damon Mogien of Greenpeace. "This is unacceptable." Greenpeace said the ship will pass between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as part of a trip that began weeks ago in Japan and will end in Great Britain. Environmental groups have often protested its passage through the canal, saying an accident would create an ecological disaster. Two years ago, Greenpeace activists boarded the boat while it travelled through the canal to demonstrate its vulnerability to terrorist attacks. The canal authority said officials took security precautions to protect the ship as it passed through the canal Wednesday night. Operators of the ship have insisted the Pacific Swan poses no threat, saying it was built especially for transporting hazardous waste, and has special safety features like double hulls, duplicate navigational and power systems and reinforced structures to guard against collision damage. (PTI) ***************************************************************** 20 Possible 'leak' at Lucas Heights reactor news.com.au From AAP 20apr01 17:00 (AEST) STAFF at Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear facility may have been exposed to a radiation leak, a nuclear safety agency said today. A spokesman for the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) said an incident occurred yesterday involving a "sealed source". "In handling that source it appears someone was exposed," the spokesman said. "It's too early to say what any exposure was." ARPANSA has begun an investigation to determine whether the seal was broken and radiation had leaked. "Until we know the results of the investigation it's impossible to comment," the spokesman said. The incident probably occurred in the radio pharmaceutical area of the nuclear facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney's south, he said. A statement released by the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), which runs the facility, confirmed an incident had taken place. "During a handling operation in ANSTO's isotope production area ... a sealed radiography source dislodged from its radiation shielding," the statement said. "The area was promptly attended by relevant ANSTO safety staff and the source was quickly recovered." The statement said there was no potential for the radiation to have leaked off the site. A spokeswoman for ANSTO told AAP the radioactive isotope was the size of the tip of a pen and had "fallen onto the floor". She said there was "absolutely no radiation leak" and no harm done to anyone. But members of Sutherland Shire Council were angered by news of the incident. "In the past (ANSTO) said they would inform the council if something like this happened," chair of the council's Nuclear Reactor Taskforce Councillor Genevieve Rankin said today. She said a "very large" isotope's shielding had come away. "We need to know who got exposed," she said. Not being informed about the incident was "typical of the contempt of this federal government-funded organisation", she said. ***************************************************************** 21 No radioactivity released as nuclear plant springs leak Independent News 19 April 2001 An internal water leak was discovered in a nuclear power plant in western Japan today, but the operator said no radioactivity was released into the atmosphere. Kansai Electric Power cut the number one plant in Takahama, 170 miles west of Tokyo, down to 75 percent of operating capacity and began an inspection, company official Yoshihiko Kondo said. The problem was discovered when operators saw a slight increase in the amount of water flowing into a heater at the plant, Kondo said. "We began investigating whether that increase indicates there is a hole in the heater," meaning more water was flowing in to keep the level of water in the heater stable, Kondo said. He added that the problem was not serious enough to warrant completely shutting down the plant. The company said in a statement that the problem did not present a threat to the environment. Kansai Electric has had a similar water leak in its number two nuclear plant in the same area a year ago. The repair took about a week, Kondo said. The company owns 11 nuclear plants. Japan's nuclear power program has been plagued with problems. The nation's worst nuclear accident occurred in 1999, when an uncontrolled nuclear reaction at a fuel reprocessing centre killed two workers. ***************************************************************** 22 Cooling water leak suspected at nuclear plant in Fukui Pref. FUKUI, Japan April 19 Kyodo - Cooling water may have leaked at the No. 1 reactor of a nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture operated by Kansai Electric Power Co., prompting the company to begin inspections, Fukui prefectural government officials said Thursday. The secondary cooling water may have leaked from a high-pressure feed-water heater at the pressurized-water reactor in the company's Takahama nuclear plant on the Sea of Japan coast, the officials said. As a safety measure, the reactor's output was cut to 75% of its full capacity of 826,000 kilowatts, they said. The officials said the possible coolant leakage will not cause damage to the environment surrounding the plant. The feed-water heater raises the temperature of the cooling water in advance so that steam can be generated efficiently in the reactor. Kansai Electric detected an irregularity at one of two high-pressure feed-water heaters in an inspection conducted Sunday and has since been closely monitoring it, according to the officials. On Thursday morning, the amount of steam-condensed water rose to 415 tons, leading the company to think that the secondary cooling water had leaked from a heat exchanger tube in the heater. It began cutting down on the output from noon, the Fukui officials said. Similar trouble happened three times at the No. 2 reactor in the plant in the past, but it was first for the No. 1 reactor, they said. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 23 Gov't panel to discuss MOX fuel use with local gov'ts TOKYO April 20 Kyodo - The government's Atomic Energy Commission decided Friday to discuss the use of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel with local governments and residents near the nuclear facilities concerned, commission officials said. The prefectures involved include Fukushima, Niigata and Fukui, the officials said, adding they will also hold talks in Aomori and Ibaraki prefectures to try to win support for the use of MOX fuel, with commission chief Yoichi Fujiie participating. The plan to start this pluthermal method of power generation has stalled due to opposition from the prefectural governments as well as the local residents. The commission wants to hold the talks with the local governments and local residents because its long-term atomic energy plan issued last year promotes pluthermal power generation. The Kariwa village assembly in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast passed an ordinance Wednesday to hold a plebiscite on the plan to use MOX fuel at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant after the prefecture expressed uneasiness about the plan. Takashi Sasagawa, state minister in charge of the Council for Science and Technology Policy, on Friday criticized Kariwa's decision to hold a plebiscite as unreasonable, saying pluthermal power generation is a major part of national atomic policy. In 1999, Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) tried to introduce the plan at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture. But the plan was canceled following the revelation of KEPCO's alteration of related data. Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato in February rejected the TEPCO plan to introduce pluthermal power generation at its No. 1 nuclear power plant in his prefecture. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 24 LEAD: Russia wants to reprocess Japan's spent nuke fuel MOSCOW April 19 Kyodo - Russia is looking to Japan as a potential business partner in the Russian plan to reprocess spent nuclear fuel for foreign countries, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Thursday. ''We hope Japan would buy nuclear fuel from Russia. In that case, spent nuclear fuel could also be reprocessed in Russia,'' Rumyantsev said in a meeting with reporters from Kyodo News and other foreign news organizations. The Russian government is planning to go into nuclear fuel reprocessing business -- which officials hope would bring $20 billion in income over 10 years -- and is pushing for changes in relevant domestic laws. Rumyantsev's remarks suggest that the Russian government may present formal proposals to Japan on the Russian nuclear fuel reprocessing plan once the Russian parliament approves the relevant legislation. Rumyantsev, who assumed office last month, also noted that Russia had wanted to make a bid to host the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) -- an experimental nuclear fusion plan promoted by Japan, Russia and other developed countries -- but lacked the financial resources to do so. Canada is now a strong contender to host the ITER, the Russian minister said. Rumyantsev denied reports that Russia was planning to build a nuclear waste disposal site on the Kurils -- islands adjacent to the disputed Northern Territories off northern Hokkaido. ''This is mistaken information'' Rumyantsev said. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 25 Fallon probe not confined to radiation find April 20, 2001 By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN The discovery of radiation in Fallon's ground water has not narrowed the scope of the investigation nor has it affected experts' resolve to pursue every possible environmental angle as they try to determine why a dozen area children have been stricken with leukemia, officials said. Federal investigators and Nevada health and environmental officials started the painstaking work of examining blood, tissue, air, soil and water samples for clues regarding 12 cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia discovered in Fallon children during the past three years. It is the most common form of the cancer. Nine of 10 of these investigations never pinpoint a cause, experts said. The investigation continues, nevertheless. A 1994 U.S. Geological Survey report became "the find of the week," state epidemiologist Randall Todd said Thursday. The report showed radiation levels from naturally occurring uranium in 31 Fallon wells were higher than the proposed national limit. A federal toxicologist said it is unlikely that drinking radioactive water from those wells caused the cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency sets limits on uranium in drinking water because the heavy metal can lead to kidney damage, toxicologist Bruce Macler of EPA's office in San Francisco said. The threat of radiation causing cancer is negligible. "That's not where to look for the cause of the leukemias," he said. Todd agreed. "If it is a naturally occurring substance, even if it is too high, one has to ask the question, 'Since it has been there for a very long time -- why didn't we see cases earlier?' " he said. The USGS data can be useful when compared to private well test results, Todd said. Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta visited affected families Tuesday. CDC officials plan to be ready to collect blook and tissue samples this summer. Separate plans will be written for industrial and agricultural sources so scientists can track the paths of chemicals much like detectives hunt for clues at a crime scene. Other avenues scientists will pursue in coming months include: * Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, such as solvents, fuels and benzene have a possible link to childhood leukemia. VOCs are common. Jet fuel used at Fallon Naval Station, pesticides sprayed on cantaloupes and other crops and even benzene in mothballs are under investigation. * A virus or a bacteria that has since disappeared from the community could have triggered the leukemia outbreak. An influx of new residents or runoff from a flood could have deposited the organism in the community. * Scientists could find an unexpected trigger for the leukemia outbreak. The EPA's laboratory has an $800,000 piece of equipment that could narrow the search for a chemical in water, lab director Christian Daughton said. A dozen research chemists are ready should state officials call, he said. EPA chemist Andy Grange developed a means of narrowing suspect chemicals -- he uses a high-resolution mass spectrometer, one of five in the United States, Daughton said. "It would complement other work," he said. The lab recently identified toxic chemicals in well water from Toms River, N.J., where cancers affecting children's nervous systems cancers have been on the rise. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 26 Czech Today on Central Europe Online - Czech Today - Fagan May Hit Czech Republic With Lawsuit "Like Baseball Bat" SALZBURG, Apr 20, 2001 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) U.S. lawyer for Austrian opponents of the Czech nuclear power plant Edward Fagan told an unofficial public hearing of anti-nuclear experts today that he might file a lawsuit against the Czech Republic and if he does, it will be like a "legal strike with a baseball bat." Edmund Lengfelder from the Munich-based Institute for Research of Radioactive Radiation said that a serious accident in Temelin might cause huge damage, similar to the explosion in Chernobyl in 1986. Fagan said that the lawsuit could be filed in the Czech Republic and in some of the countries of the EU which the Czech Republic want to join. Fagan said that if the trial were opened, the Czech Republic would lose it because it could not win it. The Czech side cannot win also because of the documents since it does not have them, said Fagan, who did not specify when and against whom he would lodge the lawsuit. The Czech side does not want to submit documents on the power plant because it does not have them, Fagan said several times. He rhetorically asked Mrs. Drabova, the head of the SUJB State Authority for Nuclear Safety SUJB, where the documents were. He said that SUJB was not an independent organization as it was influenced by the Czech government. However, official Austrian circles do not share Fagan's effort to sue the Czech Republic. "I can't imagine that any lawsuit might threaten ongoing processes," Radko Pavlovec, the commissioner of the Upper Austrian government for the cross- border nuclear facilities, told CTK today. "As far as I know, Mr. Fagan is a representative of two non- governmental organizations and has no connection with any government circles both in individual Austrian regions and at the federal level," Pavlovec said. Representatives of neither CEZ, the Czech national power utility which operates Temelin, nor SUJB were present at the meeting. "We politely declined the invitation because this was not an official public hearing under the Czech-Austrian agreements from Melk and it is not therefore in keeping with the Austrian government platform," CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz said. "We are strictly abiding by the Melk agreements," he added. CEZ will take part in official public hearings in the Czech town of Ceske Budejovice on April 25 and in Linz on May 9 if it is invited, Kriz said. The debate was only attended by about forty people with a large percentage of journalists. *((c) 2001 CTK - Czech News Agency)* News Headlines Top ***************************************************************** 27 Temelin Opponents Might Again Block Austrian-Czech Border Central Europe Online - Czech Today - PRAGUE, Apr 19, 2001 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) Opponents of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant will next Thursday hold new protests against Temelin, which might even include border blockades, Upper Austrian activist Josef Puehringer is quoted today by the Czech paper Pravo as having said on Wednesday. "On April 26, on the day of the anniversary of the Chernobyl [nuclear power plant catastrophe in Ukraine in 1986], there will be new protests and perhaps even blockades [of the Austrian-Czech border] unless the Austrian government by that time finds an acceptable solution to the problems surrounding Temelin," he told Pravo. The staff of Temelin, located in south Bohemia not far from the border with nuclear plant-free Austria, on Wednesday again reconnected Temelin to the power grid and began to raise its output after a two-week shutdown, one of a series of recent shutdowns. Temelin is in the process of being started up. Critics of the plant, including environmentalists and some others, have questioned whether it is safe, while its operator, the CEZ power company, has defended it. Last year some of the Austrian activists' protests against Temelin included border blockades, but so far since then only protest gatherings have taken place, which have not disrupted traffic. *((c) 2001 CTK - Czech News Agency) ***************************************************************** 28 Chernobyl impact still being felt in Finland HS Foreign 20.4.2001 - [HELSINGIN SANOMAT international] Foreign - Friday 20.4.2001 According to figures kept by STUK - the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority - one hundredth part of the Finns' annual exposure to radiation is still provided by the Chernobyl nuclear accident, which took place fifteen years ago this month. + The bulk of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl explosion and fire came down in the area immediately around the plant, in other words in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Parts of Scandinavia and also several countries in southern and central Europe also witnessed large amounts of radioactive material carried on the wind. + The radioactive matter carried by the wind to Finland came down in most cases in the form of precipitation. Hence the counts varied substantially between different parts of the country, depending on whether it had rained or not. In many areas, however, the impact of the world's worst nuclear reactor disaster is still to be felt in fish, mushrooms, game animals, and forest berries. + STUK nevertheless is quick to point out that the doses to be found in natural items such as those above are so low that there is no cause to restrict consumption. + Chernobyl is estimated to be the statistical cause for some hundreds out of a hypothetical one million Finnish deaths from cancer. + The accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine took place in the early hours of the morning of 26 April 1986, during a test designed to assess the reactor's safety margin in a particular set of circumstances. The test, which had to be performed at less than full reactor power, was scheduled to coincide with a routine shut-down of the reactor, but it went horribly wrong and led to two explosions in Unit Four. + Some 8 of the 140 tonnes of fuel, which contained plutonium and other highly radioactive materials, were ejected from the reactor along with a portion of the graphite moderator, which was also radioactive. These materials were scattered around the site. In addition, caesium and iodine vapours were released both by the explosion and during the subsequent fire. + According to theoretical models, as many as 30,000 people around the world could die from cancers triggered by Chernobyl over the next seventy to eighty years. + [ ] STUK - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Helsingin Sanomat ***************************************************************** 29 Campaigners Anchor Near Sellafield The Whitehaven News Thursday, April 19, 2001 Norwegian anti-nuclear campaigners who this week anchored near pipelines pumping waste water from Sellafield say they are determined to stop reprocessing at the plant. The Oslo-based group, Neptun, leased a trawler to enable their divers to descend to the end of the pipelines on the bed of the Irish Sea. The boat, The Genius, anchored at 6am on Tuesday and held its position in choppy seas as divers took samples and considered ways to block the pipelines. Neptun spokeswoman Katrine Kristiansen said: "We want to stop the discharges that are contaminating lobsters caught in Norway. "We first detected the radiation in 1996 and since then there has been a six-fold increase.'' The group has been in talks with Greenpeace Holland, which briefly blocked the Sellafield discharge pipe-line by inserting a rubber bung which they then inflated with compressed air. This action resulted in legal injunctions against Greenpeace. Ms Kristiansen said of this week's action: "This is just the start. We intend to do whatever is necessary to block the pipelines.'' The Neptun group has faxed a message to Tony Blair and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, demanding immediate action. The fax said: "A group from the Neptun Foundation anchored above the nuclear waste pipes coming from Sellafield. They do this in an attempt to stop the radioactive Technet-ium-99 from being pumped out into the sea. "This is a non-violent action. The fact that the British Government allows the discharge of waste water containing Technetium-99 from Sellafield is totally un-acceptable. Technet-ium-99 is contaminating all oceans in the northern hemisphere. "We expect the Brit-ish Government and Tony Blair to promote immediate actions that will lead to the closure of Sellafield." Officers from the UKAEA constabulary went out and spoke to the Norwegian team on Tuesday. Sellafield spokesman Nigel Monkton said: "We understand they are only doing research but we have sent people out by boat to talk to them. "We do discharge technetium periodically from our magnox reprocessing, but there are no adverse health effects from these discharges and all are licensed.'' ***************************************************************** 30 BNFL Sacks Worker Over Gum The Whitehaven News Thursday, April 19, 2001 BNFL has dismissed one of Sellafield "industrials" for a chewing gum offence in a radioactive area. The process worker appealed against the sacking and his appeal was being heard yesterday afternoon too late for the News to learn the outcome before going to press. Chewing gum along with eating and drinking is banned from areas of Sellafield where radioactive operations take place. In the latest incident last week, the young process worker from Mirehouse was sacked for chewing gum in the fuel handling plant. However, his union, the GMB, has pressed for his reinstatement, arguing it was a genuine mistake as the man had just reported for work and was crossing the barrier into the active area. Other process workers were angered by the severity of the action in the light of their workmate's explanation. Previously, a BNFL manager was disciplined for a similar offence but he was suspended, not sacked. It is understood that a Sellafield agency employee who did lose his site pass for chewing gum in an active area may be given his job back after his case went before a BNFL Fairness Panel which examines inconsistencies in disciplinary measures. ***************************************************************** 31 Reid, Gibbons demand new Fallon water tests RGJ.com - Both criticize Bush cuts of federal soil, water agency *Frank X. Mullen Jr.* RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Friday April 20th, 2001 Hoping to shed light on the causes of Fallon’s childhood leukemia cluster, two top Nevada lawmakers Thursday called for a federal agency to retest area drinking water wells known to contain radioactive contaminants. U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, urged the U.S. Geologic Survey to quickly test Fallon-area wells to determine whether naturally occurring uranium and radioactivity uncovered in 1994 has worsened. “They have the money in their budget and there is a sense of urgency here,” Gibbons said. “Whether the wells have anything to do with the leukemia is something best left to the doctors,” Gibbons said. “Even without that factor, people have the right to know what is in their water.” Gibbons’ comments came following a Reno Gazette-Journal story Tuesday about a federal study of the wells that federal and state officials had failed to consider in their investigation of Fallon’s leukemia cluster. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the USGS should re-check the wells and share its information with state and federal investigators trying to link the cancer cluster with environmental causes. Reid said he opposes President Bush’s plans for a 30-percent cut in the USGS program that produced the 1994 groundwater report. “The USGS is a very important agency to Nevada,” Reid said. “To cut it now would be very bad for the state. With all the concern about arsenic and now radioactivity, it would be devastating for Nevada.” According to the report obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal, the groundwater around the Fallon area contains radioactive minerals that exceeded federal drinking water standards in 31 of 73 wells tested in the early 1990s. The report had been overlooked in recent state and federal hearings about the leukemia cluster. State officials said the radioactivity might be significant in light of the 12 childhood leukemia cases diagnosed in Fallon since 1997, 11 of them in the last two years. Radiation is a known trigger of leukemia and other cancers. The uranium and radioactivity was detected in shallow wells used by most of the county’s 26,000 residents. Fallon’s municipal water supply — which serves about a third of the town’s 8,300 residents — comes from deeper wells that had no traces of uranium or radioactivity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that public water systems be checked for contaminants, but that mandate doesn’t apply to private wells. Most of Churchill County’s 4,500 wells are privately owned and many aren’t tested, state officials said. Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, said state lawmakers considered writing a bill requiring private wells be tested. But she said the idea was soon abandoned because there was no money available to pay for the testing and it would be an intrusion on private property rights. Instead, she said, property owners should be warned about potential contaminates in the area, including naturally occurring uranium and high levels of arsenic. Fallon’s wells contain double the federal limit of arsenic in drinking water. The town is planning to build a treatment plant and is asking for federal help with the costs. The USGS report found naturally occurring uranium and radioactivity in wells bored into the shallow and intermediate aquifers in Churchill County. The wells are used for agricultural or drinking water, USGS officials said. The uranium in the groundwater comes from the Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges. It migrates to the desert basin as sediments in the Carson River and its tributaries. It has been collecting in the Carson River Basin for millions of years, the USGS report said. The uranium in the groundwater has nothing to do with an underground atomic bomb test conducted near Fallon in 1963. Scientists from the Reno-based Desert Research Institute have said that radioactive elements left in the ground from that test aren’t anywhere near the town. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year set uranium standards for drinking water at 30 micrograms per liter. The 1994 USGS report shows one shallow well logging 310 micrograms per liter and another shallow well measuring at 210 micrograms per liter. The report also showed radioactivity levels — presumably from the dissolved uranium — above EPA standards in nine of 56 wells in the shallow or intermediate aquifer. ©2001 Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** 32 Nuclear Waste Bill Passes Its 2nd Reading - The St. Petersburg #663, Friday, April 20, 2001 By Ana Uzelac STAFF WRITER ITAR-TASS MOSCOW - Ignoring environmentalists' warnings, the State Duma on Wednesday passed in the second reading a set of highly controversial bills allowing the import and storage of spent nuclear fuel rods in Russia. If passed, the Kremlin-backed legislation would open the doors for the import of around 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel over the next decade, which its supporters claim could bring $20 billion in revenues to prop up the country's cash-starved nuclear sector. The bills' proponents say part of the funds would go toward cleaning up contaminated areas and also hope to use the processed fuel as an alternative energy source - in both existing nuclear reactors and as yet undeveloped reactors that would rely on plutonium. But opponents in the Duma argued Wednesday that, in their current form, the bills, which feature amendments to existing legislation, would turn the country into a nuclear waste dump, where any state-run or private organization would have the right to sign import contracts. For this to happen, the bills will have to pass an as-yet unscheduled third reading, but they are predicted to receive approval in their newly amended form, which cannot be changed prior to the third reading. The legislation would then be passed to the Federation Council, where it is also expected to pass. After repeated rounds of voting, the three-bill package was pushed through with counts of 230-116, 244-114 and 267-67. While clearing the 226-vote minimum required for passage, the counts reflected a significant drop from the 319 votes the package garnered in the first reading earlier this year. Several deputies complained that government environmental experts had not submitted their assessment of the bills between the two readings - a procedure required by law for environmentally risky projects. "We were shown no new documents whatsoever in between the two readings," Sergei Mitrokhin, a Yabloko deputy, said Wednesday. "There were parliamentary hearings, but no documents were produced. The only papers we got were Nuclear Power Ministry propaganda leaflets and a stand with a model of a spent nuclear fuel rod set up in the corridor." One of the most hotly disputed amendments introduced between the two readings was penned by President Vla dimir Putin. The president proposed that the contracts for importing spent nuclear fuel be drawn up as "civil" contracts - a definition, in theory, allowing government and commercial trading companies to sign their own import deals. Robert Nigmatulin, a member of the Duma's ecology committee, argued that provisions in the two other bills - stipulating that contracts must be signed within the framework of international agreements - were enough to ensure against loose cannons seeking profits. Nigmatulin, the legislation's most outspoken lobbyist, is the brother of Deputy Nuclear Power Minister Bulat Nigmatulin. The Nuclear Power Ministry has lobbied for the amendments, saying they were a money spinner needed for the modernization and maintenance of nuclear power plants and radioactive cleanup. Both the former minister, Yevgeny Adamov, sacked last month under a flurry of corruption allegations, and his successor Alexander Rumyantsev are fervent supporters of the bills. Their opponents from the Yabloko and Russia's Regions factions fought in vain to install control mechanisms regulating the import contracts, insisting without success on mandatory Duma ratification of every contract. Even some of the pro-Kremlin deputies opposed the presidential amendment, warning that it removes the import deals from public scrutiny. The bills' opponents failed to push through amendments guaranteeing that both the reprocessed fuel and any waste by-products would be returned to the countries of origin. But the ecology committee's Nigmatulin insisted that repatriating some by-products, such as radioactive plutonium, would contradict Russia's international obligations on non-proliferation of nuclear technologies. Furthermore, Nuclear Power Ministry officials have argued that plutonium could be used as fuel in a new generation of nuclear reactors, called breeders, which, they acknowledged, have yet to be fully developed. Deputy Minister Valentin Ivanov said it would take Russia "some time" to build reliable breeders, which, because of the way they process plutonium fuel, actually creates more - sometimes purer - fuel in the process. The money for research and construction, he said, would come from importing the spent fuel. That is why the fuel should be kept in Russia for at least 30 to 35 years, he added. The bills' supporters said imports are the only way the government can raise cash for cleaning up areas contaminated during Soviet times, and maintaining safety in the nuclear industry. [Copyright] copyright The St. Petersburg Times 2001 ***************************************************************** 33 Rancho Seco Fuel Rods Being Moved Again KCRA TheKCRAChannel.com Thursday April 19 02:56 PM EDT A potentially hazardous project that was put on hold two weeks ago is back on track at the closed Rancho Seco nuclear power plant. On April 4, engineers discovered that a seal on a canister holding a rod was out of position. So they needed to stop loading the rods and decontaminate all the canisters. Old fuel rods were put in a giant storage container Thursday. Crews are working to secure the canister, which holds 24 rods, onto a truck bed. After it's secure, the canister will be moved about a quarter of a mile away to a storage facility. The process is part of a nine-month project to move about 500 old fuel rods into storage. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! and . ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Energy Chief Defends Cuts April 20, 2001 Albuquerque Journal--> By Jennifer McKee *Journal Staff Writer* LOS ALAMOS — Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham ate sandwiches with plutonium workers and defended his department's recent environmental clean-up cuts Thursday on his first visit to the weapons labs here. "I think the people here are top notch," Abraham said during a brief interview with the press. He called the nation's weapons labs "crown jewels." Abraham, a former senator from Michigan, had not visited New Mexico, home to two of the nation's three nuclear weapons laboratories, before Thursday since he assumed his post almost three months ago. The secretary started his day in Albuquerque at Sandia National Laboratories but was in the skies over Los Alamos by noon for an aerial tour of the lab and the areas blackened by last year's Cerro Grande Fire. His visit comes on the heels of the Bush administration's proposed $1.96 trillion federal budget, which calls for spending cuts at the Los Alamos lab, including deep cuts in environmental dollars. The budget drew criticism from many, including New Mexico's Sen. Pete Domenici, who has already called for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional DOE spending, including some for environmental cleanup. Abraham explained the cuts, which could stall a federally mandated land-transfer program for Los Alamos county and San Ildefonso Pueblo, as part of a DOE-wide study of its environment programs. The land transfer hinges on cleaning up eight contaminated parcels of DOE land, but local department workers say the new budget contains no money for the cleanup. The secretary said he was "very disappointed" when he took the helm of the department and discovered its cleanup programs were spread over 70 years and called for $300 billion. Cleanup plans for some sites contained no end date at all, he said. This year's budget tried to narrow the focus, giving money to the most toxic of sites first and calling for completed cleanup in the foreseeable future, he said. The Los Alamos lab is not one of the high priority sites, but Abraham said that based on the ongoing studies, the lab could see some of its environmental budget restored next year, possibly even later this fiscal year. Domenici also has criticized the DOE's funding for plutonium pit production. A pit is the fission explosion part of a nuclear bomb. Many pits in America's weapons are getting old and the Los Alamos National Laboratory is designated as the source of replacement pits in the future. The lab has never made a pit specially certified to be installed in an existing nuclear warhead. Despite the cuts, Abraham said he was confident the department could crank out a pit by the department's 2003 deadline. He also said Domenici, who is the chairman of the Senate's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which funds DOE, "needs to give us a little time" to get caught up on the ins and outs of the Energy Department. After taking the aerial tour, Abraham walked around the lab's plutonium processing building and ate lunch with about 12 employees there. He gave a speech to several hundred employees afterward and was scheduled to meet with invited community leaders Thursday evening before flying back to Albuquerque. Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 2 New Energy Secretary Sees "Crown Jewels" of Science April 19, 2001 By Barry Massey *The Associated Press* LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — The head of the Energy Department on Thursday toured Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear weapons lab recovering from a national security scandal and confronting proposed budget cuts. "What the trip today has so far done is reinforce my pride in and confidence in the people who work in our labs," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said at a news conference. "These are . . . the crown jewels in terms of American science," said Abraham, whose department oversees the nation's nuclear weapons complex. Abraham, a former U.S. senator from Michigan, made an aerial tour of lab property to view damage from last spring's wildfire. Abraham, who earlier in the day visited Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, met with Los Alamos employees and visited its facilities, including Tech Area 55, which is used for processing and storage of plutonium. President Bush has recommended spending cuts in the Energy Department next year. The agency's proposed budget calls for a 16 percent reduction at Los Alamos, which would reduce spending to about $1.4 billion. Abraham said the budget proposes an increase in the agency's defense-related work, including that at Los Alamos. The administration is reviewing department programs to determine long-term energy and defense policy, and Abraham suggested that could lead to a greater focus on the work at Los Alamos. The lab is recovering from rough times because of a devastating wildfire in the Los Alamos area last year, a security scandal involving missing computer equipment and the Wen Ho Lee case. Abraham described the morale of lab employees as "very positive." "I think the people recognize that safety and security and scientific achievement can go hand in hand, and I conveyed to them my confidence in the people here and in their ability to both meet the security challenges as well as the professional challenges that we have as a nation," he said. The visits to Sandia and Los Alamos were Abraham's first since taking over the DOE. The department operates 17 major research laboratories, including Los Alamos and Sandia. Lee, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen who worked at Los Alamos for more than two decades, was accused of 59 counts of downloading restricted data. After nine months in solitary confinement, he pleaded guilty to a single felony count last September, the government dropped all other counts and Lee was freed. The Cerro Grande wildfire, which roared through the community of Los Alamos last May, left 400 families homeless and burned more than 42,000 acres, including nearly 8,000 on lab property. The fire burned five of six old buildings that housed the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bomb during World War II and destroyed a cluster of temporary lab buildings. At the peak of the fire, the entire Los Alamos area — an estimated 25,000 people — was evacuated. As the fire moved onto lab property, two computer hard drives of secret information about nuclear weapons were found missing from a vault in the lab's top secret X Division. Eventually, the drives were discovered behind a copier in a secure area previously searched. The Los Alamos lab was established by the government in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. Today, the lab covers about 43 square miles and has more than 2,000 buildings. The lab's main mission remains nuclear weapons research and maintenance of the nation's nuclear stockpile, but it operates a wide range of non-weapons programs including climate modeling and human genome studies. Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 3 Oak Ridge begins building hazardous waste dump The Times Free Press on Friday, April 20, 2001 By Gary Tanner *Staff Writer* OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- Construction began Thursday on a $235 million above-ground landfill to stack and cover radioactive and other hazardous wastes from the Oak Ridge Reservation. The wastes, which one official called "the Cold War's environmental legacy," include low-level radioactive waste and chemical waste, as well as debris from tearing down old buildings on the Oak Ridge reservation. No highly radioactive wastes, such as spent reactor fuel, will be put into the landfill, officials said. Nor will dump materials be from anywhere other than the Oak Ridge Department of Energy site. What will be encased in the 22-acre, above-ground landfill as high as a 10-story building are items with very low levels of radioactivity, such as contaminated soil and old laboratory equipment, and building demolition materials, including asbestos, DOE officials said. The landfill is expected to be full in seven years, according to the officials. "This facility ensures the United States of America doesn't walk away from its obligations," said Justin Wilson, top deputy of Gov. Don Sundquist, at a ceremony Thursday marking the beginning of construction. When it is full, the landfill will be capped with a 15-foot thick layer of gravel, sand and clay, according to Bill Cahill, the DOE's manager for the project. It will have a 6-foot thick liner of the same materials on the bottom. "I'm proud that (Oak Ridge) is leading the way on a permanent solution to disposing of low-level nuclear waste," said Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, who also attended the groundbreaking, along with members of the Roane County Environmental Review Board, members of environmental groups, DOE officials and representatives of Bechtel Jacobs, the company overseeing the Oak Ridge cleanup. "The DOE is taking responsibility for the waste it created," said Edward Cumesty, acting manager of DOE Oak Ridge Operations. The landfill, which is located on land on the Oak Ridge complex, is being built now after six years of planning, including public hearings and meetings with local officials, residents and environmental groups, said Mr. Cahill and Mr. Cumesty. Building the landfill is expected to cost $19 million. Capping and closing it will cost another $19 million. Operating it is expected to cost $197 million over the lifetime of the landfill, according to Paul Clay, vice president and general manager of Bechtel Jacobs. Oak Ridge Reservation is being cleaned of wastes generated over the life of the complex, which was built in the 1940s as part of the nation's effort to develop nuclear weapons. The landfill is where much of the waste will end up, Mr. Cumesty said. "We have enough material here to fill it up," he said. Whether the dump is safe or not remains to be seen, said Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. But he said he is glad to see a permanent local waste option selected. Cahill said the landfill's liner and cap are designed not to leak and there are leak detection systems inside them. Should the landfill ever leak, there will be systems built in to trap and clean the leaked pollutants, Mr. Cahill said. *The Associated Press contributed to this report.* *E-mail Gary Tanner at gtanner@timesfreepress.com* Email this ***************************************************************** 4 HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM THE FLIR PROJECT THERE are some interesting and disturbing questions to be asked about the Gulf War - such as why President Bush brought it to such an abrupt halt, and whether or not the Gulf War Syndrome could have some connection to the use of depleted (i.e., formerly radioactive) uranium ammunition. But, starting with its ingenious, unwittingly hilarious history of the Middle East, and going on to its endless pictures of cute Iraqi children with sad expressions, this crude, deeply dishonest documentary does no such thing. David Russell's fictional "Three Kings" does a much better job. The filmmakers are so desperate to paint the United States as the font of all evil that they don't know how to deal with Saddam's invasion of Kuwait except by asserting that the Americans "trapped" the Iraqis into doing it. The brutal despoliation that followed, including the setting alight of the oil wells, they ignore, lest the viewer find more than one bad guy in their story. At one point, an interviewee from the "Institute for Policy Studies" asserts that all sanctions, as well as being useless, "target civilians and are a violation of international law." Nelson Mandela might disagree. In stark contrast to the shoddy, simplistic propaganda of "Hidden Wars," "The FLIR Project" by Michael McNulty (who made "Waco: The Rules of Engagement") is a thorough, rigorous, deeply disquieting examination of the way the U.S. Special Counsel's team apparently fixed its re-enactment of the Waco tragedy to exonerate the FBI of charges that it fired on Branch Davidians trying to escape from the flames. NEW YORK POST ***************************************************************** 5 The Widowmaker / Film's version of once-secret '61 meltdown on sub breeds anger among survivors on Soviet crew Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Foreign Service Friday, April 20, 2001 St. Petersburg, Russia -- Yuri Yerastov recalls the dots of blood that appeared on the foreheads of his fellow sailors as their vessel descended into a submariner's worst nightmare -- a Chernobyl-style nuclear meltdown. Within minutes after the Soviet K-19 nuclear submarine began leaking coolant in its reactor compartment and threatened to turn the North Atlantic Ocean into a radioactive gumbo, the faces of the men who volunteered to mend the leak swelled so badly that Yerastov could barely recognize them. The retired submariner remembers how these men saved the ship and later begged him and other crewmen to kill them to end their suffering. Twenty-two would die excruciatingly painful deaths from radiation poisoning. At the time -- June 4, 1961 -- the Soviet government responded the way it always did when nuclear accidents occurred: It pretended that nothing had happened. So for 30 years, Yerastov, now in his early 70s, and other survivors were forbidden to say anything about the meltdown on board the vessel they had nicknamed "Hiroshima." Only after the collapse of Russia's Communist regime in 1991 did their secret come out. Now, they wish Hollywood had never heard their story. The tragic sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in August with 118 crewmen on board provoked new worldwide interest in Russian submarine accidents. And Hollywood is currently making a big-budget movie about the 1961 accident, a $100 million Cold War naval thriller called "K-19: The Widowmaker. " It stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Yerastov and other survivors say they are irate over the film's portrayal of them and their dead comrades as incompetent drunks rather than as heroes. Their complaints have created a debate over Hollywood portrayal of Russians and historical accuracy in movies. "K-19: The Widowmaker," which is now being filmed in Canada, depicts the sailers as "not much smarter than Neanderthals," said Yerastov, who supervised the submarine's reactors when the accident occurred and has read the movie's script written by Christopher Kyle, Louis Nowra and Tom Stoppard. Yerastov and other former crewmen have written a protest letter to Ford and Russian navy commanders and are preparing to sue the film's producers -- Intermedia Films -- in a U.S. court. Intermedia has offices in Los Angeles and London. The Russian government has issued no statements about the film. Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said the navy refused a request by Intermedia to provide consultants. But in a letter last month to the Los Angeles Times, Kathryn Bigelow, the film's director, wrote that even though there are fictional characters, "my motivation has been to make a film that shows the heroism, sacrifice and humanity of these men. If the men of K-19 were written as incompetents and buffoons, Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson would have no interest in playing them. " The K-19, the Soviet Union's first ballistic submarine, and its crew of 139 men were taking part in training exercises in the North Atlantic when a pipe burst that carried coolant to a nuclear reactor. Temperature and radiation levels soared in the reactor room. Lack of a constant coolant supply would have caused a meltdown on the submarine, equipped with a second reactor and three missiles armed with nuclear warheads. The sub's commanders sent several three-man brigades of volunteers to the reactor room. The men took turns welding together a new cooling system, running into the room for up to 10 minutes at a time with only raincoats to protect them from the radiation. An hour later, the cooling system was restored, and the submarine was towed to shore, where the malfunctioning reactor block was replaced. The film stresses that had a meltdown occurred, it would have triggered a Chernobyl-like explosion that could have led to a Cold War confrontation. The brave volunteers were exposed to a deadly dose of radiation of 100 times the maximum acceptable level. In a matter of days, eight men died of radiation exposure. Before their painful deaths, they lost hair and patches of skin; 14 other sailors perished over the next two years. Survivors maintain the film shows them as incompetents -- much like another Hollywood flick, "Armageddon," which portrayed a Russian cosmonaut as an unshaven drunk who wears a fur hat while fixing glitches aboard his creaking space ship by hammering on machinery with a wrench. Alexander Trarasov, a Moscow-based sociologist, says Hollywood temporarily stopped showing Russians as either the vicious enemy or as a clown after the Cold War. "But soon Hollywood producers realized that they were lacking a prototype of an enemy and by the mid-1990s rehabilitated the image," he said. "Drunk Russians explains the downfall of the Russian economy. They can't work because they are drunk." The submariners say the filmmakers paid no respect to the efforts of their dead peers to save the vessel. In the script, they say, the crew is drunk when alarms sound in the reactor room even though drinking was prohibited on board all Soviet submarines. And Captain Nikolai Zateyev (Ford) is shown constantly at war with his second-in-command, Vladimir Yenin (Neeson), who conspires with other crew members against him -- an intrigue Yerastov and others deny ever happened. Ford, who is reportedly being paid $25 million to star in the movie, has conceded the relationship has been fictionalized, adding, "It's a movie." And in an apparent reference to the brutal hazing that is allegedly commonplace in the Soviet and Russian militaries, officers beat sailors with sticks in the film. ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 14 ***************************************************************** 6 'The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm': Questioning U.S. Motives in the Persian Gulf War April 20, 2001 By DAVE KEHR [I] t has been 11 years since Saddam Hussein sent his troops marching into Kuwait and 10 years since the United States and its allies announced a sudden cease-fire in the conflict that came to be known as the Persian Gulf war. Yet for a large number of Americans, the reasons behind the conflict remain unclear and its consequences obscure. As its title suggests, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," a documentary made on video by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, is a frankly skeptical account of America's involvement in Iraq, from the C.I.A.'s early support of Mr. Hussein as a stabilizing force in the region to the war's untidy aftermath. The filmmakers say the conflict has left large portions of the country littered with radioactive spent rounds made from depleted uranium. One result has been a drastic increase in cancer among both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers who served in the conflict. Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy interview an impressive range of authorities, not all of them from the same end of the political spectrum. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of what the Americans called Operation Desert Storm, is played against former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; the former head of the United Nations Iraq program, Denis Halliday, finds his opposite number in a State Department spokesman, David Welch. The United States government is portrayed in the film as having deliberately exaggerated Mr. Hussein's threat to the oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf, hoping to frighten one of them into allowing an American base to be established within its borders. Eventually Saudi Arabia granted permission. But the filmmakers are unable to find photographic proof of the 250,000 Iraqi troops said to have been poised at the Kuwaiti border. An investigative reporter, Jean Heller, interviewed by the filmmakers, says bluntly, "The administration lied to the Saudis to get the invitation to come in." The film also contends that the mysteriously premature cease-fire was called to allow Mr. Hussein to put down a revolutionary movement that might have deprived the United States of its favorite boogeyman; that the United States government knowingly suppressed evidence that the depleted uranium rounds were toxic; and that the sanctions against Iraq have been allowed to outrun their purpose and have caused a health-care disaster among Iraqi citizens. Though the filmmakers are not above using sentimental close-ups of sad-eyed children to underline their points, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," which opens today at the Cinema Village, emerges as an uncommonly sober, well-researched film of its type. Playing with "Hidden Wars" is "The F.L.I.R. Project," a 30-minute video directed by Michael McNulty, which reopens the question of the F.B.I.'s conduct in the Branch Davidian raid of 1993. Though the Justice Department denies that any weapons were fired on the Davidians to force them back into the burning buildings (and to probable death), Mr. McNulty makes the case that traces of gunfire are visible on the infrared images recorded on the scene by the F.B.I.'s forward-looking infrared radar, which can detect heat sources. Much of the argument delves into the technological minutiae memorably parodied by the "magic loogie" episode of "Seinfeld," but there is food for thought here as well. THE HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM Written, produced and directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy; directors of photography, Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy; edited by Jason Stelzel; music by Fritz Heede; released by Free-Will Productions. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 64 minutes; shown with a 30-minute short documentary, "The F.L.I.R. Project." These films are not rated. WITH: Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Ramsey Clark, Denis Halliday, Jean Heller and Scott Ritter; John Hurt (narrator). Search NYTimes.com Classifieds ***************************************************************** 7 Letter to Lundquist, Energy Department regarding Energy Policy' Text only of letters sent from the Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats. April 19, 2001 Mr. Andrew Lundquist U.S. Department of Energy Energy Task Force Forrestal Building 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 Dear Mr. Lundquist: Over the past few months, your task force has reportedly conducted a number of meetings with the goal of developing an energy policy. It is our understanding that these meetings took place at federal facilities with the participation of both federal employees and private citizens and groups, including political contributors. We further understand that the meetings were conducted entirely in private. We are concerned that your task force’s decision to meet behind closed doors and exclude certain parties from participation in its discussions may violate the letter and the spirit of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). In order to better understand the task force, and whether it is bound by the FACA, we have enclosed a series of questions relating to the participants, the purpose, the outcome, and the role of federal employees at these meetings. In addition to receiving your responses to these questions, we also would like to receive copies of all documents and records produced or received by the task force in connection with these meetings. As members of the House committees with primary jurisdiction over federal energy policy and the conduct of the agencies responsible for implementing that policy, we believe the task force must be forthcoming in providing the information we have requested about its operations. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter and look forward to receiving your responses and the requested material as soon as possible, but in any event by no later than Friday, May 4, 2001. Sincerely, JOHN D. DINGELL RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE HENRY A. WAXMAN RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM Enclosure cc: The Honorable W. J. "Billy" Tauzin, Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce The Honorable Dan Burton, Chairman Committee on Government Reform Questions for Andrew Lundquist Regarding Energy Task Force Meetings (1) It is our understanding that you are directing a task force charged with examining and formulating energy policy. (a) Please provide a complete list of task force members and staff assigned to the task force, identifying the employer of the member or staff. In the case of federal employees, please identify the department or agency for which the member or staff works. (b) Please identify any task force members and staff who are not full-time federal employees. In the case of any member or staff who is a part-time federal employee, identify the hours per week that person works for the federal government and when that person began working for the federal government. (c) Please identify any task force member or staff who, at the time of any task force meeting, was serving as a contractor to, or temporary full time employee of, the federal government while on leave from non-federal employment. For each member or staff identified, please include the name of that person’s non-federal employer. (2) It is our understanding that the task force has conducted a series of "stakeholder meetings" on energy policy and legislation at federal facilities over the past few months. (a) Please provide a list of all task force meetings held, including the date and location of each meeting. (b) Please describe in detail the purpose of these meetings. For each meeting, please explain if the meeting was conducted in order to obtain advice or recommendations about policy or proposed legislation. Please explain whether each meeting had a fixed agenda and/or a defined purpose. (c) Please describe the outcome of each meeting. Please explain to what extent each meeting resulted in the formulation of specific proposals or recommendations. Please specify to what extent the task force incorporated or adopted any suggestions or advice received at each meeting from non-federal "stakeholders", or to what extent it modified its proposals based on input received from non-federal "stakeholders" at the meeting. (d) For each task force meeting that has occurred to date, please provide a complete accounting of all attendees. Please include the name and employer of each attendee as well as the name of all clients represented by each person for the purpose of any particular task force meeting. Please indicate if any participants received any compensation for their involvement in a meeting or meetings. (3) The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) defines an advisory committee as "any committee, board, commission council, conference, panel, task force, or other similar group, or any subcommittee or other subgroup thereof . . . which is . . . established or utilized by one or more agencies, in the interest of obtaining advice or recommendations for . . . one or more agencies or officers of the Federal government . . . ." The Act requires that the meetings of such advisory committees be noticed in advance, open to the general public, and on the record, except under certain limited circumstances. (a) Was advance notice of these task force meetings provided to the general public? (b) How many of these task force meetings took place on federal property or involved the attendance of federal personnel? (c) Were these meetings open to the general public? (d) If these meetings were not open to the general public, why not and under what authority? (e) Were any transcripts or detailed minutes of these meetings kept by you or any other attendee or participant? (f) If no transcripts or minutes were kept, please explain why not and under what authority? (4) As stated previously, we have been informed that only certain "stakeholders" were invited to participate in these meetings. (a) Was any executive branch agency or any of its personnel responsible in any way for determining who would or would not be invited to participate in these meetings? (b) Please provide a detailed explanation of the process by which each non-federal participant in these meetings was determined to be a "stakeholder" in energy policy. (c) Please provide a detailed explanation of the process by which the task force decided not to meet with any private citizens or groups. (d) Was the governor of any state invited to participate in these meetings? If so, which? If not, why not? (e) Were any state public utility commissioners invited to participate in these meetings? If so, which? If not, why not? (f) Were any representatives of organized labor invited to participate in these meetings? If so, which? If not, why not? (g) Were any representatives of consumer advocacy groups invited to participate in these meetings? If so, which? If not, why not? (h) Was the National Federation of Independent Businesses or any other small business representative invited to participate in these meetings? If not, why not? (i) Did the Department of Energy notify any Member of Congress about the task force’s meetings prior to the first meeting or invite any Member or congressional staff to attend any of the "stakeholder" meetings? [rwb_line.gif (207 bytes)] Prepared by the Democratic staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Select Feedback to let us know what you think. Back to the Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats Home Page ***************************************************************** 8 LEAD: Lawmakers form group to help A-bomb survivors abroad TOKYO April 19 Kyodo - About 45 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition camps on Thursday formed a supra-partisan Diet group to help provide financial aid to survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who live outside of Japan. The move reflects the fact that the pro-A-bomb survivors law does not cover the estimated 6,000 survivors of the atomic bombing who live in such foreign countries as South and North Korea, the United States and Brazil, and even Japanese nationals are not covered by the law unless they live in their native country. Key organizer Tomoko Nakagawa, an opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) member of the House of Representatives, told about 70 people at a Tokyo inaugural meeting, ''Settling the problem is our responsibility as the legislative body.'' Former SDP leader Tomiichi Murayama, while serving as prime minister, worked to enact the law in December 1994, which is better legislation than the previous one in terms of helping atomic bomb survivors but still unsatisfactory for foreign residents. Attendees at the meeting included South Korean survivors of the bombings, as well as supporters of survivors living abroad. One of them, Kim Bun Sun, 73, said she was exposed to nuclear radiation in the Hiroshima bombing. ''Please do not abandon us and help us. We can share suffering (with survivors in Japan),'' she said at the meeting. The organizers are from six parties -- the ruling coalition's Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito party, and from the opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party, the Liberal Party, and the SDP. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 9 Talk of n-conflict again April 19, 2001 By K.K. Katyal NEW DELHI, APRIL 18. An unnamed Foreign Policy Advisor of the Bush administration could have done without the remark on nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan, recently made in an unwarranted context. Though a side comment, quoted by a leading newspaper, while developing a story on the crises faced by the new administration in Asia, it revealed a fixation with an issue, often cited while outlining scary scenarios of South Asia. A report in International Herald Tribune dwelt on the lot of Mr. George W. Bush, who, during his 12 weeks in the White House, had had more than his share of bad luck in Asia. It mentioned the mid-air collision with China, a maritime collision with Japan and a diplomatic collision with two Koreas and added this quote from the senior advisor: ``The only thing we've missed is a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan. But we've still got plenty of time.'' The three incidents are real, solid developments, the result of the working of complex forces at work in various parts, of the uneasiness in the relations of major powers and the lack of a correct balance in the new administration. In each case, there has been intense diplomatic fall-out. The newspaper's story (provided by the New York Times Service) aptly described the how and why of these incidents thus - ``The aircraft collision off Hainan Island was an accident waiting to happen. The sinking of the Japanese boat by a (U.S.) Navy submarine was a freak occurrence. And the bitter arguments over whether to isolate North Korea or engage it reflected a deep split among Mr. Bush's advisers.'' To club an imaginary scenario with these hard developments reflected a peculiar mind set which had sought to exaggerate a problem to make political points to suit the thinking in some of the Western chanceries. Ever since the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in May 1998, some sections abroad had developed the theme of ``Kashmir, a nuclear flash-point'' or ``South Asia, the scene of nuclear conflict''. There were two objectives behind this talk - one, an attempt to reinforce the case for a third-party role to resolve the Kashmir problem and, two, to impose a discriminatory non-proliferation regime on India. Now, there could not be two opinions on the need and urgency of India and Pakistan agreeing on confidence-building measures, in general, and, in the nuclear field, in particular. This precisely was sought to be achieved at Lahore over two years ago, when the two sides mooted several ideas in this regard. Unfortunately, the achievements of Lahore were undone by Kargil and, later, the military rulers of Pakistan virtually disowned those decisions. It is perfectly in order to call for the renewal of efforts by the two countries to pursue, even to improve upon, the proposals worked out in the past. But the talk of a nuclear confrontation is regarded motivated in India and causes suspicions. It is, perhaps, a stray observation by the Foreign Policy Advisor, made rhetorically to emphasise the magnitude of the crises, actual or potential, in Asia. There is nothing to suggest that the new administration would lean on this theory in its approach to South Asia. So far, there are only one or two authoritative pointers of its thinking. In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in February, Mr. Bush expressed hope for resumption of the dialogue between India and Pakistan. Recently, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, in his briefing on the meeting between the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, and the American Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell, ``welcomed the recent Indian offer of talks (an obvious reference to the Pant mission)'' adding that ``we would encourage all groups to take advantage of the offer and to enter into talks to reduce violence to foster a process of dialogue.'' Hopefully, these sentiments and not the talk of nuclear confrontation would guide the policy-makers in the Bush administration. Copyrights © 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 ASEAN to hold talks with nuclear powers in Hanoi next month HANOI April 20 Kyodo - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a senior officials meeting with five nuclear-weapon states next month in Hanoi, bidding to bring the big nuclear powers into the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien said Friday. Vietnam, which holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship, will try its best to reduce differences between the groups during the meeting, which is scheduled for the third week of May, he said. ASEAN wants the five nuclear powers that are members of the U.N. Security Council -- China, Russia, France, Britain and the United States -- to accede to the SEANWFZ protocol. In 1999, China expressed its readiness to accede to the protocol but no concession has been made yet. Russia showed an intention last year to join the treaty. ''There remain some different (points of view) on an item of the protocol and we believe that during the senior officials meeting differences will be reduced...so the protocol will be signed soon,'' Nien told reporters. The nuclear powers, notably the U.S., wants ASEAN to narrow the SEANWFZ area, which now includes territories, continental shelves and the exclusive economic zones of the 10 signatories. The U.S. is apparently concerned that acceding to SEANWFZ as it now stands would affect the navigation rights of its nuclear-armed vessels and would impact U.S. nuclear strategy. The treaty, which was signed by ASEAN leaders in Bangkok in December 1995, took effect in March 1997. It stipulates that Southeast Asia should prevent the manufacturing, testing or storage of nuclear weapons in or outside the region. Treaty parties also undertake not to dump or allow other states to dump radioactive material or waste in the zone. The Hanoi meeting will be the second formal meeting between ASEAN and the five nuclear states. The two sides previously met in Kuala Lumpur in early 1997, shortly after the treaty took effect. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 11 Plenty of tea but not so many trains after the Bomb ISSUE 2156 Friday 20 April 2001 By Neil Tweedie PLANNERS in the early Fifties believed the London rush hour would continue as normal on the day of an atomic attack, although a nuclear holocaust might result in some delay to evening services. The faith of the civil defence authorities in the capital's transport network - something unlikely to be shared by commuters now - is illustrated in a previously secret study released yesterday. The document, from 1952, suggests that government officials planning for a Soviet nuclear strike still had something to learn from the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seven years earlier. Post-atomic London, they predicted, would still function, although buses might be needed to cover railway services suffering temporary disruption . Gas supplies would also be up and running within a few hours of the attack - but mains within a mile of Ground Zero [the site of a detonation] would be disconnected to lessen the danger of an explosion. The homeless, meanwhile, would be given tea and biscuits on Wimbledon Common. The study was based on four atomic strikes - at Trafalgar Square, Clapham Junction, Lewisham Junction and Dalston Junction. Estimates of the number of dead and dying were classified, but the number of homeless was expected to reach 640,000. The job of moving the irradiated masses resided with double-decker buses. The study concluded: "The destruction of Clapham Junction will entail London Transport providing a shuttle bus service between the London centre and the undamaged part of the railway line south of Clapham Junction. The remainder of the fleet would be fully engaged between 4.30pm and 7pm on the homeward movement of London workers. "However, it is estimated that 500 buses could be withdrawn from London's services for the removal of the homeless. This could cause severe delay in getting the workers home - though not, it is thought, more delay than Londoners would readily accept when they hear of the disaster and the task for which the buses are withdrawn." The study - undertaken eight months before the Soviets exploded their first H-bomb - displayed an admirable sense of priorities. Addressing the issue of evacuation centres, it stated: "It is assumed that all centres will hold sufficient stock for the first tea-making." ***************************************************************** 12 Secret weapon for nuclear war was a nice hot cup of tea Independent News By Paul Lashmar 20 April 2001 Behind the myth, De Gaulle 'was no great saviour' The British government planned to use a secret weapon ­ hot tea ­ to help victims in the event of a nuclear bomb attack in the Fifties. The plan was revealed in a file released by the Public Record Office yesterday, *Atomic Bomb Target Studies ­ London*, which considers the aftermath of a nuclear attack on east London in 1953. The Ministry of Food study highlighted expected problems faced by emergency services after an attack. The "top secret" study was written as if a bomb had already struck Dalston. The report begins: "The dust and dirt have settled and it is now possible to get a general idea of the devastation. In the 2,000ft circle around Ground Zero [the impact crater] there is complete devastation." Homelessness was identified as a major issue, with an estimated 218,000 people out on the streets. The Government's solution to the "extensive" problem was to provide 12 rest centres for survivors. A "food flying squad" of vans, carrying insulated tea urns and water tanks, was to be created to feed and refresh refugees. Huge temporary cookers, including brick ovens cooking "100 portions of stew or a somewhat larger number of cups of tea", were suggested. The fire service was advised thatit should contain the blaze with "a ring of firefighting appliances". The authors of the report even designed signs and flags for emergency buildings and vehicles. One of the first recipients of the report was not impressed by its contents. D H Jackson, believed to be a ministry employee, writes in the file: "Although this study was well organised I did not learn much from it, and I am rather wondering how much other participants really got out of it." * Secret government trials were done to create gas masks for dogs used by the army in the Second World War, according to documents released by the Public Records Office. Also from the This Britain section Tesco to recall suspect chicken products British police to investigate Saddam for war crimes Brown 'dragging his feet' on £57m help for tourism And for a few thousand more, that bra ... Mr Aitken's christening mug: just one sorry lot from 8 Lord North St ***************************************************************** 13 Labor office accepts nuclear-worker compensation program *Thursday, April 19, 2001* Katherine Rizzo *Associated Press* WASHINGTON -- Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced yesterday she will take charge of distributing compensation to job- injured nuclear-weapons plant workers -- a duty she spent weeks trying to shift to another arm of the government. "I think this is a win for workers,'' she said. "This is a priority. We want to take care of the workers, we want to make sure justice is done.'' However, Chao said her staff cannot meet a July 31 deadline for being ready to accept applications for the nation's newest entitlement program. The deadline is set in law, so Chao wants Congress to enact an extension. She said she did not know how many additional months she would need to get a team in place, but medical benefits would be made retroactive to July 31. The new program offers lifetime medical care and $150,000 to ailing workers from the nuclear-weapons factories, including the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, and nuclear test sites in Alaska and Nevada. Congress gave the Labor Department $60.4 million to start the program, reasoning it was well-prepared because Labor already runs three workers' compensation programs. But within weeks of taking the helm at the department, Chao decided the Justice Department is better equipped to handle the new duties, and she asked the White House to authorize a transfer. That didn't go over well with the union representing many of the sick workers or with lawmakers who said they feared a change in jurisdiction would delay benefits. Chao's decision to keep custody of the program drew praise from some of the program's legislative parents. "I am relieved that we can stop fighting over who will administer this program and focus on making sure workers quickly get compensation that is long overdue,'' said Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lucasville. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he appreciated Chao's candor about the likelihood of missing her deadlines. "I think it's very important that when this thing is kicked off that it is done right,'' he said. "I think she's just being responsible.'' Chao said she still thinks the Justice Department would be better suited but wants to get on with the many administrative tasks that must be done before the first applications can go out. Copyright © 2001, The Columbus Dispatch ***************************************************************** 14 Inco’s nuclear secrets emerge Friday, April 20, 2001 Tri-State News Most workers who know long-hidden story about plant are now deceased By JIM ROSS - The Herald-Dispatch jimross@herald-dispatch.com HUNTINGTON -- For years, it was a well-known secret, something many people thought to be true, but only talked about in hushed tones. Now a government effort to assist the nation’s unknown Cold War casualties confirms that work involved in creating atomic weapons took place at what is now Special Metals, formerly owned by Inco Ltd. From 1951 to 1963, it produced nickel carbonyl for the uranium enrichment plant near Piketon, Ohio. The federal Department of Energy lists what it calls the "Huntington Pilot Plant," 3200 Riverside Drive, as one of the factories whose employees are covered by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act of 2000. That act is intended to compensate workers who developed illnesses as a result of their employment in nuclear weapons production-related activities. Former Inco employees say the government is too late to help workers. Inco retirees say the government is not likely to find anyone who worked at the old plant, known to Inco employees as the Reduction Pilot Plant, or RPP. "All the old guys I know who worked in the RPP are all passed away," said Ray Adkins, a retiree. If you worked at Inco Alloys International in the area which handled nickel and nickel powder that was to be used for or had been used for uranium enrichment, call the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Worker Advocacy at (877) 447-9756. Nickel carbonyl, also known as nickel tetracarbonyl, is a highly toxic material. It is fatal if inhaled. It has been linked to cancer. It is used to produce high-purity nickel and to deposit nickel coatings on other materials. The Energy Department did not return phone calls seeking information about the plant. Inco Ltd. officials would not say much about the plant. Much about its former operations is still classified as secret by the government,saidInco spokesman Steve Mitchell. But Mitchell did say it is not likely that Huntington workers who worked at the pilot plant would have radiation-related health problems. "There was no exposure to nickel that had been contaminated by radiation. That’s one thing that seems for certain. What it was, was a raw material," Mitchell said. Adkins doesn’t believe that. "Sure, they were exposed," he said. A study done for the American Environmental Health Studies Project also disputes Mitchell’s assertion. The Huntington plant decontaminated scrap from uranium plants, the study by Cliff Honicker, director of the health studies project, said. Few people know exactly what went on at the pilot plant. "I worked with a lot of the guys who had worked in there. They wouldn’t tell you anything," Adkins said. "All those people were under FBI clearance. They had special guards up there. "They used a lot of air compressors, and they used a lot of water. I always thought they cleansed some radioactive waste. The scuttlebutt I heard off one of the truck drivers was they passed uranium through nickel." Once the pilot plant was closed, it remained off limits to almost all Inco employees, Adkins said. The remains of the Huntington Pilot Plant were buried at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in 1979, said Mary Byrd Davis, director of the uranium enrichment project of the Earth Island Institute, a nonprofit group studying uranium enrichment plants. The buried material was contaminated with nickel carbonyl and uranium, she said. The federal Department of Labor is in charge of distributing compensation to workers with on-the-job injuries from nuclear weapons production. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Wednesday her department will not be able to meet the July 31 deadline set by Congress to accept applications for compensation. The new program offers lifetime medical care and $150,000 to ailing workers. The benefits are being offered to those whose health was ruined by radiation, beryllium or silica exposure. Other, equally sick workers may have contracted cancer because of exposure in the weapons plants to PCBs or other dangerous chemicals, but they will not be eligible to apply for the federal benefits. State worker compensation programs are the only recourse for those ailing workers. The Energy Department has identified 317 sites in 37 states where exposed workers might qualify for federal benefits. The Huntington Pilot Plant was the only site in West Virginia on that list. What we know about the old Huntington Pilot Plant Operated from 1951 to 1963. Located on the east side of the Inco property near the railroad tracks and near the maintenance building and sewage treatment plant. Official name was Huntington Pilot Plant. Also known as Reduction Pilot Plant. Owned by the Atomic Energy Commission and leased to Inco to operate. Product: Nickel carbonyl powder, Product was either used in the production of enriched uranium or was the result of recycling contaminated nickel which had been used in the production of enriched uranium. Operated under strict security. Employees not allowed to talk about pilot plant operations with outsiders. Disassembled in the late 1970s. Trucked to the uranium enrichment plant at Piketon, Ohio, and buried there in 1979. Piketon landfill capped in 1994. 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