***************************************************************** 10/24/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.250 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 US NRC approves Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site 2 The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Wednesday October 24, 2001 3 Sea law declared on Sellafield plan 4 BNFL steps up atomic split fight 5 NATIONAL NEWS: Security boosted at nuclear plants 6 NATIONAL NEWS: About-turn on waste storage NUCLEAR POWER: 7 Irish protest over Sellafield 8 Czech premier receives EU commissioner's letter on nuclear plant 9 Germany: Arson attack on nuclear transport route in Lower-Saxony 10 Slovak premier hopes for more EU money for closing down nuclear 11 Lithuania practising evacuation, protection of civilians in 12 Vermont Yankee lawyer: security not issue for state regulators 13 Spanish government extends authorisations to operate Asco nuclear 14 'Chernobyl cancer toll still rising' 15 Greenpeace protests transit of nuclear waste across Russia's 16 Terrorist nuclear threat dismissed 17 Maine Yankee adds security to address post-attack fears 18 2 Groups Sue LIPA Over Nuclear Plant 19 Counting Chernobyl's Cancer Cost 20 Cotter update meeting set for Tuesday 21 Greens pledge $9.1b for environmental aid 22 Terrorist nuclear threat dismissed 23 Irish anger over findings on nuclear dangers 24 How we can prevent a nuclear nightmare 25 Calif. San Onofre nuke unit returns to service 26 Local governments chip in to flight nuclear waste dump 27 Calif nuclear plant siren test set -- 28 Duke's Catawba application draws mixed comments 29 Richland firm looks to irradiation 30 Leaked report censures Sellafield NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 How we can prevent a nuclear nightmare 2 Legal row over Faslane arrests 3 Russian scientists call for lower level of nuclear combat 4 Eight investigation teams to work on Kursk 5 Kursk scrapping to start in six months, says Russian deputy PM 6 Nobel Prize-Winning Physicians Call for Nuclear Reduction 7 Numatec Hanford continues on cleanup project 8 Investigators To Examine Upper Deck Of Kursk Submarine 9 AEC invitation to develop atomic energy sector 10 168 arrested in Scotland during anti-nuclear protest 11 Protesters gather at nuclear conference 12 DOE ordered to pay legal fees in Carson case 13 3 groups blast DOE restructuring of Pantex board 14 DOE holds meeting with lab workers 15 Weapons labs consider moving some nuclear materials underground 16 Musharraf won't budge on nuclear program - 17 Pro-Taliban nuclear scientist 'under arrest in Pakistan' 18 Community groups upset with DOE over advisory board changes 19 Pakistani leader rules out compromise on nuclear programme 20 Butler warns of nuclear threat **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 US NRC approves Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 07:37:05 -0500 (CDT) USA: October 24, 2001 WASHINGTON - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week signed off on a plan to build an underground dump in Nevada's Yucca Mountain to hold radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Yet another step in a long approval process, NRC approved a site suitability study submitted by the Department of Energy. The Bush administration must still submit that plan for congressional approval. The Energy Department in August gave a favorable safety assessment to the proposed project, which would face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. It is heavily opposed by Democrat Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the new Senate assistant majority leader. The site in the Nevada desert would store thousands of tons of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants for an estimated 10,000 years. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 2 The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Wednesday October 24, 2001 Wednesday October 24, 2001 By TRACY HARMON The Pueblo Chieftain CANON CITY - A public meeting slated for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday will update residents on cleanup issues and activities in the Lincoln Park Superfund site and the Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill. Also, the public will learn about $1.75 million available to restore natural resources damaged as a result of the mill's activities. The meeting will be held at the Fremont County administration building, 615 Macon Ave. The Lincoln Park neighborhood has been on the national Superfund list since 1983 because the Cotter Mill used unlined containment ponds to store tailings from 1958-1979. Contaminated water then seeped into the ground. Since then, Cotter has undergone numerous cleanup and monitoring activities under the direction of Colorado Department of Public Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials. In the summer of 2000, the EPA began steps to "de-list" the Lincoln Park neighborhood from the Superfund list, but the record of decision suggesting "no further action" will pertain to soil only and the EPA will postpone a decision on what to do about contaminated ground water due to more stringent drinking water standards put into place last December. Jane Feldman, an attorney with the Colorado attorney general's office, will discuss the Natural Resource Damages Funds, an account that contains about $1.75 million for restoration, replacement or rehabilitation of natural resources that were damaged as a result of the Cotter activities. s part of the settlement agreement between the state and Cotter, Cotter paid $1 million for natural resources damages, an amount which has been generating interest in a Colorado state treasury account. A work group will be formed to solicit bid proposals from the community, evaluate the bids and make recommendations on how the funds should be sent. Health officials also will update residents on the use of a reactive wall that is reducing the level of contaminants in the groundwater seeping through the a Soil Conservation Services dam in the Sand Creek drainage area on the north end of the Cotter property. For the past year, the wall has reduced uranium and molybdenum values. The state health department also will discuss the current process of reviewing the Cotter application for renewal of its radioactive materials license, a step that is required every five years. ©1996-2001 Chieftain.com The Star-Journal Publishing Corp. ***************************************************************** 3 Sea law declared on Sellafield plan Irish Newspapers - THE Government is racing against time to get an international legal injunction against the expansion of Sellafield. Attorney General Michael McDowell now believes that a little known United Nations convention could be used to stop the British upgrading the disgraced nuclear facility. But even if he succeeds, Ireland will be subjected to a full nuclear meltdown test early next month. Mr McDowell is preparing the Government's case against Britain under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under this agreement an international tribunal has the power to issue a binding injunction preventing the new Sellafield MOX facility. The Government is furious that British Nuclear Fuels Limited has been given the go-ahead for its new MOX plant. Nuclear waste from all over the world will be reprocessed there. Any successful injunction will have to be achieved within the next four weeks because the new plant is due to come on-line on November 23. The legal action will focus on the increased risk of radioactive discharge into the Irish sea, the increased risk of an accident or terrorist act. Karl Brophy Irish Independent ***************************************************************** 4 BNFL steps up atomic split fight scotsman.com - BRITISH Nuclear Fuels is stepping up pressure on the Government to split off its atomic interests into a publicly-owned liabilities management authority that would fund long-term decommissioning and clean-up work. BNFL has been talking to ministers about the creation of an LMA for more than a year, but wants an early resolution to the issue to allow it to focus on a possible privatisation of 49 per cent of the company. It believes the Railtrack debacle, in which the Government was forced to appoint administrators earlier this month, could help its case by demonstrating that businesses requiring heavy long-term investment cannot be easily funded in the private sector. The LMA would be responsible for nuclear liabilities of about £60 billion relating to BNFL, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Ministry of Defence. BNFL’s share was about £24 billion last year. Bankers said there was little chance of investors backing the partial flotation unless the liabilities were left with the Government. Many liabilities relate to old plants and waste storage. The Department of Trade and Industry confirmed the decision could be made this year. However, BNFL believes the earliest it could proceed with the flotation is 2004 as it is still struggling to rebuild its image after a fake data scandal in 1999. Tuesday, 23rd October 2001 ***************************************************************** 5 NATIONAL NEWS: Security boosted at nuclear plants Financial Times; Oct 23, 2001 By DANIEL DOMBEY and MATTHEW JONES Contingency measures to protect nuclear installations from terrorist attack had been tightened in the light of the September 11 atrocities, the government confirmed yesterday. The news follows French moves over the weekend to protect the Cap de la Hague nuclear reprocessing plant from aerial terrorist attacks by installing anti-aircraft missiles and placing 10 fighter aircraft on 24-hour standby. One Whitehall insider said: "These measures are not the same as the French measures but would provide a similar level of protection. The steps would be up to and including having fighter aircraft on standby that could scrambled at a moment's notice." Anti-nuclear groups have said a direct impact from an aircraft on British Nuclear Fuel's Sellafield site in Cumbria could produce an explosion worse than the Chernobyl disaster - a claim that has been described as "irresponsible" by BNFL. An official from the Department of Trade and Industry refused to confirm the details of the precautions but said the government was "satisfied" that an adequate level of protection had been provided. The comments followed a statement by Lord Sainsbury, junior trade and industry minister, that energy companies were working with security services to ensure that all energy supplies were protected against terrorism and that the country had adequate stocks of fuel in case of disruption. Copyright: The Financial Times Limited ***************************************************************** 6 NATIONAL NEWS: About-turn on waste storage NUCLEAR POWER: Financial Times; Oct 24, 2001 By MATTHEW JONES The government yesterday appeared to distance itself from the possibility of long-term storage of nuclear waste above ground - a U-turn from its position a month ago. Michael Meacher, environment minister, launched a public consultation into nuclear waste storage last month, saying all options would be considered, including above ground storage, advocated by environmental campaign groups. But he told the House of Lords science and technology committee that this position was being reconsidered amid concerns about the heightened risks of aerial attacks on atomic facilities. Britain's nuclear waste stockpile stands at 10,000 tonnes but is set to reach 500,000 over the next century, even if no new nuclear power stations are built. Plans for a deep underground depository near Sellafield, Cumbria, were dropped by the Conservative government about four years ago and ministers have said it may be five years before a decision on an alternative is made. Mr Meacher said the Office of Civil Nuclear Security was studying the threat of aerial attacks on all atomic sites in the UK. The government will consider bringing forward its timetable for the long-term storage facility if the OCNS advised that the risks of above-ground storage were unacceptably high. The Lords' committee, chaired by Lord Oxburgh, had criticised the government's consultation paper as "vacuous" and lacking in detail. Delay in implementing a long-term storage strategy could compromise energy security because the public was unlikely to back the building of new plants until a solution was found. Finland is the only country in Europe to have an underground nuclear storage facility and the construction process took 18 years from the original decision. Environmental groups argue that nuclear waste stored underground is more difficult to manage safely because of the possibility of radioactive leakage into ground water over thousands of years. Copyright: The Financial Times Limited ***************************************************************** 7 Irish protest over Sellafield Financial Times; Oct 24, 2001 Ruairi Quinn, leader of Ireland's opposition Labour party, with a protester heading a march yesterday on the British Embassy in Dublin to demand the immediate closure of the Sellafield nuclear power plant. The protest was in advance of a debate in the Irish parliament in which Labour was expected to condemn the British government for giving the go-ahead to a recycled nuclear fuel project. The party was also expected to criticise the Irish government's failure to take "assertive action". Bertie Ahern, prime minister, has promised to try to prevent the facility. Picture: Press Association Copyright: The Financial Times Limited ***************************************************************** 8 Czech premier receives EU commissioner's letter on nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 24, 2001 Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 24 October: Prime Minister Milos Zeman has received a letter from European enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen about the Melk process [agreed upon by Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel last December], government spokesman Libor Roucek told CTK today. He refused to disclose its content. Last Monday [15 October] Verheugen sent a letter to Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Zeman, in which he said that the assessment of the safety of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant within the Melk process was completed and should be closed. The "Melk process" means official talks between Austria and the Czech Republic about Temelin, started last November. Verheugen voiced the desire that the process should end as soon as possible, preferably by mid-November. "Zeman identifies with the effort to close the Melk process as soon as possible," Roucek said... Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1042 gmt 24 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 9 Germany: Arson attack on nuclear transport route in Lower-Saxony BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 24, 2001 Text of report by German news agency ddp on 24 October Hanover: In the course of Wednesday morning [24 October] an arson attack was carried out on the Castor route [routes used for the transport of nuclear waste. Castor is the name given to the containers used for transporting the waste] in the Luechow-Dannenberg (Lower-Saxony) area. This morning police in Hanover reported that anti-Castor activists obviously drove an agricultural trailer, which was loaded with tyres, under a bridge and set fire to it. No further details are known at present. Source: ddp news agency, Berlin, in German 0314 gmt 24 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 10 Slovak premier hopes for more EU money for closing down nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 23, 2001 Bratislava, 23 October: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) accepted Slovakia's request to leave the word 'liquidation' out of the English wording of the framework agreement on early closure of Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power. Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda informed the parliament about the wording on Tuesday [23 October]... He also hinted that the EU could provide further financial compensation for the closure of the plant when the EU's budget for 2007-2013 is approved. On the basis of the agreement between EBRD and Slovakia, which should be signed on 16 November, a fund should be created into which the Netherlands and Denmark would contribute in addition to the EU. Government's positive stance towards the framework agreement should help Slovakia close the acquis communautaire chapter on energy by the end of this week... Source: TASR web site, Bratislava, in English 1539 gmt 23 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 11 Lithuania practising evacuation, protection of civilians in emergency situations BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 23, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian AVN Military News Agency web site Vilnius, 23 October: A practice of organizing civilians' evacuation and protection in an emergency situation at the Ignalina nuclear power plant started on Tuesday [23 October], Arunas Sukta, deputy director of the National Defence Ministry civil protection department, told Interfax-Military News Agency. The exercise involves over 300 students of secondary education schools in Vilnius, Zarasai and Ignalina Districts. It aims to practise interaction of ministries and agencies in the event of an emergency. The training was arranged beforehand, Sukta said. The previous exercise of that kind took place here in 1999 but stopped at the evacuation stage. During the current training its participants are to practise the complete set of measures that are to be taken in an emergency. The exercise will end on Wednesday. Source: AVN Military News Agency web site, Moscow, in English 1502 gmt 23 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to Copyright ***************************************************************** 12 Vermont Yankee lawyer: security not issue for state regulators Boston.com By Associated Press, 10/23/2001 12:27 MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) The Public Service Board shouldn't worry itself about possible terrorist attacks on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as it reviews the proposed sale of Vermont's lone reactor, the plant's lawyers say. The arguments came in papers filed with the board on the proposed $180 million sale of the plant to Entergy Nuclear Inc. ''Safety from terrorism or sabotage is part of nuclear safety regulated extensively and exclusively by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,'' the plant's lawyers said. They also said any vulnerabilities or security issues of the plant shouldn't be aired in public. ''Disclosure of security information, even inadvertently, could potentially facilitate the terrorist attacks it is aiming to prevent,'' they said. Vermont Yankee said it wouldn't oppose granting a variety of groups intervener status in the hearings on the sale, including groups as diverse as the anti-nuclear group Citizens Awareness Network and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers. But Vermont Yankee said the proper forum for many of their concerns was elsewhere whether it was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on issues of health and safety or the board room meetings of Vermont Yankee for the minority shareholders. ''The board has no authority to order Vermont Yankee to adopt security measures, to restructure the fuel pool, to restructure the reactor containment or to shut the plant down; the board also has no authority to order the relocation of the Vernon Elementary School or determine who should pay for such relocation,'' Vermont Yankee's lead attorney, John Marshall wrote in response to suggestions by intervening groups. Vermont Yankee also said that a suggestion from the Conservation Law Foundation that the proceeds of the sale be used for a fund for renewable energy sources was beyond the scope of the sale hearing. ''CLF cites no authority for the proposition that the board could ever require establishment of such a public benefit fund,'' Marshall wrote. Marshall and his fellow attorneys at Downs Rachlin and Martin, Nancy Malmquist and Robert A. Miller Jr., added a suggestion that the sale be approved by Feb. 28, 2002. © Copyright 2001 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing Inc. ***************************************************************** 13 Spanish government extends authorisations to operate Asco nuclear plants (Prorroga para las nucleares de Asco) Expansion; Oct 23, 2001 The Spanish economy ministry has extended for ten years the authorisations to operate two nuclear power stations, the Asco I and Asco II, in the north-eastern province of Tarragona, according to an order published in the official Spanish state gazette. The authorisations came into force on 2 October and can be extended by a further maximum period of ten years at the request of the operating companies, Endesa and Iberdrola. Abstracted from Expansion All Material Subject to Copyright ***************************************************************** 14 'Chernobyl cancer toll still rising' online.ie : News The Irish Examiner 24 Oct 2001 By John von Radowitz THE Chernobyl nuclear disaster made medical history by accounting for resulted in almost 2,000 cases of thyroid cancer. Experts meeting in Lisbon were told this was the largest group of human cancers associated with a known cause on a known date. The number of cancer casualties from the world's worst nuclear accident in the Ukrainian city 15 years ago is still rising. Professor Dillwyn Williams, Cambridge University, told the European cancer conference: "Four years after the accident, an excess of thyroid cancers was noted among children who had been exposed to fallout from the disaster. That increase has continued and new cases are still being seen in those who were children at the time of the accident." Only 31 people died in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe but one report says five million people in the former Soviet Union were exposed to radiation or other health hazards by the accident. ***************************************************************** 15 Greenpeace protests transit of nuclear waste across Russia's Siberia BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 24, 2001 Text of report by Russian NTV on 24 October [Presenter Aleksey Sukhanov] At this very moment, activists of the Greenpeace environmental movement are starting a protest demonstration in Novosibirsk. They are demanding that the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry abandon negotiations with Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia on transporting nuclear waste on the Trans-Siberian railroad across Krasnoyarsk Territory. The ministry has stated that this is absolutely safe and at the same time profitable. Also, the Atomic Energy Ministry believes that if these Eastern European states use Russian nuclear fuel, then it is Russia's job to recycle it. [Bulat Nigmatulin, captioned as Russian deputy Atomic Energy Minister] Everything is going according to plan. We have here all the resources we need. The main thing is that this is profitable for the country, profitable for Krasonyarsk Territory, the plant [where the fuel will be recycled] and the almost 6,000 people who are involved with this hi-tech process. Source: NTV, Moscow, in Russian 0600 gmt 24 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 16 Terrorist nuclear threat dismissed [October 24, 2001] The Australian: From AAP CLAIMS Australia's nuclear reactor was a prime terrorist target have been dismissed as silly scaremongering by federal Resources Minister Nick Minchin. The Minister for Industry, Science and Resources was met by anti-nuclear protesters as he opened the fourth annual conference on Nuclear Science and Engineering at a Sydney inner city hotel early today. The protesters were demanding the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney's south-west be shut down, saying it could now be a prime terrorist target. Outside the hotel about 100 protesters rallied to oppose the replacement nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights and the federal government's commitment to uranium mining and nuclear energy. NSW Greens senate candidate Kerry Nettle told the protesters, that in the US and Germany there had been steps to protect nuclear reactors in the wake of terrorist attacks on Washington and New York on September 11. She said the industry in Germany had shut down and in the US the air force had been instructed to shoot down any planes flying over nuclear reactors. But Mr Minchin dismissed the suggestions as silly and said there were plenty of targets in Sydney if a crazed terrorist wanted to attack. "We have oil refineries, chemical factories, major buildings and the Sydney Harbour bridge," he said. "It's just silly to pick out the Lucas Heights reactor if we are serious about a debate on the threat of terrorism." The Greens, and other protesters including representatives from Greenpeace, the National Union of Students and Sydney People Against A New Nuclear Reactor, were also calling for more transparency in the government's nuclear power plans. "We want to have a say in any decisions made about nuclear power in Australia," Ms Nettle said. Senator Minchin denied the secrecy claims. He said the whole process could not have been more transparent and the public had been given access to all the information they had asked for. "There's nothing hidden about this. It's just a game, it's wild assertion by those who are mindlessly determined to deny Australia the benefits we gain by having our own research reactor," he said. He dismissed calls by the protesters for a health study into the reactor, saying there was no evidence of medical problems of Lucas Heights residents in the more than 40 years it has been operating. "The Sutherland Shire shows absolutely no effects whatsoever," he said. "It's just mindless scaremongering with no evidence to back it up." The replacement research reactor is due to start running by August 2005 and be fully operational by February 2006, Senator Minchin said. Preliminary construction starts next year, he said. 2001 The Australian ***************************************************************** 17 Maine Yankee adds security to address post-attack fears Some say the changes are helpful, while others find them inadequate. --> Wednesday, October 24, 2001 By JOSIE HUANG, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. Maine Yankee has set up a checkpoint on its main access road, the most visible show of heightened security at the closed nuclear power plant since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Concrete Jersey barriers and a booth manned around the clock have blocked the road since Oct. 25, largely in response to Nuclear Regulatory Commission demands for more safeguards at all plants, said Maine Yankee spokesman Eric Howes. Some said the changes are helpful, while others found them inadequate. A guard peers through binoculars Tuesday at a new security gate at Maine Yankee in Wiscasset. The booth is manned around the clock, and concrete barriers block access roads as part of new safety measures. Paula Craighead, nuclear adviser to Gov. Angus King, said plant officials have done "what they need for today's conditions." She said that Maine Yankee staff has begun to post no-trespassing signs on the grounds, limiting access for hikers and hunters. Concrete barriers also line a second, less-traveled access road. But a group of public officials, anti-nuclear activists and citizens say they want to see more security surrounding the plant's highly radioactive spent-fuel pool. "I don't think they're doing enough," said Stanley Lane, a selectman from Westport, which neighbors Wiscasset. His board this month wrote a letter to the NRC urging that safety measures at the plant be revised in light of the attacks. "I think of it as all window dressing," he said. A series of successful trespassing attempts into non-secure areas by Lane and others prior to the establishment of the checkpoint has only bolstered fears that the plant is vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Howes said that the trespassing incidents were overblown and not the impetus for recent changes. Maine Yankee has been taking necessary precautions, many of which have fallen outside of the public's radar, to protect 1,432 spent fuel-rod assemblies ever since the attacks, Howes said. He downplayed the significance of the new measures. "I wouldn't say that makes us more or less secure than we were before," he said. "It's simply a change." Howes maintained that changes at Maine Yankee resulted from several general advisories from the NRC and conference calls with other nuclear plant managers throughout the Northeast. Recent decisions also have been colored by plans to move spent nuclear fuel from the plant reactor for storage elsewhere on the site, Howes said. Howes would not say how long the checkpoint would remain. King, who voiced concerns about safety at Maine Yankee in a letter to the NRC this month, has been satisfied with recent security improvements, said Craighead. But King and his advisers remain "in an ongoing mode of examination," she added. In just the last week, King has visited Maine Yankee, had a teleconference with the NRC and separately met with plant officials and anti-nuclear activists in his office, according to his spokespeople. Craighead said the public should be assured that there are armed guards at Maine Yankee, and that plant officials have addressed the plant's proximity to water and the Wiscasset airport. Critics of security at Maine Yankee have pushed for a no-fly zone over the plant and the presence of National Guardsmen. Neither idea has received much support from state or plant officials. Nationally, the NRC has asked plants to boost security patrols, restrict access to sensitive parts of facilities, and limit the number of vehicles allowed on site, said agency spokesman Neil Sheehan. Sheehan said that NRC inspectors are visiting nuclear plants, including Maine Yankee, in the next several weeks to "make sure the plants are doing what they're supposed to do." Even though Maine Yankee was closed in 1997, its spent-fuel pool "still warrants a high level of protection," Sheehan said. No threats to any plants have been found to be credible, according to the NRC. Staff Writer Josie Huang can be contacted at 791-6364 or at: Story contains Strikethroughs ST-f+timpending f-t ST-f+tGov. f-t ST-f+thas been permanently f-t ST-f+tsincef-t ST-f+t up to this pointf-t This is a model for a liftout on an inside page. Flow text into selected text window a model for a liftout on an inside page. Flow text into select Maine Yankee has been taking precautions to protect 1,432 spent fuel-rod assemblies ever since the attacks, Howes said. --> © Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. ***************************************************************** 18 2 Groups Sue LIPA Over Nuclear Plant Newsday.com - By Tom McGinty STAFF WRITER October 24, 2001 Two energy watchdog groups have filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court that seeks to force the Long Island Power Authority to sell its interest in the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant. The suit, filed in Riverhead by the STAR Foundation and the Citizens Advisory Panel, says LIPA has ignored a state law directing the utility to pull out of the nuclear plant. "We are bringing this lawsuit to force LIPA to comply with the law and sell its interest in this aging reactor," said Scott Cullen, counsel to STAR, Standing for Truth About Radiation, an anti-nuclear environmental group based in East Hampton. LIPA Chairman Richard Kessel said the authority would love to sell its piece of the nuclear plant, but potential buyers are not willing to pay enough. "If we can get a deal where we can walk away without any negative impact on our customers and a guaranteed supply of power, we'll take it," Kessel said. "The deal that we've been offered doesn't come close to that right now." The state legislation that enabled LIPA to purchase parts of the Long Island Lighting Co. states that the authority "shall make every effort" to sell its interest in Nine Mile Point. Gordian Raacke, executive director of the Citizens Advisory Panel, said LIPA had a golden opportunity to fulfill that requirement this year, when four other New York utilities sold their shares in Nine Mile Point Units I and II to Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group for $815 million. The transaction gave Constellation control of 1,550 megawatts of the units' generating capacity, which translates to a unit price of about $526,000 per megawatt. Kessel said that is not nearly enough to compensate LIPA for what it has invested in the plant. LIPA's 18 percent share of Unit II - about 207 megawatts of generating capacity - was purchased from LILCO in 1998 for more than $700 million and is currently carried on LIPA's books as a $630-million asset, according to LIPA's audited financial statements. That translates to about $3 million per megawatt. Raacke said he is not swayed by the financial argument for not selling. "It was a stupid thing to buy in the first place and it was even dumber to pay what they did," Raacke said. "At some point you have to cut your losses and say enough is enough." He warned that as long as LIPA owns a piece of Nine Mile Point, it will be exposed to the costs of possible nuclear disasters and decommissioning the plant when it is eventually shut down. Kessel, however, said LIPA's ownership of an interest in the nuclear plant should be assessed in a broader context. "Nine Mile II was purchased as part of the entire deal to acquire LILCO," Kessel said. "That deal resulted in a 20 percent rate cut. Had we not taken Nine Mile II, there would have been no deal and we would be stuck with LILCO today." Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc. ***************************************************************** 19 Counting Chernobyl's Cancer Cost Environment News Service: LISBON, Portugal, October 23, 2001 (ENS) - Chernobyl has made medical history, accounting for the largest group of human cancers associated with a known cause on a known date, ECCO 11, the European Cancer Conference heard in Lisbon today. Nearly 2,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been linked to the world's worst nuclear accident which occurred in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, and the number is still rising, according to some of the world's most prestigious cancer researchers. Professor Dillwyn Williams, of The Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge University, told the meeting, "Four years after the accident, an excess of thyroid cancers was noted among children who had been exposed to fall-out from the disaster. That increase has continued and new cases are still being seen in those who were children at the time of the accident." [rescue] One of the thousands of rescue workers who helped in the immediate aftermath of the accident. (Photos courtesy Chernobyl Charity Online) Dr. Elaine Ron, of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland, explained, "Following external radiation exposure, the elevated risk of thyroid cancer appears to continue throughout life, but there is some indication that the risk may be highest 15 to 19 years after exposure." External radiation is the only well established cause of cancer of the thyroid gland. People under 20 are at a increased risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to isotopes of iodine. Professor Williams said, "Exposure to isotopes of iodine gives the thyroid over a 1,000 times the average dose to the rest of the body. The particular sensitivity of children to thyoid cancer after radiation exposure can be linked to a combination of a higher thyroid dose and the biology of thyroid growth which falls to a very low level in adult life. Few of the patients with thyroid cancer have died, but help is still needed." The United Nations marked the 15th anniversary of the disaster with an appeal for aid for the victims of radiation. According to one report, five million people in the former Soviet Union were exposed to radiation or other health hazards by the Chernobyl catastrophe. On April 25, 1986, the reactor crew at Chernobyl-4 disabled automatic shutdown mechanisms before an attempted test of the unit the next day. The test was intended to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power following a loss of main electrical power supply. [reactor] Chernobyl's 4th reactor after the explosion and fire. During the test, as flow of coolant water to the reactor was reduced, power output increased. When the operator moved to shut down the reactor from an unstable condition arising from previous errors, a power surge took place. The nuclear fuel elements ruptured, and the resulting explosive force of steam lifted off the cover plate of the reactor, releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere. A second explosion threw out fragments of burning fuel and graphite from the reactpr core and allowed air to rush in, causing the graphite moderator to burst into flames. The graphite burned for nine days, causing the main release of radioactivity into the environment. Although only 31 people died in the immediate aftermath of the accident, hundreds of thousands were reported to have abandoned entire cities and settlements within the 30 kilometre (20 mile) zone of extreme contamination. Dr. Williams said, "The effects of Chernobyl differed very greatly from those after the atomic bomb explosions. In Japan, the exposure was very largely to whole body radiation from gamma rays and neutrons. After Chernobyl the exposure was to isotopes in fall-out, and apart from the inert gas xenon, the largest components were radioactive isotopes of iodine." Post Chernobyl cancer risks are not restricted to the thyroid gland, the meeting was told. Victor Chizhikov, of the Cancer Research Center, Kashirskoye, Moscow, reported that a study of former 43 Chernobyl clean-up workers had shown them to be at a significantly increased risk of lung cancer. All of the 36 smokers and seven non-smokers in the study group had evidence of inhaled radioactive dust in their lungs. They were compared to a control group of 21 smokers and 23 non-smokers who had never been exposed to radiation. ECCO, the European Cancer Conference, is one of the world's major multidisciplinary cancer conferences, providing a platform for interaction and exchange between experimental and clinical oncologists and cancer nurses. The conference is organized every two years by the Federation of European Cancer Societies for and on behalf of its six member societies. © Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. ***************************************************************** 20 Cotter update meeting set for Tuesday The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Wednesday October 24, 2001 Wednesday October 24, 2001 By TRACY HARMON The Pueblo Chieftain CANON CITY - A public meeting slated for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday will update residents on cleanup issues and activities in the Lincoln Park Superfund site and the Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill. Also, the public will learn about $1.75 million available to restore natural resources damaged as a result of the mill's activities. The meeting will be held at the Fremont County administration building, 615 Macon Ave. The Lincoln Park neighborhood has been on the national Superfund list since 1983 because the Cotter Mill used unlined containment ponds to store tailings from 1958-1979. Contaminated water then seeped into the ground. Since then, Cotter has undergone numerous cleanup and monitoring activities under the direction of Colorado Department of Public Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials. In the summer of 2000, the EPA began steps to "de-list" the Lincoln Park neighborhood from the Superfund list, but the record of decision suggesting "no further action" will pertain to soil only and the EPA will postpone a decision on what to do about contaminated ground water due to more stringent drinking water standards put into place last December. Jane Feldman, an attorney with the Colorado attorney general's office, will discuss the Natural Resource Damages Funds, an account that contains about $1.75 million for restoration, replacement or rehabilitation of natural resources that were damaged as a result of the Cotter activities. As part of the settlement agreement between the state and Cotter, Cotter paid $1 million for natural resources damages, an amount which has been generating interest in a Colorado state treasury account. A work group will be formed to solicit bid proposals from the community, evaluate the bids and make recommendations on how the funds should be sent. Health officials also will update residents on the use of a reactive wall that is reducing the level of contaminants in the groundwater seeping through the a Soil Conservation Services dam in the Sand Creek drainage area on the north end of the Cotter property. For the past year, the wall has reduced uranium and molybdenum values. The state health department also will discuss the current process of reviewing the Cotter application for renewal of its radioactive materials license, a step that is required every five years. ©1996-2001 Chieftain.com ***************************************************************** 21 Greens pledge $9.1b for environmental aid theage.com.au, Breaking News Source: AAP|Published: Wednesday October 24, 12:13 PM The Greens today pledged to put an extra $9.1 billion into the environment by penalising polluters, miners and woodchippers. It also promised energy-efficient fridges and hot water systems. Launching the Greens' One World environment policy today, Tasmanian Senator Bob Brown said the extra money would come from a carbon pollution tax, the abolition of the diesel fuel rebate for miners and woodchippers, and a redirection of the National Heritage Trust fund. The Greens also would equip every house in the country with solar hot water and an energy-efficient fridge by 2010. That would save average households $170 a year on bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by three per cent. "This is the strongest, most advanced environment policy of any of the parties," Senator Brown said in a statement. The Greens also would end Australia's involvement in the nuclear industry, rescue and conserve all remaining old-growth forests, and legislate to stop land clearing. An extra $3.7 billion would be spent to address land-care issues such as salinity, biodiversity and exotic pests. And the Greens would seek to create a world environment organisation to rival the power of the World Trade Organisation. Copyright © 2001 The Age Company Ltd. ***************************************************************** 22 Terrorist nuclear threat dismissed The Australian: [October 24, 2001] From AAP October 24, 2001 CLAIMS Australia's nuclear reactor was a prime terrorist target have been dismissed as silly scaremongering by federal Resources Minister Nick Minchin. The Minister for Industry, Science and Resources was met by anti-nuclear protesters as he opened the fourth annual conference on Nuclear Science and Engineering at a Sydney inner city hotel early today. The protesters were demanding the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney's south-west be shut down, saying it could now be a prime terrorist target. Outside the hotel about 100 protesters rallied to oppose the replacement nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights and the federal government's commitment to uranium mining and nuclear energy. NSW Greens senate candidate Kerry Nettle told the protesters, that in the US and Germany there had been steps to protect nuclear reactors in the wake of terrorist attacks on Washington and New York on September 11. She said the industry in Germany had shut down and in the US the air force had been instructed to shoot down any planes flying over nuclear reactors. But Mr Minchin dismissed the suggestions as silly and said there were plenty of targets in Sydney if a crazed terrorist wanted to attack. "We have oil refineries, chemical factories, major buildings and the Sydney Harbour bridge," he said. "It's just silly to pick out the Lucas Heights reactor if we are serious about a debate on the threat of terrorism." The Greens, and other protesters including representatives from Greenpeace, the National Union of Students and Sydney People Against A New Nuclear Reactor, were also calling for more transparency in the government's nuclear power plans. "We want to have a say in any decisions made about nuclear power in Australia," Ms Nettle said. Senator Minchin denied the secrecy claims. He said the whole process could not have been more transparent and the public had been given access to all the information they had asked for. "There's nothing hidden about this. It's just a game, it's wild assertion by those who are mindlessly determined to deny Australia the benefits we gain by having our own research reactor," he said. He dismissed calls by the protesters for a health study into the reactor, saying there was no evidence of medical problems of Lucas Heights residents in the more than 40 years it has been operating. "The Sutherland Shire shows absolutely no effects whatsoever," he said. "It's just mindless scaremongering with no evidence to back it up." The replacement research reactor is due to start running by August 2005 and be fully operational by February 2006, Senator Minchin said. Preliminary construction starts next year, he said. 2001 The Australian ***************************************************************** 23 Irish anger over findings on nuclear dangers ireland.com - The Irish Times - IRELAND Mr Ruairi Quinn, with Labour deputy Mr Emmet Stagg (right), yesterday presented a letter of petition, at the British embassy in Dublin (Photograph: Chris Bacon/PA) Wednesday, October 24, 2001 From Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Strasbourg There has been angry reaction from Irish MEPs to a report commissioned by the European Parliament highlighting the dangers of the British nuclear installation at Sellafield and the French plant at Cap de la Hague. The report, prepared by a Paris-based group of experts, said the level of radioactivity released into the environment from the two plants corresponded to "a large-scale nuclear accident every year". A nuclear accident at these plants could be much worse in its effects than Chernobyl and could lead, "globally over the long term", to more than a million fatal cancers. "The European Commission does not effectively use its verification rights," the report by the WISE-Paris group continued. "The Commission is highly dependent on information provided by member-states and is therefore apparently not in a position to guarantee that the basic safety standards are respected concerning the La Hague and Sellafield facilities. It is doubtful whether the Commission is in a position to determine whether the reprocessing activities are liable to result in the radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another member-state." Labour MEP for Dublin Mr Proinsias De Rossa said the report was "a damning indictment of years of turning a blind eye to the effects of allowing waste products from the reprocessing plants into the environment". He said the Government should examine the report closely, "and assess its importance for the court case it is proposing for the closure of Sellafield". Green MEP for Leinster Ms Nuala Ahern called on the Government to take an action in the European Court of Justice against the Commission for "failing in its obligations" to monitor the plants and ensure that safety standards to prevent contamination of the environment were being implemented. "The Government keeps saying it is going to do something . . . They have had four years in government and done nothing that counts at a formal government-to-government level," Ms Ahern said. Fine Gael MEP for Leinster Ms Avril Doyle said there had been "a long history of arrogance on behalf of the British authorities towards the legitimate concerns of their friendly Irish neighbours". She urged the Commission to ensure there were common security standards for all nuclear installations, "not just in the member-states but in all the European Union accession countries as well". Mr Jim Fitzsimons (FF) told the Parliament: "We in Ireland will vigorously pursue every political, legal and diplomatic option open to us to force the British Government to close the Sellafield nuclear plant." He said that over the next few weeks, the Commission "should and must carry out a full and independent evaluation of all the environmental and public health risks of all the operations of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd" at Sellafield. The report, Possible Toxic Effects from the Nuclear Reprocessing Plants at Sellafield (UK) and Cap de la Hague (France), was published by the Parliament's Scientific and Technological Option Assessment committee. ***************************************************************** 24 How we can prevent a nuclear nightmare news.telegraph.co.uk - 25 October 2001 By Alan Judd (Filed: 24/10/2001) DESPITE the panic-inducing attractions of chemical and biological weapons, terrorists have generally preferred blasts to bugs: blast is more predictable, easier to deploy effectively, more likely to kill large numbers in one go - and there are no antidotes. The greatest danger is, therefore, not plague or anthrax but deployment of the ultimate blast: nuclear. Imagine the scenario. A small nuclear device is secretly assembled in a merchant ship, then detonated when the ship sails into New York harbour. About a square mile is incinerated, and casualties are in seven figures. Afterwards, on the Al-Jazeera television network, bin Laden gleefully promises that another device will be detonated in another city if the US does not immediately cease all support for Israel, remove its forces from the Middle East, hand over President Bush to the Taliban and convert its people to Islam. What makes this scenario just about feasible is that the expertise and materials needed for making a nuclear bomb are available. They come from two sources, and they have a common origin: the break-up of the old Soviet Union after the Cold War. In 1993, Russia was believed to possess about 32,000 nuclear warheads and about 177 tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Since then, there has been no reliable inventory of what has gone where, nor any proper record of the nuclear materials distributed to research institutions. There are also graveyards of Soviet nuclear submarines with fuel rods which, if re-processed, could provide plutonium for a bomb. And there have long been reports that some of Russia's 3,000-odd underpaid and neglected nuclear weapons workers have sold off fissile material. The other source of black-market nuclear proliferation is people rather than material. In 1990, there were 1.6 million people working in Soviet science; then the money dried up and, a decade later, half of them were no longer involved or had disappeared. Some, it was reported, sold nuclear secrets or materials to Iran. Others sold their brains. If a terrorist group has been able to put that expertise together with black-market materials, we have the makings of a nightmare scenario. The recent New York trial of some of those responsible for the 1998 American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania heard how the bin Laden network tried to buy South African enriched uranium in the early 1990s. They may well have succeeded since then. Uranium has become more available rather than less, particularly in Pakistan and former Soviet states. Earlier this year, four men were arrested in the Black Sea port of Batumi, Georgia, after police found 4lb of weapons-grade uranium in their hotel room. Its final destination was not known. The danger is probably more from expertise and materials that leaked a few years ago than from anything coming out of Russia now. Western intelligence agencies alerted their governments to the problem early in the last decade and managed to disrupt, divert or deny would-be proliferators. The Americans have also intervened, either buying up dangerous material or paying the Russians' disposal and decommissioning costs. But, like counter-terrorism itself, counter-proliferation was always one among a number of competing priorities. Even if you threw all your resources at the problem, you couldn't guarantee complete success - especially as the country most intimately concerned did not itself know what was happening to all its constituent parts. Although the theory of constructing a nuclear device is well known, it is actually quite difficult to make a working bomb. Our ill-wishers will keep trying, however, and we should assume that one day they will succeed. What can we do? Three things. First, we must do all we can to delay or prevent them. That will take money, patience and determination, all of which will buy time for the second, parallel course of action. This is the long-term political task of educating those states and groups into some wider sense of political responsibility, making them feel that the world community is something they are part of, rather than apart from. Third, anyone who dreams of committing nuclear terrorism must be made to believe that it would result in the destruction not only of themselves, but of everything for which they stand. When the Iranians seized the American embassy hostages in Teheran, there was a story that the Russian ambassador had sought urgent audience with the Iranian government. He had one brief, brutal message from Moscow: "If anything happens to the Russian embassy, tomorrow there is no Teheran." Even if the story is apocryphal, you could believe, in those days, that the Russians really meant it. A credible reputation for ruthlessness may not sit comfortably with Western liberal self-perceptions and involve actions in apparent contradiction to the political process - but it may also be one of the necessities for survival. + Alan Judd is a novelist and former diplomat © Copyright of 2001. Terms &Conditions of reading. Privacy ***************************************************************** 25 Calif. San Onofre nuke unit returns to service [Reuters] Wednesday October 24, 12:22 pm Eastern Time (UPDATE: adds comments from Socal Edison spokesman, details) LOS ANGELES, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The 1,070-megawatt (MW) Unit 2 at the San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California was back in service on Wednesday after repairs were completed in about half the projected time, a spokesman for utility Southern California Edison said. The spokesman said the unit was operating at 87 percent power and is expected to return to full power in the next 24 to 48 hours. He attributed the early completion of repairs to ``excellent execution by the team.'' The unit was taken down for maintenance about 10 days ago and had been expected to be off line for about 20 days. Southern California Edison, a unit of Edison International (NYSE:EIX - news), operates the plant and has a 75 percent ownership stake. Other owners include Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - news) unit San Diego Gas &Electric (20 percent). The Cities of Anaheim and Riverside own the remaining five percent. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 26 Local governments chip in to flight nuclear waste dump The Battle Mountain Bugle October 18, 2001 Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn has announced that the state has acquired more resources in its fight against the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository. "I am pleased to announce that Nevada has received an additional $1,053,357 in contributions from cities and counties in Nevada to help in our fight against the Yucca Mountain project," Guinn said. "The Nevada Protection Fund, which was established during the last legislative session, received an appropriation o£ $4 million from the legislature. We have now received an additional $1 million from Clark County, $1,000 from Mineral County, $50,000 from the City of Mesquite, $1,000 from the City of Lovelock, and $1,367 from the City of Wells, "I am pleased and grateful at the generous contributions these entities have made to assist the fight against Yucca Mountain. It is clear there is statewide concern about this project, and these contributions demonstrate the resolve we have to defeat this unsafe project." As of September, two top law firms have been retained to represent the state in legal forums. "Nevada is moving ahead with our strategy to defeat the project;" Guinn said, "and in the near future I, along with the members of the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, will be contacting businesses and others in the private sector for additional contributions to continue to build our Yucca Mountain opposition fund. The federal government and the nuclear industry have been put on notice that Nevada will fight this project every step of the way, and we will prevail." For more information about the Nevada Protection Fundand how to contribute contact the Agency for Nuclear Projects at 1-800-366-0990 or visit the web site at www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/. ***************************************************************** 27 Calif nuclear plant siren test set -- The Washington Times October 23, 2001 SAN ONOFRE, Calif., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The annual test of the warning sirens around the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California will take place as scheduled on Wednesday despite concerns that the already nervous public could be spooked by the sound. A network of 49 sirens will wail at 12 decibels for a period of 3-5 minutes across a 10-mile zone around the coastal plant located in San Diego and Orange County between 10 a.m. and noon PDT. "The community alert sirens are required by federal regulations in the unlikely event of a nuclear emergency occurring at the nuclear plant," Southern California Edison said. "They are intended to advise residents to turn on their radios or television sets and await emergency instructions that will be aired." While the siren test is nothing new to the approximately 170,000 residents of coastal communities such as Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, Calif., as well as the neighboring Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, plant officials reportedly had second thoughts about conducting it so close to Sept. 11 and the ensuing terrorist activities. "Given the anxiety level of the American public, we did think long and hard about postponing the test," plant spokesman Ray Golden told the Los Angeles Times. "When we polled all the entities (government agencies) ... there was a unanimous decision to go forward. The logic was that we felt, especially during these times, that there needed to be a demonstration of the sirens' operability." Security around the nation's 104 licensed nuclear power plants was increased across the board immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. While nuclear plants have extensive security measures in place against sabotage and intruders, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said that plants are not required to be sturdy enough to withstand the impact of an airliner crashing into a facility. The Times said that 58,000 flyers in English and Spanish were mailed to residents in the area during the past few weeks advising them of the test and asking them not to call 911 when the sirens go off. Notices will also be posted along Interstate 5, which runs past San Onofre, to alert motorists traveling between San Diego and the Los Angeles area. UPI All site contents copyright © 2001 News World Communications, ***************************************************************** 28 Duke's Catawba application draws mixed comments [charlotte.com] October 24, 2001 Nuclear power Facility Duke's Catawba application draws mixed comments Leaders see plant as asset; environmentalists fear disaster potential By JENNIFER TALHELM ROCK HILL -- Several business and community leaders - including the mayors of Rock Hill and Clover - said Tuesday they support an application by Duke Energy to extend the life of the Catawba nuclear power plant in South Carolina. But members of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, who fear nuclear plants are unsafe, said they think Duke should either wait to apply for an extension or drop its plans for relicensing altogether. Environmentalists and York County, S.C., community and business leaders filled a Rock Hill auditorium Tuesday to voice their opinions about whether Duke Energy should get permission to operate the Catawba station into the middle of the 21st century. The company's license to operate the 15-year-old plant expires in 2024, but the company is applying now to renew the license for 20 years. The company recently got an extension for another nuclear plant and wanted the same team of scientists to work on its applications for Catawba and the McGuire nuclear power plant on Lake Norman. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held the meeting so people could comment on the environmental issues. Local business and government officials said the nuclear plant generates taxes that support schools and communities. "Catawba nuclear plant has been and continues to be a very vital asset to this community," Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols said. But environmentalists said that's not enough reason to grant Duke an extension. In the first place, they said, government safety requirements for nuclear plants are likely to change in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Duke should wait to apply for an extension until the government has decided whether power companies should meet tougher safety standards, they argued. Duke officials say Catawba is safe and environmentally sound. ***************************************************************** 29 Richland firm looks to irradiation This story was published 10/24/2001 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer As the U.S. Postal Service investigates ways to sanitize mail, a Richland company is making plans to build an irradiation center in north Richland or the former Soviet Union. Plans hinge on finding a source for the isotope with the energy that can kill bacteria in food, mail or medical equipment, said Carl Holder, chairman of New Horizon Technologies Inc. "A major constraint in the development of the gamma irradiation industry is no United States suppliers of gamma-producing isotopes," he said. "Gamma energy is in critically short supply." Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility could change that, if the Department of Energy agrees to a plan to commercialize and restart the reactor. New Horizon is negotiating with Advanced Nuclear and Medical Systems, which is proposing operating the reactor, to use isotopes produced by FFTF. The reactor is large enough to produce gamma-emitting isotopes in its outer rings in addition to isotopes for medical use, the primary use proposed for the reactor, said Bob Schenter, vice chairman of the Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Cancer Patients. In fact, it's produced cobalt 60, the only isotope approved for food irradiation, in test runs. It's also produced gamma-emitting isotopes used in medical tests to diagnose osteoporosis and scan the hearts of newborns. During irradiation, high-energy electrons pass through food to kill pathogens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the technique to kill bacteria such as E. coli in hamburger and sterilize medical equipment. But it also has been used as early as the 1960s to kill anthrax in lambs wool sweaters. Demand for irradiation is growing, Holder said. Irradiation most recently has been proposed to kill pathogens in mail after two postal workers died, apparently from anthrax-infected letters or packages. Either gamma radiation or an electron beam source can be used. However, gamma radiation can penetrate packages or an entire pallet of mail, and an electron beam source likely would have to sanitize letters individually since it can penetrate less than an inch. The public also is more aware of the dangers of pathogens in food and less fearful of irradiation, potentially increasing that market, Holder said. In addition, the medical market is growing 7 percent to 10 percent a year. Demand for irradiation could grow faster, as environmental and other concerns grow over a competing technology using a chemical, he said. "The industry is ready, but the isotopes are not ready," he said. Now New Horizon Technologies is irradiating food on a demonstration scale. It's used the technology to lengthen the shelf life of Walla Walla onions, cherries and herbs using isotopes imported from Canada. But Canada cannot meet the current demand for cobalt 60 and would not supply full-scale operations by New Horizon, Holder said. "There is a national emergency in irradiation, and FFTF needs to come on line to (solve) that," he said. However, rather than depending entirely on a restart of the Hanford reactor, the company is negotiating with a Ukrainian and Russian group for gamma-emitting isotopes from reactors there. Rather than cobalt 60, another gamma-producing isotope would be used. If the FFTF is not restarted, the company's first irradiation center would be built in the Ukraine, Holder said. "We will take the business and go where (the isotope) is available, and that happens to be Ukraine," he said. The Department of Energy's decision on whether to shut down permanently the Fast Flux Test Facility or continue to look at commercialization could come in November. Tri-City Herald Online ***************************************************************** 30 Leaked report censures Sellafield online.ie : News The Irish Examiner 24 Oct 2001 By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent THE damning report into the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield could be the subject of a full public hearing by the European Parliament. The report, which was drawn up by a team of French and American scientific experts, shows dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals are contaminating fish in the Irish Sea. The scientists are accused of leaking the report - which was kept secret for almost two months - and will be fined £32,000. Long-time campaigner against Sellafield, MEP Nuala Ahern, described the report as "dynamite". She says it gives the Government the ammunition and evidence it needs to force the closure of the reprocessing plant. "The Government should immediately take the British Government to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and should also pursue them through the British courts," she said. "This report provides the final proof that Sellafield is not just a time bomb in terms of terror attacks, but is also slowly killing Irish people through contaminated effluent," she added. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern recently said Ireland would take the British Government to court over the threat posed by Sellafield. The Wise Paris report on possible toxic effects from the nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield and Cap de La Hague, France, was commissioned by the Scientific and Technological Option Assessment programme (STOA). When the group received it in August it caused so much controversy among the committee members, they had it independently assessed by another team of scientists. STOA member and Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said it was agreed at a meeting to publish the report and the assessment. It was also decided to recommend that the Petitions and Environment Committee hold an open hearing on its findings. The report points out there are different safety limits throughout the European Union for effluent from nuclear plants. It shows that contaminated fish from the Irish sea, that under current British levels is safe to eat, would be banned in Germany and the US. "It is disgraceful that people are being exposed to these levels of dangerous chemicals in Ireland when the fish would not be allowed go on sale in other countries," said Ms Ahern. However, British Conservative MEP Robert Atkins told the European Parliament to keep its hands off Sellafield. He disagreed with the criticism and said the new MOX (mixed oxide) nuclear plant, about to open in his constituency, gave good employment opportunities. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 How we can prevent a nuclear nightmare news.telegraph.co.uk - By Alan Judd (Filed: 24/10/2001) DESPITE the panic-inducing attractions of chemical and biological weapons, terrorists have generally preferred blasts to bugs: blast is more predictable, easier to deploy effectively, more likely to kill large numbers in one go - and there are no antidotes. The greatest danger is, therefore, not plague or anthrax but deployment of the ultimate blast: nuclear. Imagine the scenario. A small nuclear device is secretly assembled in a merchant ship, then detonated when the ship sails into New York harbour. About a square mile is incinerated, and casualties are in seven figures. Afterwards, on the Al-Jazeera television network, bin Laden gleefully promises that another device will be detonated in another city if the US does not immediately cease all support for Israel, remove its forces from the Middle East, hand over President Bush to the Taliban and convert its people to Islam. What makes this scenario just about feasible is that the expertise and materials needed for making a nuclear bomb are available. They come from two sources, and they have a common origin: the break-up of the old Soviet Union after the Cold War. In 1993, Russia was believed to possess about 32,000 nuclear warheads and about 177 tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Since then, there has been no reliable inventory of what has gone where, nor any proper record of the nuclear materials distributed to research institutions. There are also graveyards of Soviet nuclear submarines with fuel rods which, if re-processed, could provide plutonium for a bomb. And there have long been reports that some of Russia's 3,000-odd underpaid and neglected nuclear weapons workers have sold off fissile material. The other source of black-market nuclear proliferation is people rather than material. In 1990, there were 1.6 million people working in Soviet science; then the money dried up and, a decade later, half of them were no longer involved or had disappeared. Some, it was reported, sold nuclear secrets or materials to Iran. Others sold their brains. If a terrorist group has been able to put that expertise together with black-market materials, we have the makings of a nightmare scenario. The recent New York trial of some of those responsible for the 1998 American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania heard how the bin Laden network tried to buy South African enriched uranium in the early 1990s. They may well have succeeded since then. Uranium has become more available rather than less, particularly in Pakistan and former Soviet states. Earlier this year, four men were arrested in the Black Sea port of Batumi, Georgia, after police found 4lb of weapons-grade uranium in their hotel room. Its final destination was not known. The danger is probably more from expertise and materials that leaked a few years ago than from anything coming out of Russia now. Western intelligence agencies alerted their governments to the problem early in the last decade and managed to disrupt, divert or deny would-be proliferators. The Americans have also intervened, either buying up dangerous material or paying the Russians' disposal and decommissioning costs. But, like counter-terrorism itself, counter-proliferation was always one among a number of competing priorities. Even if you threw all your resources at the problem, you couldn't guarantee complete success - especially as the country most intimately concerned did not itself know what was happening to all its constituent parts. Although the theory of constructing a nuclear device is well known, it is actually quite difficult to make a working bomb. Our ill-wishers will keep trying, however, and we should assume that one day they will succeed. What can we do? Three things. First, we must do all we can to delay or prevent them. That will take money, patience and determination, all of which will buy time for the second, parallel course of action. This is the long-term political task of educating those states and groups into some wider sense of political responsibility, making them feel that the world community is something they are part of, rather than apart from. Third, anyone who dreams of committing nuclear terrorism must be made to believe that it would result in the destruction not only of themselves, but of everything for which they stand. When the Iranians seized the American embassy hostages in Teheran, there was a story that the Russian ambassador had sought urgent audience with the Iranian government. He had one brief, brutal message from Moscow: "If anything happens to the Russian embassy, tomorrow there is no Teheran." Even if the story is apocryphal, you could believe, in those days, that the Russians really meant it. A credible reputation for ruthlessness may not sit comfortably with Western liberal self-perceptions and involve actions in apparent contradiction to the political process - but it may also be one of the necessities for survival. Alan Judd is a novelist and former diplomat Previous story: Women must be trained for war © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited ***************************************************************** 2 Legal row over Faslane arrests The Scotsman - United Kingdom; Oct 23, 2001 BY TRACEY LAWSON THE law on peaceful protests in Scotland was plunged into confusion yesterday when Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan was among 170 people arrested during a demonstration outside the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane. The MSP was arrested for alleged breach of the peace just days after he was acquitted of the same charge for his part in a similar demonstration outside Faslane in February this year. The Crown is appealing the ruling by Justice of the Peace Anthony Stirling at Argyll and Bute district court in Helensburgh, who found that mass arrests at peaceful demonstrations infringe human rights. Strathclyde Police were last night warned by human rights experts that they could be guilty of wrongfully arresting all those detained at yesterday's demonstration if they have breached their right to peaceful protest enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Sheridan, 37, was among the first to be arrested at the demonstration, as he took part in a sit-down blockade of Faslane's north gate which began at 7am yesterday. As he was led away by police the MSP said: "No-one at this demonstration has acted in anything other than a peaceful fashion. We are here to campaign in peace and can't understand why we are subjected to mass arrests. "We would much rather the police officers were deployed in more socially useful work this morning. Nuclear weapons have no place in the 21st century. We should be channelling resources towards pensioners, the homeless and fighting the war against poverty which are a scar on Scottish society." Professor Allan Miller, the UK director of the international human rights consultancy McGrigor Donald, said that police might well have wrongfully arrested protesters yesterday. He said: "The European Convention gives people the right to peaceful protest, and police would be on shaky ground if they interfered with people doing that. "The test for breach of the peace in Scottish law has always been whether protesters' conduct is causing, or is likely to cause alarm. If this was not the case then the arrest might be wrongful." David Mackenzie of Trident Ploughshares, the anti-nuclear group which organised the protest in conjunction with CND Scotland, said the mass arrests highlighted the confusion about the legality of peaceful protest in Scotland. He said: "This yet again illustrates the mess the police and the courts are in over how they respond to peaceful acts of conscience by people exercising their rights." Also arrested were Scottish National Party MSP and former television weather presenter Lloyd Quinan, Irish Green MEP Patricia McKenna and two Church of Scotland ministers. Protesters claimed that 800 people attended the demonstration, although police put the figure at 500. Brian Quail, the joint secretary of CND Scotland, said: "We could be on the brink of a civil war in Pakistan and who knows what's going to happen in Afghanistan? So really, this demonstration has come at a very poignant time." John Webster, a retired minister from Arran, and Flora Munro, a minister from Cults, Aberdeenshire, were also detained . Strathclyde Police arrested a total of 168 people at the protest - 91 women and 77 men - for breach of the peace. A police spokeswoman said she it would be inappropriate to comment on allegations that Strathclyde police had wrongfully arrested protesters, adding: "The officers interpreted the law as they understood it to be correct." The Ministry of Defence police arrested two more people, one on suspicion of infiltrating the base illegally and another for alleged breach of the peace. ***************************************************************** 3 Russian scientists call for lower level of nuclear combat readiness BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 24, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 24 October: The possibility of the accidental beginning of a nuclear war can be effectively reduced only by scrapping the concept of maintaining the nuclear arms at a high level of continuous combat readiness, Russian experts said in a report entitled "The lowering of the level of combat readiness of the nuclear forces of Russia and the United States as a way of lessening the nuclear threat." The text of the report which was received by ITAR-TASS on Wednesday [24 October] had been prepared by Russia's leading scientists specializing in the field of strategic security. The key points of this report are due to be discussed in the Russian Academy of Sciences within the next few days. One of the contributors to the report, Professor Vladimir Belous of the Academy of Military Sciences told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday that the presidents of Russia and the United States will be able to discuss and approve, during their forthcoming meeting, measures to lower the combat readiness of their nuclear weapons parallel to holding consultations on AMB-START matters and on the reduction of strategic arms. "Unilateral, step-by-step moves are possible with a subsequent discussion of additional measures to build up confidence," Belous said. According to him, "it is necessary to take into account that, as the two countries have immense nuclear arsenals, the task of lowering of the combat readiness level, if it is carried out by way of removing the warheads from the delivery vehicles, may prove to be difficult to accomplish because of the possible financial and technical problems associated with the storage, transportation and utilization of the dismantled charges." "These circumstances have also to be taken into consideration during the November meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States who will examine questions relating to a radical reduction of the nuclear arsenals of the two great powers," Belous said. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1045 gmt 24 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 4 Eight investigation teams to work on Kursk (Murmansk:) The last stage of the Kursk salvage operation, establishing the causes of the submarine’s disaster, has started, the Russian prosecutor general, Vladimir Ustinov, said at the press conference. "We will conduct all the expert evaluations and say exactly why the first and the second explosions happened on the Kursk," Vladimir Ustinov said. Photo: Vecherny Murmansk Viktor Khabarov, 2001-10-24 18:26 According to the prosecutor general, establishing the causes of the Kursk disaster will allow to make conclusions and avoid such accidents in the future while operating the Russian nuclear submarines. The investigators are divided in eight groups, each of them has a precise working plan. "First of all we have to launch and complete expert evaluation. So far, we are intending to conduct more than 20 expert evaluations within the investigation plan. The equipment onboard the Kursk will be analysed by the investigation. Besides, the investigators will work with the bodies of the Kursk submariners. That is why the representatives of medico-legal expertise will be engaged in Murmansk. Their main task is to determine the cause of the death and identify the bodies. We hope, all this will help to realise the causes of the accident," Vladimir Ustinov said. The first compartment to be raised in spring The investigators have already entered the submarine and made the first video filming. "This is a gloomy scene. The whole outer hull of the submarine is cut as the lifting procedure required that. So far, we filmed only submarine’s deck. Now the draining of the dock is under way. This procedure will go quite slow and take several days," the Russian general prosecutor said. The specialists claim that the dock must be drained slowly, otherwise the sharp water decrease can change locations of the bodies, devices and other parts of the submarine, which can cast the light on the causes of the Kursk accident. "Today we have three main theories of the accident, I do not want to repeat them, all know them…The lack of the first compartment will not hamper our work. We hope it will be raised. We will conduct all the expertise and say exactly why the first and the second explosions happened on the Kursk," Vladimir Ustinov said. The three officials theories suggest that the Kursk was either collided with an underwater object, hit a mine from the Second World War or, finally, there was an emergency in the torpedo section. "The analyses, which we will conduct on the submarine, will give the answer with 70 to 80 per cent certainty as to why the explosions took place. The final answer will be given after the remaining compartment is raised from the Barents seabed. Some parts of the torpedo compartment have been raised recently, but the whole section is scheduled to be raised by the next spring," the prosecutor general added. Evaluation of the navy exercises The general prosecutor promised to perform the expertise on the correctness and legality of actions of the officials while organising and conducting the exercises of the Northern Fleet, when the Kursk perished. Various versions circulate now about the officials’ faults while preparing, conducting and completing the exercises. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office gave an assignment to some Moscow institutions to carry out the expertise regarding the Russian navy exercises regulations and the orders and instructions of the Northern Fleet commanders during the exercises. After finalising the expertise the public will get information about the commanders’ input in the exercises when the disaster happened. The Northern Fleet commander, Vyacheslav Popov, once again addressed to the relatives of the Kursk submariners asking them not to come to Murmansk without personal invitation. He mentioned that identification of the bodies takes long time and promised to send all the relatives personal invitations. Vladimir Ustinov said that some genetic tests can take more than one month. The Russian navy chief Vladimir Kuroedov: "We managed to walk on the submarines deck until the fourth compartment." Photo: Vecherny Murmansk Draining of the Kursk can take several days On October 23rd, the divers started drilling holes in the fifth and the sixth compartments to measure radiation levels. The Russian navy chief, Vladimir Kuroedov, said that after draining the submarine in the dock the final protocol on finishing the works will be signed with Mammoet. He also added that on October 22nd, the first persons, who set foot onboard the Kursk were the prosecutor general Vladimir Ustinov, his deputy, himself, and the Northern Fleet commander Vyacheslav Popov. They managed to walk on the submarines deck until the fourth compartment. Then it was impossible to move as the hull of the submarine is destroyed. The Kursk is full of water mixed with oil and fuel stains. Vladimir Kuroedov hoped to see the submarine in dry dock not before the evening of October 25th. But entering the submarine will be possible after two to three or even four days. At that moment the investigation by the military prosecutors will start in full scale. Then it will be important to note the last position of the submarine and its devices, the commander added. Looking for recorder The investigators gathered from the various Russian regions, not all were selected due to the expected psychological pressure. They have various technical background, some of them spent one year on studying the systems of the nuclear submarines. Submarines are equipped with recorders, which could give a clue to the causes of the disaster. The recorder is switched on during the key moments onboard the submarine. Vladimir Kuroedov is confident that the recorder was on during the exercises. He also hopes some more messages from the submariners or some documentation from the bridge could be found. The explosion, however, was so strong that the devices from the second compartment were found in the fourth compartment. Kursk is fully armed "The submarine is full of armour. It has cruise missiles as well as minor arms. It is unsafe to keep so much armour in the dock," the Russian prosecutor general said. The submarine has to be disarmed. The first observations showed the missiles can be unloaded in an ordinary way as soon as the water is gone. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 5 Kursk scrapping to start in six months, says Russian deputy PM BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 23, 2001 Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 23 October: The disposal of the Kursk nuclear-powered submarine will start in six months, Ilya Klebanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, told the press today. Before that ammunition and equipment will be dismantled from the Kursk, Klebanov said. The examination of the doomed submarine will not shed light on any new reasons for the tragedy, he noted. "It will take up to three days to drain water from the Kursk," Klebanov said. Representatives of the Prosecutor-General's Office will be the first to start working on board the Kursk. Radiation experts will continue doing their job, too. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1442 gmt 23 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 6 Nobel Prize-Winning Physicians Call for Nuclear Reduction U.S. Newswire 22 Oct 15:58 Threat of Nuclear Terror To: National Desk Contact: Tarek Rizk of Physicians for Social Responsibility, 202-667-4260 ext. 215 WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Physicians for Social Responsibility today praised the progress reportedly being made by Presidents Bush and Putin toward reducing the nuclear arsenals of the two former Cold War adversaries. The US is considering cuts down to 2,500 strategic warheads or less while the Russians have suggested numbers as low as 1,500. "We have been urging very deep cuts and then the elimination of nuclear weapons throughout the post-Cold War era," said PSR Executive Director and CEO Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H., in making the announcement. "In the current climate, where we face serious potential for terrorist attacks and even nuclear ones, President Bush is in a position to go much further in eliminating nuclear weapons then any of his predecessors would have dared," added Musil. According to PSR, which shared the 1985 Nobel Prize for Peace for its work with Soviet physicians on the risks of nuclear war, several additional nuclear policies need to be addressed successfully in order to take advantage of the new US-Russian strategic partnership. In order to reduce the remaining risks of nuclear terror or inadvertent use of nuclear weapons, the two sides should immediately undertake very deep reductions of strategic weapons -- into the hundreds -- while developing plans to move more quickly to implement Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (The NPT commits the US, Russia and other nuclear powers to the elimination of nuclear weapons altogether.) "We have already seen India and Pakistan develop nuclear weapons using US failure to eliminate as an excuse," said Musil. "We now need to take the threat of further nuclear proliferation, like terrorist threats, far more seriously than we did before September 11." PSR thus calls for speedy implementation of Article VI and the elimination of both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons from the US and Russian arsenals. The two sides have over 5,000 tactical nuclear weapons that have no realistic military use and pose an unacceptable risk of diversion or theft, especially in Russia. PSR also considers President Bush's insistence on abrogating -- or negotiating into oblivion -- the ABM Treaty and moving ahead with NMD deployment a strategic blunder with long-range implications that can undermine US security when non-state, non-nuclear attacks need high priority. "NMD would have been absolutely useless on September 11," asserts PSR National Security Director Martin Butcher, "and will continue to be so in the face of the numerous means in which a terrorists could employ nukes without using a missile." Since President Bush seeks multilateral cooperation for the war on terror, it makes little sense, PSR believes, to irritate and potentially disrupt future alliances with Russia and China in the name of a missile system that cannot prevent terrorist attacks. "A program of nuclear elimination under the NPT, cooperative nuclear threat reduction, the signing of the CTBT, and other confidence measures will prove far more effective in the long run," says PSR's Musil. "Presidents Bush and Putin have a chance to reshape the world. They should seize it." /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ ***************************************************************** 7 Numatec Hanford continues on cleanup project This story was published Tue, Oct 23, 2001 By Wendy Culverwell Herald staff writer Numatec Hanford Corp. will continue to support CH2M Hill Hanford Group's work at the Hanford tank farm under a five-year contract extension approved a week ago. The new contract is worth about $50 million. Numatec Hanford has worked with CH2M Hill, the lead contractor, on the tank farm cleanup project for two years. In that time, the companies have worked on safety issues, including pumping wastes from single-shell tanks to double-shelled ones and began work on a system to feed the waste to the future vitrification plant for treatment. In extending the contract, CH2M Hill officials gave Numatec Hanford its highest rating for its performance during the last year. Numatec exceeded expectations in safety, quality, innovation, keeping to a schedule and cost-effectiveness. Dale Allen, senior vice president of operations for CH2M Hill, said Numatec brings welcome technical expertise as well as knowledge of the commercial nuclear industry. Allen credited the company with reducing costs and developing new technologies to ease work in the complex tank farms. For example, Numatec Hanford was one of the agencies that worked on a backhoelike robot that operates in the 600 radioactive pits that serve to connect the underground tanks at the 200 Area. The robot device, or "pit viper," was created to minimize the need for human workers to operate at the pit's edges -- an arduous process since the pits are so contaminated and workers must be cycled through quickly to keep their exposure at less than 500 millirem per year. Though costly to build, officials believe the pit robots could save money. The contract extension will keep Numatec on the job through the end of September 2006. The company is a subsidiary of Cogema, a French nuclear company, and was formed as part of the Project Hanford Management Contract in 1996. It supports Fluor Hanford and CH2M Hill. CH2M Hill is the contractor charged by the Department of Energy's Office of River Protection with managing about 53 million gallons of highly radioactive and hazardous waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford site's 200 area. The wastes eventually will be vitrified -- or transformed into glass under extreme heat. While tank farm managers work to ready wastes for shipment to the plant, another contractor is gearing up to build the $4 billion project. Bechtel National Inc. started working on the plant project in March. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 8 Investigators To Examine Upper Deck Of Kursk Submarine Pravda.RU Oct, 24 2001 Investigators will board the nuclear submarine Kursk on Wednesday to carry out a thorough examination of its upper deck. Freshly raised from the bottom of the Barents Sea, the wreck was towed to floating dock No. 50 of a ship repair facility at Roslyakovo. Yesterday, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov said the eight investigating teams organised with the purpose of examining the Kursk would set out on a proper examination in a few days' time, after the vessel and the dock were drained of water. On his part, Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov announced on Tuesday that there were three versions of the Kursk catastrophe and that each of them would remain in force until the end of expert examinations. Almost 20 technical examinations alone will be carried out during the first stage of the investigating procedure. More examinations will be needed in the course of the investigation, said Ustinov. There will also be a forensic expertise -- according to the prosecutor-general, "condition of [sailors'] bodies may furnish new information about what happened to the submarine." RIA 'Novosti' ***************************************************************** 9 AEC invitation to develop atomic energy sector Oct 25 2001 INFRASTRUCTURE Girish Kuber MUMBAI THE DAY atomic energy sector is opened up for the private players may not be too far. In a first step towards this, the Atomic Energy Commission is planning to join hands with other government or semi-government bodies for developing the atomic energy sector in India, AEC chairman Anil Kakodkar told ET. “We want to open up the sector for the private players. However, that requires the amendment in the Atomic Energy Act, which is a lengthy process,” said Dr Kakodkar. “Meanwhile, we are planning to team up with various other agencies within the existing Act.” “We are facilitating the entry of private players in this area as well. But it’s going to take time since it involves a variety of factors including security,” said Dr Kakodkar. According to him, the process to amend the Atomic Energy Act has already been initiated. Till this happens, AEC wants to partner with various state agencies like state electricity boards so as to expedite the nuclear energy programme. It will work like this: the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC), the agency that sets up and runs the nuclear power plant, will be allowed to tie up with the concerned SEB where the plant is located. AEC has also signed MoUs with a couple of private companies to set up a food irradiation centres near Delhi, Mumbai and in Orissa. The Orissa centre would be the unique one as it involves the sub-zero radiation to increase the shelf life of fish products. Besides, institutions like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre are working with industrial houses in India to develop medical equipment indigenously. One of the wings of the BARC has developed commercially viable desalination methods that could be utilised to convert seawater into drinking water. BARC and Bharat Electronics have also signed a MoU for the joint development of laser communicator and its applications, Dr Kakodkar said. Copyright © 2000 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | | | ***************************************************************** 10 168 arrested in Scotland during anti-nuclear protest Buffalo News - GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - Police and anti-nuclear protesters joined in a minute of silence Monday for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, but the harmony soon unraveled, and police arrested 168 of the demonstrators. The arrests came after protesters blockaded a base that houses Britain's nuclear submarines. About 500 people participated in the protest at the Faslane naval base, on the River Clyde in western Scotland, police said. Organizers said their concerns were heightened by the terror attacks on America and the subsequent bombing of Afghanistan. "No matter what happens, we will continue to vehemently oppose these barbaric and inhumane weapons of mass destruction," said Brian Quail, a leader of Scotland's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Lawmakers from the Scottish and European parliaments were also detained along with two Church of Scotland ministers. Protesters and police officers earlier joined for a minute's silence to remember those who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and to reflect on events since. Copyright © 1999 - 2001 The Buffalo NewsTM ***************************************************************** 11 Protesters gather at nuclear conference theage.com.au, Breaking News Source: AAP|Published: Wednesday October 24, 10:03 AM More than 100 anti-nuclear protesters gathered outside a national nuclear science and engineering conference in Sydney today. The protesters rallied outside the Millennium Hotel in Kings Cross where the conference, hosted by the Australian National Nuclear Association, was scheduled to be opened by industry and science minister Nick Minchin. The protesters, who included representatives from Greenpeace, the National Union of Students and the Greens, chanted "no nuclear reactor" and carried banners saying "radiation is extermination." Greens candidate fo the NSW Senate Kerry Nettle told the crowd the nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney's south-west was a prime target for terrorist attacks. She also called for research into alternative renewable energy sources, such as solar power. Copyright © 2001 The Age Company Ltd. Any unauthorised use, copying or ***************************************************************** 12 DOE ordered to pay legal fees in Carson case Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:04 a.m. on Wednesday, October 24, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff The Department of Energy has been ordered to pay more than $23,000 in attorney fees pertaining to Joe Carson's "whistleblower" case against the federal agency. Carson said Richard W. Vitaris, administrative judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board, ruled that DOE should pay attorney fees totaling $23,324.65 in connection with a petition he filed for enforcement of the board's final order in his case against DOE. That order instructed DOE to cancel the letter of admonishment against Carson, cancel the directed reassignment from Oak Ridge to Germantown, Md., and return him to the full range of duties and work assignments consistent with his position description and past assignments. Carson, a licensed professional engineer, was working in a safety oversight role in Oak Ridge. He says his attempts to report safety and security violations at several DOE sites resulted in retaliation from the federal agency. The Merit Systems Protection Board agreed in an April 1999 ruling, stating that DOE's actions were reprisal for Carson's "whistleblowing." DOE's appeal was rejected by the board in a February 2000 decision that ordered Carson restored to his job. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 13 3 groups blast DOE restructuring of Pantex board Amarillo Globe-News: Local News: October 24, 2001 By Jim McBride jmcbride@amarillonet.com Three local groups on Tuesday blasted the Energy Department's plans to restructure the Pantex Plant Citizens Advisory Board and limit its role to environmental issues. Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Panhandle Area Neighbors and Landowners, and the Peace Farm criticized DOE's efforts to restructure the advisory board, which includes Pantex proponents and critics. In 1994, the board was created after Amarillo meetings with top Energy Department officials, then-Gov. Ann Richards and area residents. At the time, citizens nationwide were concerned about government secrecy after the DOE revealed its predecessor agencies conducted secret radiation experiments on U.S. citizens. Buddy Seewald, president of STAND, said at a news conference Tuesday that DOE's new board limitations are a broken promise. "I would say the Department of Energy wants a board of lap dogs," he said. "We accuse them of bad faith, bad faith with this community and bad faith with the people who worked hours ... in helping them put together a board they said they wanted." The advisory board now faces an uncertain future. In July, board members learned the DOE would not allow them to continue making recommendations on Pantex operational matters. In a statement Tuesday, DOE Amarillo Area Office Manager Dan Glenn said no decision has been reached about the board's future. He said public involvement is essential to Pantex's environmental management program but that the advisory board has been ineffective. "The Pantex Plant Citizens Advisory Board has been unable to provide useful advice to the Amarillo Area Office. Other stakeholder participation mechanisms such as the monthly public roundtable meetings in Panhandle, special topical public meetings and meetings with elected officials have proven to be effective," Glenn said. Doris Smith, who owns a farm next to Pantex, said the new board proposed by DOE will have no semblance to the one organized with public input in 1994. "In our minds, all of the environmental issues are important if it affects anything with regards to the soil, the air, the water or to our health," she said. Mavis Belisle of the Peace Farm said the Pantex board once discussed Pantex's plutonium storage plans, which now are off-limits. She said plutonium storage could be moved from Pantex to less vulnerable underground storage in Nevada or New Mexico. "When the Department of Energy previously operated under a cover of secrecy was the time when they made the greatest errors both in terms of the safety of the community ... and in terms of environmental protection," she said. Advisory board co-chair Paula Breeding said she reluctantly voted at the board's last meeting to continue its work, despite Energy Department changes. "It doesn't look to me like he's (Glenn) very interested in it," she said. Co-chair Walt Kelley said Pantex board members want to see what the future holds. "Right now we still don't know what they want or what they don't want," he said. 2001 Amarillo Globe-News ***************************************************************** 14 DOE holds meeting with lab workers October 24, 2001 By Beth Barrett Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY -- More than 100 former nuclear energy contract workers concerned that their illnesses may be linked to Cold War research at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and other Southland facilities met for the first time Tuesday with federal officials administering a program offering $150,000 in compensation and lifetime medical benefits. The turnout provided evidence of the depth of local concern among former workers who once handled radioactive materials, beryllium and silica after federal officials initially balked at aggressively serving the region because of a perceived lack of interest. "We are delighted with the turnout," said Jeff Eagan, special assistant in the Department of Energy's Office of Environment Safety &Health after the afternoon meeting at the Posada Royale Hotel and Suites. "We've made a real commitment to come back and back (until all workers are processed)." The meetings were scheduled after the Daily News disclosed in July that the region was being slighted despite some 6,000 employees who once worked in Rocketdyne's nuclear research lab in the hills between Simi Valley and Chatsworth, while a predecessor company in Canoga Park was listed as a beryllium vendor. U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, a Republican representing Ventura County, subsequently demanded the service be provided. Several former workers, or their eligible survivors, said they were encouraged by what they heard about the Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act administrated by the Department of Labor. Betty Radcliff, a Reseda resident, said her husband died of cancer after working for years at the field lab operated by Rocketdyne, now a division of the Boeing Co. A nuclear material technician, Jules Radcliff frequently came home with stories of being exposed to radioactive materials, his wife said. "He'd say, 'I was in the hot stuff again,"' Betty Radcliff said, holding a packet containing doctor's bills and other information to back her claim for compensation. But many former employees left disappointed, because while they worked with some of the dangerous substances -- particularly beryllium, a metal whose dust can cause fatal lung disease -- they did so under Department of Defense or other contracts, but not for the DOE. Walter McCarron, a Woodland Hills resident and former Rocketdyne employee, who along with dozens of others was exposed to particles of aluminum alloy containing beryllium, said many people handled the alloy in connection with Department of Defense or NASA work. "It (the act) is too narrowly focused, and will cut out a lot of people now," McCarron said. Boeing officials have begun offering tests for beryllium sensitivity to its workers, including former employees and those not directly covered by the federal compensation act. So far about 70 people have been tested, and while company officials said there have been some "indeterminate" results, none have been positive. Eagan, the DOE assistant, said the government is attempting to provide broader assistance to former employees who don't fall within the act by establishing physician panels to help people pursue state compensation claims. A Los Angeles Newspaper Group Newspaper ***************************************************************** 15 Weapons labs consider moving some nuclear materials underground ( 10/23/2001) BY TIA O'BRIEN Mercury News Within minutes after jumbo jets crashed into the World Trade Center Sept. 11, security chiefs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, arguably the most secured facility in Northern California, slammed shut the gates to public areas. Guards, armed with semi-automatic machine guns, started checking anyone entering the nuclear weapons research lab. Everyone knew what was at stake: Protecting almost half a ton of weapons-grade plutonium and a reported 500 pounds of enriched uranium stored at the lab. Despite all the security, even one of the Livermore lab's own security chiefs says that may not be enough. Lab officials are considering an entirely new approach to guarding Lawrence Livermore's radioactive stockpile: moving some of the weapons-grade nuclear materials to an underground site. ``It makes it harder for an adversary to get their hands on it,'' says Joseph Krueger, who oversees all physical security at the nuclear weapons lab. About 8,000 employees and 2,000 visitors and contractors can be found daily on the one-square-mile campus. While the idea of reducing the amount of radioactive material in highly populated regions like the Bay Area has been debated for years, it's now being revisited in the wake of the Sept. 11th attack. The final decision would be part of a broader Department of Energy plan now under review, as the agency attempts to beef up security at the nation's 10 major nuclear weapons facilities, which are scattered around the country. Underground sites are part of a proposed solution. Although DOE officials are refusing comment on any security steps it might take to fend off terrorists, Krueger says the DOE is ``looking at further consolidating some of its holdings of nuclear materials.'' Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are the two federal research laboratories charged with designing and maintaining the nation's aging arsenal of nuclear weapons. The terrorist threat is not just hypothetical. Experts at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute, which tracks the movement of nuclear materials, say that terrorist master-mind Osama bin Laden has openly discussed his interest in obtaining nuclear weapons. ``He felt it was a requirement for moving the jihad forward,'' says Amy Sands, deputy director at the center. She added that there's no proof that bin Laden's group has obtained the necessary weapons components. Consolidating the nuclear material in a few spots has come up before. During the Clinton Administration, former DOE Secretary Bill Richardson's staff discussed the possibility of consolidating tons of bomb-grade materials but the idea never gained momentum. The proposal surfaced again last month in a report released by the Project on Government Oversight, a private watchdog group, which is highly critical of security at the nation's nuclear weapons facilities. Danielle Brian, the group's executive director, was encouraged after meeting Monday with a former Clinton administration official who's now advising the DOE on anti-terrorism measures. ``He said they are looking at how to implement our consolidation recommendations quickly,'' Brian said. Lawrence Livermore already had improved its security following an internal energy department investigation in 1999, which found security lapses at weapons plants including Livermore and the Los Alamos National Lab. The review grew out of the Wen Ho Lee case at Los Alamos, where Lee was suspected of giving nuclear weapons secrets to China. All but one of the charges against Lee were later dropped. The problems cited in the review ranged from weak computer security to ineffective security guard forces, which were contract hires unable to fight off intruders during mock attacks. In a Sept. 13 letter to Congressman Chris Shays, D-Conn., one critic, Peter Stockton, who was a special assistant to former Secretary Richardson, warned that the DOE found the guards losing ``well over 50 percent'' of these mock terrorist attack battles. Shays heads a House subcommittee on national security and is planning hearings on the issue early next year. As a result of that 1999 DOE investigation, security has been tightened at both labs over the past 18 months. The major changes at Livermore are at the so-called Superblock, where the plutonium is stored. (According to the last declassified figures available from the 1990s, lab officials say there is about 0.4 tons of weapons-grade plutonium at their facility. Although they won't comment on enriched uranium, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists cites a government report putting the figure at about 500 pounds.) For years, the lab had relied on the Alameda County Sheriff's Department to aid in any security breaches. After the 1999 DOE probe, highly trained and armed SWAT teams were put on guard 24 hours a day. The Superblock also has been wrapped in a mesh-like net to prevent intruders from throwing plutonium over multiple barbed-wire fences, which themselves are topped with razor wire. Motion sensors and video cameras keep an eye on movement around the area. Inside, tall metal poles are strung with cables to stop helicopters from trying to land. During a tour of the lab last week, Livermore still was at a heightened state of alert with armed guards posted at every gate. Officials showed off the mix of high-tech devices and physical barriers which are intended to block the theft of nuclear weapon design secrets and bomb-making material. No one can enter top-security areas like the Superblock without passing through an electronic security booth which double-checks not just a person's badge and PIN, but palm size and weight. ``What we're trying to do is have layered defenses,'' says Dennis Fisher, associate director for safety, security and environmental protection. ``Where we have the more sensitive resources, it takes an increasing level of clearance to get into those areas.'' Fisher doubts that terrorists could successfully crash a jumbo jet into the Superblock, a one-city-block-sized area with low-lying buildings. ``It could happen, but it's a difficult target to hit. Big planes aren't very maneuverable,'' Fisher says. Even so, when a small suspicious aircraft was spotted in the weeks following Sept. 11, two military fighter jets were dispatched. ``The response was in tens of minutes,'' says Krueger. He added that the plane was not found to be a threat. These assurances don't satisfy a local community group that has been lobbying for years to close Lawrence Livermore's plutonium facility. ``It's not clear to us if the Department of Energy and the lab have done an analysis of such things as a 767 jumbo jet crashing into the plutonium facility with a full fuel tank,'' says Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs, who lives a quarter of a mile from the laboratory. Kelley says that now, in addition to concerns about radioactive leaks and spills, terrorism has been added to her list of daily worries. Contact Tia O'Brien at tobrien@sjmercury.com. © 2001 KnightRidder.com | Terms of Use | Advertising | About SV.com | ***************************************************************** 16 Musharraf won't budge on nuclear program - October 25, 2001 japantoday > asia Wednesday, October 24, 2001 at 09:30 JST ISLAMABAD Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday assured the nation's top civil and military leaders that there has not been "any compromise" on the Pakistani nuclear program. A press release issued by Defense Ministry said Musharraf told the National Command Authority meeting that Pakistan's strategic assets were the cornerstone of the country's national security and "there was no question of any compromise on the nuclear program." (Kyodo News) Editorial comments: editor@japantoday.com ***************************************************************** 17 Pro-Taliban nuclear scientist 'under arrest in Pakistan' Ananova - A scientist who helped Pakistan become a nuclear power has been detained, says his family. The government says the man has been placed in protective custody. Relatives of Sultan Bashiru-Din Mehmood says the arrest was made by Pakistani intelligence officials. "We don't know on what charges," said Asim Mehmood, the scientist's son. He says at least two other scientists, friends of his father, have also been arrested in Lahore. Mehmood, a public supporter of the Taliban, has informed his family he is safe, his son says. Family members say he had been working recently on projects in Afghanistan, including land development, educational reform and developing ways to feed the nation's impoverished population. Federal authorities will not discuss the reason for the detention, saying only that Mehmood and the others are in protective custody. The government has released no further information. Officials at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said Mehmood was project director of Pakistan's nuclear programme and had remained in key positions until he retired last year. Mehmood's links with Islamic groups and pro-Taliban sentiments had drawn scrutiny from Pakistani security agencies in recent months, energy commission sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity. Story filed: 13:56 Wednesday 24th October 2001 CHECK ***************************************************************** 18 Community groups upset with DOE over advisory board changes 10/24/01 © 2001 - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Associated Press AMARILLO, Texas {AP}— Community groups are upset with a U.S. Department of Energy plan to restructure a public advisory board, saying it would limit their say on environmental matters at the nuclear weapons plant. Three groups — Serious Texans Against Nuclear Dumping, Panhandle Area Neighbors and Landowners, and the Peace Farm — met Tuesday to criticize the DOE. "I would say the Department of Energy wants a board of lap dogs," said Buddy Seewald, president of STAND. "We accuse them of bad faith, bad faith with this community and bad faith with the people who worked hours ... in helping them put together a board they said they wanted." The Pantex Plant Citizens Advisory Board was formed in 1994 to give residents a say in operations at the plant. In July, members of the board learned that the DOE would not allow them to continue making recommendations on Pantex operational matters. Dan Glenn, manager of the DOE's Amarillo area, said he considered public input important, but that the board was ineffective. He said no decision has been made about the board's future. "Other stakeholder participation mechanisms such as the monthly public round-table meetings in Panhandle, special topical public meetings and meetings with elected officials have proven to be effective," Glenn said. Walt Kelley said fellow Pantex board members were taking a wait-and-see attitude. "Right now we still don't know what they want or what they don't want," he said. ***************************************************************** 19 Pakistani leader rules out compromise on nuclear programme BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 23, 2001 Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday that Pakistan's strategic assets were the cornerstone of national security and ruled out making any compromises on the country's nuclear programme, Radio Pakistan reported. Dismissing speculation about the vulnerability of strategic assets, he said he had reassured world leaders that the country's strategic capability was "fully safeguarded" and there existed "no possibility whatsoever" of its falling into the wrong hands. Musharraf was speaking in Rawalpindi at a special session of the National Command Authority, the highest controlling authority of Pakistan's nuclear assets. The meeting was also attended by the Pakistani foreign minister, interior minister and chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee, the radio said. Source: Radio Pakistan, Islamabad, in English 1300 gmt 23 Oct 01 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter All Material Subject to ***************************************************************** 20 Butler warns of nuclear threat news.com.au - 24 October 2001 From AAP LAST month's terrorist attacks on the United States could have easily been carried out with nuclear weapons, one of Australia's leading diplomats has warned. Former UN Arms inspector Richard Butler also confirmed Australia's involvement in subsequent retaliation had made it a key terrorist target. "How would we look if what we saw on September 11 had been nuclear armed?" Mr Butler told a lunch in Adelaide. "I believe, in fact I have some information, to suggest that it so easily could have been nuclear armed and we really must come to grips with this problem as soon as possible." Mr Butler made the comments in a video and phone address from the US to an Australian Institute of Company Directors' luncheon in Adelaide today. It was an address he had planned to make in person on a speaking circuit to institute branches also in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. But he was unable to attend after the US government asked him to help investigate the spate of anthrax attacks in America in light of his expertise in weapons of mass destruction, including germ warfare. Mr Butler, who headed the UN body charged with managing the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, said it was crucial countries joined to outlaw such weapons. "There are too many nuclear weapons out there and some of them might get into terrorists' hands," he said. "That, I tell you quite frankly, is my big fear right now - not so much anthrax - but that maybe soon one of these terrorist groups is going to turn up with a suitcase nuclear weapon. "The terrorists of September 11 turned civilian aircraft into missiles and then we saw anthrax. "Next time I suspect it might be further biological agents, even smallpox - God help us if that occurs - or nuclear. "Weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical and biological - are just too dangerous to be the subject of politics as usual." Now serving as diplomat in residence for New York think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, Mr Butler said Australia's involvement in the US-led war against terrorism meant it was a terrorist target. "We have made ourselves a significant target," he said. "Whether we're third or fourth I'm not sure, but we've not taken a back seat and that brings its price, its cost." Federal Treasurer Peter Costello last week rated Australia fourth on a list of nations which were potential terrorist targets. Mr Butler also urged Australians to emphasise that the war on terrorism was an attack on fanatics, not on Arab or Muslim people. "It is absolutely crucial in our workplaces, in our communities in Australia, that we make clear that we have no fight with people who happen to be Muslims," he said. "But we do have a fight with those who abuse that faith and deploy it in the name of terrorism." The Australian Daily Telegraph ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************