***************************************************************** 1/24/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.22 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Vegas SUN: GOP seeks more nuke plants 2 Facilities can be deadly to humans 3 Nebraska asks U.S. court to halt 4 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.04 | 17 - 23 January 2001 5 JNR Resources Inc.: Uranium Properties Update 6 Lawmakers hedge on $5 million nuclear waste fight 7 At village chosen for nuclear site, fission's already started 8 BNFL SPARKS NEW CONTROVERSY OVER MOX SHIPMENT 9 - BNFL hails end of German fuel ban 10 Greenpeace Denounces Arctic Route for Nuke Waste 11 Scientist promotes 'nuclear renaissance' 12 AUSSIES FLY IN FACE OF NUCLEAR PROTEST 13 Woomera site named as preferred location for nuclear dump 14 Green Leaders Accept Nuclear Waste Transports 15 Russia Unable to Reprocess Foreign Nuclear Waste 16 Criticism arises over shipments of contaminated soil to Buttonwillow NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Vegas SUN: GAO: Clinton Team Broke Law on Jobs 2 Crews to wipe clean military's footprints 3 Martin Sheen Calls For End to Military Use of Vieques 4 Unbiased probe needed into uranium 5 GOFF TO PROTEST NUCLEAR SHIPMENT 6 The 16th Disclosure of Diplomatic Records 7 Pak. to set up nuclear authority 8 Nuclear sub could need two months' work 9 Our experts on the "Balkan syndrome" 10 After depleted uranium, NATO deals with plutonium controversy 11 Fallibility in a white coat 12 Toxic soil dumping sparks outrage 13 U.S. Tanks' Armor Contains Depleted Uranium 14 Putin withdraws legal reform 15 Scientists say 2 blasts sank Kursk 16 Seismic Waves Analyzed in Sunken Sub 17 Nuclear Inspectors Praise Iraq 18 Cleanup of DOE tests sites may hit $542 million 19 Attorney addresses lawsuits against OR nuclear facilities 20 Changes to occur at SNS 21 OR incinerator may be restarted in early March 22 Long wait continues for Oak Ridge retirees 23 Contamination at plants source of plutonium in munitions: ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Vegas SUN: GOP seeks more nuke plants January 24, 2001 GOP seeks more nuke plants Legislation assumes Yucca dumpsite will be approved BY BENJAMIN GROVE LAS VEGAS SUN WASHINGTON--Senate Republican leaders are preparing a sweeping 259-page energy bill that includes a strategy to increase nuclear power production nationwide. The plan even calls for America to reconsider building nuclear plants. "Consumers want power," Senate Energy Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said today about the energy crisis in California. "New power plants have to be built." Building new plants and increasing nuclear power production concern Nevada officials because the state has been targeted as site of the nation's nuclear waste dump. "There are many pieces of this bill that concern us, not the least of which is the creation of one or more new plants," David Cherry, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "What do you do when you create all that new waste--shove it in Yucca Mountain, too? That raises a whole new set of scientific questions." A 1987 bill approved by Congress designated Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the permanent burial site for highly radioactive waste. Completion of the repository is scheduled for 2010 pending results of scientific studies, a lengthy approval process and construction. The bill mentions the Nevada site in a section that irks Reid because it assumes a Yucca repository will open, Cherry said. "They are looking right past Nevada as if this were a done deal," Cherry said. The section reads, "Prior to permanent closure of the geologic repository in Yucca Mountain, Congress must determine whether the spent fuel in the repository should be treated as waste subject to permanent burial or should be considered an energy resource that is needed to meet future energy requirements; future use of nuclear energy may require construction of a second geologic repository unless Yucca Mountain can safely accommodate additional spent fuel." "At every turn, these people are moving forward with a plan predicated on the assumption that Yucca Mountain will be approved," Cherry said. Murkowski could not be reached for comment this morning. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has not yet seen the bill, a spokeswoman said. The bill, crafted mostly by Murkowski in cooperation with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., outlines numerous strategies to increase power supplies nationwide. The goal: decrease dependency on foreign oil by 50 percent by 2010 by increasing production, conservation and energy efficiency. The nation now gets 56 percent of its oil from other countries, Murkowski said. Energy demand in the United States is expected to rise 27 percent by 2020, the bill states. The bill, obtained by the Sun, is scheduled for early February release. Its most controversial tenet addresses drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, part of President Bush's campaign platform. "I can't overemphasize how important it is for this nation to develop energy supplies," Bush said in a Reuters interview last week. Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly slammed the Clinton administration for not devising a comprehensive energy policy. Now they plan to quickly push their strategy as Congress gets to work under the watch of a Republican president. The legislation contains a diverse list of other energy shortage solutions. The bill calls for boosts in coal, gas and oil production, as well as increased reliance on alternative energy sources, such as the sun, wind and heat from inside the Earth. The bill outlines tax incentives for vehicles that run on a combination of electricity and gasoline. It calls for studies of domestic oil refining; dams and hydroelectric power; and establishes energy-efficient school programs, among other tactics. Murkowski also wants to increase nuclear energy output. The nation's 103 nuclear reactors are the source of roughly 20 percent of the country's electricity. Several plants, which took years to complete, opened in the 1990s. But the last nuclear power plant ordered for construction was commissioned in the early 1970s, in part due to public concerns about nuclear waste and the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident. The nuclear energy section of the bill establishes a Nuclear Energy Research Initiative with a $45 million budget for 2002, to be managed by the Office of Nuclear Energy. The office would offer incentives to the most productive and efficient nuclear plants and launch a program designed to open a new nuclear plant. The bill also: ÿRequires the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to file a report with ÿCongress on how to increase nuclear power plant production. ÿEstablishes an office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research to study ÿbetter waste technologies than burial, as well as research methods ÿto treat and recycle waste. Republican leaders in the House, while backing a comprehensive energy strategy, are taking a more cautious legislative route than the ambitious, wide-ranging Senate plan. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, plan hearings, aides said. ***************************************************************** 2 NUCLEAR ENERGY: Facilities can be deadly to humans 01/24/01 Story last updated at 8:26 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23, 2001 This is in response to the Jan. 12 editorial titled "Unproven accusations, " which concerned radical environmentalists promoting a hidden socialist agenda, inhibiting nuclear power production. I am a 10-year veteran of a Department of Energy uranium enrichment facility. I was contaminated due to DOE's failure to comply with its own operating standards. While it is true that nuclear-powered electricity generation facilities have a good safety record and reduce greenhouse gases, the problem lies in the enrichment process that supplies fuel for electricity generating facilities. For over 40 years, the Department of Energy was responsible for uranium enrichment facilities primarily located in less populated areas of the United States. Last year, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that for nearly 30 years the Department of Energy had smuggled transuranics, or reactor by-product materials, into these facilities without the employees' knowledge. This material contained plutonium and other elements that have a half-life of over 24,000 years and are highly toxic to all forms of life. The House and Senate passed precedent-setting bipartisan legislation concerning compensation for nuclear workers, and the Clinton administration proposed expanding the program. I witnessed firsthand the deaths and illnesses of employees who served their country in these facilities. Our own government's legacy of lies killed my friends and contaminated the environment. I have spent over 11 years in litigation. I have had 12 tumors removed and endured several hospitalizations. Subsequently, I suffer from lifelong illnesses that not only affect my health but also my ability to support my family. So the editorial writer's statement that "nuclear plants have the lowest production cost of any major reliable electricity course" does not take into account the loss of life and the fact that the Department of Energy will spend over $22 billion to clean up these ***************************************************************** 3 Nebraska asks U.S. court to halt document release 01/24/01 The Topeka Capital-Journal January 24, 2001 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OMAHA, Neb.--The state of Nebraska has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the disclosure of documents in a lawsuit accusing the state of blocking plans to build a radioactive waste storage site. The state says the U.S. District Court in Lincoln shouldn't move forward with the lawsuit while the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ponders other issues in the case. In its request before the Supreme Court, the state argues that the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction to hear the dispute over plans to build a regional storage site for low-level radioactive waste near Butte in northeast Nebraska. The 8th Circuit Court rejected the same request last week. The state's attorney says Nebraska is protected from such lawsuits under the 11th Amendment, which gives states sovereign immunity from most lawsuits seeking monetary damages. Other members of the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact counter that Nebraska gave up its sovereign immunity when it entered a radioactive waste disposal agreement with Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. "The argument is that simply by coming together with other states, Nebraska gave up the right to contest immunity," said Brad Reynolds, a Washington attorney for the state. He said the language of the nuclear waste compact didn't include surrendering immunity. Alan Peterson, who represents the radioactive waste commission, said the 8th Circuit Court already has ruled that Nebraska had waived its sovereign immunity, and the issue now before the appeals court is just an elaboration of the earlier decision. "We filed this case many months ago, and they have stalled discovery all along," Peterson said. The compact's other members asked Nebraska to turn over all documents pertaining to licensing of the proposed waste disposal site. That motion was granted by the U.S. District Court and affirmed by the 8th Circuit Court. The case is part of a running battle between Nebraska and members of the compact. The compact had its genesis in the 1970s, when Nevada, Washington and South Carolina grew tired of accepting all of the nation's low- level radioactive waste. Congress told the rest of the states in 1980 to build their own waste sites or join regional groups to dispose of the waste. Nebraska joined the Central Interstate compact and the other four states voted in 1987 to put the waste site in Nebraska. The fight began soon after, with both sides wrestling in court. The compact wanted to build a bunker in Boyd County near the South Dakota border to hold such things as contaminated tools and clothing from nuclear power plants, hospitals and research centers in the five compact states. Nebraska denied a construction license for the site in 1999, citing potential pollution problems and a high water table. The state Legislature also voted that year to withdraw from the compact, a process that takes five years. The ongoing legal battle is expected to be discussed Wednesday at the Central Interstate commission's annual meeting in Oklahoma City. ***************************************************************** 4 Uranium Institute News Briefing 01.04 | 17 - 23 January 2001 Aweekly summary of international news relevant to uranium and the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.04- 1] A SECOND SHIPMENT OF MIXED OXIDE (MOX) FUEL LEFT THE FRENCH PORT of Cherbourg on 19 January enroute to the Japanese port of Kashiwazaki, via the Cape of Good Hope. The 28 MOX fuel assemblies will be used by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa-3. TEPCO expects to start using MOX at the reactor as early as April 2001. Two ships - the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal - are carrying the MOX, which was produced by Belgonucleaire using plutonium extracted from Japanese spent fuel at Cogema's La Hague facility. (SpentFUEL, 22 January, p1; see also [*]News Briefing 99.39-8) [NB01.04- 2] US: ENRICHED URANIUM IMPORTS FROM EUROPE ARE INDEED HARMING the US uranium enrichment industry, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled. The ITC preliminary determined that imports from Eurodif SA and Urenco Ltd have materially injured USEC Inc, the only US supplier of enriched uranium. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) will now consider whether dumping and unfair government subsidisations are taking place. (USEC, 22 January; see also [*]News Briefing 01.01-1) [NB01.04-3] AUSTRALIA: URANIUM PRODUCTION FROM OLYMPIC DAM totalled 1199 tonnes U3O8 (1017 tU) in the fourth quarter of 2000, Western Mining Corp (WMC) reported. Output during the whole of 2000 totalled a record 4539 tonnes U3O8 (3849 tU), up 41% over the 3221 tonnes U3O8 (2731 tU) produced in 1999. (Ux Weekly, 22 January, p3; see also [*]News Briefing 00.42-3) [NB01.04-4] US: USEC'S PORTSMOUTH ENRICHMENT PLANT RECEIVED A US$161 MILLION disbursement to operate the plant on standby and help construct a pilot gas centrifuge enrichment plant at the facility. The money is the first instalment of a US$630 million package released by the US Department of Energy (DOE) from funds paid to the government when USEC was privatised in 1998. (Nuclear Market Review, 19 January, p3; see also [*]News Briefing 00.41-3) [NB01.04-5] GERMANY'S 19 OPERATIONAL NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS GENERATED a total of 169.7 TWh (gross) of electricity in 2000, about the same as in 1999, according to figures released by the German atomic forum. The nuclear share of total electricity output was 34.5%. The use of nuclear energy avoided emissions of about 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2000, the forum reported. (NucNet News, 16/01, 18 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.37-9) [NB01.04-6] RUSSIA'S 29 OPERATIONAL NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS GENERATED more than 130.6 TWh of electricity in 2000, compared with 110.91 TWh in 1999. Nuclear accounted for 14.9% of total Russian electricity production in 2000, up slightly from 14.41% in 1999. According to atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov, nuclear power was the first Russian industry sector to exceed Soviet-era production levels. He also said that nuclear electricity production is set to grow to 220 TWh by 2010 and to 350 TWh by 2020. (NucNet News, 23/01, 22 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.51-7) [NB01.04- 7] RUSSIA: LOADING OF FUEL STARTED AT ROSTOV-1 following approval for fuel loading and start-up by Russia's nuclear regulatory body, Gosatomnadzor. The reactor has undergone a hydraulic test, a test of the containment shell, a test- run and the second revision of reactor and turbine equipment. Further tests will be conducted as the plant runs at minimum capacity before Rostov is connected to the Russian electricity grid. (ITAR/ TASS News Agency, 22 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.50-7) [NB01.04-8] TAIWAN: A DECISION ON THE FUTURE OF THE LUNGMEN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT is expected to be made by the country's parliament, the Legislative Yuan, in a special session within the next few weeks. (NucNet News, 19/01, 19 January) According to a recent public opinion poll, 49.6% of respondents supported the immediate resumption of construction of the Lungmen facility. The research arm of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) conducted the telephone poll of 1167 adult residents. The ruling by the Grand Justices that the decision to halt construction was 'flawed' was considered 'unconstitutional' by 44% of respondents, while 25% did not think the decision violated any constitutional provisions. (Ux Weekly, 22 January, p4; see also [*]News Briefing 01.03-1) [NB01.04-9] ROMANIA: CERNAVODA-1 GENERATED MORE THAN 5.5 TWH OF ELECTRICITY IN 2000, up from the 4.8 TWh produced in 1999. The unit - Romania's only operating nuclear power reactor - accounted for 10.3% of the country's total electricity output. (NucNet News, 21/01, 19 January; see also [*]News Briefing 98.06-8) [NB01.04-10] FRANCE: ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE (EDF) IS PREPARING TO SELL 50 000 MWH in production capacity to its competitors, as a concession made by the company in its negotiations with the European Commission over the proposed merger between EDF and German energy group ENBW. The 50 000 MWh represent 12.6% of French nuclear power production and 10.4% of EDF's total energy production. (Ux Weekly, 22 January, p4; see also [*]News Briefing 99.37- 18) [NB01.04-11 US: ENERGY NORTHWEST IS CONSIDERING COMPLETING WNP-1. The utility consortium - formerly known as the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) - has reportedly held discussions with private companies about completing the 1100 MWe WNP-1 plant, construction of which was abandoned in 1994 when it was about 75% complete. The move was prompted by the recent power shortages in California. (Ux Weekly, 22 January, p3; see also [*]News Briefing 95.4) [NB01.04-12] CZECH REPUBLIC: FINAL TESTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED AT THE TEMELIN NUCLEAR POWER plant ahead of a three week inspection outage of the primary and secondary circuits. (NucNet News, 18/01, 19 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.51-9) [NB01.04-13] CANADA: PLANS FOR A MIXED OXIDE (MOX) FUEL TEST USING RUSSIAN weapons grade plutonium to see if it can be used as fuel in commercial nuclear reactors have been announced by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL). The tests will take place at the Chalk River laboratory. This test will run concurrently with the burning of US-produced MOX fuel and results should be available after four years. (Reuters Online, 15 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.40-10) [NB01.04-14] NETHERLANDS: THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF SPENT FUEL FROM EPZ'S Borssele nuclear power plant since 1996 was transported to Cogema's reprocessing plant in La Hague. The move came despite a last-minute legal bid by Greenpeace to prevent the shipment passing through Belgium. Six fuel elements weighing about 80 tonnes were transferred from Borssele's crowded spent fuel pool. (NucNet News, 15/01, 17 January; see also [*]News Briefing 99.02-1) [NB01.04-15] US: FIVE MORE UTILITIES HAVE JOINED THE LAWSUIT against the Department of Energy's (DOE) use of the Nuclear Waste Fund to compensate PECO Energy Co for failing to take title of spent fuel from the Peach Bottom plant by 31 January 1998. Entergy, Rochester Gas & Electric, American Electric Power, STP Nuclear Operating Co and Dominion Energy have joined the lawsuit. (SpentFUEL, 22 January, p3; see also [*]News Briefing 00.51-3) [NB01.04-16] GERMANY: AN APPLICATION TO SHIP THREE CONSIGNMENTS OF SPENT FUEL from the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant to BNFL's reprocessing plant at Sellafield, UK, has been approved in principle by the German federal radiation protection agency, BfS. The licence, awarded to Nuclear Cargo + Service, will be valid until 30 September 2001. The actual transport date would have to be agreed with the interior ministries of all German states through which the shipment would pass. (NucNet News, 25/01, 22 January; see also [*]News Briefing 00.45-12) [NB01.04-17] US: VERMONT'S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE (VPSB) HAS REJECTED the revised AmerGen offer for Vermont Yankee, reversing its previous stance. The decision came after Entergy made a bid for the plant higher than AmerGen's revised offer. (Nuclear Market Review, 19 January, p2; see also News Briefings [*]00.49-11 and [*]01.03-5) [NB01.04-18] US: SPENCER ABRAHAM RECEIVED SENATE APPROVAL for his post as Energy Secretary for the new Bush administration. Mr Abraham has promised to determine in a 'timely way' whether Yucca Mountain is suitable for a nuclear waste storage site and develop it into a licensed repository if it is found acceptable. (SpentFUEL, 22 January, p3; see also News Briefings [*]01.03-15 and [*]01.02-10) [NB01.04-19] EURO-MPS HAVE CALLED FOR A BAN of the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. A majority voted that all European military forces stop using DU in their armaments until it is proved safe. The vote is not binding on national governments. (Daily Telegraph, 18 January, p20) Meanwhile, NATO spokesman Mark Laity said that traces of plutonium and U236 found by a Swiss laboratory in the ammunition were so small as to be meaningless in terms of health risks. (Reuters, 18 January; see also [*]News Briefing 01.02-5) [NB01.04-20] US: PLANS BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) to introduce new standards for contaminant levels of radionuclides in drinking water have led to the US nuclear industry filing a petition with the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit. The industry claims the EPA could impose unwarranted restrictions on nuclear facilities - especially the planned Yucca Mountain repository. It is claimed that the EPA did not adhere to legally-required procedures when drawing up its plans. Although the new rule seemingly only concerns public water systems, the EPA plans to use the same standards as the basis for imposing separate groundwater states for sites licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). (NucNet News, 26/01, 22 January; see also [*]News Briefing 99.46-3) [NB01.04-21] GLOBAL WARMING WILL BE EVEN WORSE than previously forecast with temperatures rising between 1.4ºC and 5.8ºC over the next century, according to UN climatologists. This represents a 40% increase on previous estimates. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that developing countries would be worst hit by these changes. (Financial Times, 23 January, p15; see also [*]News Briefing 01.01-5) Previous News Briefing [*]NB01.03 Prepared by the Uranium Institute Information Service. All news and views are those of the publications cited. ***************************************************************** 5 JNR Resources Inc.: Uranium Properties Update TUESDAY JANUARY 23, 4:50 PM EASTERN TIME Press Release VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Mr. Dale W. Hoffman, President of JNR Resources Inc. (the ``Company''), is pleased to announce that field work is underway on the JNR Resources Inc./ Kennecott Canada Exploration Inc. Joint Venture's, Moore Lake and Lazy Edward Bay projects. These properties are located in the Athabasca Basin in the Province of Saskatchewan, the richest uranium producing region in the world. Although both projects are exploratory in nature, previous drilling and extensive field work leads management to believe that both are highly prospective for a possible economic uranium discovery. In the Moore Lake area, the exploration program will focus on the Maverick zone and on new targets identified by a recently completed airborne GEOTEM survey. It consists of grid establishment, ground geophysical surveys and a minimum of 2000 metres of diamond drilling. The program is being funded entirely by Kennecott, which elected last fall to increase its interest in the Moore Lake project to 65%. Kennecott may then increase its interest to 70% by spending an additional $100 million, or by taking the property to production. Diamond drilling programs carried out on the project in the year 2000 intersected unconformity-type uranium mineralization in a number of holes, the best result being 0.442 % U3O8 (grade equivalent) over 9.2 metres from hole ML00-03. In the Lazy Edward Bay area, the exploration program will focus on a number of prospective targets that were identified from a review of historic work, as well as targets identified by the recently completed GEOTEM survey. This program, which is being funded equally by the Company and Kennecott, consists of grid establishment, ground geophysical surveys and a minimum of 1500 metres of diamond drilling. JNR Resources Inc. and Kennecott have several other exploration properties located within the Athabasca Basin with future exploration programs being outlined. Recent financings will enable the Company to meet all of its current commitments , and management is very encouraged by the programs being planned for this year. The drilling programs will commence in the middle of February, with results being reported as they become available. JNR RESOURCES INC. Dale W. Hoffman, President Contact: -=- [PREFORMATTED] JNR Resources Inc. Dale W. Hoffman President (604) 684-5118 or Toll Free: 1-800-661-4050 Email: [*]info@jnrresources.com Website: [*]www.jnrresources.com -=- [PREFORMATTED] ***************************************************************** 6 Lawmakers hedge on $5 million nuclear waste fight Wednesday, January 24, 2001 Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal Money would target Yucca Mountain plan [*] BY ED VOGEL DONREY CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY--Lawmakers' reactions were mixed Tuesday to Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan for a $5 million fund to fight federal efforts to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. "I am willing to listen," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. "But first I want to get the details." "I don't know what is going to happen with it," said Assemblyman John Marvel, the senior Republican in the Assembly. "It is all so political, you can't argue the logic of it." The Legislature in 1989 passed a law making it illegal to store nuclear waste in Nevada and has approved resolutions opposing the proposed Yucca Mountain repository for high-level nuclear waste. Guinn announced in his State of the State address Monday night that he wants legislators to set aside $5 million for a Nevada protection fund. The money would go toward a lobbying campaign to warn residents in other states about the dangers they face by living along the routes trucks would travel to bring waste to Yucca Mountain. Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, supports Guinn's $5 million fund plan, but wondered whether it indicates the governor assumes President Bush will recommend putting the repository in Nevada. "If the governor wants it, we will go for it," Coffin said. "We need to ante up." Bob Loux, administrator of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, said Guinn hopes the campaign will induce people in other states to pressure Congress to vote against Yucca Mountain. Loux expects the Department of Energy to decide next year or in 2003 whether to recommend that the repository be placed at the Yucca Mountain site, 100 miles northwest of Nevada. If the president backs a decision to put the repository in Nevada, then Guinn and the Legislature could veto his decision. Congress then could override the state veto by a simple majority vote. Loux wants the Legislature to pass another resolution this year opposing the repository, because a federal decision to put the dump in Nevada could come when lawmakers are not meeting. The Legislature will adjourn in June and not meet again until 2003. Raggio's view on the fund is important in light of his power in the Senate and because he has been critical of spending by Loux' office. Last year he refused to give Loux money to hire Harry Swainston to represent the state in developing litigation against the federal government. As a deputy attorney general, Swainston worked on nuclear waste issues with Loux. Raggio was angered, however, by a letter Swainston sent to newspapers questioning whether the senator really opposed Yucca Mountain. Loux said the $5 million would remain under Guinn's control. He said the Commission on Nuclear Projects, chaired by former Republican attorney general Bryan McKay, proposed creation of the fund. The seven-member commission recommends policies regarding radioactive waste to the governor and Legislature . Loux said Guinn wants Nevada businesses to contribute to the Yucca Mountain fight. The governor already has received a commitment from Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who included $1 million in his budget for the effort. Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2001 ***************************************************************** 7 At village chosen for nuclear site, fission's already started Wednesday, January 24, 2001 HARTOSH SINGH BAL --> DAROLI (PATIALA), JANUARY 23: Last Thursday, the gurudwara in Daroli village in Patiala district, was converted into a place of protest. One hundred agitated villagers met to decide their future, the future of their land, their village. Daroli has been chosen as the site for a nuclear power plant, and villagers have already launched a struggle to ensure the project doesn't get off the ground. Even as the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) awaits the final nod from the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) site selection panel, locals have set up a 15-member sangharsh committee to resist any move to acquire land for the project. The PSEB's own site selection committee zeroed in on Daroli after sifting through data from nine sites. According to PSEB chairperson G.S. Sohal, ``After examining several sites in the state, we have finally settled on Daroli. I visited the village last week and an NPC team is expected to examine the site within the next month,'' The team will not be examining any other site in the state. The village got wind of plans to acquire 2,500 acres for the project only after Sohal's visit. ``We have been hearing reports about a site near Patran (five kilometres away) but only last week did we realise it was our village,'' said ex-sarpanch Jit Singh. That realisation spawned fear faster than you can say nuclear fission. Alternative employment, compensation, rehabilitation became the topmost concerns for the villagers. Almost everyone assembled at the sangharsh committee's meeting had the same questions on their minds: ``Why didn't the government take us into confidence at any stage? Don't we have any choice in the matter?'' ``This village was settled by refugees from Gujranwala and Sheikupura in Pakistan. When we came here, the area was a jungle. We paid the government to clear it; a Russian firm using giant bulldozers did the work in the 1950s. We have now turned the jungle into fertile farmland and they want us to move,'' says Amrik Singh, a member of the sangharsh committee. ``It is not just a question of compensation. We have built up a community here over 54 years. Will they move the whole village together? Where is the land for that in Punjab? And if they give us compensation what are we going to do? Most of us are uneducated, farming is all we know,'' adds Gurdip Singh. Sohal's defense was ; the price of development has to be paid, and someone has to pay it. ``There are always some elements who are anti- development and exploit local sentiments. Sufficient compensation will be paid. In fact, short of shifting the site we will pay heed to whatever apprehensions the villagers have. We hope not to include the village itself in the project area and we can consider special facilities such as land for land or a lump sum and one job per family, '' he says. But residents point out that if they lose their land, they cannot stay on in the village. In fact, landless labourers were among those who attended the meeting. ``We are not qualified to work at the plant. If the land is taken away who will we work for? At least here we have a home. Moreover, we have built on village common land and we will get no compensation,'' says Lakhwinder Singh. Sohal admits that the lack of a resettlement and rehabilitation policy in Punjab is a problem. ``Our State does not have such a policy. If we don't explain what we are doing people feel shunted out.'' On the villagers' complaint that they hadn't been consulted, he said, `` We can't start interacting without preliminary selection. Perhaps, instead of one site, a few more should have been shortlisted. But now nothing can be done. To start all over again would mean another two to three years and Punjab can't wait that long for power.'' Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. ***************************************************************** 8 BNFL SPARKS NEW CONTROVERSY OVER MOX SHIPMENT By Matthew Jones and Anna Fifield in London Published: January 23 2001 16:25GMT | Last Updated: January 23 2001 18:15GMT British Nuclear Fuels is attracting fresh controversy in the South Pacific over its role in transporting a shipment of mixed uranium and plutonium oxide (Mox) from France to Japan. Two BNFL ships carrying Mox fuel produced by Belgonucleaire, the Belgian atomic energy group, left Cherbourg in France on Friday and are expected to arrive in Japan in the second half of March. The Pacific Pintail and its escort, the Pacific Teal, are carrying armed police from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, a specially trained anti-terrorist force set up to protect nuclear materials in the UK. New Zealand ministers are lodging formal protests over the shipment with the Japanese, French and UK governments. The country's minority Green Party has drafted legislation calling for nuclear shipments to be banned from passing within New Zealand's 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Shipments of Mox fuel to Japan have only just restarted following a moratorium imposed last year. Japanese authorities have been wary of allowing imports of Mox since BNFL's admission in 1999 that it falsified quality data on a batch of fuel sent to Kansai Electric Power Company. Greenpeace, the environmental lobby group, said Japan was considering an alternative transport route with Russian shipping companies to transport nuclear fuel via the Northern Arctic. It claimed any such move by the Japanese would cause further commercial damage to BNFL, which last year faced record losses of £337m. BNFL said it was aware that commercial shipping companies were considering a shorter northern route as an alternative to its three existing southern routes via the Panama Canal, Cape of Good Hope and the Tasman Sea. "We would also consider that route if it became available, though we would have to buy ice-breaking vessels," said an official. In a separate development BNFL was granted a licence by German authorities to transport spent nuclear fuel from Germany to the UK for the first time in more than two years. Germany suspended the shipments in May 1998 because of concerns that flasks containing the spent fuel were emitting too much radiation. The Federal Office for Protection against Radiation has approved the resumption, despite continuing claims by anti-nuclear groups that transporting spent fuel is unsafe. BNFL welcomed the decision, saying it would allow the group to meet its contractual obligations to reprocess German fuel before transports from Germany were halted for good in 2005. "This is positive news for us and we have made other applications for shipments on the back of this," said the official. Around nine tonnes of spent fuel will initially be transported from the Neckarwestheim reactor in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to BNFL's Sellafield site in Cumbria. No date has yet been set for the shipment's arrival, which is expected to attract large scale protests. more from FT.com [*] Dossier: Norman Askew, CEO of BNFL [*] BNFL to call for public debate on nuclear power [*] BNFL making safety progress [*] BNFL fined £24,000 for safety breaches [*] BNFL profits hit by Mox scandal ***************************************************************** 9 - BNFL hails end of German fuel ban Ananova BNFL says the lifting of a two-year ban on shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Germany to Sellafield is a "huge boost" for the plant. German authorities allowed the transportation to restart from a station near Stuttgart, in the southwest of the country, to Sellafield, in Cumbria, after they were suspended in May 1998 over safety fears. No date has yet been set for the first shipment which was authorised by Germany's Federal Office for Radiation Protection, despite claims by the country's anti-nuclear lobby that transporting the material is still not safe. A BNFL spokeswoman said: "This is very good news for Sellafield and very good news for BNFL. Germany is one of our biggest customers and it was a blow when they were stopped. "We now believe it will be possible to receive all the fuel from Germany by 2005." Spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed at Sellafield to extract the plutonium and uranium which is eventually returned, along with the waste, to the customer. Last updated: 00:04 Tuesday 23rd January 2001 CHECK FOR MORE ON: ÿ ÿ[*]Business ÿ[*]UK ***************************************************************** 10 Greenpeace Denounces Arctic Route for Nuke Waste Environment News Service: MOSCOW, RUSSIA, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - A plan to ship highly radioactive nuclear waste from Europe to Japan via the Arctic has been described as "desperate madness" by international environmental group Greenpeace. According to the Japanese Kyodo news service, the Japanese nuclear industry and Russian government are negotiating a new northern route through the Arctic because of growing public and political opposition to established routes between Europe and Japan. A Russian nuclear icebreaker. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace International) The Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO) plans to make a test shipment this year with the first full nuclear transport taking place in 2002, reports Kyodo. The nuclear waste to be transported is a byproduct of plutonium separation from Japanese irradiated nuclear fuel at the French state controlled COGEMA La Hague reprocessing plant and the British state controlled British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) Sellafield reprocessing plant. Once recovered, plutonium can be reused in commercial nuclear reactors in the form of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. Japan currently depends on foreign sources for more than 80 percent of its energy needs. Four years ago, the country embarked on a long- term program to develop its nuclear energy industry. Integral to this plan is the recycling of spent nuclear fuel into MOX fuel. MOX is part of the nuclear fuel cycle. A nuclear reactor uses enriched uranium fuel to produce heat, which in turn generates electricity. Plutonium is naturally produced within the reactor. Used nuclear fuel can then either be disposed of as waste or recycled. By separating the three percent of waste from the usable uranium and plutonium, 97 percent of nuclear fuel can be recycled. Overall, 16 to 18 Japanese reactors will be loaded with MOX fuel by 2010, which means up to 20 more shipments between Europe and Japan will be necessary. Greenpeace International nuclear spokesman Tobias Muenchmeyer warned that a new route through the ice will not chill protests. [I] Map illustrating potential routes for nuclear waste shipments to Japan. (Map courtesy Greenpeace International) "We believe that this shamelessly irresponsible scheme will melt away as soon as the spotlight of public opinion and political pressure is brought to bear," said Muenchmeyer. "The world would be facing an unbelievably dangerous and bizarre convoy. An old Soviet designed nuclear ice-breaker smashing through Polar ice ahead of another ship carrying a deadly cargo of Japanese nuclear waste coming from UK or France. "It is difficult to say who is crazier: those who propose such a scheme or those who would agree to it - both must be mad. The last thing the fragile Arctic needs is more nuclear contamination," said Muenchmeyer. Greenpeace speculates the new transport routes will be through the English Channel and the North Sea, along the Norwegian Coast to Russia. This would put countries enroute, such as Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the United States (Alaska) and most of all, Russia, in serious danger of a nuclear catastrophe, said the group. Alternatively, material could be shipped via the Irish Sea between Ireland and Scotland, or west of Ireland into the Atlantic. The Northern Arctic route would require the use of vessels from Russia's nuclear powered ice breaking fleet. The three most powerful of the fleet are the Rossiya, Sovetskiy Soyuz and Jamal - all based near Murmansk. "The nuclear industry is being forced to consider extreme, and frankly desperately dangerous measures to avoid the widespread international opposition to their deadly trade," said Shaun Burnie, of Greenpeace International. "But taking the notorious Northern Arctic route is no solution. It will still put many countries at unacceptable risk of environmental contamination. "Instead of these reckless plans they should halt their nuclear transports and stop reprocessing in Europe." Greenpeace claims the glassified high level waste is one of the most radioactive materials ever produced. A person standing within one meter of an unshielded block would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less than one minute, said the group. A dedicated web site set up by BNFL and Cogema to explain the need for such shipments argues that there is "no plausible way for the cargo...to become exposed to the environment." In addition to assessments performed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and other agencies, the U.S. government's Sandia National Laboratories independently analyzed a range of scenarios at sea, says the site at www.moxfuel.com. "The result of the assessment is an impact on local residents thousands of times smaller than the exposure levels a person receives from a single medical X-ray examination - or one millionth of natural background radiation levels," says the site. "The analysis shows that the impact on the environment is even smaller in deeper water," it adds. [*]Copyright c 2000 Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved. LycosR is a ***************************************************************** 11 Scientist promotes 'nuclear renaissance' January 23, 2001 By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER PLEASANTON--The United States has entered a "nuclear renaissance, " and several nuclear power plants likely will be built or restarted in the next decade, a federal lab scientist says. Denis E. Beller, a researcher at Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, spoke to members of the Northern California Section of the American Nuclear Society last week about an essay he co-authored, titled, "The Need for Nuclear Power." "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now talking about building nuclear power plants," said Beller, "and energy industry officials are also planning to bolster nuclear power production.We can expect new construction--future reactors to be built." Though nuclear power produces only about 6.3 percent of the world's energy, some nations are heavily reliant on nuclear plants. Nuclear power supplies about 79 percent of the electricity in France, according to the essay produced by Beller and author Richard Rhodes for Foreign Affairs, an international policy journal. Nuclear power produces 20 percent of U.S. electricity. "Nuclear power is needed: for workers, the public and environment. It's needed to fight energy poverty," Beller said during the presentation at Faz Restaurant in Pleasanton. The world population passed the 6 billion mark in 1999, and about 2 billion people lack access to electricity. "We're going to need 65 percent more energy in the next 20 years, " he said. Nuclear power, he explained, may be the way to meet the demand, as new, emerging energy technologies could take too long to establish. "Nuclear power is safe... I believe it is the safest major source of electricity," Beller said. "(The industry) is not having accidents and the country once again needs electricity." The essay states that the nuclear power-production capacity at U.S. nuclear plants has increased substantially. The average capacity for 100 U.S. reactors in 1998 was 80 percent, compared with 66 percent in 1990 and 58 percent in 1980, the report states. Also, nuclear power produces a lower volume of waste than other types of power plants, though nuclear waste is more highly radioactive than waste from other plants. Even so, "a coal-fired power plant releases about 100 times as much radioactivity into the environment as a comparable nuclear plant," the essay states. There are proliferation risks in operating nuclear power plants, because the fission process can produce plutonium, though this plutonium is "beyond the capacity of terrorists to process," the essay concludes. "The public trusts us," he said. "One of the things we need to do is to get out and talk to the public. The public does accept nuclear power." ***************************************************************** 12 AUSSIES FLY IN FACE OF NUCLEAR PROTEST A Greenpeace activist chains herself to the front gate of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor plant. Picture / Reuters New Zealand Herald Online - Newspaper 24.01.2001 By VERNON SMALL deputy political editor Australia undermined New Zealand protests against nuclear fuel shipments through the South Pacific yesterday by dispatching a shipment of its own radioactive waste. The New Zealand Government is putting diplomatic pressure on Britain, France and Japan over a shipment of French nuclear fuel due in the Tasman Sea in a month, en route to Japan. Foreign Minister Phil Goff yesterday reiterated New Zealand's opposition to all nuclear shipments, but concentrated his criticism of the Australian move on the short notice given by our closest ally. He was officially notified of the shipment about the time the ship left Sydney Harbour. "We would like to have a strengthening of the prior notification system," Mr Goff said. Controversy about trucking the waste through Sydney had alerted the Government to the planned shipment. Greenpeace activists tried to block truck access to Lucas Heights to prevent the transport of the waste, thought to be about 360 spent nuclear fuel rods. The rods, on board the French ship Bouguenais, are bound for French state-owned company Cogema's La Hague reprocessing facility near Cherbourg - the source of the shipment due to pass through the Tasman. "Ideally we would like to see that waste reprocessed within Australia rather than travelling across the world, for safety reasons. I have not been advised, however, that the Australians intend to do that, " Mr Goff said. He understood the ship would take a northerly route and stay clear of New Zealand's economic zone. The Lucas Heights reactor is involved in research on medicine, health, science, the environment and industry. New Zealand takes some radioisotopes from the facility for medical uses, such as the detection and treatment of cancer. "Just because we use it, doesn't mean we have any lesser degree of concern about safety consideration, and if we can keep waste materials and fuel out of our exclusive economic zone there are obvious advantages in our doing so," Mr Goff said. "We expect, as with other nations shipping nuclear material, the highest safety standards to apply. We ask that those countries accept full responsibility, including liability and compensation in case of an accident." The risk of an accident was very small, but would have major implications for fisheries and tourism and our clean, green, non-nuclear image, he said. New Zealand did not have the ability to deal with an accident if it took place on the high seas. Meanwhile, Japan is reportedly in talks with Russia about using an Arctic route to ship waste and fuel to and from Europe and Japan. Strong opposition in the Caribbean has dissuaded Japan from using the Panama Canal, and Argentina and Chile are opposed to shipments coming close to Cape Horn. The Tasman route is the third main route used. Yesterday's shipment is not the first from Lucas Heights. European lobbyists have reported that a November 1999 shipment was carrying 309 rods containing about 900kg of spent fuel. It is understood the contract between COGEMA and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation will see a total of 1300 rods sent to France. The processed waste would be sent back to Australia within 15 years. Two more shipments are due over the next two years. ***************************************************************** 13 Woomera site named as preferred location for nuclear dump A desert plateau north-west of Woomera in South Australia was today chosen by the federal government as its preferred location for a low-level nuclear dump. Industry Minister Nick Minchin said site 52a, known as Evetts Field West, was located within the Woomera Prohibited Area and was chosen after rigorous scientific evaluation. Senator Minchin said it would now be subject to environmental assessment, along with two alternative sites, both located to the north-east of Woomera. All three sites were more than 400 kilometres north of Adelaide. Environmental assessment was expected to take about a year and the minister said the earliest the dump could be operational was next year. "The eight-year search for a site for the national repository has now been finalised, subject to the proposal satisfactorily completing environmental assessment and regulatory processes," Senator Minchin said. Only solid, dry waste - sealed in steel or concrete drums - would be dumped at the site. The drums would be buried in trenches, he said. The facility would cover an area of 1.5 square kilometres with 100 square metres set aside for the dumping trenches. It was expected to have a 50-year lifespan and hold less than 10, 000 cubic metres of low-level waste. Senator Minchin said the Evetts Field West location was considered the best location for a number of reasons, including the geology of the area and the safe access afforded by the bitumen road linking Woomera and Roxby Downs. "In particular, the surrounding landforms indicate surface drainage features are preferred to those of other sites, providing the best environment for the construction and maintenance of disposal trenches, " he said. "The rock type is preferred as it consists of clays which are resistant to ground water flow and will provide a highly effective barrier to the waste." The minister said licenses to construct and operate the waste facility would be granted by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. [I] cAAP 2001 c 1997-2000 ninemsn Pty Ltd - All rights reserved - Terms ***************************************************************** 14 Green Leaders Accept Nuclear Waste Transports DOCUMENT TITLE: F.A.Z. - English Version F.A.Z. BERLIN. The party leadership of Alliance 90/The Greens approved on Monday a resolution that will allow the party's national organization, the junior partner in Germany's coalition government, to go along with a resumption of "essential" Castor transports of nuclear waste. Leading Greens, anticipating internal party critics, said the compromise was appropriate since the government had agreed to phase out nuclear power. The transports have often required massive police escorts to stop protesters, and the outgoing party coleader, Renate Künast, the new German minister of consumer affairs and agriculture, said it "was a given" that there would be future protests. But Germany has "a moral and legal duty" to allow the transports in order to take back waste material from German plants that has been stored at a French reprocessing facility, she said. Jan. 22, 2001 c Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2000 ***************************************************************** 15 Russia Unable to Reprocess Foreign Nuclear Waste Russia Today - MOSCOW, Jan 24, 2001--(Agence France Presse) Russia does not have the necessary technology to reprocess spent nuclear fuel imported from abroad, even if the Russian parliament modifies the law accordingly, Russian ecologists said Tuesday. Russian lawmakers last month strongly backed the government's controversial plans to earn billions of dollars by treating the world's nuclear waste, provoking sharp criticism from ecologists. The State Duma lower house of parliament approved by 319 to 38 votes the first reading of an amendment to a 1991 environmental protection law that prohibits importing nuclear waste either for reprocessing or disposal. The second reading is scheduled for the end of February. However, Russian ecologists said Tuesday that the outcome of the vote would not affect the country's lack preparation to handle nuclear waste. "Russia is not ready. It does not have the necessary technology," Vladimir Kuznetsov, an expert on the State Duma's ecology committee, told a press conference here. "The spent nuclear fuel that could be delivered by the foreign countries has an isotopic and chemical composition totally different" from the kind the only Russian reprocessing plant, at Mayak in the Urals region of Chelyabinsk, could treat, he added. The technology used at the Mayak plant "dated from the 1950s," he said. The plant is able to retreat 400 tons of spent nuclear fuel a year. The construction of a second plant, able to reprocess 1,500 tons a year, has been halted due to financial shortages. The Russian authorities say the amended legislation would permit Russia to sign contracts with China, Germany, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan, earning 21 billion dollars over the next 10 years. ((C) 2001 AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE) ***************************************************************** 16 Criticism arises over shipments of contaminated soil to Buttonwillow dump By LEON DROUIN KEITH Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP)--Over the objections of legislators and environmentalists, truckloads of contaminated soil have begun making their way to a Bakersfield-area dump. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and a state senator have lobbied against the state Department of Health Services' decision to allow 14, 000 tons of soil with radiation higher than normal background levels to be sent to a landfill not licensed to handled human-made radioactive material. But the department last month reaffirmed its conclusion that the soil from a former nuclear facility near Simi Valley was not " hot" enough to be considered radioactive. State officials say the soil needs to be dumped because of mercury, dioxin and PCB contamination the Buttonwillow dump is equipped to handle. "The waste is not radioactive," said Ed Bailey, chief of the radiologic health branch of the health services department. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, said she was not satisfied with a December letter DHS and the Department of Toxic Substances Control wrote to her and Boxer explaining their position. Kuehl said she will try to pressure state officials to stop the shipments of the soil, which began Monday and are expected to be completed in three to four months. "This has the same and probably more drawbacks then we were going to see in Ward Valley," Kuehl said, referring to a now- dead plan to build a radioactive waste facility in the California desert. Boxer spokesman Matt Kagan said the senator also still has " serious concerns" about the soil. The shipment will effectively make the Buttonwillow landfill " an unlicensed Ward Valley," said Daniel Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, an environmental group. Gov. Gray Davis was one of the leading opponents of a Ward Valley nuclear waste dump, but state officials said the comparison is apples and oranges. Bailey said the levels of strontium 90 and cesium 137 are "a very slight amount" above naturally occurring background levels, but the levels are so low that the soil is not considered radioactive under federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines. Those NRC standards involve levels of remaining radioactivity allowed at a site that is considered decontaminated. Such a site is acceptable for all uses if the added radioactivity is less than 25 millirems per year, roughly the equivalent of two chest X-rays. A lifetime of exposure at such a level would add a one-in-1,000 risk of getting a fatal cancer. Hirsch contended that those rules define levels below regulatory concern only for materials that stay on site--not those that wind up being shipped someplace else. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been at odds with the NRC over the rules, contending that they fail to adequately protect human health. The contaminated soil is less than 15 millirems above natural background levels, which typically run from 300 millirems to 400 millirems, Bailey said. The soil comes from a pit at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory where sodium was burned off equipment used in nuclear reactors. Rocketdyne International Corp. ran 10 nuclear reactors at the laboratory about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles from the 1950s to the 1980s. There were several accidents over the years, including a partial fuel meltdown in 1959. Nuclear research at the lab was halted in 1989. Rocketdyne, which was acquired by Boeing Co. in 1996, still conducts rocket engine and fuel tests at the site. State health officials examined soil from the site in 1998 and determined it did not need to be sent to a facility licensed to handle radioactive waste. But as the soil was about to be transported over the summer, Boxer and Kuehl voiced concerns that led state officials to re-examine the issue. For seven months, the soil has been sitting in 781 bins that cost a total of $300,000 a month to rent, said Rocketdyne spokesman Dan Beck. "We're pleased to see the soil moving. It's the right thing for the community," Beck said.   /   COPYRIGHT c THE SACRAMENTO BEE [I] ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Vegas SUN: GAO: Clinton Team Broke Law on Jobs January 23, 2001 GAO: Clinton Team Broke Law on Jobs ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP)--The Clinton administration violated federal law when it went around Congress to save the jobs of workers at a soon- to-be-shuttered Ohio uranium plant, congressional auditors said Tuesday. The General Accounting Office said the plan to keep the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in a standby mode, thus sparing some 1,000 layoffs, cannot legally be financed in the way devised by former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Richardson said putting the plant on standby was done as an offshoot of a program to privatize government uranium enrichment operations. He arranged to have $725 million in leftover privatization funds returned from the Treasury, then went to Piketon, Ohio, and promised to spend $630 million of it there to protect the Portsmouth jobs. "You were there for us when we won the Cold War. Now we're going to pay you back," he told workers at the plant. Moving the $725 million did not require congressional approval. The GAO said establishing a technology demonstration project at Piketon and putting the plant on standby are not legitimate expenses of privatization and therefore violate the Antideficiency Act. That law allows agency decision-makers to be reprimanded, suspended or fired if they obligate the government to spend money that Congress hasn't formally approved. In this case, the decision-makers were Clinton administration political appointees who left when the Bush administration took over Saturday. ***************************************************************** 2 Crews to wipe clean military's footprints Anchorage Daily News - EFFORT: THE STATE WILL TEST FOR RADIATION ON AMCHITKA ISLAND. By Don Hunter Anchorage Daily News (Published January 24, 2001) A small army of construction workers, hazardous waste experts, and state and federal scientists will descend on Amchitka Island this summer to clean up the remnants of decades of military occupation and search for radiation in the near-shore marine environment. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will scour the island for hand grenades and mortar rounds dating to World War II. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to cap pits of drilling muds left over from atomic tests conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The U.S. Navy will demolish buildings remaining from a backscatter radar outpost built in the late 1980s, then abandoned a few years later when the Cold War ended, and haul away PCB-laced sewage sludge. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will oversee all that work, and collect tissue samples from blue mussels in shallow water nearby. The DEC is looking for signs that buried nuclear wastes from the atomic tests three decades ago may have migrated through groundwater into the ocean surrounding the island. Computer modeling beginning in the 1970s indicated that radiation from the test pits for the three underground nuclear blasts set off between 1965 and 1971 eventually would leak into the ocean, said Doug Dasher, DEC's environmental radiation program manager. "It may already have, or it may not for thousands of years," Dasher said. "But all the modeling indicates there could be some leakage occurring now." Groundwater flowing through the shock cavities left by the explosions could enter the ocean near the shore or farther out to sea. DEC plans to begin its sampling in the intertidal zones this summer for a simple reason: The agency doesn't have a boat near Amchitka, and biologists can collect mussels in the shallows without one. The agency plans to collect samples from other marine life in the future, Dasher said. The scientists picked mussels because the animals are filter feeders and don't move very far. They would likely accumulate radionuclides flowing through the water, and mussel sampling projects on the East and West coasts of the Lower 48 provide ample data for comparisons. In coming years, Dasher said, the state wants to collect samples from deeper water, and test seals and other marine mammals to answer a question posed by the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association and other Aleutian Native groups: "Is our food safe to eat?" Although Amchitka has been uninhabited since the Navy closed the radar station in 1994, hunters and fishermen harvest food from the waters around the island, and many species roam from Amchitka to other islands. "Steller sea lions migrate back and forth, and migratory waterfowl feed in the intertidal zones," Dasher said. Mike Giblin, the Nevada-based manager for DOE's Amchitka Remediation Project, said the agency's main thrust this summer will be to contain and cap 11 pits of drilling muds. The mud was used to lubricate drills used to drive test pits for the bombs. Diesel fuel was mixed with the mud to keep it fluid and improve its lubricating qualities, said Giblin and Jeff Brownlee, another DEC staffer. Giblin said tests on the island in 1997 and 1998 found no indication of leaks from the pits. Radiation found in island plants matched the nuclear fingerprints of Chinese and Russian atomic devices, suggesting that it arrived through fallout from the atmosphere, he said. That conclusion is disputed by environmentalists who conducted their own tests in 1996. Pam Miller of Alaska Community Action on Toxics said DOE's conclusions about nuclear fingerprinting can't be confirmed because the government, citing national security, won't disclose the atomic markers that distinguish American tests from others. The agency hasn't conducted tests in the ocean around the island since the 1970s. Giblin said DOE hopes to complete an Amchitka groundwater study this spring, and then will conduct a risk assessment "to answer, in my words, the 'so what' question: If we have a release of radionuclides, what is the risk to the public health and the environment?" At that point, the federal and state agencies will discuss how to proceed. "We have to do all this background work before we start putting boats in the water and collecting things," Giblin said. "We need to be sure we're on firm ground when we go to Congress and ask for money to do these things." The atomic tests were designed and conducted in a Cold War political climate, said Kevin Rohrer, a public affairs officer for DOE. "The primary focus was to conduct the tests and win the arms race," he said. Amchitka is in the Rat Islands near the end of the Aleutian chain, about 1,600 miles southwest of Anchorage, and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the peak of this summer's work, about 150 people will be on the island. Working there is expensive. DOE expects to spend about $8 million building a work camp and capping the pits of drilling muds. Brownlee, the DEC official, said the Navy will spend a similar amount demolishing the radar base and drying out and hauling away 1,400 cubic yards of sewage sludge "that somehow got contaminated with PCBs at pretty high concentrations." The sludge will be packed in drums and shipped to disposal sites in Idaho or Washington. Other debris from building demolitions will be stored in a landfill on the island. Reporter Don Hunter can be reached at [*]dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349. ***************************************************************** 3 Martin Sheen Calls For End to Military Use of Vieques TUESDAY JANUARY 23 01:44 PM EST Hispanic actor Martin Sheen has thrown his support behind efforts to end U.S. military exercises on Puerto Rico's Vieques Island, the Committee to Save and Develop Vieques said Tuesday. Sheen said he was moved by the non-violent struggle, and as an American he was saddened to learn of the destruction and pollution caused by weapons testing carried out by the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization members. Sheen, who has participated in acts of civil disobedience in the United States, said that he was particularly concerned about the use of depleted uranium munitions during military exercises. On Jan. 13, Sheen sent a letter to then President Bill Clinton calling on him to order an immediate and permanent end to military exercises on Vieques Island, according to a communique released by the committee. In addition, Sheen's letter called on the former commander in chief to act "immediately, with courage and compassion" to end the military occupation of the island. ***************************************************************** 4 Unbiased probe needed into uranium Letters - Ottawa Citizen Online Tuesday 23 January 2001 GORDON EDWARDS The Ottawa Citizen According to the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, radiation protection policies are based on "the principle of eliminating any exposures which are not necessary." NATO's use of depleted uranium and radioactive ammunition clearly violates this dictum. Uranium belongs to a category of radioactive substances called "alpha- emitters," which includes some of the most deadly radioactive materials, including radium, radon, polonium and plutonium. Alpha rays have very little penetrating power; they can be completely stopped by a piece of paper. Outside the body, they are harmless. Inside the body, alpha rays are 20 times more damaging than more penetrating types of radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays. In the 1920s, many young women who used radioactive materials to paint dials so they would glow in the dark suffered horribly--teeth falling out, ulcerating mouth sores, spontaneous bone fractures, as well as deadly bone cancer and blood diseases. They died from alpha radiation exposure due to ingesting minute quantities of radium. In 1931, the Canadian Department of Mines reported: "Recent investigations in the field of radium poisoning have led to the conclusion that precautions are necessary even in the handling of substances of low radioactivity. "The ingestion of small amounts of radioactive dust or emanation over a long period of time will cause a building up of radioactive material in the body, which eventually may have serious consequences. "Lung cancer, bone necrosis, and rapid anemia are possible diseases ... " In the 1930s, it was also discovered that large numbers of miners had been dying for centuries from lung cancer caused by breathing radon gas in the mines of Bohemia. These men were also victims of alpha radiation caused by the presence of uranium in the ore bodies. Since then, miners in the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland, Ontario, and Saskatchewan have suffered from what the British Columbia Medical Association has called "epidemics" of fatal cancers caused by exposure to alpha-emitting radon and polonium isotopes--both uranium byproducts. These populations of victims all had one thing in common: Nobody ever warned them of the danger. They were led to believe that alpha radiation was safe. With this sorry track record, it is disgraceful that the government of Canada continues to take its advice on potential health effects almost solely from the advocates of nuclear power and uranium. It's time to appoint independent health experts to do truly independent studies on the health hazards of depleted uranium. Gordon Edwards, Montreal President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility Copyright 2001 Ottawa Citizen Group Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 GOFF TO PROTEST NUCLEAR SHIPMENT Southern Cross Magazine - Your Link to the Southern Hemisphere ISSUE 640 January 23 rd 2001 14 - 15 CHILDS PLACE EARLS COURT LONDON SW5 9RX 020 7373 3377 WELLINGTON - New Zealand will lodge formal protests with the governments of Japan, France and Britain over a shipment of nuclear fuel passing near New Zealand waters, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said. "The chance of an accident at sea, while small, cannot be discounted, " Goff said on Monday. Greenpeace has criticised the lack of warning given to the countries the shipment will pass, while protesters plan to send out a flotilla to demonstrate. The British-flagged ship Pacific Pintail, accompanied by the Pacific Teal, left Cherbourg in France last Friday, bound for Japan with a load of mixed uranium and plutonium oxide (MOX). The ships' owner British Nuclear Fuels confirmed they would pass between Australia and New Zealand. It will be the second MOX delivery to a Japanese nuclear power plant to pass New Zealand, since July 1999. ***************************************************************** 6 The 16th Disclosure of Diplomatic Records December 20, 2000 I. Since 1976 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has disclosed its records that are more than 30 years old. On December 20, 2000, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the 16th Disclosure of Diplomatic Records, which is the second disclosure within a year, following the one on May 29. These diplomatic records are available to the public for viewing on microfilm at the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1-5-3 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tel:+81-(0)3-3585-4511, Fax:+81-(0)3-3585-4514). Disclosure of Diplomatic Records ÿ   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reviews and declassifies, ÿaccording to its Rule of Disclosure, diplomatic records of more ÿthan 30 years old and makes them, in principle, available to ÿthe public.    The review is based on the Rule of Disclosure stipulating that records that are more than 30 years old shall be in principle disclosed except those containing (1) information that, if made public, would pose a risk of harming serious national interests, or (2) information that, if made public, would pose a risk of harming rights and interests of individuals.    Cases when there is a risk of "harming serious national interests" include those posing or likely to pose ; (a) a risk of harming national security, (b) a risk of damaging trust of another country or an international organization and (c) a risk of causing a disadvantage in negotiations with another country or an international organization. II. The records disclosed this time total 680 files (314 items), and are divided into the following three groups, i.e. Group 1 (15 files, 8 items), Group 2 (62 files, 24 items) and Group 3 (603 files, 282 items): Group 1. ÿAgreement for Reparations and Economic Co-operation Between Japan ÿand the Union of Burma (5 files) ÿ1. Treaty of Peace Between Japan and the Union of Burma (4 files) (Records of negotiations that were held concurrently to conclude the above Agreement and Treaty) 1. Immigration Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Dominican Republic (1 file) (Records of negotiations held from 1957 to 1958 for an immigration agreement between Japan and the Dominican Republic) 2. Reaction to Nuclear Tests (4 files) (Records from 1953 to 1967 of reaction of the Japanese Government and people to nuclear tests conducted by some countries and of the United Nations' reaction to this matter) 3. Economic and Technical Co-operation to Laos (1 file) (Records from 1956 to 1966 of Laos' requests for cooperation and Japan's response) Group 2. Emigration of the Japanese People    The records concern Japanese people's emigration after World War II (from 1952 to 1971 ) to nine Latin American countries, namely, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Cuba, Guatemala, Venezuela and Mexico. Records of the emigration process and actual circumstances of emigrants in respective countries are included. A total of 62 files (24 items) on emigration are disclosed this time. Group 3. Repatriation of Japanese Nationals After the End of World War II    The records cover the repatriation of approximately six million Japanese nationals from Southeast Asia, China and other areas overseas from 1945 to around 1960 following the end of World War II. They also include records on the repatriation of remains of the war dead and investigations of persons not yet repatriated. Out of 680 files disclosed this time 603 files (282 items) fall under this group. III. For further information please see Lists of Items in [*]ANNEX 1 (Group 1) and [*]ANNEX 2 (Group 2 & 3).    The diplomatic records already disclosed in earlier releases are also available at the Diplomatic Record Office. The number of files of diplomatic records that were disclosed from the first disclosure in 1976 to the 15th disclosure in May, 2000 totals 10,145. The latest disclosure brings the total to 10,825. ANNEX 1 GROUP 1 ( 8 Items, 15 Files) ÿ1. Agreement for Reparations and Economic Co-operation Between ÿJapan and the Union of Burma ( B'3.1.2.5) (4 files, September 1952 - April 1955) 4. Public Opinion and Newspaper Editorials about the Above-mentioned Agreement (B'3.1.2.5-1) (1 file, September 1952 - April 1955) 5. Treaty of Peace Between Japan and the Union of Burma (B'4.1.2.4) (4 files, April 1952 - April 1955) Negotiations with Burma on the Agreement for Reparations and Economic Co-operation were held in parallel with those on Treaty of Peace. The records, contained in nine files, cover Burma's Declaration on Termination of the State of War with Japan, establishment of Japanese Consulate in Burma, and a series of negotiations on the Treaty and Agreement that resulted in their signing and effectuation in 1955. 6. Immigration Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Dominican Republic (B'5.2.0.J/DO3) (1 file, March 1956 - December 1958) The records cover a series of negotiations for an immigration agreement with the Dominican Republic. The negotiations was left off due to the position of the Dominican side. These records are made available this time in connection with disclosure of the records of circumstances of emigrants to the Republic. ([*]see ANNEX 2) 7. Japanese Reaction to Nuclear Tests (C'4.2.1.2) (1 file, February 1956 - March 1966) 8. Japanese Reaction to Nuclear Tests: Petitions (C'4.1.2.2-1) (2 files, October 1953 - November 1967) 9. International Activities for Prohibition of Nuclear Tests [Discussions at the United Nations Trusteeship Council on Prohibition of Nuclear Tests ](C'4.1.2.4-1) (1 file, July 1954 - March 1958) Contained in the above are the records from 1953 to 1967 on the Japanese position and reaction to nuclear tests conducted by some foreign countries, including lectures given overseas by Japanese citizens, contributions to newspapers, resolutions and opinions sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by various local communities as well as discussion at the United Nations on nuclear tests. 10. Economic and Technical Co-operation to Laos (E'2.1.15.4) (1 file, August 1956 - November 1966) The records concern Japan's economic and technical cooperation to Laos, which was then a newly independent country, including Laos' requests for co-operation and Japan's response to them. ANNEX 2 GROUP 2. EMIGRATION OF JAPANESE PEOPLE (24 Items, 62 Files) J'1.1.5. (plus files 1989-1996/1997/1998/2023/2024) ÿEmigration to the Dominican Republic    Situations of Emigrants to the Dominican Republic J'1.1.6. ÿEmigration to Bolivia    Situations of Emigrants to Bolivia J'1.1.7. ÿEmigration to Peru    Situations of Emigrants to Peru J'1.1.8. ÿEmigration to Ecuador    Situations of Emigrants to Ecuador J'1.1.9 ÿEmigration to Uruguay    Situations of Emigrants to Uruguay J'1.1.10 ÿEmigration to Cuba    Situations of Emigrants to Cuba J'1.1.11 ÿEmigration to Guatemala    Situations of Emigrants to Guatemala J'1.1.12 ÿEmigration to Venezuela    Situations of Emigrants to Venezuela J'1.1.13 ÿEmigration to Mexico    Situations of Emigrants to Mexico GROUP 3. REPATRIATION OF JAPANESE NATIONALS AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II (282 Items, 603 Files) K'7.1.0. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)]    Records of repatriation of the Japanese nationals from China (except those from the Northeastern part of China and that after 1952), the Korean Peninsula (except North Korea), Taiwan, Southeast Asia, South Pacific islands, etc. as well as records of repatriation assistance organizations such as the Associations for Assisting Overseas Japanese, provision of repatriation allowance in Japan to repatriates and investigations of repatriates and persons not yet repatriated. K'7.1.0.20 ÿDebts Incurred by Japanese Consulates and Other Organiozations    Japanese Consulates and Japanese Residents' Associations on the Continent borrowed funds from Japanese residents to give relief to Japanese refugees and to promote their repatriation. Records of the repayment of these debts are included. K'7.1.1. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)] ÿ(Investigation of Japanese Nationals Not Yet Repatriated)    Investigation of Japanese nationals not yet repatriated, etc. K'7.1.2. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)] ÿRepatriation from Soviet-Dominated Area    Repatriation of Japanese nationals from the U.S.S.R. and North Korea as well as from Communist China (until the end of 1952). K'7.1.3. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)] ÿRepatriation from Communist China (After 1952)    Repatriation of Japanese nationals after the end of 1952 from the areas under the control of the Communist Chinese Government. K'7.1.4. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)] ÿ(Repatriation Problem Handled by the United Nations General Assembly)    Discussion at the United Nations General Assembly and at the Ad Hoc Commission on the Prisoners of War on the problem of repatriation of Prisoners of War (problem of the persons detained by the U.S.S.R., North Korea and Communist China). K'7.1.5. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Japanese Nationals (Including Military Personnel)] ÿ(Return of Remains)    Return to Japan of remains of Japanese nationals from overseas particularly from Southeast Asian countries. K'7.2.0. ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Former Japanese Nationals]    Repatriation from Japan of the people who were originally from Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and South Pacific islands which were Japanese territories before the end of the War as well as return of remains of such people. K'730 ÿRepatriation of Japanese Nationals to Japan and Repatriation of Foreigners ÿfrom Japan [Foreigners]    Repatriation of Foreigners who were in Japan at the end of the War. ***************************************************************** 7 Pak. to set up nuclear authority The Hindu on indiaserver.com : Wednesday, January 24, 2001 By B. Muralidhar Reddy ISLAMABAD, JAN. 23. Pakistan has decided to establish a nuclear regulatory authority for regulating and supervising matters relating to nuclear safety and radiation protection measures. An Ordinance promulgated by the Pakistan President, Mr. Rafiq Tarar, on Monday night is seen as a response to concerns from the West and the environmental groups on issues related to nuclear waste and disposal in Pakistan. Brig. Shaukat Quadir, Vice-President, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) told The Hindu that it was a ``good step'' and should go a long way in addressing apprehensions in various quarters about nuclear waste and its disposal. An advertisement put out by the Pakistan Commerce Ministry a few months inviting tenders from firms for disposal of nuclear waste had created a furore in the West and the Pakistan government had to clarify that the advertisement was put out by ``mistake.'' The proposed Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) will be responsible for planning, developing and executing comprehensive policies and programmes for the protection of life, health and property against the risk of ionizing radiation. The Authority, comprising a chairman, two full-time and seven part-time members will come into existence within the next 30 days. The federal government will appoint all the members and the authority will look after the safety measures of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The authority will issue licenses to installations where radioactivity is generated and regulate the equipment used for production, use or application of nuclear energy for the generation of electricity or any other use. The authority will be empowered to inspect all nuclear installations, radiation generators, nuclear materials, nuclear substances or radioactive materials to ensure that regulations concerning safety are properly followed. Copyrights c 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc. Copyright c 2001 indiaserver.com, Inc. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 8 Nuclear sub could need two months' work MADRID (Reuters) - The Royal Navy is likely to need two months to finish repairing a damaged nuclear submarine moored in Gibraltar since May last year despite environmental protests, Spain said. The presence of the HMS Tireless has angered Spaniards living near Gibraltar as well as environmentalists and politicians who say it is a potential hazard. The submarine arrived in the British colony last May after suffering a leak in the cooling system of its nuclear reactor. Repair work began on Tuesday after exhaustive tests. "If everything goes according to plan, the repairs should be finished by March," a Spanish Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Speaking on state radio, Foreign Minister Josep Pique said the repair operation met safety requirements. "What the welders have to do is to weld a new pipe, which has already been tested, to substitute one in the cooling system which is damaged after supporting years of extreme changes in temperature," he said. Tens of thousands of Spaniards gathered in the southern coastal city of Algeciras, adjacent to Gibraltar, on Saturday in a latest protest demanding HMS Tireless's return to Britain. The British government says the submarine poses no threat at all and moving the ship would be risky. The Spanish government also says there is no risk from the submarine in Gibraltar. Comments to: [*]news-admin@uk.yahoo-inc.com Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Our experts on the "Balkan syndrome" Serbia Info News / WWW.SERBIA-INFO.COM/NEWS January 23, 2001 "THE BALKAN SYNDROME" EXISTS Belgrade, January 22 - The director of the Center for the scientific researches CMC "Bezanijska kosa" Dr. Miodrag Djordjevic said that the "Balkan syndrome" existed. Djordjevic underscored that this syndrome considered not only cancer and leukemia, but lung diseases were also expected to appear, neurological and psychiatric disorders, the weakening of immunity, changes on the bone structure and reproductive glands, disorders in kidney and liver functions and also persistent and often infections with children. Copyright c 1998, 1999, 2000 Ministry of Information Email: [*]mirs@srbija-info.yu ***************************************************************** 10 After depleted uranium, NATO deals with plutonium controversy WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24 1:32 AM SGT BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (AFP) - NATO'S ad hoc committee on the health hazards of depleted uranium munitions met Tuesday to discuss possible dangers from trace elements of plutonium in US weapons fired in the Balkans. Fears about possible links between depleted uranium (DU) munitions used in the Balkans and a rash of cancers among peacekeepers who served in the region were rekindled by reports in the German press that trace elements of plutonium were present in DU rounds fired by US forces in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Pentagon has been criticized for not having provided all the information it possessed on the health and environmental consequences of DU weapons, which first made their appearance during the Gulf War in 1991. German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, criticized in his country for not have reacted quickly enough to public concerns over the munitions, demanded that "all available information from the American side be turned over" to NATO. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, in a letter to NATO Secretary General George Robertson, demanded "a complete clarification" of the situation. The Pentagon responded that a report on the subject had been available on the Internet since December. That report concluded that the quantities of plutonium present in depleted uranium were "so small as to add very little to the radiation dose of the depleted uranium itself," and posed "no risk." Germany is not satisified "with pages and pages on the internet," snapped Scharping, criticizing the way Washington had chosen to inform its NATO allies of the situation. The NATO ad hoc committee was set up after Italy and several other NATO nations reported a rash of cancer deaths among troops who served in the Balkans. Its mission is to collect and exchange information on any possible health risks associated with use of DU rounds. The committee is composed of civilian and military experts from the 19 NATO countries and of all the non-NATO nations which contributed troops to the multi-national forces in Bosnia and Kosovo. Washington claims there is no link between DU and illnesses reported among troops that served in those operations, particularly cases of leukemia, or blood cancer. NATO claims there is no such thing as "Balkans syndrome," a basket of unexplained illnesses of which Bosnia and Kosovo veterans have complained. The alliance has however deemed it necessary to set up the ad hoc committee to investigate the claims, and has recognized the need for each NATO country to conduct epidemiological studies among their troops. The United States, Britain and France have rejected a proposal by Italy, backed by Germany, for a moratorium on the use of DU rounds until the health risks are assessed. The next meeting of the ad hoc committee, which was still in session late Tuesday, is scheduled for January 30. [*]Questions or Comments Copyright © 2000 AFP. All rights ***************************************************************** 11 Fallibility in a white coat The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited | Scientists and politicians form a natural alliance because both offer false certainties HYWEL WILLIAMS TUESDAY JANUARY 23, 2001 Geoff Hoon is cross. The defence secretary, criticised for his department's evasions about depleted uranium shells, hits back with a thesis. An anti-science paranoia stalks the land. Why, he wonders, have we become "so sceptical about scientific investigation when we all benefit from the advances that science has made"? Hoonerism sees scientific progress as a take-it-or-leave-it affair. Criticise one element and we'll be back in the caves. Confronted with reasoned concern, this irrational doctrine responds with a petulant mental despotism. Hoonerish thought is born from the powerful alliance between the scientist and the politician. Popular belief separates them. The one, impeccably white-coated, is consecrated to the discovery of ultimate truth. The other, sweating in its suit, is chronic in its equivocations. Science is about objective order, evidence and clarity. But politics is the skill of the shallow who pursue the advantage of the moment. Justified pride; recycled prejudice The caricatures serve two purposes, one good and one bad. Democratic politics in practice mingles principle with opportunism and the mixture keeps us alert. There's a particular British glee about unveiling political feet of clay. If our democracy is rarely a school for scandal it's because we are incorrigible sceptics. But we are less sceptical about the scientists' claims. The laity know less and less about the details of science.There is speculation about "the selfish gene" but most popular science today is just bio- ethics - no more advanced than Teilhard de Chardin's offering two generations ago, quite as interesting and just as dodgy. Knowledge of the genuine scientific article recedes but there is still a reverence for scientific authority. That is why we are so easily shocked when science is compromised by its association with power. The government's support for the Huntingdon laboratories and the Ministry of Agriculture's handling of BSE as well as Hoonerism all reveal not the gap between science and politics but a community of interest sustained by officialese. Science is unique among academic subjects in the scale of its patronage by government. It has its own research councils and government ministers. It claims to increase GNP and supplies the rulers with an entire advisory service. Wilsonian technocracy, Heathite managerialism and Margaret Roberts the Oxford chemist have all supported science as something whose methods should be imitated and whose achievements serve the national purpose. There are ministers for the arts but no practising artist ever took seriously the ideas of Chris Smith and Alan Howarth about artistic work. No governmental view is taken of whether historians should be medievalists or literary critics poststructuralist. But government grants and private-sector research alike tie in the scientist to specific aims. Scientists are less free spirits than intellectual castrati singing for their table d'hote supper. It was once a leftwing idea that government needed to be "scientific". The Fabian plan for Britain was that social justice would result from that rationality. But the ease with which scientists could be used by 20th-century totalitarians means that freedom and science walk together more awkwardly than they once did. The smooth evolution of Werner von Braun's rocket-scientist career from Hitler's Germany to JFK's America shows how science is more often the servant of the career than the truth-teller to power. Between the state or business sponsored scientist and the democratic politician there's a similarity of temperament which explains the alliance. Both conceal the provisional nature of their knowledge. The progress of science may often be the substitution of fallacy for ignorance. In scientific discovery chance and luck are as important as planned experiment. One generation's scientific truth is the exploded hypothesis of the next. But few scientists dare admit these inconvenient truths. Politicians, similarly, conceal their fallibility. It's part of our unhealthy contract with both occupational groups that they should be tricked into offering false certainty. Both ask to be tripped up when documents are leaked and dissidents speak. Both are unwitting conspirators in our own disenchantment with their pretension. The great 20th-century scientific discovery was relativity in physics, but the revolution of Einstein has been less influential in forming popular attitudes than the Newtonian one which preceded it. Science as "objective" is still our popular myth. But the subject is no more universal than the theology it replaced, though its claims are equally absolute. Its great success is founded on an act of forgetting - that "science" originally meant knowledge of any kind. But the "natural science" which is part of knowledge is always a mixture of reason, intuition and prejudice. What we regard as true in past science is what is thought to be relevant to us now. And so we remember the Newton of the Principia and the experiments on gravity. But we ignore his theology, which was loopily witch-burning even by 17th-century standards. Science has been allowed to drop out of a democratic society's curriculum. Hence the credulity of our approach to it. We may be secular but we're still hungry for bogus epiphanies. A few months ago the genome was acclaimed as "the secret of creation". But that discovery was only the first step in something more tentative - a long process of research into how variations in genes interact with the environment to increase exposure to disease. Promising, yes. The key to life? No. Greater realism about science would release it for community service. Harold Shipman was protected for years by the prejudice in favour of the medical scientist. His practice was protected by a wall of sacred science cemented by ignorance. Once that wall is demolished we will see more clearly how values seep into scientific facts. Our view of depleted uranium shells reflects our view of the risk a soldier may legitimately be exposed to when conflicts are regional. We might conclude that a man or woman who decides to kill for a living deserves more protection when their country's safety is not immediately threatened. But it is not an argument which can be settled by statistics and percentages alone. The Bushite missile defence shield has failed when tested. But even if it succeeded technically our conclusions would still be based on judgments about an imperial power which can decide whether a state is a "rogue" or a "friend" (or a stooge). It's not only the facts, it's the values, stupid. Science is a subject like any other. Like poetry or accountancy it suggests one way of looking at the world. It might be initially scary to acknowledge its random, fallible nature. But it would also be the more adult and democratic option, the right attitude both for scientists and for the citizenry. Perhaps then the castrati might even learn to sing some new songs to mark the passing of Hoonerism. Guardian Unlimited c Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 12 Toxic soil dumping sparks outrage 14,000 tons come from nuclear lab near Simi Valley January 23, 2001 LOS ANGELES--Trucks filled with contaminated soil began rolling to a dump near Bakersfield on Monday, drawing cries of alarm from environmentalists and legislators who say the state is allowing radioactive waste to be sent to an unlicensed facility. "This has the same and probably more drawbacks than we were going to see in Ward Valley," said state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, referring to a now-dead plan to build a radioactive waste facility in the California desert. The shipment of 14,000 tons of soil from a Simi Valley-area nuclear laboratory will effectively make the Buttonwillow landfill "an unlicensed Ward Valley," said Daniel Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, an environmental group. Matt Kagan, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she has "serious concerns" about the soil, which is expected to be delivered to Buttonwillow over the next three to four months. Gov. Gray Davis was one of the leading opponents of a Ward Valley nuclear waste dump, but state officials said the comparison is one of apples and oranges. "The waste is not radioactive," said Ed Bailey, chief of the radiologic health branch of the California Department of Health Services. Bailey said the levels of strontium 90 and cesium 137 are "a very slight amount" above naturally occurring background levels, but the levels are so low that the soil is not considered radioactive under federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines. Those NRC standards involve levels of remaining radioactivity allowed at a site that is consid-ered decontaminated. Such a site is acceptable for all uses if the added radioactivity is less than 25 millirems per year, roughly the equivalent of two chest X-rays. A lifetime of exposure at such a level would add a one-in-1,000 risk of getting a fatal cancer. Hirsch contended that those rules define levels below regulatory concern only for materials that stay on site--not those that wind up being shipped someplace else. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been at odds with the NRC over the rules, contending that they fail to adequately protect human health. The contaminated soil is less than 15 millirems above natural background levels, which typically run from 300 millirems to 400 millirems, Bailey said. The soil comes from a pit at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory where sodium was burned off equipment used in nuclear reactors. Rocketdyne International Corp. ran 10 nuclear reactors at the laboratory about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles from the 1950s to the 1980s. There were several accidents over the years, including a partial fuel meltdown in 1959. Nuclear research at the lab was halted in 1989. Rocketdyne, which was acquired by Boeing Co. in 1996, still conducts rocket engine and fuel tests at the site. State health officials examined soil from the site in 1998 and determined it did not need to be sent to a facility licensed to handle radioactive waste. Because the soil was contaminated with PCBs, dioxin and mercury, it does need to go to a facility like Buttonwillow that is licensed to handle hazardous waste. ***************************************************************** 13 U.S. Tanks' Armor Contains Depleted Uranium DOCUMENT TITLE: F.A.Z. - English Version BERLIN. The armor of heavy U.S. combat tanks deployed in Germany and the Balkans contains depleted uranium, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday in Heidelberg. The spokesman said depleted uranium was mainly used to strengthen the front armor of the Abrams M1's turrets. The U.S. military has stationed some 400 of the heavy tanks in Germany, some of which have been sent to peacekeeping missions in the Balkans. According to a report by the mass-circulation Bild newspaper, German tanks use ceramic armor instead of the cheaper depleted uranium. German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping is under pressure from the opposition to explain whether German soldiers deployed in the Balkans have been sufficiently protected against the residue of depleted uranium ammunition used by the U.S. Air Force during the Kosovo war. After some former peacekeeping troops contracted cancer, allegations surfaced that the illness was caused by the ammunition. (AP) Jan. 23, 2001 ;Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2000 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. ***************************************************************** 14 Putin withdraws legal reform BELLONA ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS This section covers issues related to the rights of individuals and green groups to work with environmental problems in Russia. The violation of this right is becoming a regular practice in modern Russia. Here you will also find all the news related to the Nikitin case and his final victory in the Supreme Court on April 17, 2000. President Vladimir Putin halts a long overdue criminal procedure reform. Liberals fear the move is a result of pressure from security forces wishing to maintain their right to make arbitrary arrests. Jon Gauslaa, 2001-01-23 17:23 Deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Dmitry Kozak confirmed on January 22 that Putin had withdrawn amendments proposed to the Criminal Procedure Code that would have required searches and arrests to be approved by courts rather than by prosecutors. Such a reform is considered a key factor in order to uphold the Russian democracy. The amendment would have brought the Criminal Procedure Code, which dates back to 1960, in line with the 1993 Constitution. According to the latter, a court's order is required to search a person's home, and also to keep him in detention for more than 48 hours. NO COURT ORDER NEEDED The current Criminal Procedure Code gives full control over searches and arrests to investigators and prosecutors, a fact that Russian environmentalists have learnt to know. The FSB investigators were for instance not required to go to court before they searched Aleksandr Nikitin's flat in October 1995, and they did not have to get a court order when Nikitin was arrested four months later. Nor did they have to get such orders when Grigory Pasko was arrested in November 1997. Moreover, prosecutors can on an arbitrary basis keep a defendant in jail for more than a year before the case goes to trial. Thus, the system clearly violates the constitution and legal experts consider the reform as long overdue. "This is a big step forward, " said Vladimir Mironov, a former Moscow City Court judge, to Vedomosti. "No longer will the first person to come into contact with a suspect - and that person is not an unbiased party - decide his fate." While Kremlin sources told Interfax that the withdrawal was based on technical, economical and organisational reasons rather than a new policy direction, liberals fear that the decision to stop the changes was a result of pressure from top security officials. "The president has shown his dependence on security structures", Viktor Pokhmelkin of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) party told Reuters. At a human rights conference on January 21, State Duma Deputy Sergey Yushenkov said that the Prosecutor General, the Minister of the Interior and the head of FSB had put pressure on the Kremlin to recall the bill. REFORM MAY STILL BE IN THE COMING Asource in the prosecutor's office complained to Vedomosti that the reform would complicate criminal investigations and that courts would not be able to handle the burden of work. Vladimir Mironov rejected the suggestion that judges were too busy to deal with arrests and searches. "I don't believe that judges are overburdened. I know the situation in the courts". Whether the reform will take place or not is now in the blue, although Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the Duma's legislation committee, told Interfax that it still could be passed as part of the second reading of a new Criminal Procedure Code later this year. It may be added that even if the Duma was deprived of the possibility to approve a long awaited criminal procedure reform, it is by no means paralysed. Last week it appointed its Deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky as an "Honourable Lawyer". Zhirinovsky may give the impression of a buffoon, but he is actually considered as an extremely capable legal reformer, reports Gazeta.Ru, and points out that Zhirinovsky last fall suggested a Bill that would allow Russian males to enjoy the pleasures of polygamy. Publisher: [*]Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: [*]info@bellona.no, Technical contact: [*]webmaster@bellona.no ***************************************************************** 15 Scientists say 2 blasts sank Kursk CNN.com - January 23, 2001 Divers attempt to open a hatch on the Kursk during salvage efforts ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP)--Seismic analysis of shock waves suggests two successive onboard explosions, not a collision, destroyed a Russian submarine in August, killing all 118 sailors aboard, a new report says. The first explosion was relatively small, consistent with a misfiring torpedo aboard the submarine Kursk, according to a report by Arizona and New Mexico researchers published Tuesday in the geophysical journal Eos. That blast was followed about two minutes later by a second blast 250 times larger than the first, the researchers said. "The size of the second explosion was so great that it is unlikely any submariners could have survived the corresponding pressure pulse, " their study says. The Kursk sank August 12 in the Barents Sea. Most investigators have said they believed an explosion sank it, but Russian researchers have left open the possibility that there was a collision--possibly with a ship shadowing the sub. -=- The Eos authors, led by Keith Koper and Terry Wallace of the University of Arizona, say their seismic data were collected by a network of seismic stations used in part to monitor a Russian nuclear test site 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the Kursk. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists Steve Taylor and Hans Hartse participated in the study, entitled "Forensic Seismology and the Sinking of the Kursk." The explosions sent shock waves to the ocean floor, where they registered on seismometers, they reported. "The main shock is consistent with the explosion of approximately 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) equivalent TNT detonated near, or on, the sea floor," they wrote. They said the initial shock "presumably disabled the Kursk and caused it to sink to the sea floor where ... the main explosion occurred." The first blast was consistent with "a misfire or premature detonation of a torpedo," they wrote, noting that the sub had radioed for permission to fire ordnance shortly before the initial blast. The second blast was likely caused by fire from the first blast spreading to other warheads or propellant fuel, Wallace said Tuesday by e-mail from Chile, where he and Koper are doing other research. "We do not believe that the second event was caused by impact," he said. "Although impact may have contributed to the (seismic) signal, it is dominated by the fingerprint of an explosion." Taylor, reached in Los Alamos, said the research team is not suggesting either blast was a nuclear explosion. The report refers only to conventional explosives. The team used a few seismic stations in northern Finland, northern Russia and in Norway to trace the shock waves, Taylor said. In December, an American who worked on the Kursk recovery team said damage he saw convinced him the sub blew up. "From what I saw, it was obvious it exploded," Don Degener said from his home near Kansas City. A Russian commission investigating the sinking has reached no conclusion but is considering three possibilities: an accident in the torpedo bay, a collision and a World War II mine. The U.S. Navy denies involvement in the incident. "All along, the United States Navy has insisted there was no such collision with our vessels," Lt. Meghan Mariman, a Navy spokeswoman, said Tuesday at the Pentagon. Vice Adm. John Grossenbacher said last month the U.S. submarines Memphis and Toledo had been in the area but were not involved. "I'm the senior submarine commander in the United States Navy and I know where all of our submarines are at any time. I know what they're all doing and why they're doing it," said Grossenbacher. "They had absolutely nothing to do with the tragedy that occurred on the Kursk." The two American subs were there to collect data on Russian naval exercises. Copyright 2001 The [*]Associated Press. All ***************************************************************** 16 Seismic Waves Analyzed in Sunken Sub [*]LAS VEGAS SUN January 24, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)--Analysis of seismic waves supports conclusions that two onboard explosions, not a collision, destroyed a Russian submarine in August, killing all 118 crew members. The first explosion was relatively small, consistent with a misfiring torpedo aboard the Kursk, according to a report by Arizona and New Mexico researchers published Tuesday in the geophysical journal Eos. That blast was followed about two minutes later by an explosion 250 times larger than the first, the researchers said. Most investigators have said they believed an explosion sank the sub in the Barents Sea on Aug. 12, but Russian researchers have left open the possibility of a collision--possibly with a ship shadowing the sub. The Eos authors, led by Keith Koper and Terry Wallace of the University of Arizona, say their data were collected by a network of seismic stations used in part to monitor a Russian nuclear test site 500 miles from the location of the Kursk sinking. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists Steve Taylor and Hans Hartse participated in the study. "The main shock is consistent with the explosion of approximately five tons equivalent TNT detonated near, or on, the sea floor," they wrote. That second blast was likely caused by fire from the first blast setting off other torpedo warheads or propellant fuel, Wallace said Tuesday by e-mail from Chile, where he and Koper are doing other research. Divers who entered the sub found two notes written by sailors trapped in a rear compartment after the explosions. One note described 23 crew members as suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning from a fire and the other described how its author was writing by feel in the dark. Taylor, reached in Los Alamos, said the research team is not suggesting either blast was a nuclear explosion. The report refers only to conventional explosives. In December, an American diver who worked on the Kursk recovery team said damage he saw convinced him the sub blew up. "From what I saw, it was obvious it exploded," Don Degener, 48, said from his home near Kansas City. American Geophysical Union: [*]http://www.agu.org LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 17 Nuclear Inspectors Praise Iraq WEDNESDAY JANUARY 24 9:19 AM ET By WAIEL FALEH, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.N. nuclear experts praised Iraq for cooperating with an inspection completed Wednesday, but refused to say whether they had found any evidence Iraq was restarting banned weapons programs. The visit came as Iraq prepared to sit down with the United Nations ([*]news - [*]web sites) to determine whether broader monitoring of its nuclear and other weapons programs could resume, and as the new U.S. administration made clear it will take a hard line on Iraq. Iraq also said Wednesday that it would welcome a U.N. team to work out how to spend $530 million authorized by the United Nations for use in rebuilding the country's ailing oil industry. Under the U.N. oil-for-food program, Iraq can sell its oil but its proceeds, monitored by the United Nations, must go for humanitarian needs and other specific uses. Iraq is under sanctions that can only be lifted once U.N. inspectors confirm it has ended its programs to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Almost all of those inspections have been halted since 1998, when the U.N. inspection team pulled out of Iraq ahead of U.S.-British bombings. It has not been allowed back since. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, however, has continued its inspections focusing on Iraq's nuclear capabilities. Last year it said in a report that it couldn't be sure that Iraq wasn't rearming. Ahmed Abu Zahra, head of the four-man IAEA team, said that in its latest visit, ``everything went well, we found good cooperation from our counterparts in Iraq and from the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization.'' But he refused to comment when asked whether the group had found evidence Iraq was rehabilitating its nuclear weapons facilities. Abu Zahra said the team had inspected and measured nuclear material containing low enriched, natural and depleted uranium. He said the data collected would be further analyzed and the results made public later. In talks with the United Nations scheduled to begin Feb. 26, Iraq is hoping to move toward ending the sanctions, while the United Nations will push for the return of weapons inspectors. Iraq has demanded that sanctions be lifted immediately, saying it has rid itself of its weapons of mass destruction. U.S. intelligence reports suggest that Iraq has been rebuilding plants capable of producing chemical or biological weapons - a claim Iraq denied Tuesday, calling it the ``first lie'' of the newly-inaugurated administration of President Bush ([*]news - [*]web sites). Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid said U.N. experts would arrive in mid-February to discuss plans on boosting Iraq's oil exports with the $530 million authorized by the U.N. Security Council in December. Rashid said Baghdad wants rebuild a pipeline though Syria and build a new one through Jordan. Iraq exports its oil from two terminals approved by the United Nations: the southern terminal of Mina al-Bakr on the Persian Gulf and Turkey's Ceyhan terminal on the Mediterranean. Iraq has begun work on its side of a pipeline to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba, but the Jordanians have yet to start building their side of the pipeline. A pipeline through Syria to a Lebanese port on the Mediterranean lays idle. Copyright c 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 Cleanup of DOE tests sites may hit $542 million January 23, 2001 By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER LIVERMORE--Environmental cleanup and monitoring at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and its explosives test area in the Altamont Hills will cost an estimated $542 million by 2070, according to lab and Energy Department estimates. A two-volume Energy Department report to Congress on the long-term stewardship of contaminated sites details cleanup activities and maintenance costs for most of this century. Cleanup activities at Livermore Lab have so far cost about $156 million, and $103 million at Site 300, the lab's non-nuclear explosives test site, said Bert Heffner, a lab spokesman. And the Energy Department spends, on average, about $20 million per year, combined, on cleanup activities at the two sites, he said. "In the past, it was shared more to the main site--now there is a greater proportion toward Site 300," Heffner said. Between 2008 and 2070, about $91 million will be spent on cleanup at the lab, and about $42 million will be spent at Site 300, according to estimates in the report, released this month. Heffner said that this period of long-term stewardship begins by 2007, after all buildings, structures and equipment for the cleanup and monitoring activities have been purchased. "Long-term stewardship deals with the monitoring and maintenance period," Heffner said. The stewardship report, titled, "Report to Congress: Long-Term Stewardship, " lists 12 contaminated areas at Livermore Lab and eight at Site 300 that are subject to long-term cleanup and monitoring. Within these areas are release sites, which are locations where the pollution may have originated. Livermore Lab has 122 release sites and Site 300 has 51 release sites that require long-term stewardship, according to the report, which has been released to Congress but hasn't yet been posted on the Internet. Most of the contamination at the lab site is from World War II-era fuel and chemicals used at a military air training facility, Heffner said. At Site 300, an 11-square-mile area that lab scientists have used to test explosives, there is a wide range of contamination, including uranium, plutonium and tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen. Though the report includes cleanup plans for some contaminants, it does not propose to clean up all pollutants. In fact, the cost estimate for long-term stewardship at Livermore Lab is based on one chemical pollutant: trichloroethylene, a solvent. A chemical spill in the soil and groundwater in the area of Livermore Lab spans 98 acres, including 56 acres that are beyond lab boundaries, the report states. At Site 300, two groundwater plumes of contaminants "have migrated to offsite locations and threaten two water supply wells," the report states. The wells are frequently monitored, and the Energy Department plans to provide a new clean water source if the current wells become contaminated, the report states. ');}// --> [*][I] ');}// ***************************************************************** 19 Attorney addresses lawsuits against OR nuclear facilities Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 BY PAUL PARSON Oak Ridger staff An attorney involved in two recently filed class-action lawsuits against managers of nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge attempted to shed some light on the legal matters Tuesday night. Jackie Kittrell, a Knoxville attorney, said she felt it necessary to clarify some misunderstandings about the lawsuits during her presentation at the Scarboro Community Environmental Justice Council meeting. Around 20 people attended the meeting in the Scarboro Community Center. "Both are of interest to Scarboro," Kittrell said. "Some Scarboro residents are covered by both." However, though filed the same day, Kittrell pointed out that the two lawsuits cover different matters. She said one lawsuit was filed on behalf of several plaintiffs who have suffered thyroid cancer, which may have been linked to releases of radioactive iodine-131 from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other facilities. The other lawsuit was filed on behalf of residents of the Scarboro neighborhood. When the Scarboro residential area was created, the lawsuit maintains, the exclusively African-American neighborhood was located in an area where it would be the most contaminated and most subject to pollution from activities at Oak Ridge's nuclear facilities. Plaintiffs in this case include Scarboro residents Fannie Ball, R.L. Ayres and Minnie Thompson. Listed as defendants in both lawsuits are: Union Carbide Corp., Monsanto Co., the University of Chicago, Roane-Anderson Co. and Turner Construction Co. Other defendants in the thyroid cancer lawsuit are Eastman Kodak Co., Eastman Chemical Co., Martin-Marietta Energy Systems Inc., Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Babcock & Wilcox Co., Battelle Inc. and BWXT Y-12. Both of the lawsuits were filed last week in United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, Northeasteran Division, in Knoxville. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 20 Changes to occur at SNS Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:28 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 BY PAUL PARSON Oak Ridger staff The impending appointment of a new executive director for the Spallation Neutron Source isn't the only change expected for the $1.4 billion project. Bill Madia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, says the SNS will soon be integrated back into the lab, thus resulting in a change of sorts as to whom the SNS director will report. Currently, the head of the Spallation Neutron Source project reports to Madia in his role as chief executive officer of UT-Battelle, which manages the lab for the Department of Energy. But when the integration occurs, the SNS executive director will report to Madia as the lab director. "This will be implemented when the new (SNS) director comes aboard, " Madia said of the integration. SNS' initial independence from ORNL was due to the fact that the Department of Energy contract to manage the lab was up for grabs, according to Madia. "It was the right thing to do at the time," he said. Things are different now, Madia said. UT-Battelle is approaching its first anniversary as ORNL's manager, the SNS has been fully funded this fiscal year and construction on the project is reportedly on track. Madia said neither the reorganization of the SNS nor the imminent loss of its current director, David Moncton, should have any impact on the future of the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2006. Moncton decided to quit splitting his time between his SNS duties and his job at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, choosing to return full-time to the latter. He has agreed to stay on until a new SNS director is found. As regards the search for a new SNS director, Madia is optimistic. "The search is going quite well," he said. Madia added that he's had discussions with a "handful of leading candidates." However, at this time, Madia said he could not release the names of those candidates. He did say he has an initial interview this weekend with one of the candidates. The interview process will include Madia, representatives from the other five national labs partnering with ORNL to build the SNS, and the SNS management team. A tentative date of March 1 has been set for announcing the new director. The SNS, located on Chestnut Ridge between Oak Ridge National Lab and the Y-12 National Security Complex, will consist of a linear accelerator that will produce proton beams that scatter neutrons by bombarding a liquid mercury target. Neutron scattering research has been responsible for improvements in jets, credit cards, pocket calculators, compact discs, computer disks, shatterproof windshields, satellite information for weather forecasts and stronger, lighter plastics. Neutrons have also been used to determine how bones mineralize during development and how they decay during osteoporosis. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 21 OR incinerator may be restarted in early March Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:28 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 The Associated Press The government's Oak Ridge incinerator that was shut down in November for annual maintenance could be restarted in early March, officials said. Repairs to the incinerator, which burns waste containing radioactive substances and hazardous chemicals, includes relining the kiln with refractory bricks. The kiln underwent major repairs last summer after officials discovered a worn metal section in the discharge end was allowing air to seep in. That caused the incinerator to burn waste at higher temperatures than normal and reduced its efficiency. It also caused the refractory bricks to wear. Mark Musolf, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs Co., the Department of Energy's environmental manager in Oak Ridge, said the target date for restart depends on how quickly maintenance is completed. Musolf said a "trial burn" is scheduled to begin April 20. The burn consists of a series of tests to determine the facility's compliance with emissions standards and other regulations. The Department of Energy earlier projected the incinerator would burn about 2 million pounds of waste in 2001. That would be almost four times last year's total, which was the lowest in the incinerator's history. [*][I] All Contents cCopyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 22 Long wait continues for Oak Ridge retirees January 24, 2001 [*]By Frank Munger News-Sentinel senior writer Thousands of retired Oak Ridge contractor employees are waiting and wondering whether they'll get a pension increase, and it looks like they'll have to wait a while longer. It's not yet clear when the pension committee will meet to consider the issue, and apparently nobody is pushing the urgency button. BWXT President John Mitchell, who met with retirees during a series of informational sessions late last year, indicated the committee probably would convene sometime in the spring. Asked to be more specific, a BWXT spokesman this week responded: "Mr. Mitchell is supposed to meet with the retirees coalition early next month, and a date for the spring meeting may be forthcoming following that meeting." The committee is comprised of representatives from BWXT, the federal contractor that manages the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and administrator of the pension fund, and UT-Battelle, the contractor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The pension fund has a surplus reported to be in the range of $1 billion, yet it's been years since retirees have received a pension increase. The situation exasperates and infuriates many retirees who say inflation and rising insurance premiums have shrunk their monthly checks and made life more difficult. Bob Wesley, a spokesman for the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees, said, the situation is particularly difficult for those who retired long ago. About 2,500 retirees are 80 years old or older, with 230 in their 90s and six over 100 years old, he said. "This means that nearly 20 percent of the pensioners from the plants are living 15 to 35 years past the typical retirement age of 65," Wesley said. He added: "While it is too early to reveal specifics of the coalition's recommendations to be made to BWXT, I will repeat what we have said before--that we believe the pension fund should be solely for the use of present and future retirees. We believe that it is in the best interests of the pensioners, BWXT and DOE to make some adjustments as rapidly as possible. We are proposing increases that will help offset the large increases in the cost of living that retirees have had to cope with in the 13 years since their last pension increases from the company." * SEASONAL SPIRIT: The draft environmental impact statement for the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, which will be the topic of public hearings Thursday in Oak Ridge, was released by the U.S. Department of Energy in December--nearly a year late. The timing of the document, which outlines plans for modernizing Y-12's nuclear storage and manufacturing facilities, was not lost on the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. As reported in the peace group's recent newsletter: "During the Christmas holidays, DOE played the father of all Grinches. While millions sang of peace on Earth, federal officials quietly published their plan for annihilation--a new nuclear bomb plant." * BAD REPORT: DOE officials this week acknowledged that an earlier response to questions about hydrogen fluoride at Y-12 was misleading. DOE information chief Steven Wyatt was quoted in a recent column as saying HF was previously used in the Oak Ridge plant's production processes but that the toxic material was removed in the mid-1990s. "There is no longer any substantial quantities of fluorine or HF at the Y-12 plant," Wyatt said. That statement was true, as far as it went, but the report suggested hydrogen fluoride was no longer a part of the plant operations. The truth of the matter is, HF has not been needed in recent years because of the shutdown of chemical operations involving enriched uranium. As those operations are restarted, HF again will be a factor at Y- 12. In follow-up questions, DOE spokesman David Page clarified the situation. "HF is used in the uranium recycle process for the purification and reconstitution of scrap uranium into purified metal," Page said. The hydrogen-fluoride operation is scheduled to resume in fiscal year 2002 (which begins Oct. 1), he said. For initial activities, the Oak Ridge plant will have less than 2, 000 pounds of anhydrous HF on site, Page said. The material will be delivered and stored in certified Department of Transportation containers, he said. Senior Writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News-Sentinel. He can be reached at 865-482-9213 or at twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. This column is also available on the Web at www.knoxnews.com/editorsview/ munger/ ***************************************************************** 23 Contamination at plants source of plutonium in munitions: Pentagon - Jim Mannion Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse Agence France Presse January 24, 2001, Wednesday 1:23 AM, Eastern Time By Jim Mannion WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2001 Plutonium and a highly radioactive isotope, U-236, found in US depleted uranium (DU) munitions has been traced to the use of contaminated equipment at US government plants where the heavy metal was produced during the Cold War, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Pentagon spokesmen said that the amounts found in US stocks of depleted uranium were minute and the risk to health or to the environment was insignificant. "We have seen nothing in our studies that this would have more than an insignificant impact either on personal health or the environment, " said Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman. "It is just incredibly small quantities here that we're talking about both in the armor and in the munitions themselves," he said. But the disclosure that DU munitions contain even trace amounts of highly toxic plutonium as well as U-236 has outraged Germany, whose defense minister protested the Pentagon's failure to keep its allies informed. NATO has been struggling for weeks to allay fears in some European countries that a rash of reported cancer cases among veterans of Balkans peacekeeping missions were linked to exposure to depleted uranium ordnance fired by US forces during conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo. Quigley said a NATO committee set up to look into the depleted uranium issue has been informed in recent days about the plutonium found in US DU stocks. It was detected as early as 1999 in the course of an investigation by the Department of Energy into contamination at its processing plants in Paducah, Kentucky; Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Piketon, Ohio, defense officials said. The investigation found that all three plants during the 1950s through the 1970s were contaminated by operations involving recycled uranium that contained plutonium, neptunium and technetium-99, defense officials said. Depleted uranium produced with the contaminated equipment itself became contaminated with plutonium and the other transuranic elements, they said. Trace elements of U-236, which normally would not be found in depleted uranium, also were noted when depleted uranium stocks were checked in 1999, said Lieutenant Colonel Paul Phillips, a Pentagon spokesman. "The source of the contamination as best we can understand it now was the plant themselves that produced the depleted uranium during the 20 some year time frame when the DU was produced," said Quigley. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************