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02/25/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.51
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NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS
1 Russia opens a new nuclear power plant
2 Reid requests nuclear waste e-mail probe
3 A deal made on N-dump tax bill
4 Lawmakers, Envirocare Disagree When Waste Tax Deal Might Debut
5 Legislative bill threatens nuclear waste disposer Envirocare
6 Waste tax discussed in closed meeting
7 Alaska governor fights proposed Arctic nuke route
8 Report accuses Millstone of spoiling marine habitat
9 CNSC Announces Decisions on the Pickering 'A' Nuclear Generating
10 Utah nuclear waste facility proposed
11 Huge turnout expected for anti-nuclear rally
12 Taiwan protesters demand nuclear plant referendum
13 Thousands march against Taiwan nuclear plant -
14 DPP has not betrayed its charter
15 Choosing Course of Action Tricky for Greens
16 Russia: Controversial Nuke-Import Plan To Become Law
17 Russia starts new nuclear reactor amid controversy
18 Rivers seeks Vermont influence over licensing of nuclear power plant
19 Chernobyl victims still need help, charity group says
20 Forum chair calls for softer stance on nuclear power
21 Taiwan protesters demand nuclear plant referendum
22 Protest march fails to draw big crowds
23 Czech Plant Resumes Operation
NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS
1 Stinson: Read this if you worked at Kelly
2 Injection made me speechless, says mother of Kursk victim -
3 Iraq report confirms Israeli fears
4 Defectors say Iraq tested nuclear bomb
5 Environmental, taxpayer groups urge swift demise of lab's NIF
6 Lab reports threats to U.S. more difficult to detect
7 Chemist will discuss groundwater
8 Domenici: Lab Funds are Safe
9 Metro:Federal inspectors praise SRS's security
10 Kursk foundation asks Japan to donate to salvage operations
11 Suit accuses contractors of mishandling nuclear cleanup
12 Cold war is over, but the nuclear age isn't
13 Russia to tighten export control over n-tech
14 4 US sub stories
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NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES
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1 Russia opens a new nuclear power plant
The Russia Journal
24th February, 2001
MOSCOW - Russia on Friday officially opened its first new nuclear
power plant since the Soviet era, with officials calling it a
breakthrough for the industry after years of financial troubles
and public opposition.
More than 20 years after construction began, the first reactor at
the Rostov Atomic Energy Station in southern Russia has been
turned on to minimal output. It will gradually be cranked up to
full power over the next several months, said plant spokesman
Yegor Obukhov. It will provide electricity to the Rostov province
and elsewhere in the N orth Caucasus region.
The reactor had been almost complete when construction was frozen
in 1990 on government orders because of public protests prompted
by the 1986 explosion at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl plant.
But as deterioration at coal-powered electricity plants and
chronic funding shortages led to increasing blackouts across
Russia, the government announced a drive to revive the nuclear
energy industry. The Atomic Energy Ministry allocated funds in
1999 to complete the Ros tov react or and several other stalled
projects.
The Soviet-designed VVER-1000 reactor at Rostov is considered
structurally more sound than the RBMK reactor that blew up at
Chernobyl. The main difference is the VVER-1000's concrete
containment structure designed to hold in damage from an
explosion.
It can also withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake and the crash of a
20-ton aircraft, plant officials say.
Environmentalists and many residents of the forested region cont
inue to oppose the plant, s aying it was built too close to a
major reservoir and in an area prone to earth tremors. They also
say the reactor was not properly maintained while construction
was stalled for nine years.
''This is the last thing the Rostov province needs. We've seen
what those monsters can do and should never forget it,'' said
Alexander Filipenko, chairman of the Rostov Chernobyl Union.
The director of the new plant, Vladimir Pogorely, promised that
it wo uld create thousands of new jobs for the depresse d town of
Volgodonsk, adjacent to the station, and claimed its reactor
would be the safest in Russia. The country has nine nuclear
plants and 29 operating reactors that produce about 12 percent of
its electricity.
Iranian nuclear reactors to be built
MOSCOW - Russia will begin building the first block of Iran's
nuclear power station at Bushehr this year, Russian Deputy
Nuclear Energy Minister Evgeny Reshetnikov said
Wednesday.
Russian-produced reactor equipment and turbine
installation would be delivered to the construction site shortly,
Reshetnikov said quoted by ITAR-TASS.
The project wou ld be completed in 2003, the official said,
adding that some 700 Russian specialists were already working at
the site, double-checking the construction equipment's conformity
to Russian standards.
Iran's nuclear program has been strongly criticized by
Washington, which accuses Tehran of attempting to develop nuclear
weapons. It has also criticized third parties including Russia
for alleged technology transfers to the Islamic regime.
Russian President Vladim ir Putin's administration stepped u p
Moscow's ties with its former Soviet-era allies, specifically
focusing its attention on the strategic Caspian Sea despite
Washington's expressions of concern
href="http://www.akm.ru/"
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2 Reid requests nuclear waste e-mail probe
[Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Saturday, February 24, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., added his voice Friday to
calls for a congressional investigation of a letter whose
anonymous author charges mismanagement by officials of the Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste project.
Reid requested the General Accounting Office look into questions
the letter raises about travel by Yucca Mountain staff and the
expertise of key government managers.
Although the author has not stepped forward, Nevada lawmakers
have said the level of detail in the six-page letter suggests it
is someone with close knowledge of program.
"This whistle-blower letter makes several serious allegations
regarding mismanagement at Yucca Mountain and I am requesting the
GAO makes this investigation one of its top priorities," Reid
said.
Operated by the Energy Department, the project seeks to determine
whether nuclear waste can be buried within Yucca Mountain, a
ridge 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The letter was sent Jan. 23 to the Energy Department's inspector
general, with copies to members of Congress who monitor the
nuclear waste program.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., asked the GAO on Feb. 12 to look
into the allegations, but it could not be determined Friday
whether she had received a response from the agency. She and her
staff were in a retreat and could not be reached.
This story is located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Feb-24-Sat-2001/news/15514913.html
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3 A deal made on N-dump tax bill
[deseretnews.com]
Saturday, February 24, 2001
By Donna Kemp Spangler
Deseret News staff writer
Owners of a low-level radioactive waste dump in remote
Tooele County will, for the first time, be faced with a state tax
bill.
Company officials met with House Republican lawmakers
Friday to hammer out a compromise on a proposed tax on low-level
radioactive waste shipments coming to Utah. The amount of revenue
that would be generated by the tax is not yet known, but it is
expected to be several million dollars that will go into a state
education savings account.
Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Orem, sponsor of HB370, said he
will introduce the latest version of the tax bill on Monday.
Envirocare officials, which had been looking at a $34
million tax burden under Alexander's original bill, are cautious.
"We're going to wait and see what's written," said Envirocare
President Charles Judd. "In general terms, we've come to an
agreement."
For years, lawmakers have been looking at ways to tax
radioactive waste coming into the state. Currently, Envirocare
pays the state $2.50 per ton in fees that just cover the cost of
regulation.
So earlier in the session, GOP lawmakers arranged, through
a verbal contract, to have a consultant study ways to raise more
revenue from radioactive waste. Just before the consultant was to
make a presentation on his report, Judd called him to say there
was a possible conflict of interest because the consultant had
worked for Envirocare in the past. The consultant, who remains
unidentified, quit and took his report with him.
But some lawmakers leaked the report to the media, which
indicated Utah, like South Carolina and Washington state, could
be collecting more than $100 million a year taxing radioactive
waste.
With only a week before the end of the legislative
session, Alexander introduced his proposal to tax Envirocare, as
well as International Uranium Corp., which has a uranium
processing mill in San Juan County. Envirocare officials were
dismayed the tax proposal came without warning.
Judd argued the original bill would significantly harm
business, forcing the company to scale back operations, which
could affect some of the company's 400 employees.
After the House committee passed a revised version onto
the House floor, Judd said the company initiated a meeting with
lawmakers that resulted in an agreement to pay a tax on certain
types of wastes based on a percentage of gross receipts, a sort
of income tax on gross revenues.
The original bill would have levied a set amount per cubic
foot and per curie, the standard measure of radioactivity.
"We proposed a percentage," Judd said. That change gives
Envirocare more flexibility in the marketplace than does a tax
based on radioactivity or volume, he added.
It still will cost Envirocare millions, Judd said, but
much less than the original bill. The tax also wouldn't be
collected on Envirocare's existing contracts.
The tax would only affect the low-level waste Envirocare
currently is licensed to accept — class A waste.
It does not affect class B and C waste — wastes thousands
of times more radioactive than they are currently licensed to
accept. Envirocare will try to get permission in 2002 from the
Legislature and governor to store class B and C wastes at its
site in Clive, about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.
By agreeing to the tax this year, lawmakers may be more
willing to grant Envirocare's license next year.
Under terms of the proposed agreement, the new taxes would
be:
+ 12 percent of the gross revenues for so-called containerized
class A waste. Currently, Envirocare is seeking an amendment to
its license to accept these types of waste, which are slightly
higher in radioactivity than the company now stores. The amended
bill would have levied a tax of $300 per curie.
+ 10 percent of the gross revenues on class A waste, which
primarily consists of contaminated soils that makes up the
majority of Envirocare's business, compared to 25 cents per cubic
foot.
+ 5 percent of the regulated waste that has traces of
radioactivity and can only be taken to facilities like Envirocare
that are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, compared
to 25 cents per cubic foot.
+ A tax of 25 cents per cubic foot would be levied on some
wastes with traces of radioactivity, but the wastes that
naturally occur in the soil won't be taxed. Unchanged is the
amount of an annual $200,000 payment to the state. The state
would use the money to manage the facility should Envirocare
close. Overall, Judd said he was pleased with the agreement. "We
think we all can live with it," he said.
*E-mail: donna@desnews.com* © 2001 Deseret News Publishing
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4 Lawmakers, Envirocare Disagree When Waste Tax Deal Might Debut
The Salt Lake Tribune --
Saturday, February 24, 2001*
BY JUDY FAHYS
The fight over a new tax on radioactive waste promises to
continue into next week.
Lawmakers and Envirocare of Utah met sporadically Friday.
Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Lindon, who is sponsoring the bill that
would impose the tax, said the compromise they worked out would
become public Monday in the form of a new House Bill 370.
The company characterized things differently.
"We are still in negotiations," said Envirocare spokesman Tim
Barney. "We have been up there all day today, and we probably
will be up there all day long on Monday."
As passed earlier in the week by the House Revenue and
Taxation Committee, Alexander's bill would impose a new tax on
the 12 million cubic feet of radioactive waste that Envirocare
takes at its 640-acre landfill in Clive, about 80 miles west of
Salt Lake City.
Alexander's bill originally would have raised $37 million a
year from the tax, which was pitched as a way for Utah to be
compensated for the trouble of taking waste from outside the
state. Now it is unclear what revenue could be collected from
such a tax, which was expanded to include uranium tailings
brought to southeastern Utah for reprocessing.
One negotiator said lawmakers felt pressed to set a tax this
year, before Envirocare gets a state permit to accept "B" waste,
which is more highly radioactive. The negotiator said a new tax
proposal would be lower, percentage-based -- not a per-cubic-yard
charge as in the committee-passed version.
When asked if the company hoped to derail any tax this year,
Barney said Envirocare has been talking with legislators for
awhile about a workable tax scheme.
"If the bill is enacted as passed [by the committee], we
would literally be put out of business," he said.
One observer pointed out there is precedent for waste
companies to stop similar bills in the past. "It's happened three
times in the last decade," said Steve Erickson, a frequent critic
of Envirocare.
More than a dozen lobbyists were fighting the waste tax in
the Capitol on Friday. The anti-tax team included one former
Senate president, Miles "Cap" Ferry, and three former House
speakers, Craig Moody, Rob Bishop and Mel Brown.
A separate Envirocare bill, House Bill 375 by Tooele
Democratic Rep. Jim Gowans, has been laid to rest for the year.
The measure, which is supported by the waste company, would
have had the state take back ownership of the land Envirocare
hopes to use to store the B waste, then lease that land back to
the company so it can operate the facility.
The move would make Utah's radioactive waste law more like
those in Washington and South Carolina, where similar disposal
facilities are located.
It also would presumably give the state more authority over
the handling of the waste, while removing a possible sticking
point with the federal government that the company faces in its
attempt at winning approval.
b
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5 Legislative bill threatens nuclear waste disposer Envirocare
By Jon Selden
online@newsroom.byu.edu
*NewsNet Staff Writer*
Jon Seldon/Daily Universe
Rep. Jeff Alexander of Provo, proposed the bill the nuclear waste bill.
Fighting against nuclear waste is as politically safe as kissing
babies.
So it's not hard to understand why a legislative
committee approved a bill Wednesday that threatens to tax nuclear
waste disposer Envirocare out of existence.
That is, unless you're a legislator.
"I'm no particular fan of Envirocare, but I can't even
understand the bill. I feel that this is just a very imprudent
way to make law," said Rep. Scott Daniels, D-Salt Lake, who
proposed an amendment to gut the bill and schedule it for a
study.
Rep. Judy Ann Buffmire, D-Salt Lake, joined him.
"I am really confused at this point," she said.
The confusion wasn't just limited to Salt Lake Democrats.
After representatives amended a proposed tax on nuclear
waste from $1 to 50 cents, and then to 25 cents, Daniels
commented that they were just "pulling numbers out of the air."
"Amen," came a call from the audience full of Envirocare
employees.
House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, R-Layton, Davis
County, shot back, "I think the reason that we're pulling numbers
out of the air is because we can't get any straight answers out
of anybody. If you don't like the way we're making laws, I don't
know what to tell you. We can't get the right information. But,
until we do, we just have to keep pulling numbers out of the
air."
Only Alexander and representatives from the state
Department of Environmental Quality seemed entirely confident
about the bill's purpose.
"We honestly believe that a tax is important on this
facility. I believe it's time we take steps to continue to
protect the state," he said.
Alexander said he is not trying to put Envirocare out of
business because the bill doesn't apply to the company's current
contracts.
But that won't mean much when Envirocare's contracts come
up for renewal in "a couple of years", said Tim Barney, the
company's director of public relations.
When that happens, Envirocare won't be able to compete
with other waste disposal sites.
"The state just doesn't seem to want to understand that
there are other facilities that can take this that aren't taxed,"
he said.
Beginning April 1, the bill would impose myriad taxes on
differing grades of nuclear waste brought to Envirocare's West
Desert facility. Currently, the site primarily accepts low-level
contaminated soil.
"We're not talking about really hot stuff here. 95
percent or more of what we take is just contaminated dirt,"
Barney said.
The bill would also require Envirocare to pay $200,000
annually into a state fund to maintain the disposal site after
the company quits business.
Barney said that was useless because the company already
has $31.3 million set aside to maintain the site for 100 years
after they leave.
After that, the contaminated soil "could be used for fill
in your backyard and it would pose no health threat," he said.
This story was posted on Thursday, February 22, 2001
*****************************************************************
6 Waste tax discussed in closed meeting
w w w . s t a n d a r d . n e t
*Saturday, February 24, 2001*
SALT LAKE CITY -- House leaders and representatives from
Envirocare met behind closed doors Friday to completely rewrite a
radioactive waste tax, easing the burden on the disposal company.
"We just kind of started all over again," said House Majority
Leader Kevin Garn. "The goal was to work so Utah was taxing as
much as other states were taxing on similar waste."
During the sometimes heated meeting, Envirocare President Charles
Judd and owner Khosrow Semnani pitched a plan that would not tax
certain types of waste and would change the tax structure on the
remaining radioactive materials. It is still too early to tell
how the changes in the tax plan will change the amount Envirocare
would pay, but all sides agree that Envirocare would be better
off under the new version.
However, it was a version that Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Orem, the
sponsor of the original tax, was dragged into. At one point,
Alexander and House Majority Whip David Ure, R-Kamas, got in a
shouting match over the proposal.
-- *Standard-Examiner staff and wire services*
*****************************************************************
7 Alaska governor fights proposed Arctic nuke route
KnoxNews.com - News - Latest International News
*By DON HUNTER*
*Scripps-McClatchy Western Service*
*February 23, 2001*
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Tony Knowles has written to his
counterpart in the Russian province of Chukotka as well as to
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and the State Department, asking for
information and assistance in blocking a proposal to transport
nuclear waste through the Arctic Ocean.
A Russian shipping company has offered to use icebreakers
to escort freighters laden with nuclear waste bound from Europe
to Japan across its northern coastline, according to national and
international news accounts, concerned northern nations and
environmental organizations.
In letters dated Feb. 16, Knowles asked Stevens,
R-Alaska, and Secretary of State Colin Powell for help in
clarifying the talks between Russian and Japanese companies.
Knowles additionally asked Stevens to help "stop the marine
transport of these dangerous materials."
In his letter to Powell, the Democratic governor said:
"Any accidental release of this material could have a devastating
effect on the fragile Arctic environment and the health and
welfare of the people who live there. In Alaska, where most of
our indigenous people live a subsistence way of life, any threat
to their resources would have a devastating effect on their way
of life, not to mention their health."
Stevens was out of the country and could not be contacted
this week. A spokesman for the State Department said Knowles'
letter could not immediately be located Thursday. The third
person on the governor's mailing list is Roman Abramovich, who
was inaugurated as governor of Chukotka a few weeks ago.
"I know that you are as concerned as I am about the
potential risks this activity could pose," Knowles wrote to
Abramovich. "I hope you will join me in registering our mutual
concerns with our respective federal administrations over this
matter of Arctic marine transport of nuclear material."
Hard facts about the nuclear shipping proposal are
difficult to come by. The environmental organization Greenpeace
issued a press release in January saying it had learned of the
negotiations, and news organizations in the United States, Europe
and Russia have reported on the talks.
In Washington, Knowles aide Anna Kerttula investigated.
Thursday, Kerttula said contacts in Moscow have confirmed there
is a proposal to ship nuclear waste through the Arctic Ocean. A
pilot shipment of nonnuclear freight is said to be scheduled this
summer, she and others said.
"We're not sure how close they are to cutting a deal,"
Kerttula said. "We're trying to find out how real this is and
when is the possibility (that shipments might begin)."
Japan uses nuclear fuel to power some utilities and sends
spent fuel to reactors in Britain and France, where it is
reprocessed. The reprocessed fuel and nuclear waste created in
that process are shipped to Japan. The exchange has been going on
for about a decade, with freighters transiting traditional sea
routes around South Africa and South America and through the
Panama Canal. Resistance to shipping the nuclear material has
been growing in countries adjacent to those routes.
Damon Moglen, a Washington-based spokesman for Greenpeace
International who works on nuclear issues, said more than 50
countries have protested the two-way shipments between Japan and
Europe.
"One reason the Arctic is being looked at is that
political opposition along other routes has gotten quite fierce,"
Moglen said. "Unless people fight shipments along the Arctic
route, it runs the very real risk of being the route of least
resistance."
The northern sea route hugs the Russian coastline for the
most part. What grass-roots opposition might exist there is
submerged beneath the enthusiasm of government and business
leaders for new commercial enterprises, said Thomas Jandl of
Bellona USA, an American affiliate of a Norwegian environmental
organization. Bellona opposes the nuclear shipping proposal.
"Obviously, there's a concern," Jandl said. "If you look
at a map, the Arctic looks big. But it's not a huge area. If you
had an accident, it would give a nice distribution all over of
these dangerous materials."
At this time, the Russian proposal is to transport
nuclear waste left over from the British and French reprocessing
effort back to Japan. The material would be encased in thick
glass blocks or cylinders. Greenpeace calls it "high-level waste"
with the potential to threaten the environment for thousands of
years if accidentally released.
Russia and other northern nations have been investigating
commercial shipping possibilities through the Arctic Ocean in
recent years.
John Doyle, executive director of the Anchorage-based
Northern Forum, said his group, which represents leaders in many
of those nations, has promoted the development of marine freight
routes through the Arctic.
However, the forum does not promote nuclear shipments,
Doyle said.
Post-Soviet-era Russia has an expensive, and expensive to
maintain, fleet of icebreakers capable of transiting the thickest
ice, Doyle said. The possibility of shipping across the pole or
via the shoreline-hugging northern sea route is attractive for a
simple reason.
"It's a lot shorter," Doyle said.
(Contact Don Hunter at the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska,
http://www.adn.com.)
[E.W. Scripps] Copyright © 2000 Scripps Howard News Service
Copyright © 1999-2000, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights
*****************************************************************
8 Report accuses Millstone of spoiling marine habitat
New Haven Register
-->
Associated Press February 24, 2001
NEW LONDON — A coalition of anti-nuclear groups has issued a
report accusing the Millstone complex in Waterford and other
coastal nuclear power plants of destroying marine habitats and
killing endangered wildlife in the pursuit of profits.
The report titled "Licensed to Kill," released this week in
Washington, also claims that state and federal regulatory
agencies have failed to make the industry comply with
environmental laws.
"Tragically, under the present regulatory system, the nuclear
power industry’s needs almost always prevail over the interests
of marine life," Scott Denman, executive director of the Safe
Energy Communication Council, said.
The report claims that in Connecticut, state and federal
regulators have employed a double standard by allowing Millstone
to kill thousands of fish and lobsters a year while local
fishermen are fined or arrested for catching the same species.
"Nuclear power stations are routinely allowed to destroy alarming
percentages of fish stocks and larvae entrained through cooling
water intakes," said Bob Alvarez, executive director of the Long
Island-based Standing for Truth About Radiation.
The report raises anew the claim that Millstone is responsible
for the near-depletion of the endangered winter flounder, a fish
indigenous to Niantic Bay.
Northeast Utilities, owner and operator of Millstone, has
attributed the decline to overfishing. In legal action that ended
in the state Supreme Court, NU argued that its nuclear plant
cooling systems have a negligible impact on the fish population.
Millstone spokesman Peter Hyde said Friday the issues raised are
old.
"While these concerns have been addressed in the past, there is
no new science here that has been brought to the fore," Hyde
said. "Millstone really has worked hard in recent years on our
environmental program and we’ve developed quite an extensive
monitoring program."
Millstone is one of 11 plants outlined in the report that uses a
water-cooling system called "once-through" that environmentalists
say is devastating to marine wildlife.
They say the system should be replaced by "cooling tower"
systems, which are more costly to build but have less
environmental impact.
*©New Haven Register 2001*
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9 CNSC Announces Decisions on the Pickering 'A' Nuclear Generating
CNSC: Media Centre - News Release
Station Environmental Assessment
01-02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2001
Following public hearings held on October 5, 2000 and December
14-15, 2000, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) today
announced its decisions on an environmental assessment of Ontario
Power Generation's proposed return to service of the four
reactors at the Pickering ‘A' Nuclear Generating Station. The
environmental assessment was prepared in accordance with the
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).
Environmental Assessment
The Commission, in making its decisions, considered the
information contained in the environmental assessment Screening
Report, in related submissions from CNSC staff, Ontario Power
Generation, and intervenors at the public hearings held by the
Commission, and in the comments received from the public
throughout the year-long environmental assessment process.
The Commission decided that the proposed return to power
operation of the four reactors, taking into account the
mitigation measures described in the Screening Report, is not
likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.
The Commission also decided that public concerns expressed during
the environmental assessment process do not warrant a referral of
the project to the Minister of the Environment for further
consideration by a mediator or review panel.
The above decisions on the environmental assessment do not permit
the reactors to return to power operations. These decisions only
permit the CNSC to proceed to consideration of the licence
application under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. The licence
application will be considered under the CNSC's normal public
hearing process.
A Record of Proceedings, including the Reasons for Decision are
available on the CNSC web-site at www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca or by
contacting the CNSC. The CNSC regulates the use of nuclear energy
and materials to protect health, safety, security and the
environment and to respect Canada's international commitments on
the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
-30-
Documents related to CNSC hearings are available upon request.
You may e-mail us at , or call us at 1-800-668-5284. Contact:
Sunni Locatelli Media and Community Relations Communications
Division (613) 996-6860
© Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission 2000
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10 Utah nuclear waste facility proposed
By Melissa Gibbs
gibbs@newsroom.byu.edu
*NewsNet Staff Writer*
Forty-thousand tons of high-level nuclear waste are homeless, and
Utah may become their new residence.
The Federal Surface Transportation Board approved a 32-mile rail
line that would transport nuclear waste to a proposed storage
facility on the Goshute Indian reservation.
Private Fuel Storage LLC, the utility group that wants to build
the nuclear waste facility, is pleased with the decision.
"It's a significant hurdle to overcome, but not the final
hurdle," said Sue Martin, spokesperson for PFS. "We still have
quite a ways to go."
The decision made by a three-person panel is preliminary. The
board must review the possible environmental impacts the rail
line would have. The Final Environmental Impact Statement will be
issued this summer, Martin said.
Before final approval is given, the board must wait for the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license the storage facility on
the Goshute land.
"We still have a year to go in the licensing process," Martin
said.
Because the rail line would be located on land owned by the
Bureau of Land Management, the project also requires its
approval.
Mike Nelson, assistant manager for the BLM in the Salt Lake
office, said if the proposal is approved, the PFS would obtain a
"right of way" to construct the rail line.
"We are treating this as any other application," Nelson said. "We
are making sure all environmental concerns are met."
Nelson said the BLM will have a decision in about a year.
According to the Great Salt Lake and Southern Railroad Co., the
rail line would cost $20 million to $35 million to construct. It
would run from Low, Tooele County, to the Goshute reservation.
A transfer loop would cost $6 million, according to the railroad
company. Martin said construction could begin at the earliest in
spring 2002, making the rail line operational by 2004.
This application has caused environmental and safety concerns
with many people, including Governor Leavitt.
Bob Linnell, Deputy for Governor Relations, confirmed that
Governor Leavitt strongly opposes bringing nuclear waste to Utah.
This story was posted on
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11 Huge turnout expected for anti-nuclear rally
The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-24
February 24th, 2001
MIXED BAG: Up to 100,000 are expected to jam Taipei's streets to
demonstrate against the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, but not all
will come for the same reasons
By Chiu Yu-Tzu
STAFF REPORTER
Organizers hope that 100,000 people will turn out in Taipei today
to demonstrate against construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power
Plant (®Ö¥|). But, aside from opposition to the power plant, the
demonstrators have a far from unified agenda.
Some anti-nuclear activists are expected to be harshly critical
of the government and President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) for
allowing a resumption of the plant's construction after it was
halted in October last year. There is also expected to be a large
contingent from the DPP anxious to deflect this criticism onto
the opposition parties, whose support for the plant in the
legislature forced the government to reverse itself.
Activists from the Nuclear Free Country Action Alliance
(«D®Ö°ê®a¦æ°ÊÁp·ù), the main organizer of today's "224
Anti-nuclear Demonstration" (¤G¤G¥|¤Ï®Ö¤j¹C¦æ), said yesterday
that they welcomed all anti-nuclear people and groups.
"We will tolerate all anti-nuclear opinions delivered by
participants. As long as they call for a referendum on the
plant," said Kao Cheng-yan (°ª¦¨ª¢), a leader of the
demonstration.
Demonstrators will be led by anti-nuclear groups, which will
walk at the beginning of the line. The second and third groups
will be composed of residents from not only Taipei City but also
other counties. DPP supporters will be placed in the last group
of demonstrators.
One of the highlights of today's demonstration will be an
exchange of A-bian campaign caps for T-shirts («ó´U´«T«ò) with
slogans saying "Referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant
(®Ö¥|¤½§ë)" and "The People Decide (¤H¥Á°µ¥D)."
"DPP supporters should abandon their obsession with certain
political figures and learn to decide essential public policies
on their own," said Shih Shin-min (¬I«H¥Á), chairman of the
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union.
Anti-nuclear activists said that they were utterly unsatisfied
with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung's (±i«T¶¯) decision to resume the
construction of the plant.
"We hope the demonstration will not only express our unhappiness
but also inspire more people to rethink existing energy policies
in Taiwan," said Chen Yi-shen (³¯»ö²`) of the Taiwan Association
of University Professors.
Chen, also one of the leaders of the demonstration, said that
anti-nuclear sentiment would also be expressed through art,
including the singing of anti-nuclear songs and the use of laser
lights to project anti-nuclear slogans on the Presidential Office
building.
In addition, activists from the alliance yesterday denied that
the DPP had become deeply involved in the activity.
"DPP [members] did attend our strategy meetings and have
mobilized party members to join us. But the DPP will be only one
of four groups in the line," said Kao.
Opposed to the DPP's involvement, 30 students from seven
universities burned the DPP party flag and those of the other
three opposition parties in front of the party's national
headquarters yesterday.
"The DPP is no different from the other parties -- dominated by
selfish political figures who care about nothing but elections,"
said Chu Wei-li (¦¶ºû¥ß), spokesperson for the students.
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URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/02/24/story/0000074956]
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*****************************************************************
12 Taiwan protesters demand nuclear plant referendum
Saturday February 24, 8:52 PM
*By Alice Hung*
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters marched
through the streets of Taipei on Saturday to demand a referendum
to decide the fate of a controversial nuclear power plant.
The march by about 10,000 protesters, came 10 days after the
government reversed its position and decided to resume
construction of the US$5.5 billion nuclear plant, the island's
fourth.
Wearing yellow headbands reading "nuclear referendum", the
activists chanted "let the people decide" and other anti-nuclear
slogans.
Marchers included advisers to President Chen Shui-bian and
heavyweights from Chen's anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP).
No violence was reported.
"The fourth nuclear power plant is very bad for us," said
protester Wu Chang-hsun, 69, from Kungliao, a small fishing
village outside Taipei where the plant is located.
"My entire family depends on the sea. The men catch fish to make
a living. The women collect seaweed. The plant will take away
everything," Wu said.
DISAPPOINTED WITH CHEN
Like many residents of Kungliao, Wu voted for Chen in
presidential elections last March because he had promised to
scrap the project. But now she said she doubted he was the right
choice.
"He let us down," Wu said.
The controversial plant was initiated by the previous Nationalist
Party administration, which argued that its planned
2,700-megawatts of electricity was vital for continued economic
growth.
But environmentalists say Taiwan lacks the ability to process
nuclear waste and to deal with accidents.
Despite their defeat in the presidential election, the
Nationalists, who ruled Taiwan for more than five decades, still
hold a majority in the 220-member legislature. The DPP has just
66 seats.
A decision last October by Chen's minority government to shelve
the project, which was already one-third complete, angered the
opposition, leading to a three-month political stalemate which
hit the economy and the financial markets.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung bowed to opposition pressure to resume
building the plant on February 14.
Chang has urged the opposition-dominated parliament to authorise
the use of referendums to settle public policy disputes, but
stopped short of saying whether the government would hold a
referendum on the project at the end of the year at along with
parliamentary elections.
The opposition has warned him against organising a referendum.
The DPP, under fire from anti-nuclear diehards, has said it wants
to hold a referendum to resolve the dispute -- with or without a
referendum law. A referendum would set a precedent certain to
alarm Beijing, which fears the island may one day use a popular
vote to determine whether to declare independence.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must
eventually be reunified and has threatened to attack if the
island declared statehood.
Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
13 Thousands march against Taiwan nuclear plant -
CNN.com -
February 24, 2001
Protesters are demanding the government call a referendum on the
controversial plant
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters have taken
to the streets of Taipei demanding a referendum on the
construction of a controversial nuclear power plant.
The march through the Taiwan capital by about 10,000 protesters,
came 10 days after a government about-turn led to the resumption
of construction work on the island's fourth nuclear plant.
Work on the controversial $5.5 billion facility was initiated by
the previous Nationalist Party administration.
It said that the plant's planned output of 2,700-megawatts of
electricity was vital for Taiwan's continued economic growth.
However, environmentalists argue that Taiwan lacks the ability to
process nuclear waste and to deal with accidents.
A decision last October by President Chen's minority government
to halt construction work on the plant angered the opposition
Nationalists who still hold a majority in the 220-member
legislature.
Government backdown
The row led to a three-month political stalemate which hit the
economy and undermined confidence in the island's financial
markets.
[Nuclear plant] Environmentalists say Taiwan cannot cope with
the waste from a fourth nuclear plant
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung eventually bowed to opposition pressure
to resume building the plant on February 14.
Many protesters in Saturday's March said they had voted for the
current President, Chen Shui-bian because he had pledged to
abandon construction of the plant.
Wearing yellow headbands reading "nuclear referendum," the
activists chanted "let the people decide" and other anti-nuclear
slogans.
However, observers say the government is reluctant to call what
would be Taiwan's first ever referendum because of the message
such a move would send to mainland China.
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province, fears the
island's government may one day use a popular vote to determine
whether to declare formal independence.
It has threatened to attack if the island declared statehood.
Reuters contributed to this report.
*****************************************************************
14 DPP has not betrayed its charter
The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-24
February 24th, 2001
By Shen Fu-hsiung ¨H´I¶¯
Since construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (®Ö¥|)
resumed, the policy gap between the DPP and the Executive Yuan
has triggered a variety of disputes, all of which have been
centered around the party's anti-nuclear charter. One common
theory is that the DPP should implement its charter now that it
has become the ruling party and that those in power will be
betraying their party and supporters if they do not do so. But we
need to understand that the resumption of construction reflects
the political reality of a minority government shackled by the
opposition's legislative majority. It has nothing to do with
whether or not the ruling party wants to implement its charter.
`The DPP should tell its supporters that its original
anti-nuclear objectives have not changed, that it has backed down
temporarily because it does not have enough power and that it
will work harder to achieve the goals of a nuclear-free homeland
and thoroughly implementing its party charter.'
For the DPP, therefore, the best approach is to return to basic
political principles, which means looking at the question from
the fundamental perspective of the government's formation and its
power base. There are three models for the formation of a
government; one is a single-party majority government. When the
ruling party single-handedly controls a majority in the
legislature, it undoubtedly has the full power and responsibility
to implement its party charter. If the party does not implement
its charter under circumstances that allow full implementation,
then it will be punished by its supporters. The second model is a
minority government. When the ruling party cannot win a
legislative majority, then implementation of its charter will be
considerably compromised. The compromise takes place within the
Legislative Yuan. At this time, we cannot put all the blame on
the government lock, stock and barrel for the gap between the DPP
charter and government policy. The third model is a coalition
government, in which the ruling party will have to make policy
compromises to find coalition partners because it lacks a
majority. Implementation of the party charter is not only
compromised, the charter suffers further compromises in the
ministries to pre-empt disputes and enable the ruling party to
maintain power. Obviously, the DPP government is a minority one.
The power plant dispute illustrates a simple rule of the game in
the legislature: the opposition alliance enjoys a larger head
count and the ruling party simply has to admit defeat. Equating
the resumption of construction with a betrayal of the party
charter, therefore, not only overlooks the limitations facing the
government, it also isolates the party's implementation of its
charter from political reality. Such a judgement is neither fair
nor equitable. Naturally, the fact that a minority government is
forced to scale down the implementation of its party charter is
not a question of betrayal. I would argue that the DPP's
implementation of its charter has only suffered a "quantitative
contraction" -- not a "qualitative change." We can explain this
with examples from the British Labour party and Germany's Green
Party. Long shackled by its left-leaning ideology, the Labour
Party was unable to win political power. In particular, Clause 4
of the party's charter -- the so-called "communist clause" --
created a rigid public image for the party. After Tony Blair took
over as party leader, he actively pushed for the abolition of
that clause and for redefining the "New Labour Party" as a social
democratic political party. After abandoning dogmatism, New
Labour defeated the ruling Conservatives in the next
parliamentary elections. To win support from a majority of the
electorate, the Labour Party changed the overall direction of its
charter -- which is a "qualitative change." Or we could say that
it was a betrayal of the existing party charter. The Green Party
illustrates another possibility -- that of "quantitative
contraction" in implementation of its charter. Since its
inception, the party had always advocated an immediate halt to
the construction and operations of all nuclear power plants.
After the 1998 elections, an opportunity surfaced for this
radical environment party to form a coalition government with the
Social Democratic Party. To participate in the government, the
Green Party began to adopt a more pragmatic view and reached a
coalition agreement with the Social Democrats, which only vows to
gradually phase out nuclear power. The party no longer insisted
on getting rid of nuclear power immediately. Instead, it agreed
to let the issue undergo a process of professional evaluations
and general debate. Later, the coalition government approved a
timetable mapping out a 32-year schedule for the decommissioning
of all nuclear power plants. From immediate elimination of
nuclear power to a 32-year timetable, the Green Party's
anti-nuclear nature has not changed. What has changed is its
anti-nuclear "quantity." Party leader Joschka Fischer put it
succinctly: "The Green Party is no longer a protest party; it is
now part of the government." Because it is in power, it must
coordinate with the establishment and make overall
considerations. How is the DPP's situation be any different?
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung's (±i«T¶¯) decision to resume
construction, therefore, is only a "quantitative contraction" --
and not a "qualitative change" -- in the DPP's anti-nuclear
stance. The DPP should tell its supporters that its original
anti-nuclear objectives have not changed, that it has backed down
temporarily because it does not have enough power and that it
will work harder to achieve the goals of a nuclear-free homeland
and thoroughly implementing its party charter. I believe most of
the party's supporters will accept this explanation. Then the
storm sweeping across the party over the nuclear plant will
naturally die away.
*Shen Fu-hsiung is a DPP legislator. * Translated by
Francis Huang
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URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/02/24/story/0000075006]
Copyright © 1999-2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
15 Choosing Course of Action Tricky for Greens
[Frankfurter Allgemeine]
*By Eckart Lohse *
BERLIN. Gradually, it is becoming clear what members of Alliance
90_The Greens may and may not do. They may, for example, take
part in demonstrations against nuclear power. But they must not
join protests against government-approved shipments of spent
nuclear fuel, especially if those demonstrations block the path
of Castor containers.
The Greens' coleader, Fritz Kuhn, pictured above in front of a
photo of party colleagues Renate Künast and Jürgen Trittin during
a book presentation on Friday, says the party may not block
government foreign policy by, for instance, criticizing the
foreign minister in a certain way. But it may discuss the pros
and cons of using force to resolve political conflicts, i.e. with
Iraq.
This discussion will not remain without consequence. In Mr.
Kuhn's case, thinking about last week's air strikes around
Baghdad by British and U.S. planes left him with "a feeling of
unease." Even so, he did not criticize Joseph Fischer's visit to
Washington, during which the German foreign minister and leading
Green failed to criticize the air attacks.
Mr. Kuhn refrained from criticism because he said he saw Mr.
Fischer's efforts in Washington as serving to help find a
political solution to the Iraqi crisis, something he says a
number of state Green politicians are also trying to accomplish.
This is another form of debate in which Greens are permitted to
engage, especially between their state groups and the national
executive.
One such internal discussion took place recently by conference
call, with several state politicians saying they, too, were
uneasy about the bombing raids and voicing dissatisfaction with
Mr. Fischer's claim that he saw no grounds for criticizing the
U.S. actions. Nonetheless, most of the participants also said
they understood Mr. Fischer's actions in Washington and did not
believe he should have behaved any differently, although several
said they were not happy with the fact that not only the
government, but also the party's national executive had taken so
long to make a statement on the raids.
Such reproaches can only strengthen the resolve both of the
national executive and Mr. Kuhn not to conduct critical
discussions in public. Even so, Mr. Kuhn reportedly resisted
attempts during the conference call to shift the blame for the
latest internal dispute onto Mr. Trittin, the
German environment minister, who played a major role in
triggering the dispute when he said the party had received many
calls from worried members following Mr. Fischer's statement.
Feb. 23, 2001
© Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2000 All
*****************************************************************
16 Russia: Controversial Nuke-Import Plan To Become Law
By Sophie Lambroschini
Russia's controversial plan to lift its ban on importing spent
nuclear fuel hit a minor stumbling block this week when
legislators postponed the proposal's second reading in the Duma
-- the country's lower house of parliament -- until next month.
Still, as RFE/RL correspondent Sophie Lambroschini reports, many
of the plan's opponents say it is only a matter of time before
the Kremlin-sponsored proposal becomes law.
Moscow, 23 February 2001 (RFE/RL) -- Russian legislators this
week put off a decision on whether the country should open its
borders to other countries' spent nuclear fuel. The second Duma
reading of the controversial proposal, initially scheduled for
yesterday, has been put off until mid-March.
The delay came at the request of the 11-member Duma Ecological
Committee, who made the recommendation after a preliminary
hearing on 19 February to sort through the hundreds of amendments
to the plan proposed since its first successful reading in
December.
The committee -- whose members hail almost exclusively from
pro-government Duma factions -- recommended rejecting a pair of
amendments that would place budgetary and legislative
restrictions on the waste-import plan.
Igor Artemyev, a deputy with the liberal Yabloko faction, said
the rejected amendments were "key" to providing the parliament a
measure of control over the proposed import procedure:
"The 'nuclear lobby' (the Ecological Committee) in the Duma
rejected an amendment to provide independent parliamentary
control over the [import] contracts. Obviously, the nuclear lobby
doesn't want any parliamentary control. The second amendment was
a proposal by legislators to create a special budget fund by
which it would be possible to see how, where, and through what
accounts the money [earned from import contracts] is transferred
-- whether it goes through the state coffers, and to what
projects and programs."
The plan authored by the government with input from the Atomic
Energy Ministry, proposes amending an article in Russia's
existing law on environmental protection that bans the import of
nuclear waste. The plan packages the proposed amendment with two
additional bills outlining the conditions under which nuclear
materials could be brought into the country for reprocessing or
temporary storage.
The plan has been championed by Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny
Adamov, who claims the project could bring in as much as $20
billion -- money he says could be spent, in part, to build a new
generation of Russian nuclear reactors and help bolster the
safety conditions of those already in existence.
The plan's critics, however, argue that the country's poor
nuclear safety record and aging facilities make the proposal a
dangerous gamble for Russia. A number of regional parliaments
have protested the plan, with opposition registering especially
high in Siberia, where the proposed waste imports would be stored
and reprocessed. Many have questioned whether Russia has the
resources and technology available to provide safe and reliable
storage of nuclear waste for periods of up to 40 years, as the
plan envisions.
Environmentalists have added that leaky transport containers and
the poor condition of Russian railroads increase the risk of
serious accidents during the long trip from Europe to Siberia.
But a nationwide referendum on the issue was shot down last
December when the Central Elections Commission declared invalid a
portion of the more than 2.5 million signatures gathered.
The proposal is predicted to see a relatively smooth ride through
the Duma, where the influential pro-government Unity faction
holds more than 80 seats. Ecological Committee member Anatoly
Greshnevikov -- one of the few members to openly criticize the
proposal -- says the waste-import issue is an example of how the
Kremlin's strong presence has effectively broken resistance in
the parliament's lower chamber:
"It's all very sad. It's very bad that parliament has withdrawn
from the control it should be using over such ecologically
dangerous draft laws and deals. It's sad that the government is
so actively insistent on earning these $20 billion. And since
[the authorities] have the Unity faction and have talked other
deputies into going along, there's no hope that the process can
be stopped."
What some environmentalists and deputies find most disturbing
about the plan is the Atomic Energy Ministry's apparent
willingness to store the world's spent nuclear waste on a
permanent basis. Greshnevikov explains:
"It's said that the temporary storage will last 40 years, but no
one knows what will happen in 20, 30, 40 years. There is no
guarantee in this law that the country -- for example, Thailand
or Japan -- that brought the spent fuel in for reprocessing will
then take it back out in 40 years..."
The Norwegian Bellona environmental association echoes similar
concerns, reporting in their newsletter that Russia's tentative
proposal to reprocess the imported fuel could be a violation of
the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, since it entails the
extraction of depleted uranium that could then be used for
military purposes. For that reason, Bellona says, Russia may only
be able to attract customers in one way: by offering permanent
disposal.
© 1995-2001 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc., All
Rights Reserved. http://www.rferl.org
*****************************************************************
17 Russia starts new nuclear reactor amid controversy
Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company
Nation & World : Saturday, February 24, 2001
By Sergei Venyavsky
The Associated Press **
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - Russia's first new nuclear power plant
since the Soviet era was turned on yesterday by top officials who
called it a breakthrough for the industry after years of
opposition.
Operators switched on the first reactor at the Rostov Atomic
Energy Station to minimal output and will gradually bring it to
full power over the next several months.
Plant and government officials insist the reactor is Russia's
safest and will provide jobs and much-needed electricity to the
Rostov province and the surrounding North Caucasus region.
But environmental groups and many residents of the nearby
forested region strongly oppose it, and say its designers have
ignored lessons of the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl plant, the
world's worst nuclear accident.
Opponents say the plant was built too close to a major reservoir
and in an area of high seismic activity. They also say the
reactor was not properly maintained while construction was
stalled.
"This is the last thing the Rostov province needs. We've seen
what those monsters can do, and should never forget it," said
Alexander Filipenko, chairman of the Rostov Chernobyl Union.
The Soviet-designed VVER1000 reactor at Rostov is considered
structurally more sound than the RBMK reactor that blew up at
Chernobyl. The main difference is that the VVER-1000 has a
concrete containment structure designed to hold in damage from an
explosion. It can also withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, plant
officials say.
Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov promised the Rostov plant
would observe all necessary precautions. "The main thing is the
safe operation of the plant," he said at the ceremony.
Later, he promised electricity discounts and medical benefits to
the 250,000 people within 18 miles of the plant. The facility is
adjacent to the town of Volgodonsk, 120 miles east of
Rostov-on-Don.
The reactor had been almost complete when the government froze
construction on all nuclear plants because of public protests
prompted by the Chernobyl blast. But amid increasing electric
blackouts across Russia prompted by deterioration of coal-powered
electric plants and chronic funding shortages, the government
announced a drive to revive the nuclear-energy industry.
*****************************************************************
18 Rivers seeks Vermont influence over licensing of nuclear power plant
By Associated Press, 2/24/2001 12:05
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Some lawmakers want to make sure the state
has a say whether Vermont Yankee's operating license is extended.
Sen. Cheryl Rivers, D-Windsor, introduced a bill Friday that
would require the Public Service Board to issue a certificate of
public good before the nuclear power plant's federal license was
extended.
Rivers said that when Vermont agreed to host a nuclear reactor 30
years ago, it was with the understanding that the state would
benefit from its power and could control its future.
''In the past, they felt it would close when its license expired.
Now, most people recognize, with all the interest and the bids
from the other nuclear companies, people are presuming it's going
to be relicensed. The dynamics of the whole issue have changed,''
Rivers said.
The Vernon reactor's license currently expires in 2012.
Rivers, who is chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, has
also introduced a second bill that sets parameters for the sale
of Vermont Yankee, including that it be under the jurisdiction of
the Public Service Board. Currently, the Public Service Board has
some oversight of the plant because of its majority Vermont
ownership. But if Vermont Yankee is bought by an out-of-state
company, state control would be eliminated.
Rivers said the recent decision by the board to dismiss the sale
to AmerGen Energy Co. revealed a large ''vacuum'' and a need for
Legislature to step in and set policy.
''I think we're leaving too much to chance,'' she said. ''Vermont
ratepayers should come out ahead, not break even.''
The AmerGen offer was denounced by state regulators as
inadequate. The relicensing legislation was supported by Sen.
Richard McCormack, D-Windsor, chairman of the Senate Natural
Resources and Energy Committee, along with three other senators,
all Democrats.
Vermont Yankee currently doesn't have enough storage space for
its spent nuclear fuel to carry it through 2012.
Rivers said that her committee was concerned that Yankee's
benefits might go out of state, while its main liabilities spent
nuclear fuel would stay in the state.
Yankee spokesman Brian Cosgrove said similar bills had been
introduced in the past but had never become law. Cosgrove noted
that state oversight on relicensing had been a priority of the
Public Service Department.
Cosgrove said that such oversight had been incorporated into the
second agreement with AmerGen and had been accepted by Entergy
Energy Co. when it made its competing bid for the plant.
William Sherman, the state nuclear engineer with the Public
Service Department, said his department had supported previous
attempts to get such oversight and was in the process of
reviewing the new bill.
''It is something the department is interested in and has
supported previous legislation,'' he said.
*****************************************************************
19 Chernobyl victims still need help, charity group says
Indiana Newspapers Inc. -->
Starnews.com | News
As nuclear disaster fades into history, aid group tries to
refocus attention on the plight of children.
By Celeste Williams
Indianapolis Star
February 24, 2001
The word "Chernobyl" will always mean disaster to the world. But
to some, the disaster site is home -- a place forever in the
toxic shadow of a nuclear tragedy.
The 1986 nuclear power plant explosion in the former Soviet Union
poisoned millions, many of them children who continue to suffer
from the massive radiation.
The plant officially closed in December, but two Indianapolis men
want the public to know the need for help is ongoing.
"The interest has kind of drifted off, but the disaster rages
on," said Michael A. Snyder, chairman of LifeNets, an
Indianapolis-based organization begun in 1998 with an informal
network of churches, relief groups and individuals to help needy
children around the world.
Snyder, a vice president with Expidant, is joined by Victor
Kubik, who is president of LifeNets. Kubik brings a personal
viewpoint to its work, as he is originally from that part of the
world.
Kubik's Ukrainian family lived in displacement camps for four
years during World War II and emigrated to the United States in
1949. Kubik, a minister, visited the Chernobyl region in 1996 and
later began organizing relief shipments.
LifeNets supports the Chernihev Centre of Medical Social
Rehabilitation, just 40 miles from the abandoned nuclear power
plant. Founded in 1996 by a former Ukrainian physician, the
hospital treats children suffering effects of the disaster --
from cancer and physical deformities to psychological and
developmental damage.
Snyder said the clinic's mission is unique, because "it also
treats the social components" of the disaster -- helping children
cope emotionally, as well as attending to their physical needs.
Kubik said the people have met their lot in life with
characteristic stoicism and a degree of resignation to what they
may see as fate.
"You see the children on crutches -- and these are children born
after the disaster -- and you realize they have nothing, nothing,
nothing. It not only has debilitated their immune systems," he
said, "it has created a fear -- a 'radio-phobia.' "
It did not help, Kubik said, that most of the hospitals were cold
and ill-equipped.
"It's grim," he said. "The doctors were begging for certain
medicines.
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick."
LifeNets estimates that through donations, they will be able to
help the clinic assist more children. As little as $275 will care
for a child for a month, said Snyder. The U.S. State Department
ships supplies for free.
Snyder and Kubik said Hoosiers have been very generous to their
cause, including playing host to Dr. Vasil Pasechnik in 1999 --
the physician who directs the children's clinic.
Kubik says the disaster seems far away to people in the West.
"But Chernobyl ought to remind people this could happen
anywhere."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Celeste Williams at (317) 444-6367 or via e-mail at
celeste.williams@starnews.com
Copyright 2001 Indiana Newspapers Inc.
*****************************************************************
20 Forum chair calls for softer stance on nuclear power
ABC News -
The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum says he believes Pacific island
countries should reconsider their blanket anti-nuclear stand, and
perhaps accept nuclear-power generation.
The chairman made the surprise statement while visiting Fiji
after a recent trip to Japan.
The Pacific Islands Forum has made its objections known to a
current shipment, from Europe to Japan via the South Pacific, of
spent fuel for use in Japan's nuclear power industry.
President Teburoro Tito of Kiribati, the current Forum chairman,
says the Japanese had pointed out to him global warming could be
slowed by a switch to nuclear power.
President Tito says he would like Pacific Forum leaders at future
meetings to refine the Forum's stand on nuclear waste issues.
© 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
*****************************************************************
21 Taiwan protesters demand nuclear plant referendum
Sunday Observer - Foreign News - for.html
25 February, 2001
*By Alice Hung *
TAIPEI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters
marched through the streets of Taipei on Saturday to demand a
referendum to decide the fate of a controversial nuclear power
plant.
The march by about 10,000 protesters, came 10 days after the
government reversed its position and decided to resume
construction of the US$5.5 billion nuclear plant, the island's
fourth.
Wearing yellow headbands reading "nuclear referendum", the
activists chanted "let the people decide" and other anti-nuclear
slogans.
Marchers included advisers to President Chen Shui-bian and
heavyweights from Chen's anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP).
No violence was reported.
"The fourth nuclear power plant is very bad for us," said
protester Wu Chang-hsun, 69, from Kungliao, a small fishing
village outside Taipei where the plant is located.
"My entire family depends on the sea. The men catch fish to make
a living. The women collect seaweed. The plant will take away
everything," Wu said.
DISAPPOINTED WITH CHEN
Like many residents of Kungliao, Wu voted for Chen in
presidential elections last March because he had promised to
scrap the project. But now she said she doubted he was the right
choice.
"He let us down," Wu said.
The controversial plant was initiated by the previous Nationalist
Party administration, which argued that its planned
2,700-megawatts of electricity was vital for continued economic
growth.
But environmentalists say Taiwan lacks the ability to process
nuclear waste and to deal with accidents.
Despite their defeat in the presidential election, the
Nationalists, who ruled Taiwan for more than five decades, still
hold a majority in the 220-member legislature. The DPP has just
66 seats.
A decision last October by Chen's minority government to shelve
the project, which was already one-third complete, angered the
opposition, leading to a three-month political stalemate which
hit the economy and the financial markets.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung bowed to opposition pressure to resume
building the plant on February 14.
Chang has urged the opposition-dominated parliament to authorise
the use of referendums to settle public policy disputes, but
stopped short of saying whether the government would hold a
referendum on the project at the end of the year at along with
parliamentary elections.
The opposition has warned him against organising a referendum.
The DPP, under fire from anti-nuclear diehards, has said it wants
to hold a referendum to resolve the dispute -- with or without a
referendum law.
A referendum would set a precedent certain to alarm Beijing,
which fears the island may one day use a popular vote to
determine whether to declare independence.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must
eventually be reunified and has threatened to attack if the
island declared statehood.
*****************************************************************
22 Protest march fails to draw big crowds
The Taipei Times Online: 2001-02-25
February 25th, 2001
COLD SHOULDER: Fewer people than had been expected turned up yesterday to
demand a plebiscite on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. DPP involvement was
also minimal, although Wu Nai-jen showed up
By Chiu Yu-Tzu
STAFF REPORTER
More than 10,000 anti-nuclear activists demonstrated yesterday
in Taipei to call for a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power
Plant, a far weaker showing than had been expected.
The number of DPP members who attended the event was also lower
than had been predicted.
"We want a referendum at the end of the year!" anti-nuclear
activists shouted as they marched through the city's streets.
Activists of the Nuclear Free Country Action Alliance
(«D®Ö°ê®a¦æ°ÊÁp·ù), the main organizer of the demonstration, said
that they could not rely on politicians to achieve the goal of
building a nuclear-free country.
"Essential national projects, such as the Fourth Nuclear Power
Plant, should be decided by the people."
* Lin Yi-hsiung, former DPP chairman*
Protesters handed out anti-nuclear propaganda to passers-by,
highlighting past nuclear disasters and denouncing Taiwan's
energy policy.
The demonstrators also urged President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó)
to stick to his former hard-line anti-nuclear stance.
"President Chen! Don't use political harmony and the stock
market as excuses for inconsistency!" shouted one activist.
Demonstrators, who first gathered at the Chiang Kai-shek
Memorial Hall, were asked to exchange their A-bian election
campaign caps for T-shirts bearing slogans demanding a referendum
on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Protesters stamped on political party flags as they passed by
the headquarters of the KMT and People First Party, both located
on Jen-ai Road, in a display of disgust at the behavior of the
opposition parties.
By nightfall, the protesters gathered outside the Presidential
Office and projected a laser display of the Chinese characters
for "referendum" (¤½§ë) onto the building.
Although few DPP officials joined the demonstration yesterday,
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (§d¤D¤¯) reassured protesters
that the party supported a referendum on the nuclear issue.
The DPP was lambasted by several groups, including the Green
Citizens' Action Alliance and Green Formosa Front, for getting
involved in the demonstration. The two groups refused to join the
demonstration because the DPP took part.
"Resuming construction of the plant is illegal and the
anti-nuclear movement should have not been used by any party," a
statement released yesterday by the two groups said.
Former DPP chairman Lin Yi-hsiung (ªL¸q¶¯) joined the
demonstration and walked with key anti-nuclear leaders, including
chairman of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Shih
Shin-min (¬I«H¥Á) at the head of the march.
Together, they held a huge banner calling for the people to be
empowered to decide the fate of the controversial nuclear plant.
"Essential national projects, such as the Fourth Nuclear Power
Plant, should be decided by the people," Lin said.
On Feb. 20, Lin offered to resign from his position as the
senior advisor to the party, saying that he had to shoulder some
of the responsibility for the Cabinet's final decision to resume
the plant's construction.
About 70 activists from Kungliao (°^¼d) township, Taipei County,
where the controversial plant is located, attended the
demonstration.
"Although we are disappointed with the DPP, we hope the
referendum will bring Kungliao residents a better future," said
Chen Ching-tang (³¯¼y¶í), head of the Yenliao Anti-nuclear
Self-help Association (ÆQ¼d¤Ï®Ö¦Û±Ï·|).
Chen said they did not know what their next move would be.
"What does tomorrow hold for us? Kungliao residents have
suffered a lot," Chen said.
Also See Photo Essay Inside
This story has been viewed 319 times.
URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/02/25/story/0000075091]
Copyright © 1999-2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
23 Czech Plant Resumes Operation
Today: February 25, 2001 at 3:58:21 PST
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- A Czech nuclear plant that has
prompted protests in neighboring Austria resumed operation
Sunday, more than a month after it shut down because of technical
problems.
Spokesman Milan Nebesar said workers at the plant in Temelin
restarted the reactor at 3:20 a.m. Sunday after receiving
permission from the State Office for Nuclear Safety. The output
of the reactor on Sunday was one-half of a percent of the plant's
capacity, he said.
The power plant was shut down on Jan. 18 because of vibrations
in the main turbine generator. Previous malfunctions triggered
automatic shutdowns twice in December.
The Temelin plant, located some 31 miles north of the Austrian
border, is still going through testing. The project has long been
a source of friction between the two countries.
When the reactor was turned on in October, it triggered protests
by politicians and environmentalists in Austria, which does not
use nuclear power. Austrian activists repeatedly blockaded the
Czech border.
Construction of the 2,000-megawatt, Russian-designed plant was
started in 1980 and upgraded by technology provided by
Westinghouse in the 1990s.
The Czech Republic already operates one Soviet-designed,
1,760-megawatt plant built in the mid-1980s near Dukovany, some
125 miles east of Prague.
All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES
*****************************************************************
1 Stinson: Read this if you worked at Kelly
MySanAntonio: Express-News: Roddy Stinson
Express-News: Roddy Stinson
San Antonio Express-News
Every current and former Kelly AFB employee who was exposed to
hazardous materials while working at the base needs to read, clip
and save a commentary by U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez on Page 4G in
the Insight section of today's Express-News.
In response to a series of Express-News articles about harmful
chemicals and metals used and/or stored at Kelly, the congressman
and his staff worked diligently to obtain and provide the
information in the commentary, "Help for exposed Kelly workers."
(Any Kelly worker who reads this column on the Express-News' Web
site can obtain a copy of the Insight commentary by sending me an
e-mail address.) Because of national and local publicity about
the use of beryllium at various Department of Energy and Defense
Department sites, Rodriguez focused on possible "compensation and
health benefits" for Kelly workers who were exposed to that toxic
metal.
Beryllium dust can cause berylliosis, an incurable lung disease.
And the DOE has determined that it is also a "suspected lung
carcinogen."
(Note to readers who are unsure about their exposure to
beryllium: I have done extensive research on the use of beryllium
at Kelly and will be glad to share what I've learned with you.)
Rodriguez didn't mention other hazardous materials specifically,
but he did point out that exposure to "other workplace hazards"
might be a cause of health problems/medical bills for which
workers can be compensated.
The Express-News has found evidence that over a period of
several decades an undetermined number of Kelly employees worked
with or were in some other way exposed to:
+ Depleted uranium
Opinions about the health threats of DU vary from those who
believe it is virtually harmless to those who blame it for every
ill under the sun.
The U.S. Depleted Uranium Management Program takes this
position:
"Depleted uranium can cause risks to people's health because
uranium is radioactive and therefore can increase the likelihood
of cancer in people who are exposed to it.
"If you breathe in uranium, it can get into your bloodstream,
and it can have toxic effects on your body organs, mainly your
kidneys."
+ Chromium
For nearly 30 years, Kelly was the site of the Air Force's
largest plating facility. Parts were dipped in vats filled with
solutions that contained chromium and cadmium. There is evidence
that these solutions occasionally leaked out of the plating vats
and that workers sometimes dumped the solutions into a "sludge
lagoon," contaminating soil and groundwater
Why is that a problem?
A Los Angeles Times investigation of polluters in California
found that chromium 6 "is considered a carcinogen when inhaled as
dust." And a California Department of Health research group
concluded: "Many epidemiologic studies show a strong high
association between hexavalent chromium in the workplace and
respiratory cancer."
+ Cadmium
The Canadian Air Force has issued workplace regulations "to
ensure that technicians are protected from contamination by
cadmium, a heavy metal linked to cancer and kidney and lung
problems."
The U.S. Department of Labor has determined that "repeated or
long-term exposure to cadmium, even at relatively low
concentrations, may result in kidney damage and an increased risk
of cancer of the lung and prostate." And recent data from a
National Institutes of Health research project "demonstrate that
cadmium mimics the effects of estradiol in human breast cancer
cells ... suggesting a role for cadmium in the development of
breast cancer."
+ Volatile organic compounds
The degreasing agents, trichloroethylene (TCE) and
perchloroethylene (PCE) were used at Kelly for decades.
In April 1998, the Express-News obtained a Kelly document that
reported, '... we drilled into a Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid
directly down-gradient of one of the solvent degreaser pits. ...
Analysis determined that the sample was 92 percent PCE."
PCE can cause kidney and liver damage.
TCE studies with animals have shown that ingesting or breathing
high levels of the compound can produce nervous system changes as
well as liver and kidney damage.
And let's not ignore:
PD-680 (central nervous system depression and muscle weakness).
Methylethylketone (chemical pneumonia, pulmonary edema and
central nervous system problems).
Chlorobenzene (central nervous system damage).
Toluene (anemia, nervous system disorders and kidney damage).
Benzene (various types of leukemia and lymphoma). And so on and
so on ...
The unlayering of the noxious Kelly-hazards onion continues.
*To leave a message for Roddy Stinson, call 250-3155, or e-mail
rstinson@express-news.net.*
2000 KENS 5 and the San Antonio Express-News. © 2000
*****************************************************************
2 Injection made me speechless, says mother of Kursk victim -
smh.com.au - World
Saturday, February 24, 2001 Home > World > Article
By Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow
*The mother of a sailor who died aboard the Russian nuclear
submarine Kursk and who was seen on television being injected as
she shouted at officials after the catastrophe says the jab
rendered her instantly speechless.
Mrs Nazdezhda Tylik also reversed her earlier statement that the
medicine was for a heart condition and had been requested by her
husband, who was at her side when she became agitated.
Television footage of Mrs Tylik's outburst on August 18, which
ended when a woman with a large syringe came up behind her,
raised allegations by critics that Russia was reverting to
Soviet-era techniques, which stifled dissent by medical means.
After the criticism, Mrs Tylik denied she was forcibly injected
and said the medicine had been requested by her husband.
But at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday she changed her
account, denying that her husband had asked that the shot be
given.
"I don't know what medicine they injected me with, but it
instantly made me unable to speak."
She also said that shortly before her son, Lieutenant Sergei
Tylik, set sail on the Kursk, he said the ship had a serious
problem.
Her statement could bolster speculation that the August 12
disaster was caused by an internal malfunction in one of the
Kursk's torpedoes, not the collision with a Western submarine
that Russian officials have said appeared to be the most likely
cause.
"We have death on board," Mrs Tylik recalled her son saying. "He
just smiled at me when I told him that everything would be fine."
Many Russian and foreign experts have said a misfiring torpedo
was the most likely cause of the first explosion that shook the
Kursk and sent it crashing to the seabed, where its ammunition
apparently detonated in the second powerful blast that cracked
the submarine's hull and instantly killed most of the crew.
Officials have acknowledged a civilian engineer and a military
expert from a torpedo-manufacturing plant were among the Kursk
crew, but denied that the ship was testing a new torpedo with
unstable fuel, as some reports suggested.
Mrs Tylik said that submariners at Vidyayevo, where the Kursk was
based, have said that one of the submarine's torpedoes had
developed a hydrogen leak, and that Kursk's commander, Captain
Gennady Lyachin, warned his superiors about the problem.
"But the Northern Fleet commanders let the submarine out to sea
anyway," Mrs Tylik said.
Associated Press
*****************************************************************
3 Iraq report confirms Israeli fears
The Jerusalem Post Newspaper : Online News From Israel - News Article
Sunday, February 25 2001 20:15 3 Adar 5761
By Arieh O'Sullivan
TEL AVIV (February 25) - Defense officials have welcomed the
troubling report by German Intelligence that Iraq could have an
atomic bomb within three years and develop a long-range ballistic
missile that puts the capitals of Europe under threat by 2005.
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said he hopes the report
will move European states to act with more determination to
restore sanctions on Iraq. He added that Israel and the United
States need to work more closely to develop a better
missile-defense system.
"We need to jointly improve the Arrow missile system and develop
a system to destroy missiles in their boost stage as they are
being launched," Sneh said in a statement.
The Arrow anti-ballistic rocket intercepts an incoming missile
some 40 kms over its intended target. The next step in missile
defense would be to shoot down the rocket as it leaves the
launcher. This would be particularly effective if it were armed
with a non-conventional warhead.
In Berlin, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) issued a
report saying that Iraq is pushing ahead with plans to make a
nuclear bomb. It said the work was centered at Al Qaim, and
evidence showed they might be capable of producing an atomic bomb
in three years.
The BND report also said that Iraq, with the aid of a company
based in New Delhi, is building a medium-range rocket capable of
carrying a warhead 3,000 kms by 2005. Iraq is also believed to be
capable of manufacturing solid fuel, which would drastically cut
down the time needed to launch to almost the push of a button.
The BND also echoed Israeli assessments that Iraq is putting much
effort into making chemical weapons and has increased the number
of sites involved from 20 to 80. It also speculated that Iraq has
resumed production of biological weapons.
The report came as the United States appears to be stepping up
its policy of attrition against Saddam Hussein and is signaling
it may be initiating a new/old relationship to the Iraqi menace.
The assessment in the IDF is that the new Bush administration
will shift its emphasis in the region from the
Israeli-Palestinian peace track to the more traditionally
Republican strategic interest of oil.
The main US concerns are seen to be preventing a regional
deterioration and moving to stabilize the region. A nuclear-armed
Saddam does not fit into that strategy.
Seeking stability, the Bush administration is apparently
pressuring Israel to ease up on the Palestinians and even cease
its assassination practice, particularly involving US-made attack
helicopters.
Ironically, while the US air strikes were visually dramatic - but
ultimately off target - they mainly served only to provoke Arab
anger and European concern, which will make it harder for Powell
to secure support for continued economic sanctions against Iraq.
According to Guy Bachor, an expert in Arab affairs at the
Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, the Clinton administration
was behind the regional deterioration because it ignored the
other issues in the Middle East.
"Clinton's Middle East policy was seen through the prism of the
Israeli-Arab conflict," Bachor said. "When the leaders of Israel
and the Palestinians were invited to the White House over 70
times and the leaders of other pro-Western powers like Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco were invited once or twice
during the same period, this signals to them that they are
marginal."
"The United States caused damage and lost some of its
capabilities in the Middle East by putting too much weight on the
Palestinian issue," Bachor said.
Bachor said Saddam Hussein is bent on getting a nuclear bomb in
order to tactically paralyze Israel and become the regional
power.
"If Hizbullah has paralyzed Israel's retaliatory capabilities
with its Katyushas, then Iraq will paralyze the retaliation of
the United States and other countries, including Israel, with its
atom bomb," he said.
(Reuters contributed to this report.)
*****************************************************************
4 Defectors say Iraq tested nuclear bomb
THE SUNDAY TIMES: WORLD NEWS
February 25 2001 MIDDLE EAST
* Uzi Mahnaimi and Tom Walker
*The view from Israel: Sharon plans to attack Iraq's missile
sites if it shows signs of war
Border lorries break sanctions
DISTURBING new evidence has emerged about Saddam Hussein's
nuclear arsenal as tension rises in the Middle East over an
increasingly aggressive Iraq.
According to two former senior scientists in the Iraqi nuclear
programme - corroborated by a former aide to Saddam's son Uday -
Iraq carried out a successful nuclear test before the Gulf war
and now has a nuclear stockpile.
The scientists describe in detail Iraq's nuclear programme. They
say Saddam carried out a nuclear test in September 1989 deep
beneath Lake Rezzaza, southwest of Baghdad. The blast was
undetected because it was relatively small - about equal to the
Hiroshima bomb - and muffled.
Over the past decade, despite UN inspections, Saddam has carried
out further tests and now has several bombs stored in a bunker
under the Hamrin mountains north of Baghdad, they say.
Their claims, which are reported in today's News Review section
of The Sunday Times, challenge the consensus among the American,
British and Israeli intelligence services that Saddam does not
have sufficient enriched uranium or plutonium to fulfil his
ambition of developing a nuclear bomb.
Israel's prime minister-elect, Ariel Sharon, is expected to warn
Colin Powell, the visiting American secretary of state, during
talks today that the region may slide into war. Powell, who was
in Egypt yesterday, urged Arab countries to join America in
countering the threat posed by Saddam.
Israeli military sources say that Sharon has ordered Shaul Mofaz,
the chief of staff, to prepare the army for a pre-emptive attack
on Iraq's missile launch zone, which is close to its border with
Syria.
Resurrecting and developing plans from the Gulf war, Sharon
threatens to deploy tactical neutron bombs to "wipe out" the
launch zone in the event that intelligence reports say a
non-conventional weapons attack by Iraq is imminent, according to
the sources.
Sources close to Sharon say he will tell Powell that Israel would
not sit still and wait for Iraqi missiles to rain down on its
towns, as it did in the 1991 Gulf war in reponse to American
requests for restraint.
On Thursday Israel placed its forces on high missile alert after
American intelligence warned about movements of Iraqi armoured
divisions close to the border with Syria. American satellites
also picked up preparations in the Iraqi long-range surface
missiles brigade. Israeli air force planes took off opposite the
Syrian coast.
Almost at the same time, two American Awacs, four Hawkeye spy
planes and 36 assorted American and British fighter aircraft took
off from the Turkish base of Incirlik and from American carriers
in the region.
They ran into fierce anti- aircraft missile fire from batteries
north of the Iraqi oil city of Mosul. The allied fighters blasted
the Iraqi batteries in return but caused little damage.
The next day, an Arabic- language Israeli newspaper published a
warning from Baghdad that "Iraq is about to hit Israel" and "will
liberate the occupied territories". An Israeli general, formerly
assistant to an Israeli prime minister, told The Sunday Times:
"It's hard to believe that Saddam will use non-conventional
weapons against Israel, but we failed to predict his moves in the
past and we may fail to do so in future."
The principal source of the new evidence about Saddam's nuclear
programme is a former military engineer, known as "Leone", who
says he worked for a special scientific department of the
Republican Palace in Baghdad, which supervised the development of
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
His claim is corroborated by a scientist from another branch of
the weapons programme and by Abbas al-Janabi, a former personal
assistant to Uday Hussein. "A nuclear test was carried out in
1988 or 1989 in an underground site beside Lake Rezzaza," said
Janabi, who claimed to have been in the test cavern before the
explosion. Satellite images from 1989 show a huge tunnel at the
site.
Last month, another former engineer from the weapons programme,
now in hiding, said Saddam had two "fully operational" nuclear
bombs.
Western intelligence officers who have heard Leone's claims say
he is well informed, but they insist there is no evidence that
Iraq could obtain sufficient enriched nuclear fuel. Leone and his
corroborators say that the fuel was smuggled in from South Africa
via Brazil.
Gwynne Roberts, a film-maker who has investigated Leone's story,
said: "Something very unusual happened on the shores of Lake
Rezzaza prior to the Gulf war, which was completely missed by
western intelligence agencies."
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided
*****************************************************************
5 Environmental, taxpayer groups urge swift demise of lab's NIF
*February 23, 2001*
By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER
LIVERMORE -- A national report released Thursday by environmental
activists and taxpayer advocates states that the National
Ignition Facility laser project at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
should be on the chopping block. The Green Scissors 2001 report,
an annual effort prepared by dozens of environmental and
taxpayers groups across the nation, states that NIF is a "choice
cut" for elimination from the federal budget.
"The (Energy Department) is throwing billions of taxpayer dollars
at an experimental program. . . . The NIF should be canceled and
construction terminated," the report states.
Marylia Kelley, executive director of Livermore-based Tri-Valley
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, and members of the
California Public Interest Research Group met in front of the lab
visitors' center to promote the report's findings.
Federal officials estimate NIF will cost $3.5 billion to $4
billion to build, and the report states that total NIF costs,
including its operating cost over the planned 30-year lifetime of
the facility, may "hover at $10 billion."
Kelley, a longtime NIF critic, said the project will cost "at
least $10 billion," adding that the laser research could
encourage nuclear proliferation in other nations.
A nuclear weapons research tool, NIF will be used to simulate
nuclear weapons explosions on a tiny scale.
NIF's array of powerful ultra-violet lasers will be used blast
tiny radioactive fuel capsules, possibly stimulating fusion
reactions such as those that occur in the sun and hydrogen bomb
blasts.
Livermore Lab officials did not provide an estimate Thursday on
how much the project will cost over its lifetime.
Susan Houghton, a lab spokeswoman, said the report contains
information that "is not credible -- period."
"There is no reason to comment on (the report) because it is such
a distortion of the truth," she said.
Melanie Lombard, a member of CALPIRG, said the Green Scissors
report -- which recommends cuts or changes to 74 programs that
would save $55 billion within five years -- is proof that "the
practice of handing out polluter pork is still definitely
thriving in Washington, D.C."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The report is available online at: www.greenscissors.org.
*****************************************************************
6 Lab reports threats to U.S. more difficult to detect
*February 23, 2001*
By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER
LIVERMORE -- A common pickup could deliver a crude nuclear weapon to a target
in the United States. New, highly infectious strains of deadly diseases could
be concocted by bio-hackers who tinker with genetic recipes.
And, of course, there's always the risk of nuclear annihilation.
Dangers to U.S. security are now far more complex than the stockpile-building
days of the Cold War, and a Lawrence Livermore Laboratory report released
Thursday identifies 45 threats from the globalization of emerging and existing
technologies.
These threats against the United States and its allies are expected to
materialize within the next 15 to 20 years, the report states.
T.J. Gilmartin, a senior fellow at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, summarized
the major findings of the report during a talk at the lab's Center for Global
Security Research.
"It's a small world after globalization," with more connectivity between
nations, Gilmartin said. "The globe is sort of a federation of states." And
this globalization of new technologies could empower more nations and groups
to launch an attack or engage in warfare against the United States and its
allies.
Center officials organized five workshops last year to identify threats in
military technology; information technology; geo-system technology; nuclear,
missile and space technology, and in biotechnology.
Government and industry experts attending the workshops generally agreed that
there is a very real threat of a terrorist nuclear attack involving a crude
nuclear device -- or even a mature design acquired from nations with advanced
nuclear technologies.
"People can make a 'Little Boy'-type weapon -- they can carry it in a
container or in a truck," said Gilmartin, referring to the bomb dropped on
Hiroshima at the close of World War II.
Natural and engineered diseases, all-out nuclear war, information warfare, and
the development of anti-stealth technologies, and the stimulation of natural
disasters through manmade devices -- such as the explosion of an underwater
bomb to create a tsunami -- are also among the threats identified in the
workshops.
Some threats may even be unintended, such as potential risks from genetic
experiments gone awry, he said. "There are some things man might do that he
didn't intend to do."
There is also the threat of so-called "tapestry attacks," he said, which would
include a barrage of different types of attacks used in combination.
Gilmartin said that the art of prediction is not always an art, and in some
cases technologies are advancing as fast as the imagination.
Workshop participants brainstormed disaster scenarios to resemble their "worst
nightmare" about threats to U.S. security, he said.
"We started by looking at who might (attack the U.S.), where would they get
the stuff to do it, and what is the stuff."
New technologies equate to new vulnerabilities in this high-tech world,
Gilmartin also said, and industry is in some cases surpassing the military in
its technological advancements.
A question that policy officials must make is whether the United States should
prepare for the emerging threats or whether the country should become more
NewsChoice.com
*****************************************************************
7 Chemist will discuss groundwater
Theme will be checking of drinking water safety
*February 24, 2001*
FROM STAFF REPORTS
LIVERMORE -- A chemist and a Livermore High School teacher will
discuss groundwater science from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. today
during a Science on Saturday lecture at Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory's Building 123 Auditorium. The lecture is free and
open to the public.
Bryant Hudson of the lab's Analytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Division will team up with Livermore High School teacher Sarah
Palmer for the lecture, titled, "How Do We Know if Our Drinking
Water is Safe?"
Hudson will discuss lab techniques to determine the age of
groundwater, which can be useful for studying the relation of
groundwater with surface water. The talk is the second in a
series of six Science on Saturday lectures. Priority in seating
is given to students and teachers. The series is co-sponsored by
the lab's Science and Technology Education Program.
Online information about Science on Saturday is available at
http://education.llnl.gov/sos or by calling (925) 422-6818.
![]()
Michael Coleman--> By
*Journal Washington Bureau*
WASHINGTON — Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Thursday he is
confident that President Bush will preserve federal spending for
management of the nation's nuclear-weapons stockpile.
Much of that money is spent in New Mexico, where Sandia and
Los Alamos national laboratories work on stockpile programs.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Bush
administration had proposed a $180 million cut in the DOE's
annual $5 billion stockpile stewardship program.
But Domenici, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said
he met with officials of the administration's Office of
Management and Budget late last week and convinced them to
increase — not decrease — the program's budget.
Bush budget officials, who did not return several phone
calls, now have tentatively agreed to boost the stockpile
stewardship budget by about $300 million, Domenici said.
Domenici said he suspects the Bush administration's initial
budget figures were lower because the OMB didn't understand the
importance of the stockpile stewardship program.
"I pushed them very hard on stockpile stewardship," Domenici
said.
Stockpile stewardship, conducted at DOE weapons labs,
including Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New
Mexico, is the science of maintaining the U.S. nuclear-weapons
complex. The program relies on cutting-edge technology to ensure
that, in the absence of real nuclear testing, the weapons still
work. Nuclear testing is no longer conducted in the United
States.
Domenici said the programs need even more than a $300
million increase, and he will work to bolster it as the
legislation moves through Congress.
"We need to make sure that the stockpile stewardship program
is given a chance," Domenici said in a telephone interview
Thursday. "It is just reaching maturity and fulfilling its
mission."
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment until the Bush
budget proposal for the Energy Department is released next week.
A spokesman for the newly created National Nuclear Security
Administration also declined to comment.
During his confirmation hearings last month, Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham assured the Senate that stockpile
stewardship would remain a priority under the Bush
administration.
"I can assure the members of this committee that nothing I
will do will be higher on my priority list than the management of
our nuclear stockpile," Abraham told the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee.
The past year hasn't been a good one for the Energy
Department. Congress has harshly criticized the Clinton
administration's management of the department because of repeated
security violations and excessive costs in cleaning up
contaminated nuclear sites.
Domenici said he is pleased that Bush budget officials
appear to have backed off of cuts to the stockpile program, but
he said DOE also needs more money to repair its buildings.
Domenici said the DOE needs $5 billion over the next 10
years for repairs. He said he is unsure how much the
administration will commit this year.
Sandia role
Albuquerque labs welcome boost in workload A4
2001 Albuquerque Journal
*****************************************************************
9 Metro:Federal inspectors praise SRS's security
*Web posted Saturday, February 24, 2001
By
*Staff Writer*
Savannah River Site received high marks during a recent review of
security at the federal nuclear-weapons installation, a site
official said this week.
``We had satisfactory results across the board, and that's not
the norm at U.S. Department of Energy sites lately,'' said Kevin
Hall, the Energy Department's security director at SRS.
Congress has criticized the cabinet agency in recent months for
lax security at its nuclear-weapons sites.
The SRS review, conducted by the Energy Department's Office of
Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance, lasted one
month, Mr. Hall said. Thirty inspectors probed all aspects of the
site's security program, ranging from its handling of security
clearances to the readiness of its armed, paramilitary security
force, the SRS official said.
``You've got 30 people in your knickers, really down in the
details,'' Mr. Hall said.
Among other tests, the auditors tried to ``steal'' fake
plutonium and uranium from two SRS plants, using a paramilitary
team made up of military troops and guards at other Energy
Department sites, Mr. Hall said.
The SRS force defeated the raiders in both exercises, in what
Mr. Hall likened to a ``very, very sophisticated game of Lazer
Tag.''
``The nicest way that I can say it is that we kicked their
butt,'' he said. Auditors also were unable to hack into the
site's computer network, Mr. Hall said, despite repeated
attempts.
The site should face another review in about two years, the
director said. Reach at (706) 823-3409.
All contents © 1996 - 2001 *The Augusta Chronicle*. All rights
*****************************************************************
10 Kursk foundation asks Japan to donate to salvage operations
BRUSSELS Feb. 24 Kyodo - The international foundation coordinating operations
to salvage the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk has asked
Japan to contribute to the plan, the foundation said Friday.
''The foundation sent out specific letters to the prime minister
of Japan'' in early February, Rio Praaning, secretary general of
the foundation, told Kyodo News.
It has also requested financial support from the world's other
richest nations including the United States, Canada, and the
European Union (EU), he said.
The foundation was set up last autumn jointly by Russia and the
Netherlands to map out plans for raising the vessel. The Kursk is
lying some one hundred meters below the surface of the Barents
Sea off the Russian coast.
The cost of the project is estimated at some 70 million dollars.
Under an agreement, the foundation expects the European
Commission and individual EU nations to cover nearly half of the
total.
According to Praaning, the foundation recently received a letter
from European Commission President Romano Prodi, in which he
indicated ''basic willingness to assist'' in the project.
In the meantime, no reply was received as of Friday from the
U.S., Canada, or Japan, he said. He added he hoped the parties
react in a positive way ''in the next few weeks.''
''It is a matter of shared concerns,'' said Praaning, noting that
the environment could be heavily contaminated by possible
radioactive leakage from the ship's two nuclear reactors.
A military source also said there are still a lot of explosives
on the Kursk including torpedoes and some eighteen cruise
missiles. All of these are unexploded, close to the reactors, and
are exposed to seawater.
The foundation outlined three phases during which the Kursk will
be raised and secured. The operation will be finalized in
July-August, when the weather is most stable.
The Kursk sank Aug. 12 last year in the Barents Sea. Despite
rescue assistance offers from many nations, it was determined
Aug. 21 that all the submarine's compartments had flooded,
killing everyone on board.
2000 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945.
*****************************************************************
11 Suit accuses contractors of mishandling nuclear cleanup
Published Sunday, February 25, 2001
Jo Thomas / New York Times
IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO -- Buried in underground tanks and dumped into
trenches at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory northwest of Idaho Falls is a witches' brew of deadly
chemicals and radioactive waste left over from the Cold War. It
includes enough plutonium debris from the Rocky Flats weapons
plant in Colorado to build hundreds of nuclear bombs.
This laboratory, more than half the size of Rhode Island, has
built and tested civilian and military nuclear reactors for 52
years. Because of its residues and stored wastes, it was
designated a Superfund site in 1989, and the government started
trying to clean it up.
Now, two men who audited that effort say in a federal lawsuit
that government contractors who were paid hundreds of millions of
dollars made the contamination worse. When the auditors
complained, they said, they were harassed until they resigned.
The auditors said the contractors deliberately bypassed safety
measures, turned off monitors and alarms, falsified documents,
did not report spills, dumped hazardous wastes on the ground and
illegally sent waste from a pit contaminated with plutonium to a
public landfill.
Those contentions shed a different light on what state and
federal officials told the public about the contractors' problems
at the site. And in internal documents, federal officials shared
some of the auditors' concerns.
Officials at the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality
announced in May 1999 that the U.S. Energy Department, as the
site owner, would pay $504,000 in fines and costs for mishandling
dangerous waste. The division, and Energy Department officials,
said at the time that the violations resulted from oversights or
from problems created before the contractors took over.
"Things happen," Mike Gregory, the hazardous waste enforcement
coordinator for the state, said in an interview. "Someone gets
lazy. Or they think they're doing right."
But in 1998, an internal Energy Department review said the
contractor that oversaw the lab and ran the cleanup at that time,
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies, had not established "an
underlying culture of rigor, discipline and sustaining
leadership" on environmental, safety and health issues.
That review, signed by John Wilcynski, manager of the Energy
Department's Idaho Operations Office, said that three major
accidents, including the deaths of two workers, had occurred. He
recommended that the contract be put out for bid.
'A lot of bad stuff'
Jim Fetig, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Corp., based in
Bethesda, Md., said there might have been environmental missteps
in Idaho, but that none were intentional. "I don't think for a
second that there was an ethos of nonconcern about environmental
issues," Fetig said.
Waste was stored improperly in some cases, he said, but it was
hard to find out what old storage tanks contained. "They are
still trying to get a handle on what's in those tanks and what to
do with it," Fetig said. "There was a lot of bad stuff out there
and only so much money. A contractor can only do what the
Department of Energy approves."
Lockheed Martin did not seek to renew its contract in Idaho, but
still manages two research facilities for the Energy Department,
the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., and the
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady, N.Y.
Besides Lockheed Martin, which ran the site from October 1994
through September 1999, the lawsuit names EG&G Idaho Inc., the
contractor that ran the site from 1976 to 1994, and Westinghouse
Idaho Nuclear Co., which ran the Idaho Chemical Processing plant
from 1989 to 1994. The plant stored and reprocessed nuclear waste
from reactors around the world.
Mark Meagher, a Denver lawyer representing Westinghouse, said the
company denied all the charges. Edward Pike, an Idaho Falls
lawyer representing EG&G, declined to comment on the case.
Also named is Coleman Research, a Lockheed Martin subcontractor
that employed the auditors, Neil Mock and Scott Lebow. William
Goodrich, a lawyer for Coleman, said the company did not
retaliate against the men for their complaints.
The lawsuit is being brought under a federal law that allows
individuals who contend that contractors committed fraud to sue
on the government's behalf and recover 25 to 30 percent of any
judgment. The suit was filed in 1996 in U.S. District Court in
Pocatello, Idaho, but was kept under seal until the government
decided three years ago not to join it.
The Energy Department considers the Idaho laboratory, now managed
by BWXT Idaho, a consortium led by Bechtel Inc., essential to the
future of nuclear power, both civilian and military. The
laboratory has also been named to lead development of new cleanup
technologies.
The auditors arrived at the laboratory in the early 1990s. Lebow
was a senior environmental, safety and quality regulatory
compliance specialist. Mock was a senior scientist.
They said that they were told that employees of Westinghouse and
Lockheed Martin had turned off spill alarms on 300,000-gallon
tanks containing liquid radioactive waste, and that no one
responded to two spills they saw in 1995.
They said Lockheed Martin tried to flush out four other storage
tanks EG&G had described as empty. When the tanks were found to
contain corrosives contaminated by mercury at a rate nine times
the reportable level, Lockheed Martin continued flushing the
contaminated water -- 2.4 million pounds in all -- into a pond
for absorption into the soil and for evaporation.
Disabled, disconnected
Brad Bugger, a spokesman for the Department of Energy in Idaho,
said that the mercury spill was an example of bad management but
that it posed no additional risk to the environment because "only
a couple of ounces of mercury" were involved.
Mock and Lebow charge that from 1995 to 1998 Lockheed Martin
employees occasionally disabled or disconnected the monitoring
devices on smokestacks at a plant where high-level radioactive
waste was processed, to conceal excess emissions of iodine-131, a
radioactive isotope that is readily absorbed by the human body.
They say this happened at the laboratory's Nuclear Technology and
Environmental Complex, formerly known as the Idaho Chemical
Processing Plant.
In 1995, they said, monitors were also disabled at the
laboratory's Waste Experimental Reduction Facility, which burned
radioactive paper, clothing, plastic and garbage. That
incinerator was closed last October after citizens threatened to
sue Idaho officials, who denied it a hazardous waste permit.
When Lockheed Martin managers were told in writing about the
disabling of the air pollution monitors, the auditors say, the
company told staff members not to report these acts to the
authorities. Lockheed Martin denies this.
Boxes of soil contaminated with hazardous waste, improperly
labeled as low-level waste, were sent illegally to a disposal
site in Utah in 1996, Mock and Lebow say. They say that a
Lockheed Martin subcontractor, Lockheed Martin Advanced
Environmental Systems, illegally disposed of waste from Pit 9,
which contains plutonium and other radioactive substances, in the
Bonneville County landfill.
This month, Gary Johnson, the assistant inspector general of the
Environmental Protection Agency, said he would look into
questions about the laboratory raised by local environmental
organizations concerned about airborne emissions. Another local
organization has warned of dangers to the Snake River Aquifer,
which is the water supply for 20 percent of Idaho's population.
© Copyright 2001 New York Times. All rights reserved.
[Return to Star Tribune Online front page] [Return to
Nation/World front page]
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12 Cold war is over, but the nuclear age isn't
[St. Petersburg Times Online: News of the Tampa Bay area]
A former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory discusses
the effort to help Russia upgrade its security.
By DAVID BALLINGRUD
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 24, 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA -- During the good old days of the Cold War, the Soviet
Union could be counted on to run a tight ship.
No nuclear weapons were likely to go missing inside the secret
city Arzamas-16, or any other nuclear facility behind the Iron
Curtain. A suffocating Soviet security system saw to that.
"They depended on guns, guards and the Gulag," said Dr. Siegfried
Hecker, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986
to 1997. "It was a rigid system, but one with a terrific security
record."
Arzamas-16 was the Soviet Union's code name for a nuclear weapon
research center in the city of Sarov, near Moscow. It was modeled
after the Los Alamos Lab in the United States A fence and armed
guards ringed the city which, despite being home to 80,000
people, appeared on no maps, said Hecker. Inside, Soviet
scientists were pampered and carefully watched.
"Our society is transparent; theirs was opaque," said Hecker.
But the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Hecker, now a senior
fellow at Los Alamos, came to the University of South Florida on
Friday to warn that the fresh air of freedom left the Russian
nuclear arsenal vulnerable. Greed and corruption rushed into a
leadership vacuum left by the failure of the Communist Party, he
said.
"In a struggling country, where everything is for sale, how do
you keep your secrets?" he asked. "How do you keep your weapons
and weapons materials secure?"
Part of the answer, he said, is that newly friendly nations, such
as the United States, must understand their own self-interest and
offer help.
Hecker said he has been part of a nine-year, continuing U.S.
effort to assist the Russians in upgrading their weapons security
systems.
"We need to play a role in this," he said. "If Russia and the
U.S. can pull in the same direction, we can isolate the potential
troublemakers in the world." The greatest danger comes not from
bombs but from lost nuclear material, he said.
"Bombs have serial numbers," he said, and are typically subjected
to strict inventory requirements. But the nuclear materials that
might be used in a bomb -- plutonium and enriched Uranium, for
example -- "are kept in hundreds of places and are used for many
purposes."
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet weapons production line
was busy. More than 100,000 nuclear weapons were built and tens
of thousands remain in the Russian arsenal. A staggering 125 to
200 metric tons of plutonium, and 1,200 metric tons of enriched
Uranium, were produced, he said. And only now are the Russians
developing sophisticated ways to maintain accurate inventories.
Hecker has some personal knowledge of the difficulty of
maintaining security in a weapons lab.
In 1999, former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson recommended that
he and two others at Los Alamos be disciplined in the Wen Ho Lee
spy case. Lee was arrested on 59 counts of illegally copying
design secrets on behalf of China. He was held for nine months in
solitary confinement. The government never came up with much
evidence to support the charges, however, and Lee eventually
pleaded guilty to just one felony count: downloading nuclear
weapons design secrets to a non-secure computer, his own. The
other charges were dropped, and Lee has continued to deny spying.
Hecker said Friday he was not disciplined in the Lee matter,
despite Richardson's recommendation. Nevertheless, he said, the
Lee case troubled him greatly.
By downloading secret material to a non-secure computer, he said,
Lee "created an extraordinary vulnerability.
"Why it was done, I can't say. But I can tell you that it was
deliberate, systemic and egregious. He betrayed the trust of
those of us in the lab, and he betrayed the trust of his
country."
The damage caused by the Lee episode "is still being evaluated,"
Hecker said.
Copyright 2001St. Petersburg Times.All rights reserved. [ ]
*****************************************************************
13 Russia to tighten export control over n-tech
The Hindu on indiaserver.com :
Saturday, February 24, 2001
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, FEB. 23. Russia is going to tighten export control over
missile and nuclear technologies, but this will not affect its
cooperation with India. The National Security Council on Thursday
called for additional measures to prevent illegal export of
sensitive technologies, such as more severe punishment of
offenders and mandatory Government screening of export contracts.
The meeting was closed to media, but in televised opening remarks
the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, for the first time
admitted that some Russian agencies may have violated export
restrictions. He said he had ``questions'' to some agencies over
defence technology exports, above all to the Atomic Ministry, as
well as to Rosaviaprom, which oversees aviation and space
industry, and some student training and research institutes.
However, a senior National Security Council official said the
proposed tightening of export control will not affect Russian
nuclear supplies to India despite objections from the United
States.
``We did our best to reassure our Indian colleagues that we saw
no reason for halting nuclear fuel supplies: it is an absolutely
clean contract as regards our international obligations,'' Mr.
Nikolai Uspensky, head of the international security department
of the National Security Council, said in an interview. He was
referring to this week's Indo-Russian Security Council
consultations in Moscow.
The meeting was called a few days after the U.S. Defence
Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, labelled Russia as an ``active
proliferator'' of missile and nuclear technologies to such
countries as Iran, Iraq and India. However, Russia has brushed
off the charges as groundless. ``We thoroughly verify all
American complaints but none of them has so far been
substantiated,'' said Mr. Oleg Chernov, deputy chief of the
Russian Security Council.
Mr. Putin acknowledged that proliferation of mass annihilation
weapons and delivery means was ``one of the main international
threats'' today as a number of countries were ``trying to get
access to technologies of building their own nuclear weapons and
missiles''.
At the same time the Russian leader stressed that export controls
``must become an instrument for protecting Russia's economic
interests''.
Russia claims to have one of the world's most secure export
control systems and by further tightening controls Moscow wants
to cut the ground from under Western accusations that it is a
source of illegal nuclear and missile technology exports.
``Russia is willing to conduct a concrete dialogue with NATO and
the Council of Europe about non-proliferation of mass destruction
weapons,'' Mr. Putin, said.
Copyrights © 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
14 4 US sub stories
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News
Friday, February 23, 2001
Navy: No civilians to be part of inquiry
The Navy starts its formal investigation of the sub collision on
March 5
By Gregg K. Kakesako
The Navy has ruled out the possibility that civilians -- 16
riding as passengers on a nuclear attack submarine and the 25
surviving crewmen of the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime -- will be
named as parties in its formal investigative inquiry that will
begin March 5.
Capt. Michael Hinkley, Pacific Fleet Judge Advocate, said
yesterday that "only limited circumstances" exist where a
civilian would be subject to the military's Uniform Code of
Military Justice.
He cited those exceptions as war or if they worked for the
Department of Defense.
Hinkley said none of the 16 civilians who were aboard the USS
Greeneville when it collided with the Ehime Maru two weeks ago
work for the Defense Department.
The 6,000-ton Greeneville surfaced into the 190-foot fishing
vessel, about nine miles south of Diamond Head.
Since Feb. 9, the Coast Guard and Navy have been searching for
nine high-school students and crewmen.
The search has covered 31,515 square miles, an area the size of
South Carolina.
Yesterday, Hinkley said at a news briefing that Rear Adm. Isamu
Ozawa, the Japanese government's advisor to the Court of Inquiry,
will be able to join deliberations of the three U.S. admirals in
examining the actions of the Greeneville's top three officers.
However, Ozawa, a Japanese submarine officer, will not have a
vote on any of the findings of fact, opinions or recommendations
of the high-level panel, which will be headed by Vice. Adm. John
Nathman.
Hinkley said it will be up to Nathman as the board's presiding
officer to determine whether Ozawa will be allow to join the
closed-door session when the votes are taken.
Asked how long the Court of Inquiry could take after hearing
witnesses before it would be ready with a recommendation for Adm.
Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, Hinkley said, "as long as
it takes to get a full accounting."
It has been estimated that the Court of Inquiry could hear as
many as 20 witnesses.
Hinkley recalled that following the 1992 accident in which the
USS Saratoga mistakenly fired two deadly missiles into a nearby
Turkish destroyer, the court of inquiry took 30 days.
"But it was held at sea," he said.
The Turkish government demanded courts martial for the
responsible parties, but the Court of Inquiry rejected such
action because it ruled that the firing was accidental and lacked
criminal intent.
Hinkley said he believes the investigation will be "a drawn-out
period of questions and answers."
Once Fargo receives the three admirals' recommendation, he has
to take action within 30 days. The court's findings could lead to
criminal charges for Greeneville's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle;
the vessel's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, and Lt.
j.g. Michael Coen, officer of the deck at the time of the
collision.
Possible charges include involuntary manslaughter, negligent
homicide, dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Hinkley said a Court of Inquiry -- the Navy's highest
administrative fact-finding process -- is unlike a more
adversarial Article 32 hearing where there are charges already
levied against a defendant.
"It is designed to get facts and make appropriate
recommendations," he said. However, the recommendations of a
Court of Inquiry can be substituted for an Article 32
investigation, which is equivalent to a preliminary hearing in
the civilian criminal justice system.
An Article 32 hearing is required before any case is referred to
a court martial.
Hinkley said that Greeneville's officers can refuse to testify
and they all will have Navy lawyers.
Besides Cmdr. Jennifer Herold, Waddle has hired civilian
attorney Charles Gittins, who specializes in military cases, to
represent him.
Representing Pfeifer will be Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Stone. Lt. Marcus
Fulton will be Coen's attorney.
Nathman and the two other U.S. admirals on the court as well as
Ozawa will be allowed to question witnesses.
Unlike a normal judicial hearing, Hinkley said there will be no
advocates or prosecutors, but "counsels for the court," whose
questioning must be impartial.
By Janine Tully Star-Bulletin
Japan's vice minister for foreign affairs, Yoshitaka Sakurada,
gave assurances yesterday that the collision between the nuclear
submarine USS Greenville and the fishing training vessel Ehime
Maru will not damage relations between Japan and the United
States.
The two countries have a long history of collaboration, Sakurada
said. U.S. authorities, including Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in
chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, have "profusely apologized" for
having caused the accident, he said.
"It's very regretful that this (accident) had to happen," he
said. "We are grateful for the efforts made by the U.S. Navy."
Sakurada then said it was time to move on to the next phase,
which is salvaging the ship. He said having the submersible
Scorpio locate the ship at the bottom of the sea made the
families feel the United States was doing something to salvage
the vessel.
The Scorpio found the Ehime Maru 2,003 feet down.
"The families are very grateful (for) all the warm support from
the people of Hawaii," Sakurada said. "They have been a great
comfort to the families in their time of grief."
Sakurada spoke through a translator at a news conference at the
Japanese Consulate. He then proceeded to answer one question from
each of the six media representatives attending the meeting.
Sakurada said the families of the nine missing Ehime Maru crew
members, at a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori
yesterday, reiterated their wish to have the ship salvaged.
"The prime minister promised them that he would do his utmost to
have a full investigation of the accident and have the vessel
salvaged," Sakurada said. Sakurada said he was told by U.S.
authorities that the decision to raise the ship hinges on how
technically feasible it is.
Responding to reports that civilians may have interfered with
the plotting of sonar signals, Sakurada said the Japanese
government views such an action as "inexcusable."
Hawaii lawyer tapped for possible lawsuit
By Debra Barayuga
Personal injury attorney Rick Fried has been contacted by a law
firm in Osaka asking him to be lead counsel if retained by the
family of one of the still-missing Japanese students from the
Ehime Maru.
Fried said yesterday he "would be willing," but that the family
has not yet made a decision.
Civil action, if brought by the victim's family, would be
similar to a Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows the government
to be sued by civilians for negligent acts by its employees.
The U.S. government has sovereign authority and, generally,
individuals cannot sue a sovereign except under circumstances for
which it consents to be sued.
Because the incident happened at sea, the action would fall
under the Suits in Admiralty Act or the Public Vessels Act. The
amount of damages recoverable under either is similar to the
Federal Tort Claims Act, Fried said.
The Suits in Admiralty Act and Public Vessels Act allow recovery
of general damages -- pain, suffering, emotional distress and the
usual recovery under a regular lawsuit -- but not any punitive
damages.
Even if a judge found the commander of the USS Greeneville acted
egregiously, plaintiffs still cannot receive punitive damages
from the government, or even the sub commander individually,
assuming he was acting within the scope of his employment, Fried
said.
The suit must be brought in federal court, and a judge -- not a
jury -- is the trier of fact.
Where and how far off the coast the incident occurred is
significant, Fried said. President Ronald Reagan expanded
territorial waters to 12 miles. According to reports, the
collision occurred about nine miles off Diamond Head.
If the collision did not occur within territorial waters or an
argument is made that the territorial waters extend only three
miles -- the equivalent of a marine league -- then the action is
brought under another statute, the Death on the High Seas Act,
where recovery is more limited than in the other two acts.
Under that act, only pecuniary damages such as medical bills or
loss of earning capacity -- where damages can be specifically
measured -- can be recovered, Fried said.
"I think we have a fair argument that we would be governed under
the Suits in Admiralty Act with broader recoveries."
Attorney Eric Seitz, who has handled numerous military cases
here, said the U.S. government will probably honor civil claims
and, at some point, pay compensation to the victims' families.
"I think the government, rather than making these people
litigate, will settle," Seitz said. "How and under what
circumstances remains to be seen."
Sub captain not told sonar put boat at 2,000 yards
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The captain of a U.S. submarine that collided with
and sank a Japanese fishing trawler two weeks ago told Navy
investigators he was aware of sonar soundings indicating that a
ship was in the vicinity before the accident, a newspaper
reported.
But the sub's skipper, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, maintained that when
he looked for it through his periscope, he didn't see anything
and was not warned of any danger by a sailor whose job it was to
plot positions of nearby ships, the Washington Post said in
today's editions.
The Washington Times, meanwhile, said a confidential Navy report
outlines a series of errors made by the crew of the USS
Greeneville, stating that the periscope sweep was too brief and
not high enough to detect the Japanese vessel.
The report also blamed the presence of civilians inside the
control room for disrupting communications between Waddle and a
technician tracking the fishing vessel in busy waters near Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
A less crowded area around the periscope "could have
dramatically improved this situation," the Times quoted the
report as saying. The newspaper said excerpts of the report were
read to it yesterday by a Navy source.
The Greeneville, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, had 16
civilians aboard when it collided with the Ehime Maru on Feb. 9.
The boat, on a cruise to teach commercial fishing to high school
students, sank, and nine people were lost at sea. Two civilians
were at control positions aboard the Greeneville at the time the
sub made an emergency-surfacing maneuver from 400 feet depth,
although the Navy says they did not cause the accident.
Nonetheless, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is going to
order a moratorium on allowing civilians at the controls of any
military ship, aircraft or vehicle, officials said yesterday.
Rumsfeld's spokesman, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, said the order is
a "work in progress."
"All the services know this is coming," Quigley said.
On Feb. 14, Rumsfeld was asked whether there was evidence that
the civilians played a role in the Greeneville accident. "None
whatsoever," he replied.
The Times said the report of a preliminary investigation
conducted by Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths Jr. said his findings
"suggest a significant departure from the expected level of
professionalism and performance of the ship's key watchstanders
and senior leadership" just before the accident.
The report said there were a "significant number" of crew and
guests pushed together on the periscope stand when Waddle and the
officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen, were trying to
locate the ship.
The Post, quoting an unidentified person close to the
investigation, said Waddle reported he checked the compass
bearings of the ship indicated by sonar readings. He then
increased the periscope's magnification and ordered his sub 2
feet closer to the surface so he could peer over the waves, but
he still didn't see anything.
A sailor had calculated that the Greeneville and the boat were
only 2,000 yards apart, but concluded he must have been mistaken
because the captain had just pronounced the area clear, the Post
said. The sailor then arbitrarily plotted the boat at 9,000 yards
away from the sub, the Post said.
The possibility that the presence of civilians could have
contributed to the accident is one of the subjects to be examined
in a formal Navy court of inquiry.
The Navy inquiry, to have convened Monday in Pearl Harbor, was
postponed yesterday until March 5 at the request of attorneys for
Waddle.
© 2001 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
http://starbulletin.com
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